Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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NEW YORK (JTA)—There are a lot more Jews in America than you may have thought—an estimated 6.8 million, according to a new study. But a growing proportion of them are unlikely to raise their children Jewish or connect with Jewish institutions. The proportion of Jews who say they have no religion and are Jewish only on the basis of ancestry, ethnicity or culture is growing rapidly, and two-thirds of them are not raising their children Jewish at all. Overall, the intermarriage rate is at 58 per...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The “credible military threat” against Iran that Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to hear while he was in the United States this week eventually emerged—from his own lips. The Israeli prime minister, in a blunt speech to the United Nations General Assembly, warned that Israel was ready to go it alone against Iran should it come close to obtaining a nuclear weapon. “I want there to be no confusion on this point,” Netanyahu said. “Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. If I...
A little more than 10 years ago, Aaron Weil had his eye on one of two positions: executive director and CEO of either the Edward and Rose Berman Hillel Jewish University of Pittsburgh or University of Central Florida Hillel. Pittsburgh won out at that time and now Central Florida’s Hillel will glean from his experiences and accomplishments, which are many. Weil is passionate about the future of the Jewish community and sees clearly the role Hillel plays in keeping the young Jewish adults a...
NEW YORK—Zionism claimed a victory this week when Jewish National Fund (JNF) announced a new and expanded partnership with the Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI). Pursuant to an agreement unanimously approved by both JNF’s board of directors and board of trustees as well as by AMHSI, JNF will appoint all members of AMHSI’s board of directors and integrate AMHSI’s operations into JNF’s broad array of educational initiatives. “Many people in the Jewish world today—even the most committed—are afraid of the ‘Z’ word: Zionism,” said JNF...
(JTA)—When Rina Attias phoned to say that she was trapped with terrorists inside Nairobi’s Westgate mall, her husband Albert replied with a short instruction: Hang up right now. Albert Attias, the head of the Jewish community in the Kenyan capital and an Israeli military veteran, wanted to communicate with his wife by text message so she wouldn’t be overheard speaking Hebrew. Their Israeli connections were not something the couple was eager to advertise, even in normal circumstances. “I was grav...
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Israeli sage who founded the Sephardic Orthodox Shas political party and exercised major influence on Jewish law, has died. Yosef died Monday at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. He was 93. He served as Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi from 1973 to 1983, and extended his influence over the ensuing decades as the spiritual leader of Shas, which politically galvanized hundreds of thousands of Sephardic Israelis, though Yosef himself never served in Knes...
WINTER PARK—The financial challenges facing higher education institutions throughout the country are being addressed in a new and innovative way by one liberal arts college. Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., recently opened The Alfond Inn with net operating income designated for a permanently endowed scholarship fund. What’s unique about it is that all the net proceeds help fund full-ride student scholarships at Rollins. It was built by a lead gift of $12.5 million from the Harold Alf...
The Holocaust Center in Maitland has announced a partnership with the Global Peace Film Festival, Rizwan Zaman on behalf of the Holocaust Center, The Islamic Society of Central Florida and the Enzian Theater to present a special screening of the documentary “BESA: The Promise” on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 12 p.m. It is a part of Central Florida’s Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of Kristallnacht—the beginning of Hitler’s Final Solution. A remarkable group of arts and cultural organizations are hosting a series of events to promote respect a...
Temple Israel Sisterhood will be going on its third shopping trip to the Festival Flea Market in Pompano Beach, Fla., on Sunday, Nov. 3. The group will travel south on an air-conditioned bus from the Jewish Academy of Orlando’s parking lot at 8 a.m. and return around 8 p.m. Bagels, snacks and water will be available and a comedy video movie will be shown during the ride. During the return trip the bus will stop at Glick’s Kosher Market in Delray Beach. They have a variety of kosher foods for...
‘Words of hate can easily turn into acts of hate,’ says Foxman in new book on perils of Internet. Last Thursday, a 5-year-old British girl, April Jones, who had been raped and murdered, was buried in London after her funeral was televised nationally. She and another young girl were victims of men apparently addicted to online pornography. And although England, like the U.S., bans child pornography, Prime Minister David Cameron plans to take measures to further restrict pornography on the Internet, making Britain “the most family-friendly democ...
It’s been almost 40 years since I moved from the U.S. to Israel. I still write about the country where I was born, had my formal education, and spent about one-third of my professional career. Internet friends, some of them not so friendly, attack me from both left and right, claiming that I do not understand their country. Although I am not current about many details, I look at a number of prominent US media each day, and I feel that enough remains from what I wrote and taught when I was in the middle of things American to be comfortable in w...
Terror has been rearing its ugly head throughout the world lately. In Kenya, a Somalia-based, al-Qaida-linked rebel group, al-Shabab, burst into Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall and murdered dozens of victims in cold blood. In Nigeria, at least 160 people were massacred in two attacks by the radical Islamist organization Boko Haram. In Pakistan, a terrorist blew himself up outside a church in the city of Peshawar, killing more than 80 members of Pakistan’s Christian minority. In Israel, terror struck as well. Over the holiday of Sukkot, two...
NEW YORK (JTA)—Since the release of the Pew report about American Jews, the question I’ve been asked most often is what surprises me about it. What surprises me most is that anybody is surprised. The Pew report points to a series of phenomena that are well known in the world today: identity fragmentation, radical free choice, embracement of diversity, and the breakdown of organizational and ideological loyalties. Jews are, as Tolstoy said, like everybody else, only a little more so. For many of these phenomena we are the canary in the coal min...
NEW YORK (JTA)—Last week, the Pew Research Center released the first national demographic study of Jewish Americans in more than a decade. Like all such studies, there are disagreements at the edges about the accuracy of some of the results, but the study’s most significant findings have been generally accepted. The big news is that one in five self-identified American Jews does not identify as Jewish by religion (one in three among younger Jews), and that even among Jews by religion, the intermarriage rate since 2005 is 55 percent. Loo...
This article originally appeared at forward.com, Oct. 1, 2013, reprinted with permission. There’s a classic story in my family about the time many years ago when we sat around the table at Aunt Sarah’s house loudly debating what it meant to be a Jew in America. Bubbe Esther, my husband’s grandmother, sat quietly in the corner until someone thought to ask her. How do you define being a Jew, Bubbe? I’ll never forget her answer: A Jew is what a Jew does. For the religiously observant, Yiddish-speaking immigrants of her generation, the outline...
Dear Editor: I have just heard of the passing of Abe Wise. My heartfelt condolences go out to Tess and their kids. Abe was a kind, gentle, mensh who will always be remembered as being the father of the Orlando JCC. But he was also the reason Orlando residents today are able to read Heritage Florida Jewish News. It happened back in 1976. I knew both Abe and Tess before I moved to Orlando. They both attended family functions in Youngstown, Ohio, where Tess had relatives. That’s where I first met Abe. When I moved to Orlando in 1973 I went l...
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 a.m.; Sunday, 8 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, OCTOBER 11 Light Shabbat candles at 6:42...
Every Friday afternoon Jewish Pavilion volunteers lead Shabbat services followed by a bit of discussion, refreshments and kibbitzing. Shown here is volunteer and lay leader Steve Newman shmoozing with ‘the ladies’ Vera Skall and Julie Rudnick after the service at Chambrel. New friendships are formed and stories are shared among all who attend. To become involved by volunteering, call the office to find out more information 407-678-9363....
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2013. 359 Pages. $29.95 This is the fascinating autobiography of a newspaper editor who played an important role in the Washington Post coverage of the Watergate story. Rosenfeld was born in Berlin in 1929 to Polish parents who had settled in Germany because his father worked as a furrier for a large Berlin fashion house. Alarmed by the rise of the Nazis and increasing anti-Semitism, the family—which consisted of Rosenfeld’s older sister, him...
Solomon W. Lober passed away on Monday, Sept. 30, 2013, at Hospice of the Comforter in Altamonte Springs. He was 90 years old. Mr. Lober was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., on Oct. 19, 1922, to the late Max and Esther Braver Lober. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, serving in Central Europe. Following the war, he graduated from City College of New York with a business degree and then received a degree in mechanical engineering from New York University, ultimately earning his juris doctor from St. John’s University. During his working c...
Alan Jeffrey Saffran, M.D., of Winter Park, passed away on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013, at Orlando Regional Medical Center—Orlando. He was 53 years old. Dr. Saffran was born in New York City, on July 30, 1960, to Dolores Shapiro Saffran of Boca Raton and the late Murray Saffran. He attended high school at Bronx High School of Science and received a bachelor of arts degree from Columbia University. He then attended Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and earned his medical degree. Dr. Saffran did his residency at the U...
“Whenever I speak with Sy, he is always quick to remind me ‘Don’t forget, I was arrested before you were!’” explained Ambassador Andrew Young in remembering his friend and colleague, Rabbi Israel Dresner. Rabbi Dresner was one of 16 rabbis arrested in St. Augustine on the afternoon of June 18, 1964 while supporting the work of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. It was the largest mass arrest of Jewish clergy in the United States. The former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations was speaking...
SAN FRANCISCO—Know a socially-conscious Jewish teen who is creating change locally or globally? The Helen Diller Family Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards, an awards program that recognizes up to 10 Jewish teens with $36,000 each for exceptional leadership and visionary actions that are helping to repair the world. Up to five teens from California and five from other communities across the country will be acknowledged for their socially-minded volunteer service. Visit www.dillerteenawards.org t...
Anyone can be a “path setter” on Sunday, Oct. 27, at the Jewish Pavilion’s Fall Festival and walk at Cranes Roost in Altamonte Springs. For a donation of $50 to the Jewish Pavilion, donors can have a sign with a Footprint along the walking path with the name of a loved one. For $100 donors can get a deal and have three Footprints along the path. Larger donors can purchase larger signage in the form of a high-heeled sneaker for $180. “This is a great way to pay tribute to walk sponsors Harvey...
Congregation Ohev Shalom Held it’s Kitah Alef/first grade Consecration in conjunction with Erev Simchat Torah on Thursday, September 26. The students sang two songs, received their own Torah and were blessed under a Chuppah that the families made together. The first graders carried their Torah followed by their parents carrying the real Torah for the first of the seven Hakafot around the synagogue. Mazel Tov to the Kitah Alef families and their teachers Judy Shujman and Vicky Countess and M...
