Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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My favorite Mother's Day gift was a refrigerator magnet set with more Yiddish words than even my "Bubbie" (grandmother) spoke. Every time someone passes through my kitchen, they rearrange the magnets to make a sentence that speaks to them. My daughter's message reads, "My mother has chutzpa (boldness)." My neighbor left behind a note saying, "What's your shtick (talent, special area of interest)?" Although I only recognize about half the words (fortunately, it comes with a dictionary), there is...
(JTA)-On Jan. 16, 1949, Toby Fassman married Max Cohen (Steven M. Cohen's parents, now both of blessed memory). At 24, Toby was among the last of her circle of friends in Brooklyn to marry, and several jokingly remarked that Max had rescued her from lifelong singlehood. Today, if a 24-year-old Jewish woman were heading for the huppah, most would presume that she's either Orthodox or reckless. Indeed, of 25- to 54-year-old American Jews who are not haredi, fully half are unmarried. While...
Israel is home to approximately 140,000 members of the Druze faith, but today there's a dozen or so young students waiting patiently for me as I park my car next to the Shrine of the Prophet Bha'a Aldeen, a local Druze holy site. By this point, I have spent several months in Israel and have only heard whisperings about the Druze community. They remain something of a mystery to the outside world, with terms like "secret religion" and "hidden in plain sight" used at times to describe them. But...
BERLIN (JTA)-It's a drizzly Saturday morning in May. Some 160 young Jews, mostly European and ranging from Orthodox to secular, have come to the Hotel Berlin to talk about everything under the sun. Well, almost. The upbeat, weekend-long event did not focus on anti-Semitism, the Holocaust or Israel, and thus the gathering reflected a shifting approach to Jewish continuity in Europe, 72 years after the end of World War II. Under the theme "Our World in Transition," participants in Junction...
(JTA)-Nazi death marches crippled Mr. Cohen's knees. The 94-year-old who survived Auschwitz now felt defeated trying to climb the stairs to his walk-up condo. He and his wife of 66 years used to be highly active in the Holocaust survivor community and frequently spoke at schools, but the onset of her dementia, and his now frequent falls, have stopped him in his tracks. But thanks to a grant from the Jewish Federations of North America's Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care and the...
Netanyahu’s office defends vote to freeze Western Wall agreement JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Prime Minister’s Office in Israel said it was working to ensure that Jews of all streams can feel comfortable praying at the Western Wall after the Cabinet voted to freeze an agreement that would have made a permanent space there for women and men to pray as they wish. Non-Orthodox and feminist groups in Israel and the Diaspora reacted with outrage Sunday at the news that the government had suspended the 17-month-old agreement under pressure from haredi Ortho...
Until I moved to Israel, the closest I got to farming was knowing were to get good produce at a farmers market. Since living in Israel, I see how the simple act of eating and growing produce is a fulfillment of God's promise, and Ezekiel's prophesy which impacts and moves me personally. "I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and...
(JTA)-Large parts of Florida are suffering from severe drought, and hurricane season threatens to make things worse. Enter Water-Gen, an Israeli company whose technology captures humidity to extract drinking water from the air. On Monday, the South Florida city of Miami Gardens announced it was launching a pilot program with the company to address its water problems-the first U.S. city to do so. "As representatives responsible for the quality of life and safety of our communities, preparedness a...
