Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS)-When you visit Nachal Prat, you can almost feel what it was like to be a seventh-century Israelite leading your donkey, its saddle bags full of water, to Jerusalem. Nachal Prat, often referred to by its Arab name, Wadi Kelt, is nothing less than "a hidden gem both for its beauty and its sense of the past visible in every stone here." So says Daniel Gutman, a tour guide who has been leading groups around Israel for the last decade. "It's in a place like Nachal Prat that the past comes...
Being in his late 80s was not a deterrent for Longwood resident Bob Herpe to becoming an author of a fiction mystery novel. He'd worn many "hats" in his careers and enjoyed many experiences-good and bad-to equal a "full" life. A creative man, writing almost came second nature. He already had experience with writing commercials for Broadcast Radio (he has owned several radio stations across the U.S.), and he wrote kiddie television shows when he worked for CBS in Chicago. However, he never seriou...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts named the winner of a redesign competition for its Israeli Lounge, a tribute to the U.S.-Israel relationship that Israel contributed at the 1971 launch of Washington D.C.'s signature performing art space. A team of three women from EYP, an American design firm that focuses on institutions of "higher education, government, healthcare, and science and technology," will lead the redesign of the room, which is expected to be complet...
Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations for the 2019 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando on Aug. 18, from 10 a.m. - noon. “For more than 29 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 Roz Fuchs. Forme...
Early on a bright and pleasant Sunday morning, more than 100 players teed up at Rosen Shingle Creek Golf Club for the Pavilion Golf Society's annual golf tournament. The May 5th event benefitted the Orlando Senior Help Desk, a service of the Jewish Pavilion that offers free advice on services and living options for seniors. The morning began with a light breakfast, after which golfers took to their carts and positioned themselves for the shotgun start. A luncheon followed the tournament and...
"A whole-child approach to education is instrumental in raising well-adjusted children who have self-compassion, the confidence to take on new challenges, and the resilience to get back up and try again," said JAO's in-house school guidance counselor Danielle Glover about the Jewish Academy of Orlando's multi-faceted whole-child development program. Glover guides the school's whole-child development with regular classroom guidance sessions, one-on-one and small group counseling, and parent...
The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando will collaborate with the Atlantic Institute, a Turkish Muslim organization, to host an interfaith Ramadan event at The Roth Family Jewish Community Center on Thursday, May 30, at 7:30 p.m. The event, a traditional Muslim fasting-breaking dinner meal and ceremony known as an Iftar, will serve as an opportunity for the Jewish and Muslim communities to develop deeper ties and understanding. “We knew we wanted to participate in an interfaith Ramadan event, and the A...
(JTA)-Jessica Meir has been preparing to go into space since the age of 5. She attended her first space camp after finishing middle school and a training program at the Kennedy Space Center following her sophomore year at Brown University. It took Meir three tries to be chosen for NASA's highly selective astronaut training program, which she started in 2013 and from which she graduated two years later. Last month, NASA announced that Meir will be participating in her first mission. It still...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—An imam who has wished for the end of Zionism, called for a third Intifada and likened Israel to Nazi-era Germany, delivered the opening prayer for a session of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. Omar Suleiman, the founder and president of the Dallas-based Yaqeen Institute, an organization that describes itself as a resource about Islam, referred to recent attacks on houses of worship—which has included synagogues in the United States—in his opening remarks. “Let us not be deterred by the hatred that has claimed...
(JTA)—Children at a Muslim center in Philadelphia sing they will “chop off their heads”—an apparent reference to Jews—in a video uploaded by the center to Facebook. The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations is investigating the April 17 program at the Muslim American Society’s chapter in the city, The Associated Press reported. The Middle East Media Research Institute posted a translation of the video on Friday. The children in the program, from young kids to early teens, are wearing Palestinian scarves. They sing in one of the lyrics,...
(JNS)—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on Wednesday that the creation of the State of Israel was “one of the greatest accomplishments of the 20th century.” “My view of the establishment of the State of Israel is one of the greatest accomplishments of the 20th century; it was a political, official establishment of a country,” she told The Washington Post. “It was so exciting.” “Israel, we have shared values. Our friend in the Middle East for a long time—our only friend, our most serious partner in the Middle East, let me put it tha...
Sherwood Alan Weisman, doctor of podiatric medicine, was born in Manhattan, N.Y., on April 21, 1946, to loving parents Gussie Schifren Weisman and Raphael Lester Weisman. He died on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS. He met his wife, Susan Ann Weisman, in his office and they were wed on Jan. 5, 1975, at Temple Israel in Orlando, where they were members for many years. They were also long-time members of Congregation Beth Am in Longwood and the Jewish Community...
PITTSBURGH (JTA)—The April 27 shooting at the Chabad of Poway, which left one woman dead and three people injured, was a devastating tragedy for the American Jewish community. As an Israeli expat who has made a home in Pittsburgh, it made me feel more vulnerable than I have ever felt before. It’s been 12 years since my husband, 2 1/2-year-old son and I moved to this Pennsylvania city from our kibbutz in the north of Israel. We came to America with just three suitcases, no jobs, no apartment and no ties to the community. But America seemed to...
(JNS) Exactly 71 years ago, as Jewish pioneers fought for Israel’s independence, a military hospital was created to treat soldiers wounded on the battlefield. That moment marked the beginning of a new story for a determined people and a promising future for a nation. Just as the State of Israel has evolved into the vibrant and successful country it is today, that military hospital would evolve into what is now Israel’s national hospital, Sheba Medical Center. Today, Sheba Medical Center has expanded from old army barracks to a sprawling 200...
(JNS)—According to The New York Times, the re-election of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has left Palestinian families seeing “no light at the end of the tunnel.” A feature published on the front page of Monday’s Times focuses on the despair felt by Palestinian families about the current stalemate in the peace process. They know that the Palestinian Authority that rules over their cities, towns and villages is horribly corrupt and unable to conclude a peace deal with Israel. And they understand that Israelis have no more faith i...
You could be forgiven if you hadn’t heard of the latest round of Palestinian Arab terrorists firing an unprecedented barrage of rockets from Gaza into Israel the weekend of May 4-5. Since most of the world media broadcast limited details, if you’ve heard about it, odds are that you’ve only heard part of the reality, if at all. Another battle, not a war—with last week being Israel’s 71st Independence Day, the latest barrage of missiles underscores that this is another battle in the war that began 71 years ago and that has never ended. Israel has...
(JNS)—New York University has one of the largest number of Jewish college students in the country. But prospective students and their families, alumni and donors should know that the university has a deeply troubling anti-Semitism problem that it won’t acknowledge or address. Jewish students filed a complaint last month against the university with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Asserting a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the complaint alleges that university officials have failed to remedy “two...
(JNS)—It’s been a surreal few days. On Thursday, I grappled with how to explain the Holocaust Remembrance Day siren to my 4-year-old. We were in a coffee shop when it blared. I decided I would leave explanations about dead Jews and the people who want them that way for when she’s older. I only warned her in advance what the siren would sound like and told her that we had to stand very still. Today, we were in Ashdod, visiting her grandmother. Three sirens blared. The first sounded when we were in the playground outside the synagogue. She stood...
The counting of the Omer connects the Liberation from Egyptian slavery at Passover with the acceptance of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, which is celebrated on Shavuot. Modern day commemorations are observed during this period, which include Yom HaShoah (Holocaust memorial), Yom HaZikaron (Israel Memorial for fallen soldiers), and Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day). The Jewish Pavilion ensures that all seniors who reside in our partner facilities continue to have the opportunity to...
Celebrate Shabbat and Memorial Day at Congregation Beth Sholom’s Saturday Morning Service led by Rabbi Karen Allen on May 25 at 10 a.m. The service will include special readings remembering the members of the armed forces who died while serving our country. A light Kiddush lunch will follow the service. The synagogue is located at 315 North 13th St. in Leesburg, with the entrance on Center Street. More information is available on the synagogue website: http://bethsholomflorida.org/ or by calling the synagogue at 352-326-3692...
(JNS) Israel's adversaries in the BDS movement thought they could starve Israel through economic warfare that included even its food sector. Many remember the furor over SodaStream, Sabra hummus, ordinary fruits and vegetables, as well as Israeli cuisine and the country's culinary scene. But none of it has stopped Israel's restaurant sector from exploding into an audacious, red-hot success, now leading the planet in culinary excellence and bravado. As far as the Israeli restaurant scene is...
Why Jews around the globe must stay aware... From the USA: An anti-Semitic madman entered the Tree Of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh during Shabbat and massacred 11 Jews while shouting "all Jews must die!" And from Brooklyn, a group of teenagers carried out a series of attacks against Hasidic Jews in the Crown Heights area. From Canada: Anti-Semites sent hate mail to 13 synagogues during Chanukah, which carried the image of a swastika inside a bloody Star of David. From Berlin, Germany: An...
Hundreds attend funeral of American killed by Hamas rocket By Sam Sokol JERUSALEM (JTA)—An American citizen killed while running for cover from a Hamas rocket was laid to rest in Jerusalem on Sunday evening. Hundreds turned out to bury Pinchas Menachem Prezuazman, a 21-year-old American Israeli from Ashdod. Prezuazman, a member of the Ger Hasidic sect, leaves behind a wife and baby. He was the fourth Israeli to be killed before the conflict eased with a cease-fire early Monday morning. He was in the stairwell of an apartment building when it w...
