Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Sivan Tayer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Etan Tayer was called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on Jan. 24, 2015 at Congregation Sinai in Minneola, Fla. Sivan is in the sixth grade at East Ridge Middle School and has attended Hebrew School at Congregation Sinai for three years. She enjoys playing the piano and loves doing art projects and playing video games. Sivan also loves gathering with her family's Israeli friends for Shabbat and holidays. She is a world traveler, whether she is visiting her...
I've never been to Cuba... Let's see... in South America I've been to Puerto Rico, Mexico, The Bahamas, Brazil (a few times as I record and perform there and my agent is Brazilian), and other Latino places... but never, ever to Havana. I would love to go, mind you, but because of restrictions I couldn't... that is... until now! Listening to the "State of the Union" speech last night, I feel optimistic. I even heard a news flash on NBC television a while ago, stating that a high United States...
(JTA)—Hate crimes against Jews in London more than doubled last year, according to the Scotland Yard. Last week, the police headquarters for metropolitan London reported 299 hate crimes against Jewish people between the start of April and the end of December. This represented a rise of 128 percent over the corresponding period in 2013, when there were 131 hate crimes, The Jewish Chronicle of London reported Jan. 21. Britain’s 300,000 Jews account for 0.4 percent of the total population. Anti-Semitic attacks recorded in Britain during the 201...
By Viva Sarah Press ISRAEL21c-It's all about pigtails and humble pie: Five NFL legends star in Israeli DIY website builder's $4.5 million commercial. Super Bowl XLIX is nearly here, and that means the year's most talked-about (and most expensive) commercials are getting ready to prove the worthiness of their exorbitant price tags. Wix.com, Israel's make-your-own-website sensation, has released quirky teasers for its $4.5 million 30-second TV spot set to air in the fourth quarter. Wix is the...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Former Israeli President Shimon Peres said he is confident in France's ability to fight anti-Semitism on its own soil. Immigration to Israel, he said, should be encouraged for positive reasons, not only as a response to persecution abroad. "We call on Jews to immigrate to Israel when there's no crime and no other reason," said Peres, speaking exclusively to JTA from his Peres Center for Peace office overlooking the Mediterranean. Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister...
Earlier this month, Shalom Families met to fly kites in Winter Park. After a week of rain and storm clouds, the weather brightened up for a beautiful day of sunshine and would you believe it? Wind! Young families gathered with their princess and superhero kites for a fun afternoon in the sun. Shalom Families is part of the Our Jewish Orlando initiative reaching out to our community's next generation. For more information visit www.JFGO.org....
(KVELLER/JTA)-I grew up in a public school that had enough Jewish kids that I felt represented. I went to Hebrew school twice a week and had a chavurah, or fellowship, through my Reform synagogue with kids my age. A portion of my family was Orthodox. I was surrounded by Jews. I always felt like there were a lot of Jews in the United States and the world based on my childhood experience. I was wrong. We are less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, and 0.2 percent of the world population. Last...
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Soviet army’s liberation of Auschwitz, an event that freed over 7,000 remaining prisoners. Among them was Roman Ferber, who, at 12 years old, was one of the youngest Jews on Schindler’s list, and a rare juvenile inmate of the death camp along with his 8-year-old cousin, Wilús Schnitzer. Roman’s wartime survival is described in a newly published biography, “Journey of Ashes: A Boyhood in the Holocaust,” co-authored with writer, Anna Ray-Jones. By his twelfth birthday, Roman, (now a resident of Monroe...
(JTA)-Wes Anderson's whimsical film "The Grand Budapest Hotel" was nominated for nine Academy Awards last week, just days after winning the Golden Globe for Best Comedy or Musical. Named one of the best films of the year by several top critics, it could earn Anderson, a director whose cult following has steadily grown over the past decade, his first Oscar. It will also likely raise the profile of Stefan Zweig, the Austrian Jewish novelist who, Anderson has said, inspired the film's quirky...
The evening of Dec. 6, 2014, in the Roth Social Hall at Temple Israel proved to be festive, elegant and memorable as congregants and guests gathered to celebrate the synagogue’s 60th anniversary. The double theme of this diamond celebration honored Temple Israel’s founding members and was in honor of Harry and Rhea Rein’s 60th wedding anniversary. The event was chaired by Michelle Bilsky. Cocktail hour featured Israeli hors d’oeuvres followed by dinner, dancing and a silent auction. The program for the evening featured Arlene van de Rijn wh...
The Nachum Segal Network has announced the 2015 Kosher Halftime Show. Hosted by Jewish radio icon, Nachum Segal, the Kosher Halftime Show is the family oriented alternative to the pop culture musical and dance performance on broadcast television. The program will stream and be available during halftime of Super Bowl XLIX, Sunday Feb. 1, 2015, on www.nachumsegal.com. The program will feature Soulfarm, led by Grammy award-winning guitarist C Lanzbom and lead singer Noah Solomon Chase. Together with drummer Ben Antelis and Grammy award-winning...
(THE NOSHER/JTA)-When my husband and I first married and started to host Shabbat dinners, making my own challah felt like a rite of passage. But I have a little trick that keeps it from being quite the ordeal it must have been for the Jewish women who came before me: I let my beloved bread maker do the hard work. My bread maker kneads the dough while I am at work. I come home, braid the challah, add any of amazing fillings detailed on The Nosher food blog (my favorite is the balsamic apple and...
Journalist who first reported Nisman’s death flees Argentina BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA)—The Argentine-Israeli journalist who first reported the death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman has fled to Israel following threats to his safety. Damian Pachter, who works for BuenosAiresHerald.com and tweeted the news of Nisman’s Jan. 18 death, left Argentina on Saturday after the threats and being followed by people he did not know, according to Fopea, the Argentine Journalism Forum. Pachter citizenship was en route to Israel, where he holds...
The death of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah last Thursday shouldn't change how the Gulf nation treats its relations with Iran and Israel, experts say. Saudi Arabia remains determined in its opposition to the Iranian nuclear program, and while that gives them at least one shared interest with Israel, a Saudi ambassador's anti-Israel remarks at the United Nations on the same day as Abdullah's death served as a reminder that the Saudi-Israeli relationship isn't exactly friendly. Abdullah, who died...
In January 2006, Pearl Lefkowitz organized a "mission" trip to Cuba. The following is her husband, Howard's, journal of this trip. He sent Heritage these impressions in light of the recent renewal of relations with the country. Interestingly, we were advised that 400 families (young people?) have made aliyah in the past year. That's a significant chunk of a community of 1500 Jews. I also wonder how many used this as an opportunity to immigrate to other places, particularly the U.S. We were furth...
Howard Lefkowitz visited Cuba in 2006 and his journal about the trip (Travels to Cuba in 2006) gave readers a vision of what the Cuban Jewish community was like back then. Now a licensed religious trip supporting Jewish Cuba is being planned, conducted under a general license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control by Congregation of Reform Judaism. “This is the first-ever Cuba mission trip that is open to the entire Jewish community and we are excited to be working with Congregation of Reform Judaism on this project during this historic time...
