Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 30
It was all backpacks and smiles as the Jewish Academy of Orlando began its 37th school year on Tuesday, Aug. 12. When asked about the new school year, second grader Noah Talsky said, "It was a good day... all the kids in second grade get their own laptop!" and eighth grader Ashlinn Thomas stated, "It was so much fun; it was easier to get into the same routine." A new school year is full of optimism and possibility, and the Jewish Academy has it in abundance. With new Head of School Alan Rusonik...
Oviedo resident and member of Congregation Ohev Shalom Elana Goldstein was all excited when she found out last May that she would be going to Israel through the Taglit-Birthright program. She'd wanted to go ever since her dad, David, told her about the trip when she was a little girl. "He went to Israel when he was 18 and lived on a kibbutz for 6 months," she told Heritage. Taglit-Birthright, partially funded by the Israeli government, provides free 10-day trips to Israel for any Jewish adult be...
From the time she was very young, Kara Finkelstein, 10, liked to write stories. Her teachers at the Roth JCC Early Childhood Learning Center-where she attended the 3s, 4s and pre-k classes-taught their students to be creative. After graduating from pre-k in 2009, Kara started first grade at John Evans Elementary School in Oviedo. In fourth grade, her teacher, Stephanie Anderson, who was named 2014 Elementary School Rookie Teacher of the Year for Seminole County, also taught her students to be...
J-Serve is the International Day of Jewish Youth Service. Since 2005, J-Serve has been a part of Youth Service America’s Global Youth Service Day weekend. J-Serve provides teens with the opportunity to fulfill the Jewish values of gemilut chasidim, acts of loving kindness, tzedakah, just and charitable giving, and tikkum olam, the responsibility to repair the world. Across the globe, teens join each other to make their community and the world a better place. J-Serve 2015 is in partnership with Repair the World, Youth Service America, and Rock t...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-After the missiles have stopped, after the troops have come home, even after most of the wounded are out of the hospital, Israelis will still be feeling the burden of Operation Protective Edge-this time in their pockets. With the recent expiration of a temporary cease-fire, the operation may not be over. (Another temporary cease-fire was put in place starting at midnight Monday.) But through last week, including both direct military expenses and indirect hits to the Israeli...
(JTA)-It is now open season for those who would like a chunk of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's change and think they have a big idea up their sleeves. On Tuesday, the Genesis Prize Foundation announced the launch of the Genesis Generation Challenge, a competition offering 10 awards of $100,000 each to teams that can successfully present innovative projects "guided by Jewish values to address the world's pressing issues," according to a foundation statement. Teams must have approximately 10 people...
NEW YORK (JTA)-Lauren Bacall, a film legend best known for her sultry onscreen presence and her Hollywood romance with actor Humphrey Bogart, has died. Bacall, the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Poland and Romania, died Tuesday, AUG. 12, 2014, in New York. She suffered a massive stroke in her apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side, TMZ.com reported, citing sources in Bacall's family. Bacall was 89. Born Betty Joan Perske in Brooklyn, Bacall was a first cousin of former Israeli President...
Empowering Teens to Build a More Meaningful and Value-driven Society. Beginning Oct. 24 Chabad of North Orlando will be offering The JLI Teens Discovery Program, a think-and-debate club for Jewish high school students. This program encourages teens to think deeply about their identity and values as they discuss real-life situations and debate fascinating solutions to life's intriguing conundrums. "Adolescence is a time in which teens struggle between dependence and independence as they attempt...
This August, the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando is recognizing outstanding leaders who have made an impact in Jewish Orlando this past year. The awards presentation will be made on Aug. 24 at the JFGO Annual Meeting. This year's Creative Programming Award will be given to the Shalom Families Committee: Whitney Kuvin, Aleah Matthews, Fiona Anavi, Pam Weissman and Julie Oshins. The Creative Programming Award is given annually by the Federation to a person or committee that through...
Hundreds of miles apart, the Scouts of Boy Scout Troop 641 finished the summer with fun and adventure. Thirteen boys and their leaders concluded a successful week at Camp Woodruff in northern Georgia. The Scouts, combined, earned over 50 merit badges at the camp, including shotgun shooting, archery, personal fitness, forestry, gaming and many more. A day of white water rafting and horseback riding were some of the highlights of the week. Two of the Troop's Scouts returned from a week at...
I recently journeyed to Columbus Circle in Manhattan to savor the atmosphere at two rival demonstrations over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. On one side, by the entrance to Central Park, and adjacent to the hot dog stands and “I Love NYC” souvenir outlets, I found about 60 or so pro-Israel demonstrators. The sky was gray and leaden, the humidity threatened a thunderstorm, and the news coming out of Israel was pretty bleak, but their mood veered in the joyous direction. They danced and sang, they recited prayers for the IDF’s fallen soldier...
According to About.com the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is much more than just not eating and drinking. During this period Muslims are to re-evaluate their lives in light of Islamic guidance. They are to strengthen ties with family and friends, do away with bad habits—essentially to clean up their lives, their thoughts, and their feelings. The Arabic word for “fasting” (sawm) literally means “to refrain” not only refraining from food and drink, but from evil actions, thoughts, and words. During Ramadan, every part of the body must be restra...
As I look around me this mid-August morning in 2014 I see a number of crap shoots, or games of chance. We can argue what historical events they reflect. Among the candidates are the establishment of Israel in 1948, the Arab Spring that began toward the end of 2010 with a promise of democracy but now unraveled to barbarism, or the spread of independence throughout the Third World after World War II and then the conquest of the UN General Assembly and several ancillary bodies by governments that barely—if at all—meet the criteria of being civ...
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is refusing to meet with Palestinian leaders during his visit to Israel this week. Maybe that’s a mistake. The Palestinian Authority has invited him to visit the areas under its control, and the New York Times and others are quick to accuse the governor of bias for refusing. In our view, the governor would actually be performing a great public service if he did visit certain PA-controlled areas—some of the ones they don’t want him to see. That would help clarify many of the issues that need to be considered befor...
The woman to my left said she felt “overwhelmed” and “emotional” in dealing with the news about Israel’s war in Gaza. The heavy volume of postings on her Facebook page were so upsetting, with their criticism of Israeli actions, that she was considering “unfriending” some of her online correspondents. The woman across the table from her, older than the rest of us, said she wasn’t a Facebook user but that she, too, felt “overwhelmed” in reading about the war and seeing it on TV. “I feel horrible for both sides,” she said. Admitting that her know...
I awoke this morning to shocking news. I guess that’s not so unusual in Israel – especially during war time – but this really floored me. Robin Williams dead at 63; the media buzzing around the story like bees around honey, throwing out words like “suicide,” “depression,” “drug addiction” and “alcoholism.” In my humble opinion, there was no actor more talented, no comic more genius than Robin Williams. From the moment he burst on the scene, he displayed an awesome ability to evoke the deepest feelings and sentiments from his audience. He coul...
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, AUGUST 22 Light...
NEW YORK (JTA)-In Larry David's fake real-life world on the HBO sitcom "Curb Your Enthusiasm," he is tapped by Mel Brooks to take over the Zero Mostel-Nathan Lane role of Max Bialystock in the megahit Broadway adaptation of "The Producers." Just as Max and accountant Leo Bloom set out to make money by producing a surefire bomb, Brooks picks Larry with the (secret) goal of killing the Tony Award-winning musical and getting his life back. But in an art-imitates-art twist, Larry (like "Springtime...
Norman Kagan of Longwood, passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014, at Life Care of Altamonte Springs. He was 89 years old. A native of Brooklyn, New York, he was born on Sept. 27, 1924, to the late Isadore and Rose Mendelsohn Kagan. Following graduation from high school, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served during World War II in the European-African-Middle East Campaign. After his discharge from the Army, Mr. Kagan attended City College of New York and received his bachelor’s degree. He subsequently went on to earn his master’s in bus...
Robert L. Stone of Winter Garden, passed away on Monday, Aug. 11, 2014, at his residence. He was 63 years old. Mr. Stone was born in Newark, New Jersey, on April 6, 1951, to the late Bencion and Regina Lehrer Stone. He attended local area schools, enlisting in the U.S. Navy upon graduation. Following his military service Mr. Stone graduated from the College of Staten Island with a degree in anthropology. On Aug. 20, 1972, in Brooklyn, he married the former Maureen Mauer, his wife of nearly 32 years, who survives him. A manager in the telecom...
By Josh Hasten With the withdrawal of ground troops from Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it completed its mission of dismantling a network of terrorist tunnels. But how did Hamas get its hands on materials to build the tunnels in the first place? Lt. Col (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi, an expert on the Middle East and radical Islam at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), explained that some of the materials, including cement and iron, were smuggled into Gaza by Hamas through...
While mensch is the ideal term to describe Joan Pohl, you could also use words like baleboste, Maven or forsher. Pohl has been teaching a monthly Yiddish class for the Jewish Pavilion for several years. The class meets monthly at Chambrel in Longwood. While some of the participants are Chambrel residents, many others come from the general community. They grew up in a household where Yiddish was spoken by parents or grandparents. Many students understand the language but do not speak it fluently. Pohl is a speech therapist with dramatic flair...
Marla and Merrill Sinert of Winter Park are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Molly Renee Sinert, to Stephen Lowell Ellis, son of Carol and Richard Ellis of Winter Park. The bride-elect graduated from Seminole High School and the University of Florida where she received a Pharm-D. The groom-elect graduated from Winter Park High School and the University of Florida, where he also received a Pharm-D. The couple resides in Jupiter, Fla., and are planning a fall 2015...
ELIEZER "ELIE" WIESEL, is a Romanian born Jewish American professor and political activist. He is the author of 57 books, including "Night," a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and Buchenwald concentration camps. A Nobel Peace Laureate, Wiesel has accused the militant Palestinian movement Hamas of child sacrifice for its practice of launching rockets against Israel from within heavily populated parts of Gaza during the recent conflict. In a full page, paid...
(JTA)—Israeli human rights group B’Tselem is no longer eligible for Israeli national service volunteer placements because it has acted “against the state and its soldiers.” In a letter to B’Tselem, the head of the national service program, which coordinates placements for young Israelis doing national civilian service as an alternative to military service, said he objected to the group’s actions during this summer’s Gaza war, Haaretz reported. B’Tselem’s full name is B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Ter...
