Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Eagle Scout Daniel Brown of Boy Scout Troop 641 in Maitland chose the Temple Israel Cemetery as the beneficiary of his recently completed Eagle Scout Service Project. Daniel was inspired on the occasion of his grandfather, Murray Schwartz's funeral in 2014. At "Papa Murray's" funeral, Daniel blew taps to honor his grandfather who was a corporal in the U.S. Army. He noticed that there were no flags and no monuments honoring Jewish War Veterans and that the cemetery entrance had a plain grass...
It started with a bar mitzvah. A Temple Shir Shalom (TSS) family using Temple Israel's facilities for their son's bar mitzvah commented to fellow members of their congregation how spacious the synagogue was, according the Josh Greenberg, co-president of TSS. The comment was tucked away to be recalled later. The congregation had its beginnings meeting in houses 14 years ago, Greenberg said. Over the years, the synagogue has migrated from place to place. The last abode was The EpiCenter at...
Dr. Moshe Pelli, whose name is almost synonymous with the Interdisciplinary Judaic Studies Program at the University of Central Florida, has stepped down as director of the program. However, he is quick to state that he is not retiring. That is one word never to be in his vocabulary-in English or Hebrew. He will remain the Tess and Abe Wise Endowed Professor of Judaic Studies. After taking some time off to study and do research for a book he was finishing this past spring, he returns this fall...
The newest chapter of HaZamir: the International Jewish High School Choir, HaZamir Orlando, conducted by Cantor Jacqueline Rawiszer, will hold an Open House and auditions, no preparation necessary, for teens interested in joining for the 2016-2017 HaZamir season on Tuesday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. at The Roth Family Jewish Community Center. Parents are welcome to attend the Open House with their teens to speak with the leaders and learn more about HaZamir. HaZamir is a Jewish musical youth movement that provides a unique opportunity for Jewish teens...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-If Hillary Clinton is indeed courting Henry Kissinger, what happens to her relationship with Bernie Sanders? Reports that the Democratic presidential nominee is actively pursuing endorsements from Kissinger, who like her is a former secretary of state, and other former Republican officials have raised alarms on the left. It also has provided an opportunity for Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, who has lumped his Republican critics with Clinton as part of an elite that has...
Several of the country's most prominent pro-Israel groups participated in the first Israel Today Symposium designed to educate the Dallas, Texas, community on understanding the complex issues Israel faces. The event, organized by Dallas's Reform synagogue Temple Shalom, drew more than 300 people to hear speakers including Lillian Pinkus, president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC); Charles Pulman, founder of Why Israel Matters; and Daniel Agranov, deputy consul general of...
NARBERTH, PA—The Kohelet Foundation has announced the inaugural year of its Kohelet Prize. The unrestricted $36,000 prize will be awarded to educators or teams of educators, who currently work in Jewish day schools and whose work skillfully demonstrates a progressive approach to education in the following six categories: Interdisciplinary Integration; Real-World Learning; Learning Environment; Differentiated Instruction; Development of Critical and/or Creative Thinking; Risk Taking and Failure. “We know there are incredible, creative and hig...
The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center will finish out the month of August with several more programs. Please visit its website for more events, open to the public free of charge thanks to the generosity of people like you. Purple Triangles: A Documentary Film Sunday, Aug. 14 at 10 a.m. and Tuesday, Aug. 23 at p.m. Don't miss this opportunity to learn more about our friends and neighbors whose story is told in our current exhibits, "Faith Under Fire" and "Who Am I?" We are hosting a...
The 2016-17 year for Temple Israel Sisterhood will commence with a membership tea held on Sunday, Aug. 28, from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. in a private home. It will be an afternoon of socializing with old and new friends, enjoying "tea time" desserts and, of course, taking advantage of the excellent program to be presented by Penny Polokoff, author of "Conversations With My Daughter," which has been arranged by Michelle Bilsky and Regina Buchanan, co-programming vice presidents. Polokoff, a resident of...
Rabbi Karen Allen of Congregation Beth Sholom in Leesburg will lead a Torah Roundtable discussion on Aug. 25 at 2:30 p.m. at the Sumter County Administration and Library Building (with the golden dome) at 7375 Powell Rd. (near Pinellas Plaza and 466A), Wildwood. The roundtable provides a unique opportunity to talk with the rabbi as she leads an informal and interactive discussion focusing on topics of contemporary Jewish interest. The public is also invited to join us for our Saturday Morning service at 10 a.m. on Aug. 27. A Kiddush with light...
Congregation Sinai has announced free tuition for Religious School for children ages 5-12 who are the children or grandchildren of its members. Registration for children will take place on Aug. 21 from 10 a.m. - noon. Parents will only have to pay a supply fee of $75 for the year and this may be paid in three segments. In addition, as an introduction to all that Congregation Sinai has to offer, the Introductory membership dues will be reduced by 20 percent.This is for new members only. A meet...
I hosted a Christian journalist recently. She wanted to visit a “settlement” to see for herself what life is like, to understand better the Jewish connection to biblical Judea and Samaria, and actual life on the ground. What she learned, witnessed, and took away is very different from that which is portrayed in the world media, and among those with anti-Israel agendas that delegitimize Israel’s very existence. At the top of a hill overlooking the adjacent Arab village next to my neighborhood, so close that someone with a good arm could throw...
Politics isn’t everything. There’s also sport. Anyone who’s visited Rome’s Coliseum, or the remains of Greek amphitheaters around the Mediterranean, knows that its capacity to divert has been with us for a long time. We’ve moved beyond the blood sport of the gladiators. Boxing is losing its popularity. Dog fighting and cock fighting are underground. Wrestling is more theater than sport. American football and North American hockey are about as bloody as they get, with football on the agenda of those who worry about the damage to knees and brain...
When I made aliyah over a year ago, I was warned that it would be hard. With no family here, many people gave me their contact information and an open invitation for any assistance when needed. But for me, for the first year, it really wasn’t all that hard. Thanks to a great absorption experience, a steady job and an amazing support system, I felt great about my choice to make aliyah. I didn’t need much assistance and had nearly 100 percent positive experiences. That is, up until this week. The pain in my back returned, but this time with a v...
In late March 2016, Rabbi Barry Silver reached out to his Muslim friends Wilfredo Ruiz (CAIR), Professor Bassem Al-Halabi (ICBR Mosque), Deputy Sheriff Nezar Hamze (CAIR), and former Israeli Army Officer David Shimon to have a panel discussion on Islamophobia, Shariah Law, and Islam on July 20, 2016 at Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor. All four men agreed to be a part of the discussion. The community responded enthusiastically filling Rabbi Silver’s Synagogue to standing room only. The three Muslim leaders were last minute no shows in a shameful and...
By Gideon Aronoff, Ken Bob, Josh Weinberg and John Rosove NEW YORK (JTA)—As progressive American Zionists, we take seriously the critique of Israel and Zionism by professors Hasia Diner and Marjorie N. Feld, contained in their Aug. 1 Haaretz article, “We’re American Jewish Historians. This is why we’ve left Zionism behind.” However, unlike them, we affirm progressive Zionist values. And those values mandate activism in order to ensure that Israel is both a democracy and the national home of the Jewish people. The difference between us and pr...
Imagine a bi-partisan commission focused on one of America’s most pressing national issues. Imagine a consensus opinion on what needs to be done to save generations of American youth-at-risk. Now imagine ignoring those recommendations. Unthinkable to some, but the sad reality we see today. Some 40 years ago, A Nation at Risk called the American public to arms, impressing on them the urgent need to refocus on a robust education for our nation’s youth. Nearly half a century later, we have forgotten this report’s impactful message. We forge...
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...
(JTA)-For many, summer is all about the three B's: baseball, beaches and books. With the weather and pennant races sizzling, two journalists and the mayor of baseball's mythical home village of Cooperstown, New York-all Jewish-have provided their takes about a sport that has captivated them for a long time. The journalists, Hal Bock and Dan Schlossberg, focus on two National League teams: the Chicago Cubs, well-positioned this season to break a 108-year championship drought some consider a...
Hank and Suzanne Lander of Casselberry, Fla., are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Jessica "Jess" Lander, to Nick Reinell, son of Fred and Vicki Reinell of Napa, California. The bride-elect graduated from Emerson College in Boston, Mass., in May 2010, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in print journalism with a minor in photography. A position as a writer for a local Napa Valley newspaper brought her to California after graduation and she currently works as a freelance...
By Hillel Kuttler NEW YORK (JTA)-Jacob Steinmetz delivers the game's final pitch on a heavenly Tuesday night, producing a neatly turned double play to wrap up a 10-0 victory for the Brooklyn Bluestorm team of 12-year-olds. His teammates surround him in congratulations in a scene familiar for the Bluestorm, which finished a perfect 24-0 in the Brooklyn Baseball League season and will be playing this month in the Elite World Series in Orlando, Florida. Steinmetz is batting .320 and strikes out...
This is troubling to me. "A final solution?"... I received the following in the mail from the World Jewish "ACongress (WJC) digest. I pass it along to you: "World Jewish Congress President Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER called upon the UN and the international community to end the anti-Israel rhetoric that has exceeded proportion and is extending into the realm of the absurb. Anti-Israel statements at the United Nations, within many of the bodies, including the Security Council, are mounting to lev...
The Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista Hotel, part of the Rosen Hotels & Resorts family, has unveiled 2,400 square feet of new indoor event space specifically designed for weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, reunions, social events and business meetings. To celebrate, Clarion is offering a 25-percent discount off both the venue rental fees and event guest room rates through the end of the year. The new ballroom can accommodate more than 180 people banquet-style or 265 people for a reception. For smaller...
PARIS (JTA)-The summer drizzle that soaked the French capital did little to dampen Yechiel Eckstein's enthusiasm as he arrived recently with his wife Joelle at the city's Great Synagogue for a private tour. But a run-in inside with a local community leader moments later-typical, perhaps, of this Israeli-American Orthodox rabbi's often strained relationships with the Jewish establishment-quickly changed the tone of the visit. Raised in Canada and living in Jerusalem, Eckstein, 64, was in Paris...
Dr. Stuart Paul Bernstein of Belle Isle, Fla., passed away Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016 surrounded by his family. He was 83. “All my dreams came true,” Stuart said again and again, referencing his 58 year marriage to his wife, Ruth, their family and, in his words, that he had been a “good doctor.” Stuart said, “I have no regrets.” A kind and generous person who cared deeply for his family and friends, Stuart loved cracking jokes, listening to classical music, and sneaking in an extra dessert. After retiring from his Orlando psychiatric practice in...
