Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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After having a presence in the southwest Orlando area for 15 years, and even though the building is not complete, Chabad of South Orlando, including the Chai Preschool Orlando and Orlando Jewish Day School, has officially moved into its beautiful new 11,000-square-foot facility-The Center of Jewish Life, located at 7347 Sand Lake Road in Orlando. They expect the new building to be completed by Rosh Hashanah. On a tour of the facility, Rabbi Yosef Konikov explained their operations. They have Sha...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-At noon Monday, several hundred students marched through the bright March sunshine from the J Street conference at the Washington Convention Center for a protest. "This is not a march!" organizers pleaded as the orderly group moved south from the Carnegie Library to the headquarters of Hillel International. With Hillel staffers mostly sequestered inside, student leaders of the self-described "pro-Israel, pro-peace" organization stood on folding chairs, held a megaphone to their...
(JNS.org)-U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), upon announcing that he will run for president, said he would support Israel "unapologetically." "Instead of a president who boycotts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, imagine a president who stands unapologetically with the nation of Israel," Cruz told an audience at Virginia's Liberty University on Monday. Earlier this month, Cruz-now the first official candidate in the 2016 presidential race-told Israel Hayom that the Obama administration is not doing...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-With the clock winding down on a recent game here, Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt was still barking out instructions to his players despite enjoying a late 40-point lead over the Washington Wizards. Things didn't come quite as easy early this season for the rookie NBA coach and his team, which had great expectations with the return of four-time MVP LeBron James via free agency from the Miami Heat. Cleveland stumbled to a 19-20 record, leading some pundits to question...
Brody Criz wants to be like Jim Carrey when he grows up. He wants to be known for "being funny." So when it came time to send out his bar mitzvah invitations, this creative young man, a seventh grader at Caruso Middle School in Deerfield, Illinois, went all out with a video produced by Xpress Video Productions and put it on YouTube. Becoming a "Billboard Top 5 Mitzvah Invitation" it has gotten more than 1,970,136 views in just three weeks. In the video, Criz parodied five popular songs,...
Near the entrance to the city of Ariel in the heart of Samaria lies an Arab strip mall of sorts, where Jews and Palestinians alike can get fruits and vegetables, a car wash, pet supplies, hummus, and falafel. The former mayor of Ariel, Ron Nachman, used to joke that the area is Ariel's "duty-free zone." It's located right on the border of Israeli-controlled and Palestinian-controlled territory, so no one really knows exactly to whom the shop owners pay taxes. Abu Ali, a Palestinian man who owns...
Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Artistic Director John V. Sinclair is pleased to announce two performances of Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” on April 25 and 26 at Knowles Memorial Chapel in Winter Park. The performances will be the final program in the Society’s continuing celebration of 80 years of bringing world-class music to Winter Park. With its Old Testament story (earthquake, fire, and the “still small voice”) and its massive choral conception, “Elijah” is Mendelssohn’s take on the English oratorios of Handel. In the more reflective moments...
On Sunday, May 17, at 2 p.m., the Zionistas invite the community to attend a presentation titled "Survival and Promise" by Pastor Blake Lorenz. The presentation will be held at Encounter Global Outreach, 62 S. Orange Avenue, #108, Orlando. There is no cost for admission' Pastor Lorenz, a strong supporter of Israel, coordinated a rally at Rollins College in support for Israel during Operation Protective Edge last summer. He can be seen at events supporting AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs...
In remembrance of Yom Ha Shoah, Temple Israel's Adult Education committee will present Orlando's premier showing of the nationally acclaimed movie "A Journey into the Holocaust," on Wednesday, April 15 at 7 p.m., at the synagogue, located at 50 S. Moss Road, Winter Springs. This acclaimed documentary delves into the root cause of why the Holocaust happened. Written, directed and produced by Paul S. Bachow, it has received worldwide recognition. In this documentary, Bachow tries to answer the...
President Barack Obama is correct. There is, as he said on Tuesday, no realistic prospect of a Palestinian state being created through a diplomatic process for the foreseeable future. “What we can’t do is pretend that there’s a possibility for something that’s not there,” Obama said. “And we can’t continue to premise our public diplomacy based on something that everybody knows is not going to happen at least in the next several years.” So that, it would seem, is that. In 2012, Obama confidently told the U.N. General Assembly, “The road is ha...
The heading is not meant to mourn the election results, but the month or more of haggling and babbling that will surround us until there is a new government. Several times a day we’ll be hearing commentators speculating about who gets what ministries. Just as often we’ll hear the self-appointed “ranking” members of each party likely to join the coalition telling us what ministries they deserve. Kahlon, Lieberman, and Deri have threatened to bolt if Bibi doesn’t cooperate. So far we haven’t heard about talks between Bibi and Lapid, but that ma...
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to appeal directly to Israel’s nationalist camp in the final days of the election campaign appears to have paid off, at least in the short term. He won a decisive victory and is now in the process of forming a coalition of right-wing and charedi parties as he had hoped in calling for new elections in December. But the repercussions of his actions, beginning with his decision to break U.S. protocol and address the U.S. Congress without the invitation of the president, are profound and continue to resonate wit...
My name is Gabriel Naddaf, and I have the privilege of being a Greek Orthodox priest from Nazareth in the Galilee. My people have mistakenly been called “Christian Arabs”, but the reality is that we are Arameans, descendents of people who lived here in Israel since the time of the Bible. Recently Israel’s Interior Ministry has recognized us as the “Aramean nation,” following a lengthy public campaign. Partners in this effort were a number of Israeli Zionist organizations. In the past three years I have become a controversial figure in Israel...
My name is Gabriel Naddaf, and I have the privilege of being a Greek Orthodox priest from Nazareth in the Galilee. My people have mistakenly been called “Christian Arabs”, but the reality is that we are Arameans, descendents of people who lived here in Israel since the time of the Bible. Recently Israel’s Interior Ministry has recognized us as the “Aramean nation,” following a lengthy public campaign. Partners in this effort were a number of Israeli Zionist organizations. In the past three years I have become a controversial figure in Israel...
(JTA)—Another slick bar mitzvah invitation video of questionable taste has gone viral. This time it’s for the impending bar mitzvah of Brody Criz, whose invitation consists of him starring in a Jew-ified medley of pop-song parodies—including one of “Blurred Lines,” the song to which Miley Cyrus famously twerked. Fortunately, Criz doesn’t twerk, but he does bare way more skin than I’d like to see, even if I weren’t more than three times his age. In cases like this, it’s easy to pile on with judgments about materialism, superficiality, ...
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...
Thanks to the generosity of Melvin and Zelda Siskind, visitors to the Holocaust Center enjoy a major improvement in how well they can hear a presentation in the back exhibit room. A new high-quality sound system, complete with sound enhancement for visitors with hearing impairments, has been installed and is now in use. At Melvin's suggestion, he and Zelda decided that upon their passing, they wanted to donate funds to various Jewish charities-the Holocaust Center being one of their primary...
Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations for the 2015 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando. “For more than 25 years, individuals who have made major, voluntary contributions of their talent, time, energy and effort to the Central Florida community have been honored with the selection and presentation of this award,” said Jeff Gaeser, editor and publisher of the Heritage. Last year’s recipient was Loren London. Former recipients have included Wolf...
Melvin J. Bloom, age 91, of Sanford, passed away on Friday, March 20, 2015, at his residence at Atria at Lake Forest. Mr. Bloom was born in Boston, Mass., on March 23, 1923, to the late Bernhard Joseph Bloom and Eva Schwartz Bloom. He served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II. Mr. Bloom was a salesman in the dental industry. Mr. Bloom is survived by his son, Kenneth, of Sanford. Funeral services and burial took place in Sharon Memorial Park, Sharon, Mass. Funeral arrangements entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, 640 Lee Road,...
Susan Roberta Kay, age 69, passed away on Monday, March 23, 2015, at her residence. She was born in New York, N.Y., on Aug. 23, 1945, to the late Seaman R. and Anita Fuchs Kay. She held a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and Master of Science in computer science. In 1990, she relocated to the West Palm Beach area and worked as a donations liaison for the Jewish Federation of West Palm. She was also an active member of Temple Beth Tikvah in Greenacres. Last year, she moved to the Windermere area where she became a member of SOJC. She is s...
Alice M. Melendez, age 45, of Tampa, passed away on Friday, March 20, 2015, at Florida Hospital—Tampa. A native of New Brunswick, New Jersey, she worked as a shipping clerk in the warehouse industry. She was the wife of Christopher Melendez who survives her. She is also survived by her two children, Branden and Alyssa of New Jersey; and three sisters. A graveside service for family and friends was held at Orlando Memorial Gardens in Apopka. Funeral arrangements entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, 640 Lee Road, Orlando 3...
This article first appeared on Knightly News and the website is listed knighlynews.ucf.edu Chabad at UCF, a group for Jewish students, organized the Mega Challah Bake in the Pegasus Ballroom in the Student Union. Rabbi Chaim Lipskier, educational director at Chabad at UCF, hosted the event with his wife, Rivkie, program director at Chabad at UCF. Challah is a loaf of white leavened bread, typically plaited in form, traditionally baked to celebrate the Jewish Sabbath. Chaim Lipskier calls the...
Congregation Ohev Shalom Hebrew school will be holding open houses for any prospective students entering pre-k through seventh grade in the fall and their parents. "The best way to see what we do is to see us in action," said Amy Geboff, director of youth and family education. Students are invited to spend a day at school on any of the following Sundays and Wednesdays: April 12, 15, 19, 22, 26, 29; and May 3, 6, 10. On any of the Sundays, Education committee members will be available to chat wit...
The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando's Choices' 40 ambassadors have been working hard to make this year's event the party of the year. On April 14, Choices will be off and running into its 21st celebration, starting out of the gate with a Kentucky Derby-themed cocktail party, complete with its own signature drink created especially for Choices women, "The Sparkling Mint Jewlep," to sip while mingling with friends or having pictures taken against a green screen with images of racing scenes or...
Am I "green" with envy? No way! But, if you are a "senior citizen" you should read this story sent to me by a reader: "Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags are not good for the environment. The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days." The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care...
