Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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More than 100 members of the local Jewish community gathered at The Roth Family JCC in Maitland on Sunday, June 28, for a pool party co-sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando's Shalom Families and The Roth Family JCC. The party featured an "Israeli Travel" theme and included a kosher lunch, family crafts and music. Much of the programming was inspired by the PJ Library book "Dinosaur Goes to Israel." PJ Library is a national program that mails free Jewish children's literature...
Just click on any posting on the Jewish Pavilion Facebook page and you'll find photos of seniors savoring a taste of traditional and/or cultural foods, whether they're noshing on latkes at Chanukah, hamantashen at Purim, Challah on Shabbat, or rugellah and kugel during Yiddish class. On Nov. 8 the Jewish Pavilion will bring their tasting expertise to the entire community, and will host a new fundraising event at the Maitland Civic Center called "A Taste in the Park," which will benefit the hundr...
The Zionista are extremely pleased to present Laurie Cardoza-Moore on Wednesday, July 15, at 7 p.m., at the Eastmonte Civic Center in Altamonte Springs. She will speak about the resolution she initiated condemning BDS in the Tennessee state legislature. Businesswoman, wife, mother of five, she is founder and president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, a Christian Zionist group. Recently she initiated a resolution condemning BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement) in the Tennessee...
Hillel International launched “Hillel College Guide: The Official Hillel Guide to Jewish Life on Campus” this summer, providing unique insights for students and parents on organized Jewish life, Israel programming, the availability of kosher food and the relative size of the Jewish community on campuses across North America. The magazine also includes rankings of what schools Jewish students are choosing. Topping this year’s lists are Rutgers University on the list of public schools and New York University on the list of private schools. Secon...
(JTA)-It's been eight months since Jewish freelance journalist Steven Sotloff was beheaded by ISIS. Still shaken by the loss, his hometown of Pinecrest, Florida-an upscale community of some 20,000 people, just south of Miami-continues to find new ways to honor his memory. The tributes to Sotloff range in scale from local tributes to programs global in reach. "Temple Beth Am Day Day School wants you to know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten," fifth-grader Zachary Marcus wrote in a...
In the middle of a phone interview with JNS.org on June 26, billionaire real estate mogul and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leaves his desk to scan the wall of his office for awards he has received from the Jewish community. Trump reads the text of some relevant plaques before returning to his desk. But before this reporter can move on to the next question, Trump eagerly points out that he was the grand marshal of New York City's annual Salute to Israel Parade (now the...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The name that keeps coming up when Orthodox Jewish groups consider the consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court decision extending same-sex marriage rights to all states has little to do with Jews or gays. Bob Jones University, the private Protestant college in South Carolina, lost its tax-exempt status in 1983 when the Supreme Court ruled that its policies banning interracial dating on campus were “wholly incompatible with the concepts underlying tax exemption.” Orthodox Jewish organizations, several of which publicly disse...
"Three cheers for Jessica Klein!" said Nancy Ludin, executive director of the Jewish Pavilion, for Klein's excellent coordination of the first event for the Jewish Pavilion's Young Women's Social Group. Despite the rain, 26 women attended the Faris and Foster Chocolate Factory party. The group was formed to encourage Jewish young women to socialize and engage in philanthropic work on behalf of the Jewish Pavilion. The Young Jewish Women's Social Group also has a Facebook page:...
Cantor Kim Singer’s first d’var Torah at Temple Shir Shalom of Oviedo was, perhaps presciently, about arrivals and new beginnings. The message was uplifting as well as timely. Chukkat, the Torah portion for the week of June 26, discusses the arrival of the children of Israel to the Jordan River. On the other side is the Promised Land. Following a challenging period of leadership and rebellion, they are once again moving forward with one purpose, full of hope and looking forward in awe. This metaphorical new beginning served as a rather app...
Keisha Delva has joined the JFS Orlando family as a licensed mental health counselor. Delva received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Florida State University, and a master's degree in mental health counseling from the University of Central Florida. She also has a graduate certificate in marriage and family therapy. Delva's clinical experience includes providing therapy in a variety of settings including inpatient treatment, outpatient, residential, in-home and in-school services. She...
Back in 2003, as some readers will recall all too clearly, the noted historian Tony Judt penned a searing critique of Israel in the New York Review of Books. Titled “Israel: The Alternative,” Judt, whose impressive scholarship was largely focused on Europe, depicted the Jewish state as a reactionary outpost of 19th century nationalism that bucked the trend elsewhere—exemplified most of all by the European Union (EU)—toward “individual rights, open frontiers, and international law. Judt’s argument struck a wide-ranging, resonant chord. Inso...
Does it matter how we define our words? Sometimes it does. The U.S. Department of Education understands this point, as do the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Universities need to learn it, too. Last year, the Education Department paid CDC to develop a uniform definition of the word “bullying.” Both agencies recognized that a uniform definition was needed to assist schools to understand what bullying is, when it occurs, and whether efforts to prevent it are successful. This is a basic point, and yet it is lost on many peo...
In January 2011, with the U.S. trying hard to convince the Palestinians to withdraw or moderate a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, President Obama called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to make a deal. The White House did not want to find itself in a position of having to veto its own settlement policy. In the course of a 50-minute conversation, Obama offered to support a U.N. investigation regarding settlements, renew a U.S. demand for a full-scale freeze on Israeli construction in the West Bank an...
NEW YORK (JTA)—My father passed away nearly 13 years ago, and while I think about him daily, every so often there are moments when I especially miss him. Last week’s Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage was one of those moments. You see, my father, Rabbi Steven Dworken, was the longtime professional leader of the Rabbinical Council of America, the country’s main modern Orthodox rabbinic association, until his untimely death in 2003. While perusing my Facebook feed after the Supreme Court decision, I belatedly came across the RCA’s...
(JTA)—Michael Oren is my friend. During his nearly five years as Israel’s ambassador to the United States, we’d speak on an almost daily basis. Often those phone calls would come at 3 or 4 a.m., Washington time, and Michael, enduring another sleepless night, would share his fears about how the Obama administration was compromising Israel’s safety. While too discreet to reveal confidential information, he’d repeatedly say: You won’t believe what the administration is doing. It’s worse than you can possibly imagine. But I can’t talk about it.....
Sheldon Adelson’s goal to “put more boots on the ground” to fight BDS on college campuses is right on, and his recommendation to form an army of college students, dubbed “Campus Maccabees”, is essential. However, the only way to rapidly recruit and train an army of Campus Maccabees is for Birthright Israel to lower age of eligibility to 16, thereby attracting teens, en masse, to go to Israel. Just as an army needs boot camp to prepare for active duty, so, too will Adelson’s Campus Maccabees. Providing teens with an Israel experience...
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. Temple I...
Beatrice Bornstein Ettinger, 98, passed away on June 29, 2015. Born in Paterson, N.J. on June 21, 1917, Bea was the daughter of Ruth and Abraham Bornstein who moved to central Florida in 1932. Predeceased by her husband Leon, after 72 years of marriage; sisters Dorothy Morrell, Flossie Gluckman, Rita Levy, brother Jerry Bornstein, grandson Kevin Crotty, and son-in-law Charles Schwartz. Bea was the devoted mother of Marilyn Crotty (Garrett), Roz Fuchs Schwartz, and Jeff Ettinger (Bettye); adoring...
Renee Greenberg, age 95, of Orlando, passed away on Wednesday, June 17, 2015, at Dr. P. Phillips Hospital in Orlando. Mrs. Greenberg was born on April 17, 1920, to the late Nathaniel and Sadie Friedman Fleisig and was a homemaker. A native of Jersey City, N.J., she was a long time Orlando resident, relocating here from Dover, N.J. in 1981, with her late husband, Bernard. She was a member of Hadassah and a former member of Temple Shalom of Williamsburg and the JCC. Mrs. Greenberg is survived by her son David (Judy) Greenberg and daughter Lois...
Herman “Hank” Hirsch, age 96, of Royal Palm Beach, passed away on Monday, June 22, 2015, at Trustbridge Hospice in West Palm Beach. Mr. Hirsch was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Dec. 14, 1918, to the late David and Anna Perlman Hirsch. He was an attorney prior to relocating to Orlando with his late wife, Phoebe, who passed away in 1998. Several years ago Mr. Hirsch moved to Palm Beach County to be closer to his son, Mark, who survives him. A graveside service was held at Montefiore Cemetery in New York. Funeral arrangements entrusted to Beth Sha...
Joseph Padawer, age 83, of The Springs, Longwood, passed away on Tuesday, June 23, 2015, at his residence with his family surrounding him. Mr. Padawer, an attorney, was born in Paris, France on May 4, 1932, to the late Nathan and Sheidel Padawer. He served in the U.S. Army and relocated to the Orlando area in the 1960s from New York. On Jan. 2, 1982, in Orlando, he married the former Gloria Taub, his wife of over 33 years, who survives him. He was a member of Congregation Beth Am. In addition to his wife, Mr. Padawer is survived by his sons,...
ATHENS, Greece (JTA)-For 55 needy Jewish families, a cash welfare payment is the only thing that gets them through the month. But when they came to the Athens Jewish Community last week for their July assistance, they were given only a portion of the payment in cash-the rest was in supermarket food coupons. "We just don't have cash and we can't get anymore, the banks are closed," said Taly Mair, the community director who oversees the welfare program. "We hope to make the rest up to them...
(The Nosher via JTA)-It's officially hot dog season, if ever there was one, and I freely admit: I love hot dogs. I have even found a way to combine a love of hot dogs with a love of challah with my famous challah dogs. What are challah dogs, you might be wondering? Well, it's my answer to the bagel dog or the pretzel dog. And one of the great things about this recipe is you can use any challah recipe you prefer. The key is rolling your challah into roughly 3-ounce pieces and then snaking it...
A disturbing email... I recently heard from a representative of the Simon Wiesenthal Center with some upsetting news. I truly was taken by surprise. I pass it along to you: "The Simon Wiesenthal Center today condemned the UCC vote by the General Synod (national decision-making body) of the United Church of Christ to boycott Israeli companies and to divest from companies doing business with Israel." (What is the UCC, you ask?) Read on: The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a distinct and diverse...
Through appreciation of both his comedy and humanitarian work, legendary Jewish entertainer Jerry Lewis is staying relevant at age 89. The only comic to ever be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, Lewis added another award to his trophy case in April, when he received the 2015 Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). Gordon Smith, NAB's president and CEO, said the organization was "honored to recognize not only [Lewis's] comedic innovation, but also his...
