Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Jewish Academy of Orlando second-graders raised funds in the grade's annual Fun Run to benefit a Habitat for Humanity house. The students later visited the house and presented the check to the organization. The annual program at JAO begins with a cross-curricular study of economics. Students learn about the three basic human needs: food, clothing, and shelter, while also learning the differences between a want and a need. They also conduct a Fun Run to raise money to support Habitat for...
The Jewish Pavilion's program director, Cantor Nina Fine, entertained the residents at The Westminster Orlando on Feb. 26 with Shabbat music, a Purim play, songs, dancing and treats outside. Cantor Fine's son Dylan Caio, 13, accompanied her on keyboard. Pavilion volunteers Sandi and Dick Trainor and their friend Mary McEntegart volunteered their time to help out and make the event and the Purim play a success. Dick was a strong King Ahasuerus, Sandi played the brave and beautiful Esther and...
Author, genealogist and award-winning educator Genie Milgrom will help the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society understand the possible Jewish roots of the founder of Palm Valley, Florida, Don Diego Espinosa during a Zoom gathering Wednesday, March 31 at 7 pm. This program, titled "Crypto-Jewish Genealogy: An Overview" will also help Society members grasp the intricacies of tracing the Jewish roots of residents of the Colonial St. Augustine area. The Zoom link is available upon request...
Are you up to the challenge? This Passover, Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando challenges you to help do more than just RESTOCK the Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry, but also RESTORE our Greater Orlando community. Through the updated Restock + Restore Challenge, running from March 8 through April 8, The Weiner Family and The Winter Park Wealth Group will generously match $0.50 for every $1 you donate to JFS Orlando, with a total match up to $10,000. That means your $50 donation turns into...
(JTA) — One year after COVID-19 first walloped Jewish communities in the United States, a scientific study has confirmed something that many in the communities have long believed: gatherings during the week of Purim served as super-spreader events. A paper published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open, a peer-review journal that is open to the public, concludes that the coronavirus was spreading widely in Orthodox communities across the country last spring around that Jewish holiday — before public hea...
A new study by the Jerusalem-based watchdog group IMPACT-se shows that school textbooks in Turkey are becoming more Islamicized and now refer to Jews and Christians as “infidels,” JTA reported Thursday. Researchers at the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) found a change in Turkish school textbooks that previously referred to Jews and Christians as “People of the Book.” New textbooks, however, such as “Fundamental Religious Knowledge,” a publication released after 2017 that is part of the mand...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Some five years after being snubbed for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Merrick Garland is the new U.S. attorney general. In a 70-30 vote Wednesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Garland as the country's top law enforcer. He becomes the fifth Jewish member of President Joe Biden's Cabinet. Twenty Republicans joined the Democrats in backing Garland, reflecting consensus support for the federal judge. In 2016, when former President Barack Obama tapped Garland for the Supreme...
(JNS) — President Joe Biden’s foreign-policy team has talked a lot about re-emphasizing diplomacy and re-engaging with allies after what they claim was the trashing of old friends during the presidency of Donald Trump. But that doesn’t appear to include America’s two most important allies in the Middle East: Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Israelis have been reassured that Biden still regards their security as important and that any disputes between the two countries will be handled behind the scenes, rather than highlighted in an effort to achi...
(JNS) — In an effort to create a more culturally relevant curriculum that encourages students to feel “more personally empowered,” the State of California’s Department of Education has been mandated with adopting an Ethnic Studies Curriculum. However, despite two revisions in response to concerns that were articulated by Jewish organizations, the curriculum’s representation of Jews lacks authenticity and persists in inviting anti-Jewish sentiment. The curriculum includes a fact sheet on “Jewish American Diversity” that states, “Jewish Ameri...
(JNS) — When is a Palestinian terrorist not a Palestinian terrorist? When The New York Times covers up her past and hopes nobody will notice. I’m referring to a deeply troubling allegation contained in a major article in the Times on March 6, authored by its new Jerusalem bureau chief, Patrick Kingsley. The article focused on a Palestinian disc jockey, Sama Abdulhadi, who was recently arrested by the Palestinian Authority for performing a concert near a mosque. Incredibly, Kingsley quoted Abdulhadi and others blaming “the Israeli occup...
(JNS) — A row over anti-Semitism that has erupted in Britain illuminates the problem that bedevils so many in the West over their understanding of what Judaism actually is. The controversy started with a tweet by the Labour Party’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, congratulating the new head of the Scottish Labour Party, Anas Sarwar, on his appointment. Rayner described Sarwar, who is of Pakistani descent, as “the first-ever ethnic minority leader of a political party anywhere in the U.K.” Sarwar is certainly the first Muslim or Asian leader...
(JNS) — Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. One ostensible purpose of the visit — slated to coincide with the completion of the delivery of 10 million doses of BioNTech — was to examine the possibility of Pfizer building a vaccine-production plant and R&D center in Israel. On Thursday, however, Pfizer announced that it was postponing the trip. According to the pharmaceutical giant, Bourla and the members of his team who were part of his entou...
The idea of a Holocaust Haggadah is fabulous; we have a Tu’B’ Shevat Seder Haggadah, why not one on the Holocaust — especially since Yom HaShoah occurs within a week after Passover ends? Historically, the Passover Haggadah provided a practical template how to convey the meaning of Passover; Rabbi Rosenberg’s Holocaust Haggadah aims to create a practical syllabus on how to make the Holocaust relevant to the themes of Passover and redemption. For the children of Holocaust survivors (like myself), we must find new and creative ways to preserv...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, some minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) Chabad of North Orlando and Chabad of Altamonte Springs are holding in-person minyans. 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. Congr...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With collaboration continuing to play a critical role in delivering impact across synergistic organizations, BBYO and Moishe House are partnering to learn from and leverage their similar operating models to better reach and inspire young Jews. The critical decades of a young person’s life following the bar/bat mitzvah age are defined by many transitions, explorations, and relationships. Research has shown that one of the defining threads throughout these years are meaningful connections between peers and mentors as they sha...
Amar'e Stoudemire, the former NBA star-turned Orthodox-convert to Judaism and the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team co-owner, has been in the news a lot lately. Currently, he is an assistant player development coach for the Brooklyn Nets, and he is very happy that he doesn't have to work on Shabbat, which he observes. In December he spoke at a Zoom discussion event sponsored by the UJA Federation New York, titled "Amar'e Stoudemire: His Practice On and Off the Court." Stoudemire was introduced...
Such Talent! ... I never knew (or even had a hint) that extremely famous pantomime performer, Marcel Marceau was Jewish. His name at birth was Marcel Mangel. His father was captured and killed at Auschwitz. Besides his acting talent, Marcel also worked as a liaison officer with United States General George Patton's 3rd army. He also rescued Jews during the Holocaust. (RIP Marcel. You will always be remembered for your talent and your deeds.) Speaking of talented actors and delightful people,...
(JTA) - The Darvick family did Jewish holidays by videoconference long before a pandemic forced them. "We call it Skypanukkah," Elliot Darvick told The New York Times in December 2011, when the family was featured in an article about celebrating Chanukah over Skype. So when Zoom seders suddenly became standard last year, the Darvicks were prepared. But this Passover, the Darvicks will be together again. By the time the holiday begins later this month, both Debra Darvick, 64, and her husband,...
CTeen of North Orlando recently completed its first CTeen University course, marking a milestone in continued quality Jewish learning for youth in the area. For 14 weeks, teens met with Rabbi Yanky Majesky every Sunday morning to study Torah and Judaism on a whole new level. "Sadly, for most, Jewish learning ends at bar/bas mitzvah and that only allows one to have a child's perspective on Judaism, it has been an honor and privilege to delve deeper into Jewish learning with this special group of...
Submitted by the family On Saturday, March 6, Suzie Kusnetz Bobele, loving wife and mom, passed away. She was born on April 15, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York. Suzie "Sheindie" wanted to be remembered as a beloved wife, mother, sister and aunt. But she was much, much more. She worked on Wall St. in New York City for many years as a mutual funds administrator at a time when women didn't hold these positions. She met the love of her life at the Altamonte Publix leading to a 40-year dream marriage to...
Ronald Allen Goldblatt passed away on March 2, 2021, after a long illness. Ronald was born on Nov. 25, 1932, in East Hanover, N.J. He graduated from Trenton State College in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science in education and also earned a master’s in education from Montclair State College in 1963. A voracious learner, he also completed numerous graduate level courses beyond his master’s. He began his industrial arts teaching career at Union High School in Union N.J., and after three years transferred to the West Morris Regional High School Dis...
On March 23, Israel will hold its fourth national election in two years. This is a result of political stalemate and politicking that's placed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against most other parties, with his Likud party showing one of its lowest polling projections in the past three elections. It is not the first election since the pandemic, but the pandemic will play a more significant role than the previous election a year ago. In addition to the pandemic, there are several other issues...
Biden civil rights nominee, under fire from the right, gets some Jewish backing By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) — Vanita Gupta, President Joe Biden’s nominee for a top civil rights enforcement job, has been targeted in recent weeks as an extremist by a number of conservative groups and the conservative media. A couple of Jewish groups, the Anti-Defamation League and the National Council of Jewish Women, are expressing their support. Gupta, who was tapped for the post of associate attorney general, the No. 3 job at the Justice Department, fac...
