Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 36
For the third straight year, students at the Jewish Academy of Orlando are performing at least two grade levels ahead of their peers nationwide. These results are based on the average total scores in each class. The test scores, from April 2017, were taken using the nationally recognized Iowa Test of Basic Skills® (commonly known as the "Iowa Assessments.") The Iowa Assessment is a nationally standardized achievement test for K-12 students, allowing schools to compare their students' scores...
An historical exhibition recounting more than 100 years of Jewish community life in Central Florida couldn't take place without honoring the machers and mensches of the community. The heavy hitters. The movers and shakers. The deep pockets. Or, in other words, the successful individuals who have made it a priority to give back as much, if not far more than they have received. The criteria used to select these generous philanthropists was simple and straightforward. Gifts to local agencies and...
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is excited to announce that former U.S. Senator and vice-presidential candidate, Joseph Lieberman, will be speaking at their annual event on Nov. 7, at Congregation Ohev Shalom at 7 p.m. Lieberman served as a senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013, and was a vice-presidential candidate in 2000. He currently is a senior counsel at Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP. In this capacity, Lieberman applies the investigative skills he honed as United States...
Amy Schwartz Kimlat certainly does and it helped her to make a tough decision-to resign as marketing director of The Roth Family JCC. Her final day will be Nov. 10. There is no doubt about it that on May 15, 2006, Kimlat brought a "magic" to the Maitland JCC and injected tons of motivation and inspiration into this community center. "Marvin Friedman was the executive director who hired me," Kimlat recalled. "He joked with me at the time that he'd meet my request for a Mac computer to do my job i...
Chabad Centers of Metro Orlando will recount 2000 years of Jewish history through the lens of six epic debates that rocked the Jewish world and still resound powerfully today. Beginning at the end of October, at six locations throughout Orlando, Chabad will be offering a new six-session course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI), titled “Great Debates in Jewish History.” Please visit www.myJLI.com for location, dates and times. In commemoration of 70 years since archeologist Eleazar Sukenik purchased the first Dead Sea Scroll in Nov...
The Roth Family JCC has hired Tara Harris for the full-time appointment of as the Sports, Fitness & Aquatics director. Harris is a longtime board member, parent, and advocate of the JCC, culminating in her 2017 win of The Roth Family JCC’s Volunteer of the Year Award. For more than a decade, Harris has worked tirelessly in support of the JCC’s programs, particularly in the Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center, J University after school program, Camp J, and teen programs. She has been a longtime avid user of the sports, fitness & a...
A Taste for Giving is a special evening of culinary delights, one-of-a-kind entertainment, unique prize opportunities, celebrity appearances and more. The event-to be held on Sunday, Oct. 22, from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. at Full Sail Live, located at 141 University Park Dr, Winter Park-will feature Chef Isabella Morgia Di Vicari of The Meatball Stoppe selecting ingredients inspired by items found in the Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry and transforming them into a culinary delight. Grace Vasquez from 105.9...
Dan Naturman is a stand-up comedian who sounds a lot like comedian Jon Lovitz. Howie Mandel on America's Got Talent said that if Jerry Seinfeld and Jon Lovitz had a child, it would be Naturman! He has that same brand of self-deprecating humor, twinged with grouchiness that makes him "every man's man." That's a good reason to have him as the guest entertainment at the first Men's Night Out event on Nov. 2. Naturman's comic content covers topics that range from Internet dating to terrorism....
On Sunday, Nov. 5, Temple Israel Sisterhood, together with friends and community members, will head south to Pompano Beach for a day of adventure and camaraderie. There will be bagels, snacks and water to nosh on, and a comedy video and movie to watch while driving down. It always makes for a very pleasant and fast ride. You can arrange to meet your south Florida family and friends at the Food Court, for additional enjoyment. First stop will be the famous Festival Flea Market where everyone can...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer renewed his call for President Donald Trump to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem after the president said he wanted to wait to give his relaunched peace push a chance. "President Trump's recent comments suggest his indecisiveness on the embassy's relocation," Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday in an email to JTA. "As someone who strongly believes that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of Israel, I am calling for the U.S. Embassy in Israel to...
(JTA)—Much of a Reform Jewish summer camp has been wiped out by forest fires sweeping across Northern California. The Union for Reform Judaism’s Camp Newman, an hour north of the San Francisco Bay, has been “mostly destroyed” by the fires burning in Sonoma and Napa counties, the camp posted on Facebook Tuesday evening. Camp staff have yet to be able to visit the area. Camp is not in session, and everyone living at the campsite—along with its Torah scrolls—were rescued before the fires reached the camp. At least 10 people have died in the forest...
(JNS.org)—A global observance of Shabbat with hundreds of special events being held in local Jewish communities around the world—including new events in Togo, Mozambique and Venezuela—is slated for Oct. 27-28. Locally, Sarah Gittleson of SPARK/JOIN Orlando will be hosting a Challah Bake on Thursday, Oct. 26, at the JOIN House, 109 Water Oak Lane, Altamonte Springs. (Seats are limited to 30 participants, so pre-registration is required. If the event is sold out, please put yourself on the waitlist. Register at thechallahclub.eventbrite.com) Rabb...
WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Trump announced on Oct. 12 that the United States will withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization because of its anti-Israel bias. The withdrawal will take effect on Dec. 31, 2018 but the U.S. may remain involved as a nonmember observer state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the U.S. decision to leave UNESCO “brave” and “moral.” He said he has instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to also prepare for Israel’s withdrawal. UNESCO has a record of fostering a...
NEW YORK (JTA)—Stephen Bannon, whose anti-globalist insurgency at Breitbart News was interrupted briefly by his tenure as chief adviser to the Leader of the Free World, has always been adamant that his right-wing news site and worldview is neither anti-Semitic nor racist. When he referred to Breitbart as a “platform” for the “alt-right,” Bannon didn’t mean, he insisted, that he personally supported the white supremacists and racists who attached themselves to his “populist nationalist” movement. “Are there some people that are anti-Semitic...
The Trump administration is pressuring Israel for further delays in the construction of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria, according to apparently reliable media reports. If true, friends of Israel have good reason to be concerned. Ynet, the news site of the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, reported Sept. 25 that “at the request of the Trump administration,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed a meeting of the government committee responsible for construction in the territories. The meeting is necessary to proceed with con...
Walking through central London last week, and with a spare half hour on my hands, I decided to pay a quick visit to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Inside, I spent most of my time intently studying a painting that I could not recall having seen before: “The Philosopher,” a 1645 canvas by the Italian painter Salvator Rosa. Rosa depicts a stern young man with flowing black locks and undistinguished clothing holding a stone tablet that bears the Latin inscription, “Aut tace aut loquere meliora silentio.” In English, it means, “Either...
In recent weeks, we have once against seen a flare up around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the Iran Deal, this time over whether President Trump will recertify the deal, as he is required to do every 90 days. Two years later after the signing of the JCPOA, it almost feels like we are back where we started. But we are not. Not at all. And that is the real issue. Indeed, two years later, we can argue about Iranian compliance and inspections regimes. We can dither about domestic political processes. But what...
The Canadian government has announced that it will correct a memorial plaque at its new National Holocaust Monument, which spoke of the “millions of men, women and children during the Holocaust”—but neglected to mention Jews. Unfortunately, Canadian Minister of Heritage Melanie Joly has compounded the original error, by announcing that the new plaque will acknowledge “the six million Jews, as well as the five million other victims, that were murdered during the Holocaust.” But there is, in fact, no historical basis for that “five million” fi...
Last month, former CIA officer Valerie Plame crossed a line on social media even the mainstream liberal media couldn’t ignore. Plame gained fame due to her unmasking at a time when her husband was a prominent critic of the George W. Bush administration’s Iraq War policy. But her status as a liberal icon took a hit when she retweeted an anti-Semitic polemic that claimed Jews were responsible for pushing the U.S. into wars in the Middle East for Israel’s sake. Plame defended the piece before eventually issuing a weasel-worded apology that furth...
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. Tem...
On Monday evening, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m.Chabad of Greater Orlando will have an open meeting about Medicare. Titled “Understanding All Aspects of Medicare,” Ashley Bracha Leibowitz will talk about and answer all questions about the Medicare and the Open Enrollment period. This meeting will be beneficial to those who are about to join Medicare, have family who need to understand Medicare or are presently enrolled. Chabad of Greater Orlando is located at 708 Lake Howell Road. Any questions call Ruth Ort at 407-960-1080....
Congregation Ohev Shalom's Men's Club celebrated the holiday of Sukkot with fun, food, music and fellowship by holding an event titled "A Celebration and So Long in the Sukkah," held on Sunday, Oct. 8, at Congregation Ohev Shalom. The family-styled event was open to all congregation members and the community as a way to celebrate the holiday and to help everyone perform God's commandment to be joyous during Sukkot. It was also a great time to give best wishes to Howard Kaplan, COS Men's Club's...
For over a decade and a half, “Brundibar” was the performance that almost happened. A large file folder, still held by the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center, documents the history. In 2001, Tess Wise, the Holocaust Center’s founder and then-executive director, had a big vision: she was planning to bring an Israeli children’s choir to Orlando to perform this historic opera. The contents of the folder reveal how it almost happened, and how it didn’t. Emails and receipts show that the space was booked at the Bob Carr Performin...
Every square foot of UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management’s breezeway will be filled with booths and employers when the Rosen College Career Fair kicks off on Thursday, Nov. 2, at 10 a.m. The twice a year career fair gives rookies in the hospitality industry and opportunity to join the big leagues as employers recruit on-site. This is a student-operated, professor-supervised event. Hopeful draft picks will come professionally dressed, with portfolios in hand to hold resumes, cover letters, business cards and certificates for awards. T...
Jews and cancer... I received this information from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) and pass it along to you in part: "This is about the three cancers Jews need to worry about most, and how to reduce the risks." (As if Jews don't have enough to worry about.) "Specifically, Jews are at elevated risk for three types of the disease: melanoma, breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The perils are particularly acute for Jewish women. The higher prevalence of these illnesses isn't spread evenly among a...
