Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Last month, community rabbi, Arnold Siegel, affixed a mezuzah to the doorpost of the front entrance to Chambrel Island Lake with the assistance of Executive Director Joff Stride. Several residents looked on as Rabbi Siegel explained that "a mezuzah marks the doorpost of Jewish homes, and contains a scroll inscribed in Hebrew with the most famous Jewish prayer. In addition, it serves as a daily reminder of our heritage." Jewish Pavilian Executive Director Nancy Ludin thanked all who coordinated...
(ISRAEL21c)-As the Ice Bucket Challenge raises millions for research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an Israeli treatment to ease symptoms and slow the progression of ALS and other incurable neuromuscular diseases is going into Phase 2 clinical trials in three major US medical centers. Petah Tikva-based BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics' NurOwn platform is based on a technique developed by Profs. Daniel Offen and Eldad Melamed at Tel Aviv University for growing and enhancing stem cells...
Jewish National Fund (JNF)'s Women for Israel (WFI) will host a breakfast at The Alfond Inn in Winter Park on Tuesday, Sept. 9. The event will feature keynote speaker Noa Gefen. Gefen joined the Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites (SPIHS) as executive vice-chairman in January 2011. She is the daughter of the late Yehuda Dekel, z"l, a founder of SPIHS and an esteemed leader of the State of Israel who devoted his life to the development of the Negev. Gefen has followed in her...
Rabbi Rudolph Adler, retired spiritual leader of Congregation Ohev Shalom, receives regular visits from Kimberly Shader with her pet therapy dog, Shomer, at his Sutton Homes long-term care facility in Dr. Phillips. Shomer actually means "guardian" in Hebrew. These visits are all the more meaningful because Shader was bat mitzvah'd by the rabbi-she fondly recalls his helping her with her bat mitzvah speech. When the picture was taken, the rabbi asked, "Can you tell which one is me?" Shader...
By Uriel Heilman (JTA)-Between the war in Gaza and gains by Islamic militants in Iraq, Syria and Libya, there's plenty of cause these days for pessimism about the Middle East. But amid all the fighting, there's also some good news for Israel. If it wasn't obvious before, the conflagrations have driven home just how much the old paradigms of the Middle East have faded in an era when the threat of Islamic extremists has become the overarching concern in the Arab world. In this fight against...
The Zionist Organization of America expresses “appall” at the Gaza resolution under UN Security Council consideration—and especially at the US for apparently agreeing to it. The proposed ceasefire resolution does not specifically condemn Hamas by name, but rather equates Hamas terrorism and the Israeli response to it. The resolution wording condemns “all violence and hostilities directed against civilians, as well as indiscriminate attacks resulting in civilian casualties, and all acts of terrorism.” No differentiation is made between t...
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—Comedian Sarah Silverman broke out a Jewish joke as she took home a trophy at the 2014 Emmy Awards. Silverman won for Best Writing for a Variety Show for her HBO comedy special “Sarah Silverman: We are Miracles.” Upon being announced as the winner, she dashed onto the stage barefoot and thanked her agents, saying, “Thank you to my Jews at CAA.” Prior to Monday night’s ceremony, Silverman set the Internet abuzz when she announced in an interview on the red carpet that she had brought with her a vaporizer with liquid pot....
On Wednesday, Aug. 20, the students from the Jewish Academy of Orlando had the opportunity to participate in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in a big way. Each student brought his or her own bucket and, grade by grade, had the opportunity to pour ice-cold water on Head of School Alan Rusonik. In addition to participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge, the students used the day to learn about the disease and a fundraising opportunity, as education and tzedakah are part of the school's core values. In...
Temple Shir Shalom of Oviedo invites the community to participate in their second in a series of guest musicians joining in Friday Night Shabbat services. Spiritual Leader Beth Schafer and the TSS Board of Trustees are pleased to welcome visiting artist Peri Smilow for another evening of meaningful music, Shabbat-in-Song, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19. A gifted vocalist and guitar player, Smilow is also an extraordinary storyteller, teacher and entertainer. Connecting with people of all...
On Sunday, Sept. 7, the Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando will be kicking off the school year with a middle school pool party from 1-3 p.m. This event, open to all young people in sixth through eighth grade, is only $5. Parents are invited to a brief meeting from 1-1:30 to meet the staff and learn about upcoming programming. Tayarim Connect is the Roth JCC's middle school program leading community-wide social, Judaic and service programs. The program offers positive and meaningful...
By Edwin Black Temple University has become the latest focal point for groups concerned about the spreading wave of campus antisemitism and academic-based Holocaust minimizing. Temple student Daniel Vessal, a fellow with CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), was drawn into a verbal exchange with anti-Israel activists at the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) table during an official college event on August 20, 2014. Vessal, in his junior year at the Temple University Fox School of Business, studying...
Prominent supporters of both Israel and the Palestinian cause are now saying that the solution to the current Gaza conflict is for the Palestinian Authority to be handed control there in place of Hamas. Such thinking fails to account for the PA’s long history of sheltering, assisting, and even collaborating with Hamas and other terrorist groups. Writing on the op-ed page of the Washington Post on Aug. 21, former national security advisers Samuel (“Sandy”) Berger (who served under Bill Clinton) and Stephen Hadley (under George W. Bush) argue...
The Israeli public is unhappy with how the Gaza operation has ended. “Ended” is, of course, problematic, as is the expectation for a month-long cease fire. The prime minister, defense minister, and head of the IDF held a joint press conference, in which they defended themselves against those claiming that the war ought to have continued to a more complete victory. Netanyahu’s line is that the complete defeat of a terrorist organization is not easy. He didn’t say “impossible,” but something near that was apparent. Israelis argue as to whether...
A grand paradox exists within Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The group markets itself as a movement to “restore the self-determination of Palestinians” while simultaneously denying the self-determination of Jews. Operating under the premise that the Jewish state is “illegally occupying Palestine,” SJP tries to spread awareness of the hardships faced by Palestinian-Arabs claiming that Israel treats them unfairly compared to Jewish citizens. By showing images of the security fence that was built out of necessity—to limit the number of...
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the group that recently invaded and “occupied” the Philadelphia Jewish Community Services Building and on Aug. 20 simulated and protested the (legal) blockade of Gaza outside of the UJA-Federation of New York, has declared in northern California, “Zionism isn’t welcome in our town.” There, JVP joined with a radical Bay Area coalition on Aug. 16 seeking to prevent the unloading of Israeli goods in Oakland. The action’s announcement, proclaiming “Stand Against Zionism Everywhere,” extols the “resistance in...
With the collapse of peace negotiations in Cairo on Aug. 19, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip resumed rocket attacks on the state of Israel. Many believed that Operation Protective Edge—rightfully launched by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on July 8—wouldn’t be over anytime soon. However, on Aug. 26, Israel and Hamas accepted an Egyptian-brokered, open-ended cease-fire; this is the twelfth time in fifty days that Israel has agreed to another cease-fire attempt with this recognized terrorist organization. According to The Jerus...
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, SEPTEMBER 5 Lig...
On Sunday, Aug. 2, six Orlando Jewish teens left the Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando in Maitland to embark on a trip to the largest international gathering of Jewish teens in the world, the JCC Maccabi Games. Also taking place in Cherry Hill, N.J. and Detroit, the Orlando delegation only had a short bus ride to Boca Raton. This summer, over 6,000 Jewish teens participated in the JCC Maccabi Games. The six Orlando 16U boys' basketball team members-Greg Childers, 15, Lake...
ORLANDO-Jewish philanthropist Alan Ginsburg was recently awarded the Benemerenti Medal, a papal honor bestowed by Pope Francis, for his vision in creating a space where Catholic and Jewish students can fulfill their spiritual needs, side by side, while attending the University of Central Florida. Ginsburg funded the construction of the Catholic Campus Ministry Center and adjacent Hillel Center, which opened last year. Bishop John Noonan and Allan Keen, chairman emeritus of the Board of...
Many of the concepts espoused in the Torah and Jewish tradition seem quintessentially modern, yet go back thousands of years. Here’s a roundup of some ideas that we take for granted today that are an integral part of ancient Jewish wisdom. 1. Monotheism Judaism introduced the powerful notion that one God created and rules the universe. This was a profound break with the idolatrous models that came before, in which an angry or capricious god was seen to govern events at random, and had to be appeased—often in horrible ways, like child sac...
I often disagree with Mr. Miller... I'm referring to comedian, DENNIS MILLER, who has a show called Dennis Miller Live on HBO. Although he is not Jewish, he recently had the following (on this we agree) to say (in part) about the Middle East situation: "A brief overview of the situation is always valuable, so as a service to all Americans who still don't get it, I now offer you the story of the Middle East in just a few paragraphs, which is all you really need. The Palestinians want their own...
Federation's annual meeting reflects on the past and looks to a bright future On Sunday, Aug. 24, community members, rabbis, and staff and leadership from Jewish agencies gathered together for the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando's annual meeting, themed "There's no place like home." The event was emceed by JFGO board members Jeannie Leavitt and Yeosh Bendayan, who were in costume as Dorothy (complete with Toto in basket) and the Tin Man, and the crowd was treated to an informative and...
Andrew Mackler, son of Jay and Robin Mackler of Lake Mary, Fla., will be called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014, at Congregation Beth Am. Andy is in the seventh grade at Sanford Middle School in the Pre-IB program. His hobbies and interests include playing tennis competitively in USTA tournaments, math and science, and ping pong. He also volunteers at Beth Am's Sunday School. Sharing in the family's simcha will be his brother, Ryan; grandparents, Audrey and Arnold...
LOS ANGELES (JTA) – The music that packs the Skirball Cultural Center's stately courtyard – Yiddish tango – is a musical hybrid twice over. On the tango side, it is a blend of African-born rhythms and a potpourri of European music styles. On the Yiddish side, it combines mournful liturgical melodies with folk songs. Tango, too, is famous for its sensual dance, while Yiddish music is rooted in the festive freylekhs of traditional wedding bands. In combination, the two prove irresistible, as th...
There will be a Relief For Israel Rally at Rollins College Alfond Stadium at Harper-Shepherd Field, 340 Aragon Ave Winter Park, on Sunday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m. The special guest speaker will be Matt Staver, J.D., founding member and chairman of Liberty Counsel, and dean of Liberty University School of Law. This event is sponsored by Pastors Blake and Beverly Lorenz of Encounter Church, Orlando....
