Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Last Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott paid a visit to The Roth Family JCC to announce his proposal of $1million to provide extra security to Jewish day schools throughout Florida. The monies would be ear-marked for security upgrades and other counter-terrorism measures, such as video cameras, fences, bullet-proof glass, alarm systems and other safety equipment. He then stressed that the proposal still has to go through the state congress and encouraged everyone to contact their congressmen and state...
The Roth Family JCC's Jewish Film committee finished the grueling (tongue-in-cheek) task of choosing five films (and one short) out of 104 to present at the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival. Partnering with Maitland's Enzian Theater for the last 19 years, The Roth Family JCC is once again, bringing the community films with Jewish and Israeli themes that will make you laugh, cry, and think. As in the past, each film offers something totally different and totally wonderful. So it is worth it t...
Seventy-eight years ago, a Torah scroll was sentenced to death along with the Jewish people. Now it will be in Orlando, as part of a whirlwind tour that will include hundreds of Jewish communities all across the globe. On Kristallnacht, the "night of broken glass" when more than 1,400 synagogues were torched and 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed across Germany, 14-year-old Isaac Schwartz of Hamburg knew he had to act. Seeing a pyre of Torah scrolls and other Jewish sacred items left...
The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando recently awarded $6,500 in Jewish Teen Education Grants for the 2017-18 academic year. JFGO’s Jewish Teen Education Network, now in its fourth year, awards the grants to support ongoing academic Jewish teen educational programming in the Central Florida community. For the 2017-18 academic year, four Central Florida congregations received awards: Congregation Ohev Shalom, Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation (SOJC), Congregation Beth Am and Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Orlando. The topics offered in t...
Of all the interesting facts and statistics you will learn at Kehillah: A History of Jewish Life in Greater Orlando exhibition, perhaps the most fascinating will be the people you will meet-their stories, their accomplishments, and their role in building the Central Florida community. Did you know... A Jew helped write the charter of the village of Orlando? After opening Florida stores in Bartow, Fort Meade and Fort Ogden in the 1860s, Jacob Raphael Cohen settled in Orlando in 1873. He bought...
On Nov. 1 and 2. Joey and Eden (last names withheld for security purposes) will speak at University High School - ROTC and at University of Central Florida - Hillel. In its ninth year, IST features two reserve duty Israeli soldiers who relate their personal experiences upholding the strict IDF moral code while fighting an enemy that hides behind its civilians. Their stories have never been heard before. They also discuss their backgrounds, life in Israel and answer questions, putting a "human fa...
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando welcomes JGSGO member and webmaster Dr. Barry Sieger as he presents "Making Sense of DNA For the Genealogist," at the Roth Jewish Jewish Community Center of Greater in Maitland, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017, at 7 p.m. Sieger is a retired physician who specialized in infectious diseases. In retirement, his specialty is Jewish genealogy. Through his research he met his cousin, the late world-famous actor Leonard Nimoy, and has found much of his...
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken a wait-and-see approach to last week's Palestinian reconciliation deal. Netanyahu spoke out publicly and loudly against the move toward unity between the feuding Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, calling it a threat to Israel and a setback to peace. But he quietly indicated Israel could accept reconciliation if Hamas reformed. "Israel insists that the PA not allow any base whatsoever for Hamas terrorist actions from PA areas...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-International fashion model Maayan Keret said she was raped at the age of 12. Since then, Keret said, she has been harassed or assaulted so many times she "stopped counting." Yael Arad, a silver medalist in judo at the 1992 Summer Olympics, said that despite her "image and physical abilities," men have tried to "take advantage of or harass" her three times. Knesset member Merav Ben-Ari said male soldiers on her army base verbally harassed her and touched her inappropriately....
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, in a roundtable discussion with youth in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, slammed the Trump administration's demand that it renounce terror and recognize the Jewish state. Rather than considering peace negotiations, "the discussion now is about when we will wipe out Israel," he declared, according to the Hamas-linked news agency Shehab, Times of Israel reported. "No one in the universe can disarm us. On the contrary, we will continue to have the power to protect our...
Eliza Grey, writing in TIME magazine in October 2015 and commenting on the democratic primary debate between Senators Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders had this to say. “There is no question about who came out strongest in the debate, Denmark!” Both candidates, exclaimed how much they and all Democrats love Denmark, the ideal model of so many “Progressive Americans,” many of whom would be hard pressed to reveal how little they actually know about the country, and yet still regard it as an iconic model to which the United States should aspire....
European countries are not exactly known for their love of Israel. Yet recent actions taken by the governments of Norway and Belgium suggest that, in at least one important respect, those two nations have gone much further than the U.S. in confronting the problem of Palestinian incitement against Israel. Belgium, which has been giving the Palestinian Arabs more than $20 million annually, announced this week that it “will put on hold any projects related to the construction or equipment of Palestinian schools.” This followed a report by Pal...
The Jewish Community is divided. Oh my, what a shock. There was a time that we were one Tribe. As the Community grew, the kids moved on, just like today. And so, as each family grew we became 12 tribes –The tribes split—and not harmoniously. Supposedly, although the rabbis can spend yet another millennium arguing about it, it was because of an economic dispute. Jewish families fighting and splitting up over family money and inheritance? Well, yeah! The State of Israel? Surely we all agreed on that! Wrong. Many Jews in the 1800s thought tha...
NEW YORK (JTA)—Last month, New York’s Center for Jewish History was the target of a right-wing campaign seeking to oust its new president, David Myers, over his dovish views on Israel. The campaign drew an appropriately outraged response from leading Jewish scholars, who rallied around Myers, a highly regarded historian who has publicly opposed the anti-Israel BDS, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, movement. Now, one of the five independent historical organizations housed at the center, the American Jewish Historical Society, is also com...
(JTA)—Contemporary Jewish life is graced by extraordinary blessing: We are the heirs of a Torah of compassion and justice that has grown ever more supple and vibrant because of the dynamic nature of halachah (Jewish law) and the opportunity to observe mitzvot (commandments). At the same time, modernity has removed barriers of discrimination and anti-Semitism, as well as opened doors to broader cultural participation and professions previously closed to Jews. We face the challenge of remaining true to the best of our ancient tradition while a...
(JTA)—In an interview with The Daily Beast, George Clooney described Harvey Weinstein as a very powerful man with a tendency to hit on young beautiful women over whom he had power. Despite the “rumors” he had heard about Weinstein’s openly predatory behavior, Clooney expressed sincere shock and outrage at the widespread sexual misconduct allegations directed at Weinstein. Clooney is not alone in this cognitive dissonance. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reported that well before articles in The New York Times and the New Yorker quoted dozens of his victi...
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...
Death affects everyone differently. For many, their world changes drastically. They may feel their pain physically, emotionally and spiritually. Their feelings may be those of intense grief and sorrow, numbness, fear and shock. Often feelings of anger and guilt may be overwhelmingly strong. All these feelings and many more... are normal. There are not any “rules” on how someone should feel. The Jewish Pavilion and Vitas Healthcare are pleased to offer a Free “Grief Support Group” which begins on Wednesday, Nov. 1st and concludes on Dec. 13...
(The Nosher via JTA)-Growing up in Seattle, it's easy to fall in love with pho. Nearly as ubiquitous as coffee shops or teriyaki spots (yes, teriyaki), pho restaurants seem to be just around every corner of the city. They welcome you in from the cold and the rain with their steamy glass windows and equally steamy giant bowls of soup. Pho (pronounced fuh) is a traditional Vietnamese soup that was popularized around the world by Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Vietnam War and its aftermath. Pho...
On a recent sunny Sunday October afternoon, Jewish Pavilion Board of Directors Chair Paul Stenzler shared with an audience of over 400 community members of all ages that "All of you will require the support or services of the Jewish Pavilion at some stage of life as your family matures." Fulfilling this important community need happens only because of private contributions and small grants. Thus, was born the Jewish Pavilion's first ever "Music Fest and Vendor Extravaganza" at Lake Brantley...
Remembering Jewish and American history... We all remember the World Trade Center and the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City. (How could we ever forget?) DANIEL LEWIN, an American-Israeli entrepreneur and former Israeli commando, became the unofficial first casualty of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Born in Denver, Colorado, he moved as a teenager to Jerusalem where he enlisted in Israel's elite special forces commando unit-the Sayeret Matkai. (One of the...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-When it comes to women posing with firearms, the United States is fully loaded. Lithe models can be found showing off weapons at gun shows, in rifle magazines and on dedicated social media pages. Orin Julie may look like just another "gun bunny," as such models are sometimes called, but she is the industry's secret weapon. She is a former Israeli combat soldier who is trained to discharge the weapons she poses with. "I don't stand around in swimwear," she said in an interview at...
Richard Spencer is an alt right leader The 39-year-old Spencer has become the most recognizable public face of the alt right, a loose network of people who promote white identity and reject mainstream conservatism in favor of politics that embrace implicit or explicit racism, anti-Semitism and white supremacy. Spencer coined the term “alternative right” (from which “alt right” is derived) in 2008 in an article in Taki’s Magazine, a far-right publication. At the time, Spencer was using “alternative right” to refer to people on the right who dis...
Ruth Katz Aronson, age 98, of Dunwoody, Georgia, passed away on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, at Berman Commons Assisted Living Facility in Dunwoody. She was the oldest active member of Congregation B’nai Torah in Sandy Springs, Georgia, from 2007- 2017. Ruth was born on April 16, 1919, in New York City, New York, the only daughter of the late Carl David and Nettie Schoenbach Katz. Ruth received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Hunter College and was a retired elementary school teacher. She and her late husband, Moses Aronson, who passed away in 2...
David Fitzer, David ben Mikhael, age 95, of Longwood, passed away at his residence, on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. Born in Bronx, New York, on Aug. 4, 1922, he was the son of the late Max and Toby Berkowitz Fitzer. David earned his master’s degree in psychology from City College of New York and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He spent his working career as a middle-school math teacher, relocating to the Orlando area from Queens in 1983. The family became members of Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation before joining Congregation O...
