Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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By Alan Kornman After sharing his harrowing story of endurance during the Nazi occupation of his home country, then recalling his internment in Auschwitz and liberation in Buchenwald, Irving Roth came face to face with one of his American liberators. His audience was held in rapt attention as Roth began the evening sharing his memories. "It was a balmy evening in May of 1944, I was 14 years old, I had been locked up in this cattle car for three days and three nights, with no place to sit, no... Full story
(JTA)-The turmoil in Ukraine has left one of Europe's largest Jewish communities on edge. After an outbreak of violence in Kiev last week that left dozens of protesters and policemen dead, President Viktor Yanukovych fled the capital and parliament installed an interim leader to take the still-contested reins of power. Like their compatriots, Ukraine's Jews are waiting to see what the future holds for their country, but with the added fear that they could become targets amid the chaos. There... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-When Rep. Eric Cantor took the stage last week at the Virginia Military Institute to deliver a wide-ranging foreign policy address, Auschwitz was on the House majority leader's mind-and so, observers suggest, was the state of his party. In his speech, the Virginia Republican cited his recent visit-his first-to the Nazi death camp, connecting past horrors to the present-day danger of retreating into isolationism. "Standing there as the frigid wind swept through the eerily quiet r... Full story
Jewish Family Services Orlando, the Winter Park-based non-profit, human service agency, will begin accepting food and cash donations for its inaugural Pantry Restock Challenge. The Challenge runs from March 1 - April 30 and is aimed at restocking the Pearlman Food Pantry. The Weiner Winter Park Wealth Group, a longtime JFS Orlando supporter will match 25 cents for every dollar donated, or pound of food donated, up to $5,000. During its first year, JFS Orlando seeks to raise $20,000 or 30,000 meals. “In previous years, JFS Orlando p... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-Just how open should Jewish institutions be when it comes to talking about Israel? That's the question at the center of a flurry of controversies over the last few days involving Jewish museums, an Orthodox high school and Hillel chapters on college campuses. For years, Jewish institutions have been grappling with where to draw red lines when it comes to criticism of Israel. Should they open their doors to groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, which is allied with the BDS movement... Full story
(JNS.org) Jewish organizations have set up emergency assistance for Ukraine’s roughly 200,000-member Jewish community amid ongoing political unrest there. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) said that it is providing immediate assistance in areas of Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, to ensure that elderly Jews and people with disabilities receive essential supplies at home. JDC staff and volunteers have been providing food packages and medical supplies to these homebound individuals. “Even as we mourn the loss of life in Ukrai... Full story
(JNS.org) Hundreds of people demonstrated on Feb. 23 outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, calling on the U.S. to release imprisoned Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. The demonstrators held signs reading "Free Pollard" and "29 years, that's enough." A number of Knesset members took part in the demonstration, including Moshe Feiglin and Tzachi Hanegbi (both Likud), Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli (Habayit Hayehudi), and Nachman Shai (Labor). "We are appealing to the Americans and telling them, 'Enough,'" Shai... Full story
Camp J will celebrate its fifth anniversary on the Jewish Community Center's Jack & Lee Rosen Southwest Orlando Campus this summer, and preparations are already underway to make it the biggest and best summer yet. The camp's new director, Eric Lightman, has been working since he arrived to grow the camp program. "We're building on a strong foundation from previous summers," says Lightman, "but we also need to keep up with the latest trends in camping." For this summer, the JCC is building its... Full story
Jenna Gould is in the seventh grade at Markham Woods Middle School and preparing for her upcoming bat mitzvah at Congregation Reform Judaism in late April 2014. Jenna contacted the Jewish Pavilion wanting to offer her compassion for seniors as her bat mitzvah project. She found her niche at Oakmonte Village in Lake Mary by helping to lead the Shabbat service along with Cathy Swerdlow. Jenna has also shared her time on Sundays by calling Bingo and more recently helping a resident use her... Full story
Congregation Beth Israel of Ocala will celebrate Purim on Sunday March 16, at 4:30 p.m. at the Arbor Conference Center (rooms E,F, and G) at On Top of the World. There will be a retelling of the story of Esther in English followed by a potluck supper. In keeping with the frivolous nature of the holiday, a special Purim spiel, titled “Take a giant step,” will be performed. The original skit based on the story of David and Goliath was written by Judi Siegal and features members of the congregation. Those who wish to attend are asked to bring a d... Full story
The Jewish War Veterans of Volusia and Flagler counties will host their next regular meeting at 10 a.m., Sunday, Mar. 9, in the Aberdeen Club House, 55 Allwood Drive, Ormond Beach. Volusia County activist Shannon McLeish will speak about the negative impact on property values caused by the high number of vacant and abandoned properties in Volusia Beach. A New York style breakfast consisting of bagels, nova lox, various cream cheeses, orange juice, herring, sweets, coffee and tea will be served at 9:30 a.m. There is no cost for guests. Jewish... Full story
At friendly dinners and agency meetings, on the phone and in emails, the plans outlined in a recent edition of the Heritage, detailing a way to restructure the Maitland campus and reduce if not eliminate the $5.8 million debt hanging over the property’s (and community’s) head, are being discussed with interest and, in some cases, a modicum of panic. Coming to be known as the Schwartz Plan (after Charles Schwartz, a Jewish community leader for decades and one of the prime reasons anything is eve... Full story
That there is widespread anxiety over the Obama administration’s Middle East policies is hardly a secret. If we have learned anything over the past six years it is that, contrary to the conspiratorial theory that the so-called “Israel Lobby” is the ultimate authority when it comes to Washington’s stance in the region, the opposite is true. It is presidents and their appointees who make policies, based on their assessment of the strategic interests of the United States at a given moment. In that framework, the “Lobby” only enjoys success whe... Full story
The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) was founded in Egypt in 1928 and is considered a terrorist organization by many countries, including Islamic countries. Its stated goal is to instill the Qur’an as the sole religion and political body in the life of every individual and country worldwide. According to Richard Clarke, former chief counterterrorism advisor on the U.S. National Security Council under Presidents Clinton and Bush, “The Muslim Brotherhood has provided the ideological underpinning for almost all the modern Sunni Islamic terrorist gro... Full story
One of the basic duties of Jewish parents is to provide for the instruction of their children. The obligation to teach one’s children is set forth in the first paragraph of the Sh’ma prayer: “Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children (V’shinan’tam l’vanekha)...” (Deut. 6:6-9). Formal Jewish education as a communal activity was instituted in Israel during the Second Temple period. In the Talmud we read “Then Yehoshua ben Gamla (a high priest during the Second Temple period) came an... Full story
Dear Editor: I would like to comment on some of the recent suggestions made as to the short- and long-term future and plans of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando as well as the agencies on the Maitland campus. While I am on the boards of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, Central Florida Hillel, and the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation, this letter represents my personal views and not necessarily those of any of these organizations. First, I should indicate that fundamentally I approve of the direction the Federation is going... Full story
Dear Editor: The way to memorialize victims and to teach the lessons from the monumental human tragedy of the Holocaust is through education—not through inappropriate contemporary Nazi analogies as argued by David Benkof (“The ADL should value Nazi analogies, not call them offensive,” Feb. 21 Heritage). Benkof’s analogizing endemic signs of Nazis stripping the rights of and de-humanizing Jews during the Holocaust era to present-day examples of policy debate trivializes the Holocaust. This misguided theory confuses the importance of remindi... Full story
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, MARCH 7 Light Shabba... Full story
Jam session. Flash poll. A tapping into our collective mind. Almost three weeks ago, from Feb. 16-19, 2,135 people-61 percent between the ages of 18 and 34-participated with world Jewish leaders in an online "jam session" organized through a joint initiative between the government of Israel and an entity being termed world Jewry. The initiative, said Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett, was about "hearing new ideas and empowering Jews from around the world to take part in... Full story
Lillian Gilbert of Longwood passed away on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 at Florida Living Center. She was 87 years old. Mrs. Gilbert was born in Baltimore, Md., on May 15, 1926 to the late Sylvia and Jacob Blumberg. She is also predeceased by a brother, Isadore Blumberg; sister, Leah Gilbert; and son, Paul Gilbert. Mrs. Gilbert was the widow of Dave Gilbert, whom she was married to for 55 years. She is survived by her daughter, Joan Hawkins; cousin, Edith Zarow; and three grandchildren. Funeral services were held in Baltimore, Md. On Friday, Feb.... Full story
Gaga playing Tel Aviv HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA)-The upcoming Lady Gaga concert has an official date and location: Sept. 13 in Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park. The news was announced last week on the Israeli show "Good Evening with Guy Pines." Other acts set to perform in the Holy Land over the next few months include the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber and the Pixies, among others. Get busy Roger Waters-looks like you have some serious open letter writing ahead of you. Lena... Full story
When former New York Times reporter Leslie Maitland first heard that Amy Adams would be in "American Hustle," she smiled, thinking the actress would portray her. In director David O. Russell's film about the Abscam scandal, Adams stars alongside Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence. The movie received 10 Oscar, tied with "Gravity" for the most nominations this year. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Maitland was the reporter who broke the Abscam story. But Adams does not p... Full story
Literary genius to say the least... Literary genius and hero for sure! The following information comes from a TV program and also confirmed by me on the Internet. While watching ABC World News with DIANE SAWYER tonight, I saw a wonderful story about a young boy and his friend in Gainesville where research is being done at the University of Florida Health, with Dr. DAVID WEINSTEIN. Read on: "To 6-year-old Dylan Siegel of Los Angeles, JONAH POURNAZARIAN is a 1-in-a-million kid. So why not try to... Full story
The "Seeking Kin" column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA)-The tattered book with the beige cover was just the sort of thing Tara Lotstein was looking to purchase when she found it online in late 2012. Its title was "A Jewish Woman's Cookbook" and after the book arrived by mail, it joined a special, short stack of Lotstein's acquisitions that includes a Siddur, a High Holy Days machzor and a Passover Haggadah. All four books are in Hungarian, a language... Full story
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® of Central Florida needs volunteers in your area who can befriend terminally ill patients, provide relief for weary caregivers, accompany their pet on Paw Pals© visits, visit with veterans, provide art and music therapy, make bereavement calls, sew Memory Bears or garment bags, knit/crochet afghans, make crafts, help repair medical equipment, or help with administrative work. Call 407-691-4541 or e-mail central.floridavolunteers@vitas.com if you would like to find out more information.... Full story
