Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 26 - 38 of 38
NEW YORK (JTA)—Until [two weeks ago], Michael Broyde was considered one of the most respected Orthodox rabbis in America. A professor of law at Emory University, the author of dozens of books and articles, and a leading authority on the intersection of religious and secular law, Broyde was sought after regularly to render opinions on matters of ritual practice and Jewish ethics. He was among the handful of members of the Beth Din of America, the centrist Orthodox community’s religious court. He reportedly was shortlisted as a candidate to rep...
(JTA)—Having grown up in a devoutly Christian home, Irene Lopez would probably not be raising her daughter Jewish if not for David Lazar, the charismatic rabbi of the Great Synagogue of Stockholm. Lopez and her Jewish husband, Samuel Sjoblom, are among the Swedes who were drawn to the Great Synagogue in recent years by the magnetic, if occasionally prickly, personality of Lazar, the energetic Israeli-American who has held the position since 2010. “My decision to convert my daughter was very muc...
Elijah Ben Goldberg, son of Russell and Amy Goldberg of Lake Mary, Fla., will be called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah Saturday, May 4, 2013 at Congregation Beth Am in Longwood. Eli is an “A” student in the seventh grade at Sanford Middle School. He has his black belt in Tae Kwon Do, enjoys hanging out with friends and plays a tuba in the school band. Sharing in the family’s simcha will be his brothers, Jonah and Noah; his grandparents, Dr. Alan and Anita Guy of Maitland; grandmother, Ingri...
A correction… In last week’s column I suggested sending garbage pails filled with doggie poop bags over to North Korea as a missile. I now realize that was such a bad idea because human poop is used to fertilize the soil in North Korea. If they are accustomed to inhaling that, well… what more need I say? Texas, Boston, Ricin poisoned letters… What a week. I shudder to think what’s in store. It’s starting to feel like we are living in Pakistan! So much hate, so many sick and twisted people. We do...
Get out your squeegees and glass cleaner. In Berlin, Jews are being put on display in a transparent box, and you might want a clear view. Called “Jews in a Showcase,” the exhibit, which runs through August, invites a Jew to sit and answer questions. It’s part of an exhibition called “The Whole Truth … everything you always wanted to know about Jews” that opened at the Jewish Museum Berlin last month. “At selected times, a Jewish guest will take a seat in a showcase and will—if desired—react to visitors’ questions and comments,” says the...
While the Israeli economy has managed to steadily weather the global financial crisis of recent years, a growing budget deficit now threatens to disturb the relative economic stability of the past several years. Freshman Knesset Member and newly minted Finance Minister Yair Lapid must now attempt to raise government revenues by increasing taxes and slashing expenditures in order to close sizeable gaps in the 2013 budget. The uncomfortable measures, and remaining budget shortfalls, leave many...
Hundreds of Jewish markings catalogued in Portuguese town (JTA)—Portuguese researchers have catalogued hundreds of secret markings that Jews left on structures in Seia in the 16th century following their forced conversion to Christianity. A three-member team said it found 500 markings in Seia, a north Portugal municipality, including coded Hebrew letters and words carved into walls of homes where converted Jews used to live. Alberto Martinho, Jose Levy Domingos and Luiza Metzker Lyra, the research team, said they also found distinctive i...
BALTIMORE (JTA)—Josh Perelman is seeking kin—but not his own. Rather, Perelman is on a quest for families and individuals who will share memories, artifacts and pictures that help tell the story of the American Jewish relationship with baseball. As chief curator for the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, Perelman is mounting an exhibition that will open next March. Instead of focusing solely on American Jewish baseball icons such as Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax, the e...
AMMAN, Jordan—The death of a Jordanian tourism policeman killed while guarding visiting Israelis have evoked threats by members of the victim’s tribe to abduct or kill Israeli tourists unless the government opens an independent probe into the incident. “Any Israeli could find himself the target of a kidnapping or other measures,” Mohammed Jarah, brother of Sgt. Ibrahim Jarah, told The Media Line by telephone from his home in the town of Mazar, 110 miles south of Amman. “We want to know what happened to my brother. The government must open an i...
BUDAPEST, Hungary (JTA)—On a corner in the heart of the former Jewish ghetto here, David Popovits sits down for some matzah ball soup and super-sized dumplings at his newly opened kosher-style restaurant. A burly, 40-year-old Hungarian Jewish businessman, Popovits used to eat in the restaurant as a boy, when its former owners ran a “dirty little place that smelled like oil but had good Wiener schnitzel,” as Popovits puts it. It wasn’t the memories but the location that convinced Popovit...
Ma’arat Numan, Syria—When the jihadist organization Jabhat al-Nusra announced it was joining Al-Qa’ida last week, Syrians in rebel-held territories cringed. “Now everyone will think our revolution is nothing but a jihadist power grab,” complained 28-year-old Muhammad Ansari to The Media Line. “Who will support us now?” With the Syrian revolution faltering and secular rebel groups disintegrating amidst infighting and civilian abuses, it is the jihadists who have benefitted most. But the attention they have received from foreigners has angered S...
Id Khamis Jahalin sits in his sparsely furnished, illegally-built shack, and worries about his future. A father of seven, he was born in this community of tents and shacks about 10 miles east of Jerusalem. Sitting on a thin mattress that substitutes for a couch during the day and a bed at night, Id Khamis told The Media Line that a new Israeli plan to relocate the Jahalin Bedouin community, “is the worst one yet. It is not appropriate for us at all. The place they want to move us to is surrounded on all four sides and it is very crowded. I a...
NEW YORK (JTA)—With the summer travel season fast approaching, providers of Israel programs for teenagers are bracing themselves for what several say could be a season of historically low travel in a year unaffected by major security concerns. Over the past decade, Israel travel among those aged 13 to 18 has seen a dramatic falloff. Though exact figures are difficult to come by, leaders of several leading North American teen programs say they have seen drops of 30 percent to 50 percent in participation in their Israel trips since 2000. Two r...
