Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Middle school students attended a pool party kickoff at The Roth Family Jewish Community Center. Save the date for the Middle School Lock In-October 22!...
HaZamir Orlando, the international Jewish High School choir, held a successful Open House last week, launching their inaugural 2016-17 season. Teens from all over the surrounding Orlando area and their parents attended an informational open house that ended with the group singing in beautiful four-part harmony as a group for the first time. Auditions are still ongoing and all eligible singers, grade 9-12, are welcomed to attend the first open rehearsal, held at The Roth Family Jewish Community Center on Sunday, Sept. 11, from 2:30-4:30 p.m....
(JTA)-A rocket that was scheduled to launch an Israeli communications satellite into space exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida. The unmanned SpaceX rocket reportedly was in the midst of routine fueling test for Saturday's scheduled launch when it exploded on Thursday morning. The explosion was felt throughout the NASA facility and for several miles around, The Associated Press reported. Dark smoke could be seen hanging in the sky over the blast site. SpaceX is a private...
Recently someone asked me “What ever happened to that group that advocated cooperation and civility?” That group is the ACCoRD Project (Advocate for Civility, Cooperation, Respect & Dignity). I told her that I was attending a meeting that very evening (Thursday, Sept. 1) and I would let her know what the group is up to now. What began last January as a small group of women who wanted to make a difference in the way people conduct themselves in the political, journalistic and general public arenas, has grown to 70 members (and growing), wit...
(JTA)-Gene Wilder, a comedic actor known for playing wild-eyed eccentrics such as the titular characters in "Young Frankenstein" and "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," has died at 83. Wilder, who was Jewish, died Aug. 28 from complications of Alzheimer's disease, his nephew, filmmaker Jordan Walker-Pearlman, told The Associated Press. Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1933, Wilder later adopted his stage name, saying he couldn't imagine a marquee reading "Jerome Silberman as...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-A Florida state senator caught up in a boycott-Israel controversy. A Wisconsin state representative who combated anti-Israel bias on his campus. The diversity of Israel-related outlooks among the 63 candidates endorsed by Our Revolution underscores the eclecticism of the left-leaning movement launched by Bernie Sanders. The endorsed candidates represent an opening salvo by Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont to build on the progressive following he earned in his...
In the wake of expanding East African-Israeli relations, African nations often reach out to Israel for know-how on a range of topics: water conservation, energy, agricultural productivity, counter-terrorism; and now business negotiation. Although it may seem like the beginning of a tasteless joke about Jews and negotiation tactics, this work is anything but a joke. DLA Piper is one of the largest law firms in the world, a title that comes with big responsibilities. They take pro-bono work particularly seriously and have worked on dozens of...
Milan Chatterjee, the former president of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Graduate Students Association and third-year law student, informed UCLA that he would be leaving the school due to a "hostile and unsafe campus climate" fostered by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) groups. "It's really unfortunate," Chatterjee told the Los Angeles Jewish Journal. "I love UCLA, I think it's a great school and I have a lot of friends there. It has just become so hostile and unsafe I...
With much anticipation The Jewish Pavilion is excited to announce that the monthly entertainment at Horizon Bay Lake Orienta, on Boston Avenue in Altamonte Springs, is about to begin. For the past several years, one Sunday a month the Jewish Pavilion has provided such joy to all. "Everyone seems to benefit from the wonderful programs that we so enjoy planning. There is no better feeling than witnessing an elderly, that usually is quite incoherent, start to clap hands and mouth the words to a fam...
Dr. Harry Rein escaped from the Nazis on the final train existing Austria after Hitler's annexation. He was a refugee for many years and with good fortune landed in the U.S. Rein firmly believes he has encountered angels both seen and unseen along the way who encourage him to reach higher and help him and his family in inexplicable ways. Dr. Rein went on to become the only doctor, lawyer, and judge to practice all three professions at the same time. On Sunday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m., Dr. Rein will...
After a summer hiatus, volunteer Yiddish instructor Joan Pohl welcomes all to join her for a Nosh of Yiddish. Whether a novice or an expert, all are welcome to attend. Refreshments are served and fun and friendship is guaranteed. Class meets each third Thursday of the month, 10:30 a.m., at Brookdale Island Lake, 160 Islander Court, Longwood. The first class will be on Sept. 15. For more information call the Jewish Pavilion at 407-678-9363....
(and making them too) Congregation Bet Chaim is hosting a “Make your own Shofar” event on Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. The class will include a quick history of shofars, making your own shofar, and a shofar blowing lesson! The event is open to the public but requires preregistration. Space is Limited and registration closes Sept. 16. Registration can be completed at www.BetChaim.org/Shofar....
Recently, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif embarked on a five-nation tour of Latin America to spread the message that Tehran’s global influence is on the up. Zarif is one of those Iranian leaders eagerly embraced as a “moderate” by the Obama Administration. Like other Iranian officials of his rank, Zarif’s room for maneuver is strictly regulated by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader. Still, the notion that he represents a genuinely reformist faction within the Islamic Republic has been a convenient and comforting tool for persu...
Your Jewish Community Relations Council has been working hard at the “relations” part of our name, with a focus on building relationships within and beyond our Central Florida Jewish community. Those relationships help us find allies who support our values and whose values we can support in turn. Though we may not agree with each other on all issues, we look to find common ground on the issues that do offer ways to partner. In last month’s FYI column, we talked about the importance of listening, and how really listening to one another is how we...
We’re taught to honor principles, and there is merit to that principle. But they are also the traps in which disappear decency and good sense. Those who think and express themselves in absolutes and reject dispute from those who doubt the value of the principles being promoted, risk a lonesome life in politics, where the language of survival and success is nuance. Fierce opposition to occupation is one of the principles that gets in the way of dialog. Occupation has become a four-letter word pointed at Israel. It is said to be occupying P...
It’s one of the most disturbing photos from Israel that I’ve seen in years. I’m referring to last week’s image of the hundreds of Palestinian terrorist weapons captured in Israeli raids. It was enough to send shivers down one’s spine. And it revealed more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than all the panel discussions, research papers, and expert analyses with which we are always being bombarded. Friends of Israel often complain about what they say is the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s inadequate effort to make Israel’s case to the internati...
Despite your grievances with the country, refusing to stand for the national anthem is no way to advance a cause. At times we face conflicting values. For me, Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem is a perfect example of this. For one, Judaism maintains that you should not judge a person until you have spent a day in their shoes. Inevitably, as no two people are dealt the same circumstances and no two individuals wear the same shoes, we really can’t ever pass judgment on others. It is with that value deeply ingrained in me...
Dear Editor: I would like to respond to the staunch advocate of the “plight of the poor Palestinians,” Linda Gradstein’s recent article, “Gaza reconstruction proceeding slowly.” There is much to be said for the current situation resulting in an almost total lack of reconstruction of the damage caused by their unprovoked attack(s) on Israel. There are several reasons for the slow show of a desire to rebuild. First, that would not enhance the projected image of the living conditions in Gaza. By maintain the image of poverty, the governmen...
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...
It was January 2005. I walked into my classroom for the first session of the semester for the graduate seminar on “Women and Public Policy” that I was teaching. Eight women and four men were enrolled. As we went around the room making introductions each student revealed unique qualities and experiences. I am fortunate that today, more than 11 years later, I maintain contact with several students from that seminar. For most of those students, we have kept in touch for academic reasons—these students have needed letters of recommendation for a...
(JTA)-Last year I joined some 3,000 people at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark for a wide-screen showing of Mel Brooks' 1974 Western parody "Blazing Saddles." In the onstage interview that followed, Brooks, then 89, was beside himself in his delight at sharing his 42-year-old comedy with a real live audience. There was only one awkward moment in a joyous and hilarious evening, and it came when Brooks asked if anyone in the audience actually lived in Newark. One person, in the...
Program Director Walter Goldstein brought a beautiful blue shawl to Barbara Warfield at Terra Vista. Goldstein is the newest addition to the Jewish Pavilion as a program director, covering Ocoee, Winter Garden, Dr Phillips, Downtown Orlando and South Orange Blossom Trail....
It's smiles all around, as seniors at Siena Memory Care enjoy both human and canine visitors. Part of "Licks and Hugs," this Jewish Pavilion program brings select dogs to seniors for occasional visitation. Jane Edelstein, Jewish Pavilion intergenerational program director, holds one of the dogs, all provided by Judy's Pet Rescue of Sanford. Siena Memory Care is part of Oakmonte Village at Lake Mary. For more information, contact the Jewish Pavilion at 407-678-9363....
Polish Death Camps?... I read this in the current issue of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and pass it along to you: "Poland is planning to adopt new regulations to punish people who use the phrase 'Polish Death Camps' when referring to wartime Nazi concentration camps on Polish soil during World War II. The Nazis operated their most infamous death camps, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor and Treblinka, mostly in occupied Poland rather than in Germany. Justice Minister ZBIGNIEW ZIOBRO...
As a young boy growing up in Ashdod, Israel, Alon Day got his first go-kart at age 9. By 15, he was racing them. Less than a decade later, Day has become the first Israeli professional race car driver on the NASCAR circuit. He made history by competing in NASCAR's Xfinity Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Aug. 13. "Driving a race car is not like any other sport," Day toldJNS.org. "You are actually almost flying on the ground which is great. And the adrenaline is something I...
