Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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MAFRAQ, Jordan (JTA)-The purple plastic sacks fill two rooms in the otherwise sparsely furnished headquarters of a Jordanian NGO, awaiting distribution to Syrian refugees already lined up on the sidewalk. They contain an array of staple dry goods-lentils, pasta, powdered milk, tea-as well as a range of hygiene products like soap and detergent, enough for 250 refugee families. But before the goods were handed out, one thing will be removed-the word "Jewish." Going sack by sack with a pair of... Full story
With the close of its campaign year, Jewish National Fund just announced that its annual 2013 campaign topped $121 million, the largest campaign in its history. In addition to a strong annual campaign, JNF is the recipient of an estate gift of more than $60 million from the estate of John Boruchin, perhaps the most significant gift in the 112-year history of the organization. The announcements catapult JNF forward after 10 years of remarkable campaign achievements and tangible accomplishments in Israel that include adding 12 percent to... Full story
The Orlando Jewish community can be very proud of one of our own who had a hand in the development of Apple's newest OS X desktop operation system, "Mavericks." Former Longwood resident Emery Berger, an associate professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, developed a "Hoard" algorithm, which Apple adopted, that speeds up a computer by reducing memory resources so the computer can "make a decision" faster. In computer talk, an algorithm is a... Full story
(JTA)-When Craig Breslow entered the playoff game against the Detroit Tigers, FOX broadcaster Tim McCarver hailed the Boston Red Sox reliever-a Yale University graduate with a double major in molecular biophysics and biochemistry-as the smartest player in Major League Baseball. But with Breslow's stellar performance this postseason, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington is looking like the genius for acquiring the lefty in a trade last year. In Boston's first two playoff series this season,... Full story
(JTA)-You'd think Adam Grossman has a pretty easy job. After all, with the Boston Red Sox owning one of the most iconic brands in professional sports and gunning for their third World Series title in the past decade, how hard could it be to put fans in the seats at Fenway Park? But Grossman, the team's 33-year-old vice president for marketing and brand development, takes nothing for granted. While players and fans are fixated on the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, he's already prep... Full story
NEW YORK—The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today issued a list of the Top 10 most influential and active anti-Israel groups in the United States. Each of the selected groups, according to ADL’s research, is “fixated with delegitimizing Israel” and has demonstrated the ability to reach new segments of the American public with a hostile and misleading narrative about Israel. “The Top 10 anti-Israel groups are the most significant players in the domestic anti-Israel movement today,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “The groups are fi... Full story
St. LOUIS (St. Louis Jewish Light)—Taking a page from “Fiddler on the Roof,” mega baseball fan and Congregation Shaare Emeth Rabbi James Bennett was recently heard uttering a variation of the famous Teyve line, “May God Bless and keep the Czar... far away from us!” Only in Bennett’s case, it went, “May God Bless and keep the Dodgers... far away from the World Series!” Guess what, it worked. The St. Louis Cardinals claimed the National League Championship Series title, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2. The Red Birds happened to win the game... Full story
Jewish National Fund (JNF) will honor Orlando resident Lois Tannenbaum with the Guardian of Israel Award at its annual Tree of Life™ Award Dinner at the Rosen Plaza Hotel on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 6 p.m. at the Rosen Plaza Hotel, located at 9700 International Drive in Orlando. The Guardian of Israel Award is a humanitarian award given in recognition of outstanding community involvement, dedication to the preservation of the environment, and the protection of natural habitats. "This year we are h... Full story
ORLANDO-Attorney Aaron J. Gorovitz and partner with Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A. was honored with the 2013 Personal Empowerment Cornerstone Award at the Central Florida Urban League's Annual Cornerstone Awards and Gala at Walt Disney World's Contemporary Resort held on Saturday, Oct. 5. The Cornerstone Gala celebrated individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the community within the four areas of empowerment that are the cornerstones of the... Full story
The Lions of Judah of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando gathered for their annual luncheon at the home of Caryn Israel on Oct. 21. The event's featured speaker was Leslie Dannin Rosenthal, the annual campaign chair for the Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest, N.J. Roseonthal spoke to the group about her travels to JFGM's sister city, Okafim, and the affinity she has felt with other Lions she has met across the country. She also emphasized the importance of investing in the next... Full story
The UCF Judaic Studies Program and Central Florida Hillel will be co-sponsoring a presentation Nov. 12, at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. by Rabbi Sanford Olshansky. The program is titled "Reconciling Science and Religion-the Book of Genesis and the Big Bang Theory." The program is part of the UCF Judaic Studies Distinguished Lecturers Series and will be held at Northview on campus. Rabbi Olshansky received his undergraduate degree in physics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and an MBA... Full story
In the important new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, American Jews overwhelmingly (by 94 percent) say they are proud to be Jewish. And yet, one of the most significant trends cited by the survey is the growing percentage (32 percent) of younger, “Millennial Generation”Jews, who identify themselves as Jews with no religion, considering themselves Jewish solely on the basis of ancestry, culture, or ethnicity. This stands in sharp contrast to my parents’ generation—the “Greatest Genera... Full story
One of the unintended highlights of this year’s Conversation—the annual Jewish Week-sponsored two-day retreat for a wide variety of Jewish leaders and future leaders from around the country—was the emerging friendship between two participants with seemingly little in common besides their names. Actually, their name. You see, the small team that helps put together the list of about 55 participants each year had intended to invite David Ingber, the dynamic and popular rabbi of Romemu, a growing congregation on the Upper West Side. When his posit... Full story
Years ago, Grandma told me, for the nth time, that God helps them who help themselves. It’s a message she should have directed to the Palestinians, as well as to her lazy grandson. Once more, the Palestinians are blaming others for their problems, while their most obvious roads to progress remain unused. This time it is Khalid Amayreh, writing in what he labels “occupied East Jerusalem” about what he claims to be “institutionalized discrimination against non-Jews in Israel.” I received the article from my friend Muhammad, with whom I often dis... Full story
Throughout the Jewish communal world, there is no hotter topic this month then the Pew Research Center Study called “A Portrait of Jewish Americans” released in early October. The study confirmed what most of us have been watching over the past several years—a shift in the way Jews see themselves and the way they relate to the Jewish community. While American Jew overwhelmingly say that they are proud to be Jewish and have a strong sense of belonging to the Jewish people, the study shined a light on the changing nature of Jewish identity in th... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—The leaders of the Jewish Federations of North America are calling for free Jewish preschool for every Jewish family in America. In an Op-Ed published Thursday on the Huffington Post and in the Forward, Jewish Federations CEO Jerry Silverman and board chairman Michael Siegal said free Jewish preschool would “dramatically widen the pipeline of families entering Jewish life through this critical early gateway.” The idea was one of four proffered by Silverman and Siegal to “intensify—and make affordable—the most effective v... Full story
Dear Editor: I’ve found that some of life’s most interesting paradoxes reside in some of its biggest trivialities... like why are gas tanks on the driver’s side of some cars but the passenger side of others; or why are they called stairs inside and steps outside; and why is a Heritage column that promises “The Good Word” so often the bearer of bad? I don’t know David Bornstein well enough to know if he’s a naturally negative person or if he has to work at it, but I find another paradox in the question of how a family (David’s) that historical... Full story
Jewish Book Month is Oct. 26-Nov. 26 and Congregation Ohev Shalom will be celebrating! An all-Jewish book fair will be held Nov. 10-17 at the synagogue, 613 Concourse Pkwy. S., Maitland. A variety of Jewish books will be available for sale during Hebrew school hours as well as other hours as requested. Most of the books are geared toward children and youth but there will be leisure books for adults. The book fair will be a single copy book fair, which means all books need to be ordered but will be available within only a few short days at the c... 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, NOVEMBER 1 Ligh... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Armed with a powerful New York public relations outfit and a pledge to commemorate the mass deportation of Hungarian Jewry, the Hungarian government is preparing to challenge what it says is an inaccurate image of a country lax in confronting home-grown extremism. Ferenc Kumin, an adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban who handles international communications, reached out to JTA last week to counter what he says are unfair perceptions of his government’s treatment of Jews and other minorities. “In the American publi... Full story
Edith Geller of Mankato, Minn., and formerly of Orlando, passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, at her residence. She was 94 years old. Mrs. Geller was born in New York City on Nov. 10, 1918, to the late Samuel and Gertrude Albaum Hack. She and her late husband, Herman, who passed away in 1999, relocated to the Orlando area in 1982, and became members of Temple Israel. Mrs. Geller is survived by her sons, Leslie (Lori) Geller of Texas, and Jack (Diane) Geller of Mankato, Minn.; and four grandchildren. A graveside service was held at Temple... Full story
Judith M. Gura of Altamonte Springs, passed away on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, at her residence. She was 60 years old. Mrs. Gura was born on Oct. 27, 1952, in Bronx, N.Y., to the late Milton and Helen Mohr Semes. In 1976, she relocated to the Orlando area from New York, and worked as a receptionist in a medical office. Mrs. Gura is survived by her son, Daniel (Mary) Gura of Burbank, Calif.; granddaughter, Samantha; sister, Renee (Ci) Herzog of Queens, N.Y.; and her brother, David Semes of Queens, N.Y. A graveside service was held at Ohev Shalom...
Harriet R. Schott of Sanford, passed away on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, at Atria at Lake Forest. She was 83 years old. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., she was born on July 5, 1930, to the late Morton and Anna Brodsky Rubin. Following high school, Harriet graduated from Hunter College in New York. On Nov. 3, 1957, in New York, she married Arthur Schott, her husband of nearly 56 years who predeceased her this past July. During her career, Mrs. Schott worked as a dietician. In 2001, the Schotts relocated to the Orlando area from Cincinnati, Ohio, and... Full story
Marla Sue Wallach of Maitland passed away on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013. She was 44 years old. Ms. Wallach was born on May 4, 1969 to Sydney and Gloria Wallach, who precede her in death. She graduated from Edgewater High School in 1987 and Cosmetology School in 2010. She was engaged to Michael Wilson on June 23, 2012. Ms. Wallach was a stylist at Panacea Salon and Day Spa and was passionate about her work. She was a creative person and gifted decorator. She cared deeply about her many friendships both old and new, and was a devoted mother who... Full story
The Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando had a great turnout at its second annual FitTata event. The Roth JCC hosted this morning of fitness to support Florida Hospital's fight against breast cancer. Various fitness classes took place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., where participants from all over joined together to work out for an important cause. Vendors from the local community showed their support by either making a donation or attending the event. Florida Hospital's Healthy 100 Women... Full story
