Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(My Jewish Learning via JTA) - The High Holidays prayer book, or machzor, emphasizes the themes of the Days of Awe - introspection and repentance. Rosh Hashanah as the opening day of a court trial "The great shofar is sounded. A still small voice is heard. This day, even the angels are alarmed, seized with fear and trembling as they declare: 'The day of judgment is here!'" In a loud and trumpeting voice, the cantor describes the shofar's blast, then softly and gently describes a "still, small vo...
Two years ago, Tracey Kagan ran for office for the first time. Now she's running again - but this time, "it's a whole different ballgame," said Kagan. "I have learned so much in the past two years that it almost feels like a lifetime ago." Kagan, an attorney and single mom of three daughters, is one of a historic slate of Jewish women running for office in Seminole County, Fla., this November - including Patricia Sigman, who is running for State Senate, and Moira Dictor, who is running for...
Radio personality Moira is running for Seminole County Tax Collector. "This is the bravest thing I've ever done," she told Heritage. "I'm stepping off that cliff and hope to leave this place better than I found it." "I've spent my professional lifetime listening to our community - listening and interviewing people and keeping my eye on the issues in Seminole County, with the understanding that many people feel like they have never had a voice," Dictor said in an interview with The Seminole Sourc...
This community rocks when it comes to fundraising challenges. On Sept. 9 the Roth Family JCC held a 36-hour fundraiser for the Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center, which has experienced a decline in enrollment because of the COVIC pandemic. Just like a 24-hour fundraiser the JCC held years ago, the 222 donors surpassed the goal amount of $120,000, raising a total of $122,212. “I cannot find the words to describe how your generosity has touched our hearts,” said Keith Dvorchik, executive director. “You have made an important inves...
Maitland residents Jason and Ronni Mendelsohn have a home in Bozeman, Montana, which they recently lost to a fire that destroyed 28 homes in the area. The NBC television station in Montana interviewed Mendelsohn and rode with him to his first viewing of his home after the fire. He wasn't prepared for what he saw, as he really didn't think the fire would reach his house or property. The entire house was burned to the ground. He walked around ash and discovered the only thing left standing in the...
The cover of last week’s Rosh Hashanah issue was of Rabbi Jason Weiner who planned to put a mask on his shofar during the High Holidays. Many others have followed suit to ensure that they do not spread the coronavirus when blowing the ram’s horn. The photo is in this week’s issue (on page 10A) in the article “Six months into pandemic, Jews prepare for a High Holiday season of rupture and resilience.” The photo is courtesy of Weiner....
Like other nonprofits, the Jewish Pavilion is cancelling their gala for 2020. Their ungala will consist of a silent online auction from Oct. 18-23. Instead of donning your annual Gems and Jeans attire, you can shop from the comfort of your home says Shirley Schoenberger who is co-chairing the auction with Susie Stone. The hottest auction item so far is a monthly gift certificate for two of Ben Breslauer's delicious challahs said Nancy Ludin, CEO. Breslauer (owner of the former Ben's Bakery)...
Heritage Jewish News employee Gil Dombrosky is a devout Democrat. Central Florida Publishing employee Johnny Johnson is a devout Republican. Johnson delivers the weekly paper from the printer to the Heritage office every Thursday. Over the years, the two men have developed a good friendship as Dombrosky helps Johnson bring in the papers as well as take out the old issues for recycling. Their political persuasions don't affect their working relationship though and each one takes the other's...
(JTA) - About one-third of American Jews live in just 20 of the country's congressional districts. Nearly half of those districts are in New York, and all but one of them is represented by a Democrat. Meanwhile, the district with the most Jews in the country is also the site of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's Florida estate. Those are among the findings from a recent study analyzing Jewish voting patterns. Key findings from the study, which was conducted by the Jewish Electorate Institute...
(Israel Hayom and JNS staff via JNS) — Hamas deputy political chief Saleh al-Arouri said on Monday that due to recent events in the region, the terrorist organization and its political rival, Fatah, had agreed to join forces. In an interview with Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen TV, Arouri said the Palestinian people had been stabbed in the back three times in recent months. The first betrayal, he said, was the Trump administration’s “Peace to Prosperity” plan, the second was the Israeli sovereignty initiative and the third was the normali...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, in part for helping to broker the treaty between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, dubbed the “Abraham Accord.” He was nominated by Norwegian Parliament member Christian Tybring-Gjedde, who wrote in his letter to the Nobel committee: “As it is expected other Middle Eastern countries will follow in the footsteps of the UAE, this agreement could be a game-changer that will turn the Middle East into a region of cooperation and prosperity.” In an exclusive...
(The Jewish Advocate) — The relentless, previously failed attempts of extremist groups J Street and New Israel Fund to demonize, silence, and “cancel” strong defenders of Israel and the Jewish people, is now being repeated by JCRC (“JCRC pushed to oust ZOA,” The Jewish Advocate, Sept. 4, 2020), who always prided itself on dialogue and having a “ big tent.” Yet I was never contacted about these false allegations. Shamefully, J Street, NIF, Women of Reform Judaism, The Workers Circle — previously Workmen’s Circle — etc. filed a baseless, ludicro...
(JNS) This week’s Torah portion is Deuteronomy 29:20-30:9, which calls upon Israel to be faithful to the covenant in the land God has given them. God promises that even if Israel is scattered among the nations and the land lies desolate, He will restore Israel from captivity, gathering the Jewish people even from the ends of the earth back to their land. In the 72 years since Israel’s rebirth as a modern nation, we have seen this promise fulfilled. The haftarah portion accompanying this week’s Torah portion is Isaiah 61:10-63:9, an exube...
Just before Donald Trump was sworn in as our 45th president, outgoing president Barack Obama told him his biggest problem would be North Korea. Obama was wrong! North Korea, though problematic, proved less troublesome than expected, due to President Trump’s skillful handling of its volatile leader, Kim Jung Un. President Trump’s biggest problem, more than Russian collusion investigations and the Democrats’ impeachment effort, all intended to destroy his presidency, was instead a virus from China for which our Centers for Disease Control and H...
This article is in response to “Donald Trump: Social Justice President” (Rabbi Sanford Olshansky, Heritage, Aug. 28, 2020). The High Holy Days will be very different this year for all of us. Rather than meeting fellow congregants in our synagogues, we will be Zooming. As the first day falls on Shabbos, Reform Jews will have to wait until the closing moments of Yom Kippur to hear the sound of the shofar over the Internet. Holiday meals will be lonely affairs as most families are practicing social distancing. Fasting on the holiest day of the...
The shofar sounds that we blow on the High Holidays take on a new meaning this year as we enter the holiday. Traditionally, the notes tekiah, shevarim, and teruah represent different notes of cries. This idea of crying is meant to stir our conscience during the time of Rosh Hashanah to confront our past errors and return to God who is ready to accept our contrition. However, due to Covid-19, the shofar sounds can be seen as a comforting sound. It represents the comforting sounds of community, although incredibly smaller this year, will mark an...
Dear Editor: There is a hypocrisy of the highest order when major media giant Facebook and its “I’m no longer a Jew” founder Mark Zuckerberg can allow Holocaust deniers open access to Facebook and not remove them. Tell that to the 7 million Jews murdered by the Nazis (not the 6 million murdered Jews we hear all the time, that last figure by the British government decades ago is deemed more accurate). If it was only one Jew it would still be a Holocaust. And now Jews throughout the world have to suffer insult after insult by these Holoc...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, all minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) 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...
(JNS) - Jessica Krug, a Jewish professor at George Washington University who falsely identified as a black person, has resigned, announced the Washington, D.C.-based university on Wednesday. The university tweeted that "Dr. Krug has resigned her position, effective immediately. Her classes for this semester will be taught by other faculty members, and students in those courses will receive additional information this week." Update regarding Jessica Krug: Dr. Krug has resigned her position, effec...
Jewish Academy of Orlando has upgraded the school's remote learning offering by investing in new technology and by naming Emily Watson, a veteran teacher as remote learning coordinator. Twenty percent of the school's enrollment has opted for remote learning to start the year. These investments create an educational opportunity that equals the high standards and success for which JAO is known. "Our goal is to make the remote student experience connected, social, meaningful, authentic and...
Jenna Lewinsky is panicked, rightly so. She's facing eviction. But it's not a bank that is forcing her to give up her home. She's not done anything wrong. In fact, she's done everything right. Many people have helped her to get where she is. Lewinsky's problem is unique. Lewinsky is panicked because all her years of devotion to bring home and preserve a biblical species of sheep to the Judean mountains south of Jerusalem risks being pulled out from under her. It's not just about her physical eff...
For the last several months, the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation has held Friday night and Saturday morning Shabbat services over Zoom, in a well-received effort to keep the community both safe and connected in the unprecedented times created by COVID-19. “It’s been a wonderful opportunity for innovation,” said Rabbi Orrin Krublit. “We’re always looking for chances to create sacred spaces virtually, so people can be transformed and feel the power of Shabbat even while apart.” The shift to digital has brought with it plenty of challenges,...
In the midst of a 12-city, 4-country, 64-show international virtual tour during a global pandemic, award-winning performance artist Brian Feldman brings the online version of one of his signature projects to the 2020 Philadelphia Fringe Festival, as one of 120 shows available to audiences virtually and IRL as part of this year's festival. "#txtshow" (on the internet) is a completely immersive multi-screen performance featuring a mysterious character named txt (pronounced "text") who recites a...
Iran's ban on Israel ... I read this in the World Jewish Congress digest, said to myself "oy vay," and pass it along to you: Iranian President HASSAN ROUHANI issued an implementation order of a law banning any cooperation with the State of Israel, specifically bans on technological products, including computer hardware and software. Following the order, the Iranian interior, intelligence, foreign, and defense ministries, the Supreme National Security Council, and the Judiciary are now required...
(JTA) - For many Jews, a high point of services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is the Unetaneh Tokef prayer, which wonders who will live and who will die in the year ahead. This year, that question will take on added resonance, as the High Holidays fall six months into a global pandemic that has reshaped lives, battered institutions and killed hundreds of thousands of people, including many in Jewish communities. At the same time, the prayer will be experienced in dramatically new ways: on the...
