Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Tickets are now available and plans are well underway for The Kinneret Council on Aging's 8 over 80 Honorary Dinner that will be held on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016. This year's honorees are: Irwin Feldman; Robert Geller; Judy Godorov; Sheldon Greene; Dr. Marvin Newman; Dr. Harry Rein; Edith Schulman and Carol Simpson. The event will start at 5 p.m. in the Jessie Render Social Hall where passed hors d'oeuvres and cocktails will be served. At 5:45 p.m. guests will move into the Delaney Dining Room...
The Roth Family Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando is honoring Dick and Dottie Appelbaum and their family in recognition of decades of remarkable commitment and support, as well as presenting Harriet Weiss the JCC's inaugural JCC Legacy Award for her significant dedication to the JCC for 30 years. These distinguished guests of honor will be recognized at the 11th Annual J Ball on Thursday, March 10, at the Orlando Museum of Art at 6 p.m. Over the years, the Appelbaum family has been...
The Rosen JCC announces the Grand Opening on Feb. 27, 2016 of their expanded facilities, featuring the new Rosen Event Center, new classrooms, a Parenting Center, STEM lab, catering kitchen and retrofit to the existing youth space. The entire center-now 55,000 sq feet-is open to the public, and aspires to bring people of all faiths and backgrounds together from the Orlando community. The Rosen JCC offers space for various celebrations and events-including weddings, birthdays, bar and bat...
Last Thursday, Jan. 28, Ronnie Bitman, president of the JCC Board of Directors, announced that David Wayne, JCC executive director, was leaving his position. "As with all aspects of life, nothing is assured, nothing is permanent, and changes in circumstances are inevitable. With that, it is my unfortunate duty to announce that David and the JCC will be amicably parting ways." Assistant Executive Director Robby Etzkin will assume duties as the JCC's interim executive director on Feb. 8. An...
The University of South Florida (USF) Student Government (SG) Senate voted on Jan. 19 to approve a joint resolution, titled "In Support of Student Voices," calling for the university to divest from companies it deems "complicit in human rights violations." Authors of the resolution, senators Muhammad Imam and Rema Hamoui, specify the companies to divest from support tobacco products, fossil fuel use and the Israeli army in anti-Palestinian issues. The vote passed 32-12 with four abstentions. "I...
On Jan. 27, 2016, International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, and the 71st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a unique ceremony honoring Righteous Among the Nations was held at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama, introduced by filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who is dedicated to recording and preserving the testimonies of those who suffered the horrors of the Holocaust and those who risked their lives to save them, spoke at the...
Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org-Jonathan Pollard, who was released in November after serving 30 years in a U.S. prison for spying on America for Israel, canceled a speech he was scheduled to give at a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations for fear of being sent back to prison. Pollard, whose plan to speak was reported by the Forward last week, canceled after his lawyers warned him that if his comments were leaked or taken out of context, he faced the...
Boys and girls in bright uniforms are beating their instruments to the chords of a classic Jewish song in music class, as Israeli tourists making Shabbat reservations join their singing from behind a glass door. Their harmonious rendition of "Hinei Mah Tov" coincides with the ending melodies of the morning prayers being chanted by tourists from Monsey and Lakewood, as they exit the synagogue and make their way to the nearby theme parks. Welcome to Chabad of South Orlando, home to a thriving...
Rosen JCC's Opening Night Gala on Feb. 27, will celebrate the grand opening of the Rosen Event Center, offering a spectacular show by Theatre South, a professional theater company based in Southwest Orlando, with the highlight of the night a performance from Grant Norman of Broadway's "Phantom of the Opera." The gala will be held in the Rosen Event Center at 7 p.m., with tickets available for purchase for $60 ($75 after Feb. 12), and babysitting will also be offered for $10 per child. The Rosen...
At the International Holocaust Remembrance Day observance, held Wednesday, Jan. 27 at the Holocaust Center, a standing-room-only audience listened spell bound as Tess Wise, founder of the Center, shared her story of survival in Poland and Germany during World War II, and the birth and development of the Center. At the end of the evening, Wise was presented with 30 white roses, symbolic of the 30th anniversary of the Holocaust Center and the White Rose Society, a student resistance organization...
On Tuesday, Jan. 26, The Jewish Academy of Orlando, and two other Florida schools—the Meyer Academy in Palm Beach Gardens (as well as the Mandel Jewish Community Center there) and the Chabad of Tampa Bay school—received bomb threats. There were no bombs found at all the locations. However, the schools were closed for the rest of the day and the children and parents were shaken that this could happen here. One parent, Rona Weiss, took action, turning what could have developed into a deeper fear into positive action. “I saw a lot of passion and e...
Another week, another litany of ugly incidents targeting Jews, along with expressions of concern about rising anti-Semitism around the globe, and even the odd solution offered up. But as we’ve been slowly learning since the turn of this century, not much really changes. Let’s start with France, where in the last four years Islamist terrorists have executed two massacres at Jewish sites—first at a school in Toulouse in 2012, which resulted in the murders of a teacher and three children, and then at the Hyper Cacher market in Paris in Janua...
Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon justifies terrorism and incitement: “It is human nature to react to occupation.” Actually, stabbing a pregnant woman or a mother of six is not human nature. Instead of making excuses for murders, Ban Ki-moon should take the first step towards eradicating terrorism and follow International Law. UN Security Council Resolution 1377 states: “Reaffirms its unequivocal condemnation of all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, in al...
There is sadness along with satisfaction in recent stories of Palestinians captured or killed as a result of their attacks against Jews. A 13-year-old girl was shot to death as she charged, with knife raised, against a security guard on the border between a Palestinian town and Jerusalem. Subsequent pictures showed where she had lived in a cluster of Bedouin tents and shacks alongside the buildings of Anata. It could not have been comfortable during winter cold and rain, without decent heat, running water, electricity and toilets. We hear that...
Dear Editor: In your issue of Jan. 22, a prominent lady who does many good things for our Jewish community published a letter addressed to local Islamic leaders expressing her “empathy and support” for their suffering from “ever increasing bigotry and discrimination.” I agree with the part of the letter where she says that we Jews “stand with all those who unequivocally condemn and reject hateful interpretations of Islam.” Unfortunately, I am unconvinced that the latter statement applies to most spiritual and self-appointed leaders of Islam. I...
Dear Editor: In response to the article in the Heritage by the Jewish Community Relations Council on Jan.22, 2016, I think it would be a good idea for all Jews to buy a copy of the Quran and read it. It will help you to gain insight into the minds and actions of many Muslim terrorists around the world who follow the Quran to this day. While the Bible has passages of violence, it is rare for Jews to follow that mindset today. Judaism has evolved in many ways. Judaism also has the Ten Commandments, which Islam does not have. Judaism expresses...
Dear Editor: I want to compliment the leadership of the Jewish Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando for reaching out to the local Muslim community. It is through interactions such as this that we as Jews can learn more about the Muslim community and Islam. We have much to learn! How many are aware that the early chapters of the Quran were written in Mecca and talk of tolerance and co-existence but the later, and superceding chapters, were written in Medina and are filled with violence, espousing death to inf...
Dear Editor: In the Jan. 22, 2016, issue of the Heritage it was reported that Ina Porth, Rhonda Forest, Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), and the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando voted to “stand with all those who unequivocally condemn and reject hateful interpretations of Islam.” I am in full agreement and condemn the second paragraph of the Hamas Charter that states, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it” (The Martyr, Imam Hassan alBanna, of blessed...
On Jan. 26, the Roth Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Orlando’s Facebook page posted a letter from Executive Director David Wayne explaining that the Jewish Academy of Orlando had received a bomb threat, but that the area was found “clear” and everyone was safe. The story circulated throughout both the local and global Jewish media, but a Jan. 28 Google search for “maitland bomb threat” brought up no results more current than the actual day of the incident, Jan. 26. Even if the outside world forgets, the Jewish Community of Central F...
The U.S. State Department has been so pro-Palestinian for so long that it might seem startling to suggest that there is a current of anti-Palestinian racism at Foggy Bottom. But just consider: The official Palestinian Authority (PA) daily newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, published an article on Jan. 21 suggesting that the U.S. carried out the 9/11 attacks in order to have a pretext for causing “creative anarchy” in the Arab world. The article, by regular columnist Dr. Osama Al-Fara, claimed that there are “many questions” about 9/11 “that p...
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) Chabad of South Orlando—Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. and 10 minutes before sunset; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 8:15 a.m., 407-354-3660. Congregation Ahavas Yisrael—Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-644-2500. Congregation Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Daytona—Monday, 8 a.m.; Thursday, 8 a.m., 904-672-9300. Congregation Ohev Shalom—Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-298-4650. GOBOR Community Minyan at Jewish Academy of Orlando—Monday—Friday, 7:45 a.m.—8:30 a.m. Temple I...
Sunday, Jan. 24, was a busy day at Temple Israel. In celebration of Tu B'shvat, the students in the Meitin Religious School planted cedar and oak trees on the Temple grounds. Rabbi Neely conducted a book burial ceremony and explained how sacred our texts are and should be discarded with dignity. TI Tots had a fun-filled morning learning about trees, hearing the Giving Tree story and making their own tzedakah trees as their craft activity. Is addition to all this fun, TI had a special visit from...
Ruth Frack, age 83, of Lake Mary, passed away on Friday, Jan. 22, 2016, at Lake Mary Health and Rehabilitation Center. A New York native, Mrs. Frack was born on May 5, 1930, to the late Edward and Esther Zung Adelson. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston University and on Aug. 25, 1963, married her husband of over 52 years, Edward R. Frack, who survives her. For many years, Mrs. Frack worked as an examiner in medical claims. In September of 1987, she and Ed relocated to the Orlando area from Boston. They are former members of...
Ayla Moskowitz, age 19, of Rockville, Maryland, passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, in Ocklawaha, Fla. Miriam was born in Rockville on May 1, 1996 to Stuart M. Moskowitz and Fran Gage. She was a student. Funeral services were held in Maryland. Arrangements entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, 640 Lee Road, Orlando....
Robert Eugene Newton of Orlando, passed away on Jan. 10, 2016. He was 74 years old, born to Eugene Newton and Edith Parsley in Hamilton, Ohio, on June 15, 1941. Mr. Newton was married on June 17, 1961, to his devoted wife of 54 years, Phyllis Patrick. Since the 1960s, Mr. Newton was a successful and generous businessman working as a plumbing contractor. He never passed over the opportunity to serve those in need, be it through personal and business mentorship or through service to his church. Mr. Newton was also an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed...
