Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Did you know that three out of four adults have HPV by the age of 30, and 62 percent of freshman in college? HPV-related tonsil cancer has become an epidemic among men between the ages of 40 – 60. April is Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month. To celebrate survivors and give hope to patients and caregivers, as well as honor those who died, Jason Mendelsohn is making a difference by raising funds and awareness with a Whiskey and Wine Fundraiser and Awareness Event at Mercedes-Benz of Orlando on Sunday, April 23, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. M...
(JNS) — They started popping up on social media one after another on Monday afternoon. Israeli flags blowing in the wind. Israeli flags with pictures of families hugging each other. Israeli flags with the image of a mother and her two daughters smiling, with the words “Am Yisrael chai”—Hebrew for “The nation of Israel lives.” On Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the images were posted within hours of Rabbi Leo Dee’s plea to post photos of Israeli flags to honor the memory of his wife, Lucy, and daughters Maia and Rina. The 22-year-old a...
(JNS) - Benjamin ("Ben") Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials, passed away on April 7 at the age of 103. According to The New York Times, he died at an assisted-living facility in Boynton Beach, Fla. A Harvard-educated New York lawyer, Ferencz was only 27 when he secured the convictions of German officers in 1947 at Nuremberg, where prominent Nazi representatives from the political, military and economic spheres were put on trial. Ferencz was put in charge of the...
This article was sent to Heritage right before Passover but was too late to make it in one of the two papers that come out during Passover. Still, we felt it should be shared because it is so timely. There are many things that are charming about Jerusalem. Once, I read a book titled "Letters From Jerusalem 1947-1948" by a woman who lived here in the 1940s, fought during the War of Independence, and spoke about many of the challenges of living in Jerusalem at that time. One thing that struck me w...
The Roth Family JCC’s Seniors on the Go (formerly the 39ers) recently had a visit from a therapy dog named Honey. Meeting Honey was not only therapeutic but fun for the seniors. Seniors on the Go is open to all seniors in the area 65+ who are members of the Roth JCC. People who have Medicaid can obtain a free membership here under the “Silver Sneakers” program. The next event will be on Monday, April 17. The group is having a lunch-out day at Antonios in Maitland. Anyone who has questions or wo...
Spring is always a busy time of year. It can be easy to forget to take time for yourself. But Saturday Night Out at the Rosen JCC is the perfect solution. Parents get a chance to plan a night for them. They can get together with friends or go to dinner, a show, shopping or just quiet time. Kids go to the Rosen JCC for a night packed with activities. There are games and art projects. They can use the playground. Finally, there is a movie and pizza to wind down the night. Space is limited and it does sell out so don’t miss your chance. This w...
Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations for the 2023 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando this summer. “For more than 30 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 Dr. Edward Zissman. Former recip...
(JTA) — There are 49 days between the second night of Passover and the holiday of Shavuot, but who’s counting? Jews the world over, in fact, and in languages familiar and obscure. The daily counting of the Omer is an old ritual being given new life this season by the Jewish Language Project at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. On each day of the seven-week period, the research group will post a version of the counting in a different vernacular Jewish language, from Ladino and Yiddish to less familiar languages like Jud...
(JTA) — Nikki Fried, who chairs Florida’s Democratic Party, was arrested at a protest for abortion rights in the state capital, along with 10 other demonstrators. The protest on April 3, which took place outside Tallahassee City Hall, was in opposition to a proposed six-week abortion ban in Florida that the state senate passed Monday evening. The bill must pass the state House of Representatives before heading to the desk of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Fried, who is Jewish, previously served as Florida’s commissioner of agriculture, a rare De...
(JNS) — The Anti-Defamation League announced plans to open a satellite office in Brooklyn, N.Y., which its CEO and national director Jonathan Greenblatt calls one of the “epicenters for antisemitism in this country.” Of more than 395 antisemitic incidents that the ADL documented in New York City last year, 147 occurred in Brooklyn, home to a number of large Orthodox Jewish communities easily identifiable by their dress. Neighborhoods include Crown Heights, Williamsburg, Flatbush and Borough Park. “The Brooklyn community has been burdened with a...
(JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog resumed talks on Monday with Knesset factions aimed at hammering out a compromise on judicial reform. The president again hosted working teams representing the ruling coalition and the leading opposition parties Yesh Atid and National Unity, respectively the second- and third-largest parties in Israel’s parliament after Likud. Talks are being held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. Herzog convened the first meeting on March 28, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of a fre...
(JNS) — Over 3,000 years ago a slave revolt took place that has been repeated every year since. It was not just a rebellion against a long since vanished pharaoh whose dynasty and people have been consigned to dust along with his treasure cities that the Jewish slaves had labored over. The revolutions of the past come and go. Nations rise and fall, and then fall further into the history books. Passover, however, was a remarkable revolt not just against an empire, but paganism, and it remains relevant even all these thousands of years later. In...
(JNS) — In a tactic straight out of Barack Obama’s playbook, President Joe Biden has put serious daylight between the United States and Israel with his decision not to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. During previous administrations, such an invitation was a customary gesture when a new Israeli prime minister assumed office. Netanyahu has met with Britain’s prime minister in London and traveled to Germany to meet with the German chancellor, but has no meetings scheduled with the leader of Israel’s closest all...
(Gatestone Institute via JNS) — An anti-Israel group called Palestinian Solidarity Forum (PSF) on March 20 invited officials from the Iranian-backed Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to speak at an event at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. The two terror leaders, Khaled Qaddoumi of Hamas and Nasser Abu Sharif of PIJ, addressed students during the annual “Israel Apartheid Week,” a one-sided propaganda event smearing Israel that takes place every year on a number of university campuses in the United State...
(JNS) — Second gentleman Doug Emhoff had never shown any interest in his Jewish identity until his wife, Kamala Harris, was elected vice president of the United States. But though it would be an exaggeration to treat him as the Biden administration’s point person on anything, he has, almost by default, become one of its leading spokespersons on Jewish issues. It was understandable that he emerged from Harris’s recent trip to Eastern Europe with some Jewish anecdotes along with his comments seeking to bolster the administration’s stand on the wa...
MORNING MINYANS 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. Congregation Ohev Shalom — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-298-4650. GOBOR Community Minyan at Jewish Academy...
(JNS) The family of Or Eshkar, 32, who died on March 20 of a bullet wound sustained during a terror attack in Tel Aviv on March 9, donated his organs to five people. Eshkar’s heart was transplanted into a 65-year-old man. A 75-year-old man received his liver. A 52-year-old and a 59-year-old each received a kidney. And a liver lobe was transplanted into a one-year-old. The heart transplant, which went to Yedidya Sulimani, a father of four and grandfather of 11, was “complex” because the patient had an artificial heart implanted previ...
(JTA) - The 2023 MLB season is almost upon us, and it has the potential to be a historic year for Jews in professional baseball. Last year, 17 Jewish players appeared in a game - a likely record. This season, the number could be even higher. The slate of Jewish players in the game this year features stars such as Max Fried and Alex Bregman, on-the-rise big league talent like Harrison Bader and Dean Kremer, and an impressive wave of minor league prospects on the cusp of the majors. With the World...
(JTA) - While the United States swung its door shut to most refugees during World War II, a young American in France saved thousands, including some of the 20th century's defining artists and thinkers - such as Marc Chagall and Hannah Arendt - from the Nazis. The rescue mission of Varian Fry, which went largely unrecognized during his life, is the subject of Netflix's new drama "Transatlantic," from "Unorthodox" creator Anna Winger. Starring Cory Michael Smith as Fry, the seven-episode...
(JNS) - In a video message, Rabbi Leo Dee - whose wife, Lucy, 48, and daughters, Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, were murdered in a terrorist attack - called for the observance of April 10 as "Dees Day." "Today, we differentiate between good and evil, right and wrong," he said. Dee described being unable to reach his wife and daughters, who were traveling in a different car, after hearing that there had been a terrorist attack. Then he saw a missed call from one of his daughters. "The feeling that she...
When visiting a doctor or hospital bring along a notebook or tablet and take notes. It is important to ask question of your health care provider about the benefits and side effects of medications or procedures. I suggest that you, or a loved one, researches the same information online so that you feel well informed. There are times when a second opinion should be sought, especially preceding a surgery. I recommend you bring along an advocate. Sometimes, it is hard to process so much new information. When a family member or friend comes to an ap...
(JTA) - In the hit show "The Sopranos," veteran actor Jerry Adler plays mob-adjacent Jewish businessman Hesh Rabkin, who made a fortune in the music business decades earlier. In a first season episode, Hesh is confronted by a rapper seeking "reparations" for a late Black musician who he says Rabkin didn't pay fairly for a hit record. When Hesh responds by bragging that he wrote the hit songs he worked on back in the day, Tony Soprano corrects him: "A couple of Black kids wrote that record, you...
(JNS) - A coordinated cyberattack took down the websites of major Israeli universities on Tuesday. A hacker group calling itself "Anonymous Sudan" claimed responsibility for the attack on its Telegram account, stating that the "Israel education sector has been dropped because of what they did in Palestine." Institutions impacted by the attack include Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheva, the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, the Open University of Israel and Reichman Un...
Mr. Neil Lewis Engel, 72, died Thursday, March 30, 2023, at his Winter Park home following a brief illness. Mr. Engel was born Aug. 25, 1950, in Chicago, Illinois to the late Albert and Miriam (Shapiro) Engel. He and his wife, the late Sharon (Olsen) Engel, moved to the Winter Park area in 1984 from Israel. Mr. Engel is survived by his beloved daughter, Sheri DeMaio and son Dean DeMaio, dearest sister Angel Tardy and beloved granddaughter, Nicole Ball. Graveside services were held at Waldheim Jewish Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois with Rabbi...
Dr. Albert H. Marcus of Altamonte Springs, FL, formerly of Hingham, Mass., died in Florida at his home on Monday, March 27, 2023. He was 93 years old. Dr. Marcus was born in Quincy, Mass., to the late Herman and Sadie (Rudinsky) Marcus, who emigrated from Eastern Europe. Dr. Marcus attended Boston University for his undergraduate studies and earned his M.D. from Boston University School of Medicine. He completed his internship at Philadelphia General Hospital and his residency at Boston City...
