Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 26 - 35 of 35
Congregation Beth Sholom invites the public to its Shabbat service at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14th. The service, led by Rabbi Karen Allen, will honor the military service of our members, family, and friends in honor of Veteran’s Day. It will also include special prayers in observance of Kristallnacht (the night of the attacks that started the Holocaust). Coffee and cake will be served following the service. The synagogue is located at 315 North 13th Street in Leesburg, with the entrance on Center Street. For more information see our website a...
Among the things that Jewish women value most about the mikveh (ritual bath) experience is the feeling of seclusion, sanctity, and safety. "But the need to feel respected and comfortable is the most important," says Chaya Sett, who since making aliyah from Brooklyn has been a self-described "regular" in the mikvehs of Jerusalem's Old City. "It has to be a very safe place in your life because it's also when you are at your most vulnerable." Sett speaks for many mikveh-going women in the wake of...
NEW YORK (JTA)-As the last generation of Holocaust survivors ages and dies, efforts to capture their final, untold stories have abounded. But in her new book "Paper Love: Searching for the Girl My Grandfather Left Behind," Sarah Wildman has turned instead to the future, asking what it means bear witness in a world without Holocaust survivors. "Paper Love" chronicles the author's long and labyrinthine search for the fate of the woman whose black-and-white photos she finds amid her late...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Results late Tuesday showed Republicans winning control of the United States Senate as well as wins for fresh faces with close Jewish and pro-Israel ties. In Long Island, Lee Zeldin, a state senator, was set to become the sole Jewish Republican in Congress, ending a short drought that commenced with the defeat of Rep. Eric Cantor in the Republican primary in June. As of 11:45 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, Republicans were projected to pick up seven Senate seats, one more than the...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-The Israeli government has adopted a major reform expected to ease the path to conversion for hundreds of thousands of Israelis now prohibited from marrying in the Jewish state. In the most significant response in decades to the estimated 400,000 Israelis who are not considered Jewish by the Chief Rabbinate, the Cabinet expanded authority for conversion beyond a small group of approved haredi Orthodox courts. Since only Orthodox Jewish marriage is permitted in Israel, such...
Of all places, Germany?... With the remembrance of the Holocaust, the thought of anti-Semitism is never far from my thoughts. I know about its revival in many parts of Europe... but in Germany? I read this in the latest edition of the World Jewry Digest (WJC). I know the thought of anti-Semitism is upsetting but its better to know and be aware. Read on: "WJC President Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER was joined by German Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL, President JOACHIM GAUCK and other German leaders at a...
On Nov. 3 and 4 the students at the Jewish Academy of Orlando had the privilege to welcome children's author Brad Herzog to the school. Herzog has a handful of honors and awards over the years while writing hundreds of newspaper articles, magazine features, columns, short stories, poems, children's fiction and non-fiction, screenplays, sports tomes and travel narratives, and also co-authored the book "My Mantelpiece: A Memoir of Survival and Social Justice" with Carolyn Goodman. Herzog recently...
Arab-Israelis riot to protest killing by Israel Police JERUSALEM (JTA)—At least 20 Arab-Israelis were arrested during riots in the Arab-Israeli town of Kfar Kana in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a resident by Israel Police. On Sunday, the Arab-Israeli community declared a nationwide strike to protest the killing last Friday night of Kheir Hamdan, 22. Riots were also taking place in other Arab-Israeli cities. In the face of the riots, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to strip the citizenship of those who call for the d...
For Emily Kessler, a Holocaust survivor, the prospect of performing at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall is less worrying than figuring out what to wear for the occasion. "I came to the conclusion," she said, in an interview at her apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side, "that what is the difference between playing in front of three people instead of 300?" At 97, Kessler is short and slightly hunched. Along with old photographs and birthday cards, prescription pill bottles are scattered...
NEW YORK (JTA)—Jewish day school enrollment in the United States is up 12 percent from five years ago, primarily due to growth in haredi Orthodox schools. Nearly 255,000 students are enrolled in 861 Jewish day schools from the pre-K level through 12th grade, according to a new census of the schools conducted by the Avi Chai Foundation. The day school survey, which has been conducted every five years since 1998-99, found 59 more schools and 26,437 more students since the last study, in 2008-09. Previous surveys found enrollment growth rates o...
