Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 33
Ninety-three teens from the Greater Orlando area, along with 11,000 Jewish teens in 80 communities across 16 countries, participated in a day of community service and improvement projects as they took part in J‑Serve, the International Day of Jewish Youth Service on April 12. This year marks the eleventh year that Jewish youth from around the world turned out in force for J‑Serve in an effort to encourage community building and connections across religious and societal lines. Orlando's J-S...
This year the Seminole County School Board presented two school calendars to the community. One was with the school year beginning Aug. 24. The second, which was adopted later, has the school year beginning Aug. 17. What is interesting is that the calendar that was first posted (start date Aug. 24), included Rosh Hashanah (Monday, Sept. 14) and Yom Kippur (Wednesday, Sept. 23) as days off. The new and revised calendar (start date Aug. 17) only allows Rosh Hashanah as a day off. The second calendar came about after Gov. Scott signed the bill...
JFS Orlando, the Winter Park-based nonprofit human service agency, is pleased to announce its upcoming 2015 Spring Brunch on Sunday, May 17 at 11 a.m. at The Heathrow Country Club, located at 1200 Bridgewater Drive, Heathrow, Fla. The brunch will honor Madeline Wolly with the George Wolly Community Leadership Award and will benefit JFS' programs and services including counseling, emergency assistance and the Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry. "We are honored to have Madeline as such an exemplary...
The Jewish Federation of Volusia & Flagler Counties is bringing former prisoner in Iran Barry Rosen to speak at Temple Israel, 1400 S. Peninsula, Daytona Beach, on May 7, at 7 p.m. On Nov. 4, 1979, Rosen became one of 52 Americans who was taken prisoner for 444 days by militants angry after the deposed Shah of Iran was allowed into the United States for medical treatment. Those distant events resonate now with the Egyptian uprising and questions about whether it could become a reprise of the...
(JTA)—After Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2014, Israel resisted pressure to join the United States and its European allies in condemning the move—citing in particular its concern not to antagonize Russia for fear it could provide Syria with a powerful anti-aircraft missile called the S-300. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman was eager to mollify the Obama administration’s anger over Israel’s refusal to endorse sanctions on Russia or support a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea, according to an Op-Ed pub...
(JTA)- Critics love to nitpick Hillary Clinton's personal and policy choices, as they have during the recent email scandal and the Benghazi scandal. This time, however, the critics may have a substantial case against her. As soon as Clinton's campaign was launched, her campaign logo was lampooned from all sides. Some called it too simple, others thought it looked too corporate. Some were just confused that it features a red arrow pointing to the right – a feature that seems to contrast the blue...
The 35th IAJGS International Conference is just around the corner. For a significant discount (and a chance to win great prizes in the drawing), register now. “Early Bird Special” ends on May 6. Visit www.iajgs2015.org to register. There will be a pre-Conference Shabbaton on the Friday-Saturday, July 3-4 weekend preceding the conference. Enjoy an adventure in exploring the sights and sounds of Jerusalem via three tour opportunities. “Exploration Sunday” on July 5 offers the options of either visiting extraordinary research archives or taking...
The first week in May will be a very merry one for the Jewish Pavilion. The organization, which is known for bringing a smile to the face of seniors, is hosting two fundraisers that fall just three days apart. Pavilion Executive Director Nancy Ludin shared, "It just so happened that our annual Fashion Show and Golf Society Tournament ended up being scheduled the same week, when the venues became available to us. Although our upcoming calendar is a little hectic, it's all for the benefit of our...
Two world-class Birders, Dan Alon and Noam Weiss, will be coming to Maitland from Israel on Monday, May 4, on their way to participating in the Cape May, New Jersey, Audubon World Series of Birding event where they came in first place last year for the most bird species counted in Cape May county. This event is sponsored by the Women's Division of the Jewish National Fund and will start with a Bird Walk at the Maitland Community Park at 1400 Mayo Avenue in Maitland at 5:30 p.m. At 7 p.m., there...
On Wednesday, May 6, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) will host a special Lawyers for Israel Breakfast featuring guest speaker Brian Rosenzweig, co-founder and managing partner at JANVEST Technologies. The breakfast will take place 7:45 a.m. at The Alfond Inn, 300 East New England Ave., Winter Park. Founded by two Americans and two Israelis, JANVEST is a U.S.-based investment group operating a series of Institutional Angel Funds directed at seed stage innovation within Israel’s emerging technology market. As a partner at JANVEST, Rosenzweig is r...
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...
Temple Israel invites the Orlando Jewish community to a Lag B’Omer celebration on Sunday, May 3 from 10 a.m. to noon. Participate in the reenactment of the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) that was built by the Israelites during their 40-year journey in the wilderness. Help construct the Mishkan and the Ark of the Covenant, as wll as the Parochet (curtains). Temple Israel is located at 50 S. Moss Road, Winter Springs....
I recently attended the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando’s women’s fundraising event – CHOICES – at the behest of the honoree, Ina Porth. It was a well-run program, and Ina is as deserving of the special attention as anyone could be. But that’s not what I’m writing about. While there were a number of excellent examples of positive programs run by the local Federation (teen trips to Israel, RAISE – Recognizing Abilities and Inclusion of Special Employees), I was moved most by the call to acti...
When Barack Obama began his first term as president, foreign policy chatter was prone to including terms like “regime change” and “axis of evil” in discussions about Iran. But as Obama sought to break decisively with the legacy of his predecessor, George W. Bush, he moved rapidly in the opposite direction, offering an olive branch to the Iranian regime within a few weeks of assuming office. In March 2009, Obama delivered a message to mark the Persian New Year in which he said, “The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its...
By Ira Sharkansky It isn’t the Caribbean image of paradise made popular by Harry Belafonte, but the Israeli reality of being out of step with its surroundings. And the surroundings extend much further than its Muslim neighbors. They also include pretty much the whole world as represented by the United Nations, as well as large segments of American Jews. Israel just ain’t what a lot of people think it is, or think it should be. To a considerable extend, it represents the latest expression of Jewish history, i.e., being an outsider, having to str...
As part of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ongoing campaign to isolate and delegitimize Israel, the Palestinian Football (Soccer) Association is trying to get Israel suspended from international soccer’s governing body. The Palestinians are seeking to have an anti-Israel resolution considered at next month’s annual congress, in Zurich, of the Federation Internationale de Football Association, better known as FIFA. The resolution will argue that Israel should be suspended because it does not sufficiently permit free access between Pales...
KRAKOW, Poland (JTA)—The International March of the Living is in its 27th year. In those years, over 220,000 young people from around the globe have come to Poland to study, reflect and remember. They then return to their communities to share their personal reaction to facing the past through their experience in the present. This is the 70th year since the end of World War II. With every passing day, the number of survivors among us decreases. Our responsibility is to find the best way to ensure that their story is passed on from generation t...
NEW YORK (JTA)—It’s happening again: Palestinian refugees are caught between warring factions in the Middle East and the world is reacting too slowly to their plight. In earlier times, Palestinian refugees found themselves in the crosshairs at the Sabra and Shatila camps, when Lebanese Phalangists massacred them while Israeli forces stood by. Now it’s the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria, where militants from the Islamic State have targeted Palestinian civilians in a reign of terror that Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary-general, has called the ...
Dear Editor: First, I want to give my heartfelt appreciation to the organizers of the Yom HaZikaron Ceremony at the Jewish Community Center on April 21. They presented a most meaningful commemoration. The musicians and singers were outstanding! I want to thank those who shared the memory of loved ones. They did this with great personal pain. On film an American father talked about his fallen IDF son. The Yom Hazikaron program was not well attended for a community our size. Where was the Central Florida Jewish Community? The Israel Defense...
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...
Excerpt from “Modern Hebrew, The Past and Future of a Revitalized Language,” McFarland Publishing, July 2014. As in other cultures and their respective languages, the favorite topics of Hebrew slang are differences in behavior between the sexes, dating, marriage, family relations, money, politics and politicians. Additional favorite topics in Israel for satire are exasperation with the bureaucracy and ultra-orthodox establishment, the kibbutz way of life, class differences and the income gap, crime, undesirable behavior in public places, and...
The Jewish Academy of Orlando has begun a Robotics Club, which meets after school once per week. At the Robotics Club students explore robotics and programming using the latest Lego EV3 robots. The students have been busy building and programming robots to do exciting challenges and simple tasks, such as throwing and retrieving items. The students work in collaborative teams and utilize the school’s new EV3 robotics kits. This club is the first step to competitive robotics, with the goal being to create the first ever Jewish Academy c...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-For help facing its worst drought in centuries, California should look to a country that beat its own chronic water shortage: Israel. Until a few years ago, Israel's wells seemed like they were always running dry. TV commercials urged Israelis to conserve water. Newspapers tracked the rise and fall of Lake Kinneret, Israel's biggest freshwater source. Religious Israelis gathered to pray for rainfall at the Western Wall during prolonged dry spells. However, the once perpetual...
Emily Taylor Escobar, daughter of Carlos and Heather Escobar of Apopka, will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 9, 2015, at Congregation Beth Am in Longwood. Emily is in the seventh grade at St. Mary Magdalen where she is a member of the National Junior Honor Society. Emily has always had a passion for dance. She also loves photography, music, singing and acting. Emily's Mitzvah Project was held at Feeding Children Everywhere in Longwood. She, along with her friends and...
All of a sudden... At the ripe old age of 68 (oh shut up!) I find myself nervous about being Jewish. I went through this as a very young child of five, taking beatings every day until I began lying and saying I was Catholic. (I even learned my "Hail Mary's") but pushed it out of my mind when, a few years later, I learned of the Holocaust and the torture my people endured. I was very ashamed of myself for denying my heritage... although at that tender age, I sort of understood why. This all...
