Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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On Sunday, Aug. 26, Jewish National Fund and The Roth Family JCC will host a town hall meeting about the Gaza border crisis. JNF is bringing three residents of Gaza border communities to Florida, to share their personal stories of living under attack, with hundreds of incendiary kites, balloons, and rockets steadily raining down on them. While there will not be a live event in Orlando, JNF will be live-streaming the event from Miami at The Roth Family JCC, 851 N. Maitland Ave., from 6:30 p.m. -...
Since 2003, Congregation Sinai has been serving the Jewish Community of Central Florida. After providing very successful community service over the past 15 years, they have now moved to 1200 West Broad Street in nearby Groveland at the edge of Clermont. Congregation Sinai will soon move into their new location with a special grand opening Torah procession, Mezuzah placement and a Kabbalat Shabbat service this evening, Aug. 24 from 7 to 9 p.m. The entire community is invited. Congregation Sinai...
Myrtle Rebecca Skop Rutberg, who loved all things American, and all things Jewish, passed away Saturday evening, Aug. 8, 2018, one month shy of her 107th birthday. Her achievements in life were many. She sometimes founded and was a member of numerous civic and religious organizations, and was named person of the year at Congregation Ohev Shalom, where she worshiped for over 80 years. Her honors over a lifetime were many and varied. Myrtle learned to drive at age 40, and drove well into her 90s....
As it gears up to celebrate its milestone 18th anniversary at its Gems and Jeans Gala on Oct. 28, The Jewish Pavilion and its Friends of the Pavilion Board are looking back with nostalgia and gratitude on the many dedicated and hardworking volunteers who have given so much of themselves since its earliest days. Two of its longest serving and most devoted volunteers are Elise Schilowitz and Gloria Newberger. Schilowitz has been an active member of Orlando's Jewish community since she moved here...
JFS Orlando is pleased to announce the addition of Dorrit Ram to their JFS family. Dorrit Ram, LCSW earned a masters in social work from the State University of New York at Binghamton. She is a licensed clinical social worker experienced in providing psychotherapy to teenagers and adults with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD, PTSD, dissociative disorders, addiction, autism, and intellectual disability. She specializes in working with people who have experienced childhood trauma. “We are thrilled to have Dorrit join our team. As a t...
The summer is coming to an end and Orlando Hadassah is gearing up for another season of exciting programs and fundraising events. We open the season on Sept. 4 at Congregation Ohev Shalom at 11:30 a.m. with a very special guest. Nationally known mentalist Mark Stone will present "Mentalmania," a program of mind-reading and ESP, mixed with comedy that has amazed audiences all over the world. Stone became interested in ESP while in college where he began learning his skills. He developed a short...
The next exhibit that is part of the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center Fall 2018-2019 Cultural Season is titled Heroes of Warsaw, which will be on display from Sept. 1-Dec. 28, 2018. Using the illustrations of Bill Farnsworth, Heroes of Warsaw highlights the courage and bravery of Irena Sendler and Janusz Korczak. This is the first time that all of his illustrations will be presented-only half of this collection has been on display before. Using the children's books A Hero and...
The 2018 Hanukkah stamp will be issued sometime in late September or early October. The word "Hanukkah" is not on the stamp. The explanation given by the USPS is "Though the word Hanukkah is not on the face of the stamp, the words "Happy Hanukkah" are printed at the top of the stamp sheet." They go on to say "The USPS has received many public recommendations over the years to do a Hanukkah stamp without the word Hanukkah thus giving the Jewish community could choose to use the stamp beyond...
(JTA)-You know what Oreos are. They're two delicious chocolate cookies sandwiched around a creme filling. Oreos also come in Double Stuff, vanilla, birthday cake and pumpkin spice (really). There is debate on how they should be eaten, but everyone knows they're best when dunked in milk. What you might not know is that Oreos are just a copycat of Hydrox, a sandwich cookie first sold in 1908, four years before Oreos appeared on shelves. Even though (or maybe because?) they were second, Oreos came...
(JNS)—U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday the founding of the Iran Action Group, which will “be responsible for directing, reviewing and coordinating all aspects of the State Department’s Iran-related activity.” “For nearly 40 years, the regime in Tehran has been responsible for a torrent of violent and destabilizing behavior against the United States, our allies, our partners, and indeed, the Iranian people themselves,” said Pompeo. “Our hope is that one day soon we can reach a new agreement with Iran. But we must see m...
A hostel in Jerusalem’s Old City has published a list of “haters of Israel” who have been banned “because of crimes committed against the Jewish people,” drawing derision and ridicule from those blacklisted. The Jerusalem Heritage House describes itself as an institution that provides “warm and comfortable accommodations for Jewish travelers in the heart of the Old City for a nominal fee.” It boasts of having hosted more than 60,000 guests since 1985. Posted on Twitter by journalist Jacob Kornbluh, the list includes figures such as comedian Jon...
and United with Israel US President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act on Monday, which includes $550 million in assistance to Israel and temporarily halts the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. This comes amid tensions between Washington and Ankara, which is currently holding an American pastor hostage, among other political moves. The $717 billion Act includes a bipartisan measure honoring a decade-long Memorandum of Understanding between America and Israel, with the US giving $3.8 billion annually to the Jewish stat...
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA)—In a dramatic scene, word reaches local officials that the leader of a militant black organization coming to town is intent on stirring up trouble. An undercover operation ensues when an African-American attends the event, taking copious notes and reporting his findings back to his Jewish colleague. In this moment, it seems, the black-Jewish relationship stood strong. Racists and bigots, no matter what side of the racial or religion divide, will face blacks and Jews working together in pursuit of justice. It sounds like a...
(JNS)—When security breaches threaten airports, there’s not much doubt about who is usually called in to deal with the situation. Israel’s prowess in dealing with threats to its borders, and especially its air-transportation system, is legendary. What makes their methods so reliable? Leaving aside the reputation for toughness, smarts and facial-analysis techniques that the Jewish state’s security services have cultivated both inside airports and during covert operations, it’s actually something that doesn’t require much derring-do: a willingnes...
(JNS)—There is two-stage subversion project at work against Israel and its Zionist-base ideology. The first stage seeks to cozy up, in a sense, and to equalize, falsely, two movements: Zionism and Palestinianism. If we are “equal,” then we are the “same.” Here is a first-stage formulation: ...you [Israel] will never be free until the Palestinians are... That has an emotional as well as philosophical/moral message. “We” are just like “you.” And for “you” to be really “you,” “we must be “we.” If that reads a bit confused, that is the point. Wh...
How would you feel if your child came home from school and said that he/she had to memorize and recite the Apostles Creed? The Apostles Creed is a statement of faith that many Protestant Christians recite in church every Sunday. What if your child was required to make rosary beads for a class art project and recite the Hail Mary prayer, commonly called the Ave Maria or Angelic Salutation, a traditional Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the “Blessed Virgin Mary”? By refusing to do the art project or recite the creed or prayer in cla...
JNS.org Aish Hatorah Resources Arabs came to the protest in Tel Aviv because they oppose the very existence of a Jewish state, including its most innocuous symbol. Ever since Saturday night’s demonstration against the nation-state law in Tel Aviv, which was organized by Israel’s Arab community, people have been talking about the presence of Palestinian flags. But too little attention has been paid to something even more disturbing—the enforced absence of Israeli ones. Certainly, demonstrators who wave Palestinian flags while chanting sloga...
Hold on to what’s important and let go of the super detailed image you have in your mind. One day they tell you you’re young and beautiful. You have a bright future ahead of you, they say. Then the next day, with no warning, they say you are being too picky, that you’re not getting any younger, and you need to think more seriously about settling down. That day happens at different ages and stages depending on your culture and community as if there’s an expiry date stamped on your forehead for all to see. Very few things are more painful...
They say that silence is golden. Yet, now is a time that we cannot stay silent. For over four months, communities facing the Gaza border in Southern Israel have lived through a daily barrage of incendiary kites, balloons, and rockets. For these families, one night of silence would be welcome. Instead, they are woken up each night by the sound of sirens blaring as they gather their children and rush to bomb shelters. Children are afraid to take a shower in case a siren goes off. Farmers watch their livelihood burn as hundreds of thousands of...
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...
Spoilers for "BlacKkKlansman" below. NEW YORK (JTA)-In 1965, two young Jewish men, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were murdered along with black activist James Chaney by Ku Klux Klansmen in a Southern horror memorialized in the 1988 film "Mississippi Burning." My own Jew-adjacent summer camp showed the film to us when we were about 12, with a non-Jewish camp director adding in an impassioned speech that while the days of the violent Klan had passed, it was our responsibility, as...
The first mention in JTA of the Hebrew word “hasbarah” was in 1988, at the height of the first intifada. The article focused on Israelis and American Jews and their deep concern that the media were distorting the unrest and showing the Israeli military in a bad light. The answer, interviewees agreed, was better “hasbarah”—a Hebrew word, explained the author (OK, it was me), “whose meaning falls somewhere between information and propaganda.” “Israel has never actually looked at hasbarah as an integral part of policymaking,” said Dan Pattir,...
Anti-Semitism in France... As recently reported in the La Croix International, (and passing it along to you), some 300 leading French public figures signed a manifesto denouncing what they see as the new wave of anti-Semitism in their country. The manifesto was published recently in Le Parisien newspaper and was signed by politicians, as well as Jewish, Muslim and Catholic leaders. Among the signatories were two leading Catholic officials: JOSEPH DORE, Bishop-emeritus of Strasbourg, and Father...
(JTA)-It's gotta hurt when the guy who used to fund your political career writes two op-eds criticizing you in The New York Times. Benjamin Netanyahu would know-that's what's happening to him right now. On Monday, Netanyahu was the target of a scathing column by Ronald Lauder, the cosmetics heir who heads the World Jewish Congress. Lauder lamented Israel's recent nation-state law, which Netanyahu defends as a safeguard of Israel's Jewish character but critics see as a slap in the face to the...
(JNS)-The future of prayer at the Western Wall has become one of the most contentious issues among Diaspora Jewry in the past year, mainly as a result of the Israeli government's June 2017, suspension of a plan, which would have changed the status quo at one of Judaism's holiest site. Leaders of Diaspora Jewry from the non-Orthodox streams, along with the Women of the Wall organization, a group that holds monthly controversial prayer services at the Western Wall, were enraged by the last-minute...
