Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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As Jews around the world herald in the Hebrew Year 5784, I am celebrating Rosh Hashanah with the release of my fourth book, "Keep Calm and Bake Challah: How I Survived the Pandemic, Politics, Pratfalls, and Other of Life's Problems." Before you start getting out your baking pans, please be warned: No, this is NOT a cookbook! In March 2020, as the reality of COVID-19 hit home, I started baking challah, the delicious, braided egg bread that is typically eaten on the Sabbath and other important...
How do we pick up the pieces and start to live again? Everyone does it differently and in his or her own time frame. Join a grief support group. Renew old friendships, find a job that you enjoy do volunteer work, find a new or renew an old hobby.... One of the best therapies is finding a friend you can talk to...one who will listen and support you as you ease back into the world! We are better than ever for our commitment. We are forever changed in a good way.... no one can ever take that total love away from us as we again join the world. The...
Get ready for Saturday Night Out at the Rosen JCC. This event let’s parents drop off their children on Saturday, Sept. 30, 6 p.m.-11 p.m. Children will play games, do crafts plus get pizza and a movie. Parents can plan their own night of fun. Whether you plan a quiet night at home or a night out on the town, this gives parents a chance to take time for themselves. It’s a perfect opportunity to take advantage of Visit Orlando Magical Dining that run till Oct. 1. Enjoy one of the amazing restaurants in our area while the children have their own...
Preparing for Rosh Hashanah should not be a downer. It’s an auspicious, exciting time for clarity and closeness, grounded in positivity and love. The Hebrew month of Elul, a spiritually super-charged time leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, has a surprising theme. The word “Elul” is an acronym for the phrase “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li – I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me” that comes from King Solomon’s Song of Songs (6:3). To borrow from Tina Turner’s famous song, what’s love got to do with it? Why does this phrase that articulat...
(New York Jewish Week) — A kosher ice cream chain in Brooklyn is voluntarily recalling all of its ice cream and pareve frozen desserts after it was linked to a recent listeria outbreak from another kosher ice cream manufacturer. The recall was announced by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday and lists more than 90 frozen treats sold by the Ice Cream House, a chain of kosher dairy eateries in Brooklyn that was recently featured in an episode of the Netflix reality show “Jewish Matchmaking.” The chain has salads, sandwiches and pizza...
(JNS) — “Sex and the City” fans appropriately expressed outrage after SATC’s reboot “And Just Like That” made an offensive joke about the Holocaust on Holocaust Remembrance Day. They further charged that the show was permeated with overdone “woke-ism.” But other deeply disturbing things about AJLT received little to no notice. First, AJLT repeatedly promoted the dangerous George Soros-funded Israel-bashing propaganda organization Human Rights Watch. This became even worse in the just-aired AJLT Season 2, which also displays giant HRW signs...
The days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are devoted not only to examining our relationship with God, but also to self-reflection and our relationship with others. Our tradition, developed over more than three thousand years, has created a rich narrative of prayers and readings which, selectively are an integral part of synagogue services for all denominations. Included in the High Holiday liturgy is the retelling of our rich history from the rituals and pageantry of the High Priest in the Holy Temple to our religious experiences throughout the...
(JNS) — “A fool is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing,” Oscar Wilde famously quipped. In Milwaukee last week, the Republican candidates for president—minus one Donald J. Trump—quarreled over both the price and value of American support for Ukraine. Only Nikki Haley crunched the numbers correctly. From the February 2022 Russian invasion to August of this year, the United States has committed roughly $43 billion to Ukraine. As Haley suggested, that’s just 3.5 percent of U.S. spending on the Defense Department over...
(JNS) — Reports confirm the Biden administration will gift Iran a whopping $6 billion in exchange for the release of five American hostages. This decision is a godsend for outcast regimes and terrorists around the world—starting with Iran itself—that will no doubt feel emboldened to pursue further acts of belligerence against America and its allies. The decision reflects the president’s naive view that friendly diplomacy can subdue our enemies. Rather, Biden’s policies have only encouraged rogue elements like Iran’s Islamist regime to continue...
(JNS) — There are many kinds of blessings. Every situation, every occasion, has a different blessing. We wish success to some, to others long life or good health, and to still others we wish nachas and pride from their children. When my sister was a small child, she was somewhat confused by the traditional Yiddish blessings we give people at various life milestones. Someone had a baby and she wished them biz hundert un tzvantzig! In plain English, that means, “till 120!” It’s what we say when someone, particularly a more mature person, has a b...
MORNING MINYANS 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 Israel — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-647-3...
(JTA) — As the calendar turns to September, many Jews eagerly await an annual fall tradition that signals a new beginning: Week 1 of the NFL season. This year, the season began on Sept. 7, just about 10 days before Rosh Hashanah. Read on for our guide to all the Jewish players (listed alphabetically) and storylines to watch — plus a few free agents who could get another chance. Jake Curhan, Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle Curhan, 25, appeared in four games for the Seahawks in 2022, a step back from his 15 games and five starts during his roo...
(JNS) — The Biden administration told the Israeli government last week that it would have to make considerable concessions to the Palestinians if a U.S.-brokered deal with Saudi Arabia is to succeed. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who visited Washington on Aug. 17, that Israel’s government is “misreading the situation” if it presumes it won’t need to make concessions, two U.S. officials told Axios. Saudi Arabia will need to show Muslims the world over that it succeeded in extracting...
(JNS) — The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday rejected Knesset member Simcha Rothman’s request to issue a restraining order against 430 opponents of judicial reform, members of a WhatsApp messaging group called “Looking for and harassing Rothman.” “After weighing all the considerations, I found that the respondents’ activity apparently falls within the scope of a permissible political protest, in accordance with the rules of the democratic game,” said Judge Naeel Mohana. Such an order would restrict “the basic fundamental rights of the...
(JTA) — What appears to have been the first-ever passenger flight between Saudi Arabia and Israel has taken place — even though the two countries have not yet established diplomatic relations. An Air Seychelles flight to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing on Monday in the the port city of Jeddah, where passengers spent the night. On Tuesday, they flew from there to Ben Gurion International Airport. “I really appreciate the warm way in which the Saudi authorities treated the Israeli passengers,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in...
This story originally appeared on Kveller. Shanah Tovah, Happy, Healthy New Year! The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is nearly here. I can tell this coming year is going to be a good one - the bar is already so low, we can only go up from here! Rosh Hashanah, or "Head of the Year" is observed this year from sundown on Sept. 15 through Sept. 17. Rosh Hashanah celebrates the beginning of the next year on the Hebrew lunar calendar and is a time of great reflection, repentance and, of course,...
Scott and Rhonda Des Islets are ecstatic to announce the births of two grandchildren. Ozzy Bernard Shroyer was born to Jordan Shroyer and Tirzah Cabiac on Aug. 17, 2023 and Eilo Haywood Des Islets was born to Derek Des Islets and Linda Deliva on Aug. 23, 2023....
One wonderful gift a person can give to one’s family is to put all affairs in order before a disaster or medical emergency. A physical folder plus a file on the computer is ideal. Family members must be informed about the location of these files. • All bank accounts, account numbers and types of accounts and the location of banks. • A list of all passwords • Insurance Company, policy number, beneficiary as stated on the policies and type of insurance (health, life, long term care, automobile, etc.) • Deed and titles to all properties • Loan/li...
Cousins Richard Radutzky and Sandy Wiener grew up with major bragging rights. Both boys could boast to friends that their family made candy for a living. Career Day at their schools inevitably involved one of their fathers bringing in a giant bar of chocolate to wow the room and treats to share with all of their classmates. Richard and Sandy grew up in Brooklyn, New York in the shadow of their family business, Joyva, makers of tahini, halvah and other confections. The two, who now run the...
(JNS) — One student has been told she doesn’t get to talk because she’s white and therefore couldn’t have been oppressed. Another found colleagues to go “ghost white,” fearing for safety on campus in the face of anti-Israel activism when he chose to move forward with hosting an event with a former Israel Defense Forces soldier.The stories that pro-Israel college students shared with JNS earlier this week at the Israel on Campus Coalition National Leadership Summit about their experiences on campus ranged from being threatened and silenced to...
Just in time for the High Holidays, Eden Grove and The Mesaper Theatre announced the New York premiere of “Out of The Apple Orchard,” an off-Broadway production based on award-winning author Yvonne David’s book “Out of the Apple Orchard,” the first book in the four-part children’s book Apple Tree Series. It was adapted for the stage by Ellen W. Kaplan and directed by Nicole Raphael of The Mesaper Theatre. “Out of The Apple Orchard” was first performed at the Orlando Repertory Theatre in 2016...
As with every year, the Jewish High Holy Days provide the perfect opportunity to look back and commit to a better future for ourselves and our world. We at Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando are very grateful for all those who have joined with us over the years to help all those in need in our community, not just during the holidays but EVERY day through our FAMILY of services. With the increased capacity of the Pearlman Food Pantry, we distributed record levels of food not seen in our...
On Rosh Hashanah we stand at the crossroads of time, looking back with gratitude and forward with hope. It's a time for self-reflection and self-renewal. A reminder that we have the power to evolve, to rise above our circumstances, and to continually strive to be better versions of ourselves. We're encouraged to seek understanding in the face of differences, and to sow seeds of kindness and compassion. The shofar, a musical instrument made from a ram's horn, is blown not once, not twice, but...
As we approach Rosh Hashanah, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and anticipation. This particular time of year allows us to come together as a community to reflect, renew, and rejoice in the blessings that surround us. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of a new year, a time for self-examination and introspection. It is a chance for us to pause and contemplate the journeys we have taken, the challenges we have overcome, and the aspirations that continue to guide us. Let us use this...
