Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Jewish National Fund (JNF) recently hosted a number of events in Orlando with goodwill ambassador for Israel and basketball legend Tal Brody. He is shown here with students from the K-2 class at the Jewish Academy of Orlando.... Full story
Israel's 120-seat parliament today chose long-time Likud member Reuven Rivlin as the country's next president who will succeed the popular Shimon Peres, who retires next month at the age of 90. Rivlin, who served two terms as speaker of the Knesset, has been a member of parliament for almost 20 years. He won on the second round of voting after none of the original five candidates, including Nobel chemistry laureate Dan Schectman, failed to achieve an overall majority. Rivlin beat out rival... Full story
Jewish Family Services Orlando is hosting a chef’s challenge dining event that will test well-known chefs in Central Florida to prepare a four-course dinner by using ingredients found solely from JFS Orlando’s Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry. Contestants in the Pantry to Plate: A Chef’s Challenge Event, emceed by celebrity Chef Cat Cora, are Kathleen Blake of The Rusty Spoon, Hari Pulapaka of Cress Restaurant and John Rivers of 4 Rivers Smokehouse and The COOP. Their culinary cuisine will be judged on taste, presentation, and creativity. The e... Full story
Moshe Pelli, professor and program director of the Judaic Studies Program, is the 2014 winner of the AJL Judaica Bibliography Award. The award, funded by Eric Chaim Kline of Los Angeles, was established to encourage the publication of outstanding Judaica bibliographies. The Association of Jewish Libraries honored Pelli for his recent book. "The Journals of the Haskalah (Hebrew Enlightenment) from 1820 to 1845," which includes monographs and annotated indices to eight Hebrew periodicals... Full story
Elie Wiesel, humanitarian, Nobel Prize laureate and chairman of The Algemeiner’s Advisory Board, said he turned down an offer from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to succeed Shimon Peres as president of the State of Israel, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported. In an interview, Wiesel said he was flattered, but didn’t think the job was for him: “Why should I be president? Leave me alone. I write books. I wasn’t meant to do that.” Wiesel said Netanyahu had telephoned him in New York three times: “You will be the president of the Sta... Full story
A mother will do just about anything to protect her child. Nothing could illustrate that more than the story of Arlene Feinberg, a mother who led the charge to find a bone marrow donor for her son Jay, who had been diagnosed with leukemia. She was a pioneer recruiting volunteer donors at a time when the worldwide bone marrow registry was in its infancy, finding matches for countless patients in similar circumstances as her son. Seventy percent of patients do not have a family member who is a... Full story
Now here’s an episode for Breaking Bad. In an “Only-in-Israel” moment, border police recently delayed hauling in a suspected drug dealer until he fulfilled the ancient Jewish ritual of seeing to his son’s brit mila (circumcision). When a team of officers first arrived at the suspect’s residence in southern Israel, they were met at the front door by a 60-year-old woman and four children, who tried to stall the raid. But police pulled out their search warrant, and busted down the door in order to search the premises, according to Israel’s Channel... Full story
Yossi, a 9-year-old boy from Fountain Hills, Arizona, is making the news for a simple act that he did, choosing to fulfill a 'miztvah' (religious commandment), instead of listening to his umpire. Yossi, an avid baseball fan, and valuable team member on the local Little League team, was dropped off by his parents, all dressed up ready to play on his team. As the game was going along, Yossi's chance to bat the ball came up. When Yossi was there the umpire noticed that Yossi was wearing 'Tzitzit'.... Full story
Jewish National Fund (JNF) recently hosted a series of events throughout Orlando with Goodwill Ambassador for Israel and basketball legend Tal Brody. At Bagels and Basketball - A Lawyers for Israel Breakfast on May 15, Brody addressed the local law community on his experience with Maccabi Basketball and how this framed Israel as the "Sports Capital of the Middle East." The event was chaired by Ed Milgrim and hosted at the Alfond Inn. Later that evening, at Beer and Basketball - A JNF Guy's... Full story
While the weather outside was cloudy and showers were sporadic, close to 50 golfers happily gathered for the second annual Pavilion Golf Society Tournament on Sunday, June 1, at Alaqua Country Club. Thanks to sponsorships from Fifth Third Bank, IOA, Sonny's BBQ, advertisers and hole sponsors, the Jewish Pavilion raised over $16,000 to support the Orlando Senior Help Desk. Proceeds allow seniors and family members to obtain the assistance and guidance they need when faced with a crisis. Senior... Full story
Back by popular demand, a troupe of Israeli Tzofim, Scouts, will perform in Ocala on June 22 at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 7171 SW Highway 200 in Ocala. The performance will feature songs in Hebrew, Yiddish and English sung by the 16-17 year old Scouts showcasing the diversity and the uniqueness of the State of Israel. The performers will also reach out to the audience and encourage everyone to join in joyous dance and song. The program is appropriate for all ages. Tickets are $12 per person; $11 for students. For further... Full story
By Noam E. Marans NEW YORK (JTA)—In the charming movie “Groundhog Day,” Bill Murray’s character repeatedly relives the same day until learning from the repetition transforms him from lout to worthy wooer of his colleague, played by Andie MacDowell. The “Groundhog Day” of Presbyterian-Jewish relations is coming soon to a theater near you, but if we do not fully engage the issue, a Hollywood ending is unlikely. The biennial General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has regularly included an unhealthy confrontation between pro- and an... Full story
By Abraham Foxman The Anti-Defamation League’s Global 100 Index of Anti-Semitism is the broadest public opinion survey of attitudes toward Jews ever conducted. It is one of the most important efforts we have undertaken in our history as an organization. The survey was conducted in more than 100 countries and territories, and 53,100 people were interviewed, representing 4 billion adults around the world. Our basic findings were sobering: More than one-quarter of the people surveyed (26 percent) harbor anti-Semitic attitudes. The stereotypes r... Full story
By Edwin Black America grants the Palestinian Authority about $500 million annually. The fast-spinning money meter has already broken the $5 billion mark over the years. The annual financial infusion has been on autopilot as Israelis and Palestinians negotiated over the meters and metrics of a two-state solution. American money has been lavishly spent on Palestinians for one purpose: to encourage the peace process. Recently something changed. The Palestinian Authority unified with Hamas, making it the largest, best organized, and best-armed... Full story
The Jewish Federations of North America, or JFNA, may soon launch an effort that would include supporting groups in Israel working to limit or end Orthodox control of personal-status issues such as marriage, divorce, conversion and burial, The Jewish Week has learned. Clearly this is a key, often emotional, issue in this country, where about 85 percent of the American Jewish community is non-Orthodox; some feel they are looked upon as second-class Jews by Jerusalem. But the proposed project, known as iRep—Israel Religious Expressions P... Full story
Seventy years ago last week, the Allies staged the D-Day invasion, landing some 24,000 troops on the beaches along France’s Normandy coast in one of the major turning points of World War II. What is not widely realized, however, is that the D-Day assault on June 6, 1944, also had an important link to the fate of Europe’s Jews—and in particular to the controversy over the Allies’ refusal to bomb Auschwitz. Apologists for the Roosevelt administration’s failure to bomb the death camps often point to the fact that President Roosevelt and the U.S.... Full story
Dear Editor: Excellent column by Alan Kornman regarding encouraging Jews to become more active seeking climate change mitigation through lower emissions. Rabbi David Kay gave great examples, but when asked about the Heritage Foundation’s opposition to EPA regulations which will curb the use of coal and other dirty fuel, Kay chose not to answer a hypothetical question. However, since that article was written, the EPA has already made it clear what their regulations will be (they released the regs on June 2). An upcoming Torah reading guides u... Full story
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) Chabad of South Orlando—Monday and Thursday, 8 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. Temple Israel—Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-647-3055. FRIDAY, JUNE 13 Light S... Full story
The Jewish Pavilion is always certain to engage all members of the family in all parts of residents' lives as much as possible. Memorial Day at the Pavilion is not just an extended weekend to barbeque and enjoy the sun at the beach but a time for celebration to honor U.S. soldiers. This past Memorial Day the Pavilion volunteers met at Savannah Court Senior Living for a fun day of festivities in remembrance of those who gave their lives for freedom. Residents at Savannah Court were entertained... Full story
The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) new partner, Hamas, praised an overnight shooting attack against soldiers at a checkpoint in northern Samaria, Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported. The Gaza-based group lauded what it called “the shooting attack that took place at the Tapuach Junction in eastern Shechem that led to the death of Alaa Mahmoud Odeh and the wounding of a Zionist soldier,” Ma’ariv said. Israeli troops shot and killed Odeh, 31, of the village of Awartaa when he pulled out a pistol and opened fire on them, near midnight. But while Ham... Full story
Shalam Asher of Mooroolbark, Australia, passed away on May 27, 2014, in Kissimmee. He was 65 years old. Mr. Asher was born in Israel on Dec. 27, 1948 to the late Jacob and Dina Reubin Asher. He was married to the former Leslie Zeidel and was an architectural draftsman. Funeral services were held in Australia. Arrangements entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, 640 Lee Road, Orlando 32810.... Full story
Kevin M. Crotty of Maitland, passed away on June 1, 2014, at his residence. He was 44 years old. Born in San Francisco, Calif., on Oct. 2, 1969, to Marilyn Ettinger and Garrett Crotty, he was the youngest of three sons. The family relocated to the Orlando area before he was 2 years old. Mr. Crotty earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Denver and two master’s degrees. He was the owner/operator of an online sales company. In addition to his parents, Mr. Crotty is survived by his brothers, Jonathan (Lisa) of Cha... Full story
Anne Rosenhaus of Orlando, passed away on June 1, 2014 at Rio Pinar Health Center in Orlando. She was 86 years old. Mrs. Rosenhaus was born in Brooklyn, New York, on Feb. 8, 1928, to the late Max and Clara Moskowitz Hershkowitz. Mrs. Rosenhaus was a homemaker and is survived by her son, Steven (Ruth) of New York; and daughter, Frances Brown of Orlando; and predeceased by her son, Jay. She is also survived by eight grandchildren; and four great-granchildren; and her “special daughter,” Louisa. She was also the loving aunt to numerous nep... Full story
Edith Zwick of Lake Mary passed away on May 23, 2014, at her residence at Oakmonte Village. She was 91 years old. Mrs. Zwick was born in Philadelphia, Penn., on February 20, 1923, to the late Michael and Sophie Cohen Neulight. She was the owner/operator of women’s dress stores. Mrs. Zwick is survived by her sons, Jeff (Beth) of Lake Mary, and Lee (Janice) of Philadelphia; five grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Funeral services were held at Roosevelt Cemetery in Trevose, Penn. A memorial service will be held later at Oakmonte V... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA) – While visiting Israel in 2009 to watch his son Bruce coach the U.S. basketball team to the gold medal at the Maccabiah Games, Bernie Pearl perused local phone books. He spent an hour calling people with the last name Showstack but came up empty. Unable to locate his relative during his stay, he gave up. In March, Pearl mentioned the search to "Seeking Kin." A retiree living with his wife, Barbara, in Boynton Beach, Fla., Pearl, 80, still hoped to find his third cousin, Gerry S... Full story
