Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 26 - 38 of 38
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The first editor of the Oxford English Dictionary thought the term “anti-Semite” would be short lived and thus did not include it in the original edition of the massive lexicon. A 1900 letter by the editor, James Murray, explaining why he omitted the term was discovered recently in the archives of the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem and placed online. The OED was first published in several installments between 1884 and 1928. Murray, a British lexicographer, was writing to scholar and anti-Zionist Claude Monte...
JNS)—As the world’s attention has been focused on combating the spread of the coronavirus for the past two months, presidential primary campaign politics in the United States has been put on the backburner. Former Vice President Joe Biden has all but sealed the 2020 Democratic nomination, and has gained the endorsements of several Democratic and left-wing Jewish groups, such as J Street and the Democratic Majority for Israel. Initial polling indicates a close race this November. Nevertheless, given the uncertainty over the coronavirus pan...
Susan Grossman Michalczak passed away peacefully in her home in Orlando on May 2, 2020, with her husband, Bob, at her side. She was 71 years old. Susan was born in New York, N.Y., on July 28, 1948 to Arthur and Thelma Grossman. She received her master’s degree in Special Education, a true vocation. She moved to Orlando in 1980, where she taught in various roles for most of her life. She truly loved children, but none more than her sons, Justin and Joshua. In 1993, Susan met the love of her life Robert (Bob) Michalczak and his two children Justi...
Martin Scott Cohn, age 55, of Winter Park, passed away on Monday, May 4, 2020, at AdventHealth—Winter Park. Martin was born in Miami, Fla., on Feb. 6, 1965, to Norman L. Cohn and the late Charlotte Rosenbleeth Cohn. Martin grew up in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., graduating from Choctawhatchee High School in 1982. Following graduation, Martin worked in radio and was known as “Scotty Martin” on air for WNUE and WYZB in Fort Walton Beach and as “Martin Ellesar” at WQUH in DeFuniak Springs, Fla., in the late 1980s. Martin made his living in the hospita...
Hilda Ruth Frishman passed away on May 2, 2020 surrounded by her loving children, Susan and husband Larry Wiggins, Jerry, Ellen and Barry. Born in Rockaway Beach, N.Y., on March 26, 1928, she was married for 59 years to Fred Frishman, who predeceased her in 2007. She led a wonderful life as a mother, grandmother, business owner and a friend to all who had the pleasure of knowing her. Hilda was the owner of the Washington, D.C., and Central Florida franchises of the Diet Workshop, which she ran successfully for decades. Hilda had a second...
Rose Geller passed away very peacefully on May 3, 2020. She courageously fought a three-year battle with cancer. Rose was an incredible inspiration and friend to many people. Rose is survived by her loving husband of 60 years, Dr. Joshua Geller of Pittsburgh, Pa.; sons, David Geller of Orlando; Aaron (Sharon) Geller of New Hampshire; Gary Geller of Pittsburgh, Pa.; and three grandchildren. If you wish to donate in honor of Rose, please consider the Susan G. Komen Foundation (www.komen.org) as Rose lost her mother at the age of 12 to breast...
Lillian Tobias, age 93, of Lake Mary, passed away peacefully at her home on Thursday, May 7, 2020. She was born in New York, New York, on Dec. 18, 1926, to the late Aaron Morris Zaritsky and Rebecca Friedland Zaritsky. Lillian was a high school graduate and worked as a bookkeeper in manufacturing. Lillian was the widow of the late Bernard Tobias, who passed away in December 1987. She relocated to the Orlando area from Statesville, N.C., in 1993. Lillian is survived by her son, Elliot (Tina) of Memphis; her daughters, Susan (Michael) Vignola of...
(JNS)-United Hatzalah of Israel, the country's largest independent volunteer emergency medical response organization, put on an online fundraising telethon on Sunday to support the group's coronavirus fund. Dubbed "Saving Lives Sunday: A Streaming Event Honoring First Responders and Welcoming Home Eli Beer," the program highlighted the life-saving work of the organization's 6,000 volunteer first responders, in addition to paying tribute to the organization's founder and president, Eli Beer, who...
By Ariel Ben Solomon (JNS)-Growing calls for an investigation into China's handling and possible cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak have observers debating the potential implications for both Israeli and U.S. policy on China. In Israel, there was concern over Chinese penetration of key areas of the economy even before the pandemic. China is Israel's second-largest trading partner after the United States, with $11.5 billion in annual trade, according to data gathered by Bloomberg. However, in t...
Dutch king acknowledges Jews felt ‘abandoned’ by his great-grandmother Wilhelmina By Cnaan Liphshiz AMSTERDAM (JTA)—King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands in a memorial day speech acknowledged his great-grandmother’s perceived indifference to the fate of Dutch Jews during the Holocaust. The unprecedented public acknowledgment came Monday during the annual speech at the national memorial ceremony in Amsterdam for Dutch victims of armed conflicts during and after World War II. The king spoke there for the first time. It concerned Queen Wilhelmi...
(JNS)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday touted Israel's "major success" in confronting the coronavirus pandemic, and laid out the government's plan for a phased reopening of the economy following weeks of lockdowns. Speaking at a press conference on Monday night, Netanyahu presented a graph illustrating the Jewish state's low infection rates and death tolls relative to other countries, and said that the result proved that the strict anti-coronavirus measures he began to impose...
AMSTERDAM (JTA)—In his native Germany and beyond, Hans Calmeyer is celebrated as a hero who saved more Jews from the Holocaust than Oskar Schindler. As a jurist for the Nazi German forces in the Netherlands, Calmeyer was put in charge of a small team that evaluated pleas by people who tried to save themselves by disputing their classification as Jews. According to Israel’s national Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, Calmeyer’s actions in his post, which involved accepting many of these pleas—some were quite flimsy—saved at least 3,000 people. I...
(JTA)-Every summer, JCC Ranch Camp in Colorado gives hundreds of kids an outdoorsy Jewish experience. There's hiking, mountain biking, ropes courses and horseback riding, along with the traditional camp staples of team sports, arts and crafts, meals in a communal dining hall and hours of hanging out on acres upon acres of green space. Crucially, the kids enjoy independence from their parents-and the same for parents from their kids. Not this year. Like a growing group of Jewish camps across the...
