Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Join in the fun with Chabad of Altamonte Springs as they celebrate Chanukah with a festival and gelt drop, and honor the Seminole County Fire Department for their service. The event will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 30 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in front of the Embassy Suites at Crane’s Roost in Altamonte Springs. Hundreds of chocolate coins (gelt) will be dropped by firefighters from 25 feet up in the air. A grand Menorah lighting will follow, along with latkes and donuts to nosh, a children’s pet...
Little Radical Theatrics is originally based in Yonkers, N.Y. and now based in Orlando. They are known for their all-ages community theater productions. Little Radicals are partnering with the Rosen JCC: Your Town Square to present “The Sound of Music” and Disney’s “Frozen JR.” The performances will include evenings and matinees Nov. 19th – 21st. “The Sound of Music” performances will be: Nov. 19th, 7 p.m. Nov. 20th, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 21st, 3 p.m. Disney’s “Frozen JR.” will be shown:...
The Roth Family JCC is having Latke-palooza! Send in your best latke recipes. Its “Cooking with Avivit” blog wants to hear about your Chanukah treats. They will be sharing recipes all December long. Submit recipes to farag@orlandojcc.org....
(JTA) - A prominent rabbi in the Netherlands compared her country's COVID-19 safety measures to the policies of Nazi Germany, drawing harsh rebuke from Jewish groups. Tamarah Benima, an outspoken 71-year-old Reform rabbi from Amsterdam, made the comparison on Nov. 4 in a speech in the northern Dutch city of Leeuwarden. She left the Dutch Union for Progressive Judaism on Nov. 9, the rabbinical council of the umbrella group wrote in a statement. "Scientists worldwide apparently allowed themselves...
Zionist Organization of America President Morton A. Klein released the following statement: ZOA strongly condemns President Biden, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield, and U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the UN Richard Mills for refusing to oppose the one-sided, illegitimate, dangerous UN Resolution A/C.4/75/L.9, which calls for a so-called “Right of Return” (“repatriation”) or compensation to Palestinian Arab refugees. This so-called “right of return” could destroy Israel as a Jewish State. The resolution is aimed at ov...
On the night of Nov. 9, 1938, synagogues, Jewish schools and Jewish-owned businesses were targeted in violent riots throughout Nazi Germany. This map shows many of the synagogues destroyed on Kristallnacht. At least 267 synagogues were burned down or destroyed in the pogroms, which is known as Kristallnacht, the “night of broken glass.” The map shows the extent of the damage. Jewish institutions and businesses were desecrated, torched and looted by Nazi paramilitary troops and civilian sym...
(JNS) — Many of us know the themes of the Chanukah story: pride in being Jewish; the few against the many; the defeat of our enemy; and the rededication of the Jewish Temple. Or perhaps some have only learned of the miracle of the oil and how it burned continuously for eight days. While these are important themes, there is much more to the Chanukah story that is at the heart of why we celebrate the holiday and why it’s so relevant today. Looking at the story of Chanukah, which happened in the second century BCE, we know that many Jews of tha...
“If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!” (Psalm 137:5-6) There’s no place that’s more central to Jews and Christians than Jerusalem. It’s the city of the kings, prophets and where Jesus preached, worshipped, and was crucified. As central as Jerusalem is to our history and our faith, Jerusalem is facing a threat to be redivided today, a threat to Israel’s sovereignty. Sadly, the threat is not from on...
By (JNS) — The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, got himself into an unfortunate mess during the COP26 conference on climate change held in Glasgow, Scotland. After he claimed that politicians who failed to take the necessary action to halt climate change would be viewed in an even worse light than those who had ignored the rise of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, he was asked whether that meant failure to act on climate change would be worse than allowing genocide to happen. He replied: “It will allow a genocide on an infinitely greater sca...
(JNS) — It is frustrating to realize that even after two successive administrations (those of former U.S. President Donald Trump and his successor, Joe Biden) have recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel — and the latter confirmed that the U.S. embassy, which the former moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, would remain there — the State Department is still flirting with the concept of locating what amounts to a symbolic consulate to the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem. This misguided effort is being pursued despite all the progress made...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, some minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) Chabad of North Orlando and Chabad of Altamonte Springs are holding in-person minyans. 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. Congr...
(JTA) - "Deck the halls with matzo balls"? Chanukah menorahs with 12 candles? Products with misfired Chanukah messages have been drawing gripes for years, but this year major retailers are responding quickly to customer complaints about Chanukah products they say are culturally inappropriate or misinformed. It took just one day from when the Instagram account Chanukah Fails posted about Target's Chanukah "Countdown Calendar" before the major retailer changed the product description to "Happy...
In most Jewish holidays, wine gets the spotlight. Chanukah is not one of those holidays! When it comes to Chanukah, it's all about the fried foods like latkes and jelly donuts. Sure, wine enthusiasts might say "I can pair latkes with Champagne," but can they really? As a certified cicerone, the beer version of a wine sommelier, all I want with my oily golden potato pancakes is a crisp Vienna Lager, Hazy Pale Ale, or to crack open any of the beers in my Hoppy Chanukah Craft Beer-a-day Box from...
Ingredients 1 large russet potato, peeled 1 large zucchini, peeled 1/2 head of cauliflower 1/2 yellow onion 1 clove of garlic, finely minced 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper Vegetable oil for frying Preparation: Grate together potato, zucchini, cauliflower, and onion. Use a food processor to make this step faster. Wrap the vegetable mixture in a cheesecloth or a lightweight kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid...
Latkes are far more popular during Hanukkah than donuts here in the U.S. While you can find latkes in the freezer section of almost every major supermarket, good quality sufganiyot are much harder to come by, and lots of people I know have a fear of using yeast to make dough like donut dough. But there is an easier way to make sufganiyot, and it comes in a can: biscuit dough. What can these doughy babies not do? Using canned biscuits, you can either make full-sized sufganiyot, or smaller, donut...
Who knew? Of course I did ... First of all, author Daniel Keyes (born Daniel Korzenstein) was my first cousin. His mom, my aunt Betty, and my mom, Sally, were sisters. Danny's little sister, GAIL, and I were (and still are), extremely close. (She feels like a sister to me.) Danny wrote the famous book "Flowers For Algernon" which became required reading in some New York City schools. He also wrote "The Minds of Billy Milligan" and other successful books. What people didn't know (but we in the fa...
Chanukah can be a great time for simple and fun family art projects. There is a custom for each member of the family to have his/her own menorah. This year, why not make your own? You can buy lots of small votive candles (yahrtzeit candles are an inexpensive way to do this) and decorate the glass with a collage of colorful pieces of tissue paper. When the votives are lit, light shines through the tissue paper like stained glass. This is a great hanukkiyah for the Friday night of the holiday, when the candles are supposed to burn for at least...
Jymmie Lynn Jacobson, a wife, mother, bubbe, aunt, sister, friend, and caregiver for many, died unexpectedly on Nov. 8, 2021, at the age of 58. Jymmie is survived by her parents, James and Patricia Gazaway, her husband, Dr. Hal Jacobson, and her children - Abraham and Isaac Jacobson, Marla (Dr. Justin) Capes, Mark (Heather) and Larry (Ashley) Jacobson; as well as her sisters, Marie, Susan and Paige. She is predeceased by her sister, Melissa. Jymmie was born in Tennessee on Dec. 5, 1962. She... Full story
Elisheva Pinhas Zeira, 86, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 202, in Boca Raton, Fla., with her daughter, Dr. Shelly Fenton-Zeira, by her side. Elisheva was born Dec. 26, 1934, in Tel-Aviv, Israel, to Shlomo Pinhas, z"l, and Rachel Cohen Pinhas, z"l. She graduated Gymnasia Herzeliah High School in 1953 in Tel Aviv and then went on to nursing school in Israel. She served in the Israeli Defense Force in the Armored Corps from 1953-1955. In 1960, she married Yuval Zeira and they... Full story
By (Alma via JTA) -- Chanukah season means latkes, menorahs and the retelling of the classic story about Judah and the Maccabees. But there's a woman from a few hundred years before Judah was around who is just as important to this story. This Chanukah, let's bring this forgotten biblical badass back into the spotlight. She's not mentioned in the Torah. Her earliest known stories aren't even in Hebrew; they're in Greek. And she's on the fringes of medieval texts, at best. And though her story...
During the pandemic the leadership at the Jewish Pavilion has been amazed by the positive response of the community toward helping seniors in long-term care. Cards have arrived from all over the country and there is never a week without a shipment of new cards. Recently Zoe Chepenik, a high school student, decided to make over 100 decorated and filled candy jars to share with seniors. She also wrote beautiful cards which said, "Hi! My name is Zoe. I hope you enjoy these. I am an upcoming senior...
For Jewish children, the excitement of Chanukah is often connected to the promise of receiving gifts — usually one for each of the eight nights. For parents, however, the gift-buying and gift-giving can start to feel like a long-running episode of the Home Shopping Network, leading some of us to wonder: What messages are we imparting to our children during this time of year? While our daughters were growing up, my husband and I paused to consider the values we wished to encourage during Chanukah. Agreeing on “quality family time” as a main goal...
(JTA) - Even when Arthur Kurzweil sits by himself in his study, he doesn't feel that he's alone. After all, he has the dreidels - all 4,000 of them. Kurzweil, 70, is a prolific author and editor who has written books about Judaism and magic and his car rides with Talmud scholar Adin Steinsaltz, as well as the Kabbalah and Torah installments in the "... for Dummies" series. His most significant contribution to Jewish publishing, however, may be his books and teaching about Jewish genealogy: He ha... Full story
Polish soccer referee sends antisemitic rant to group fighting anti-Semitism By Cnaan Liphshiz KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) — Jewish groups in Poland complained after a professional soccer referee ridiculed the work of a group trying to root out antisemitism in the sport. Lukasz Araszkiewicz, a referee from Poznan, called the work of the Never Again association “hogwash by Jewish centers and milieus.” Never Again, which seeks to curb expressions of racist hatred in soccer, had invited him and others to participate in the group’s activities, the Poz...
(JTA) - "Arthur's Perfect Christmas," the 2000 TV movie, begins with Arthur sitting at the piano in his jammies singing about how this Christmas is going to be magical - the best one yet. It's clear what holiday is center stage in Arthur's world. But it's the B plot about the show's Jewish character Francine that speaks to a legitimate Jewish experience - truer than any current kids' Chanukah specials on TV. Francine's best friend, Muffy, refuses to accept that Francine can't attend her...
