Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Being an ambassador was not part of his career plans, but U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg Robert Mandell-known to many Central Floridians as Bobby Mandell- loves his job. In a way, one could say that Mandell has reinvented himself, as so many have done in their later years. He grew up in his father's (Lester Mandell) business, starting out as a laborer at Greater Construction Co. and eventually became its CEO. He earned a law degree from the University of Florida, bought his father's Greater...
(JTA)-Obviously wanting to get back to work as the medical manager of the field hospital set up by the Israel Defense Forces in the Philippines, Lt.-Col. Dr. Ofer Merin speaks hurriedly about the three days his team has been seeing patients in the typhoon-ravaged nation. He tells of at least 12 babies the hospital has delivered-most of them premature-and the stabbing victim who may have died if not for the IDF hospital in Bogo City on Cebu Island, one of the areas hardest hit by last week's...
The Holocaust Center in Maitland has announced that the honoree for its 2014 Dinner of Tribute will be Harris Rosen, president and COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts. Rosen, whose name is most often associated with his world-class resorts, hotels and restaurants, is being honored for his history of philanthropy in Central Florida and beyond. The Holocaust Center Executive Director Pam Kancher said that honoring Rosen was a "natural fit" for the Center and its work. In particular, his approach to...
Jewish Pavilion volunteers Faye Novick and Toby Vandemark live by the creed,"It is better to give than to receive." Novick and Vandemark have volunteered with the Jewish Pavilion, a charitable organization that serves seniors in long-term care with companionship and holiday programming, in many capacities. Both women serve on the Pavilion's Friends and Executive boards, and were integral to the success of the Pavilion's "Walk in the Park," and will be honored as volunteers of the year at the J P...
(JTA)-For Francois Hollande, the most unpopular head of state in France in more than half a century, his first presidential visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority promised a respite from the daily pummeling over his country's stunted economy and his perceived flimsiness as a leader. In Israel, everything was set for a hero's welcome for someone who supported Europe's blacklisting of Hezbollah's military unit, waged a relentless war on anti-Semitism and scuttled a nascent deal over Iran's...
(JTA)—News that Norway is planning unspecified new regulations on ritual circumcision could not have come at a more sensitive time. The announcement last week that Norway intends to introduce a bill to “regulate ritual circumcision” comes just over a month after an overwhelming majority of Council of Europe assembly members passed a landmark resolution against non-medical circumcision of boys. The resolution, which states that circumcision is a “violation of the physical integrity of children,” is unprecedented among an organization of the ca...
NEW YORK— More than 17,000 Taglit-Birthright Israel participants will attend its free, 10-day educational tour in Israel this winter season, the largest number of young Jewish adults, ages 18 to 26, traveling with the winter program since the non-profit was founded in 2000. Trips will begin rolling out in mid-November 2013 and will continue through April 2014. With more than 350,000 participants during the past 13 years, the program is expected to reach 50 percent of young Jewish adults around the world within the next five years. “Each yea...
(JNS.org) Last Thursday, Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard entered his 29th year in American prison. Pollard, now 59, was arrested in Washington on Nov. 21, 1985. He was later convicted of spying for Israel, and is the only person in U.S. history to receive a life sentence for spying for an American ally. "It's an embarrassment for America, it's a lack of justice, it's an embarrassment for the world," Rabbi Pesach Lerner, executive vice president emeritus of the National Council of Young Israel,...
"A mold breaker, a cause fighter, the underdog supporter, like a true queen of Israel, and a woman who accepts all people"-these are all descriptions from friends of Rita Peisner Bornstein, who died peacefully, surrounded by her loving family and friends, on Nov. 18, 2013. Born April 19, 1925, she was the daughter of Ed and Jenny Peisner, and sister of Marvin, Larry and Fred Peisner. Mrs. Bornstein earned her master's degree in English at the University of Chicago, where she also happened to...
TAVARES—Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care has joined more than 60 hospices nationwide in becoming accredited with the National Institute For Jewish Hospice (NIJH). The accreditation links Cornerstone Hospice with NIJH which provides staff training, insights on treating Jewish patients who are terminally ill, and access to resources and education about Jewish custom and practice that may arise while caring for a hospice patient who is Jewish. The accreditation was earned after Cornerstone’s spiritual manager, Rich Behers, attended the NIJ...
ORLANDO—Jewish Family Services Orlando, a Winter Park based non-profit human service agency that provides social programs to those in need from all faiths, raised more than $156,000 during its 12th annual Evening of Valor, which also marked the organization’s 35th anniversary. One hundred-seventy guests attended the event themed “A past to cherish and a future to fulfill.” Evening of Valor is JFS’ main fundraiser and this year recognized past agency presidents, former George Wolly Community Leadership Award recipients and Spring Fiesta ho...
After giving a presentation at Rollins College, Yitzchak Perelman asked for a meeting with Hillel students. Shown here is Rollins Hillel Student President Dean Taitz shaking hands with Mr. Perelman....
By Ben Cohen JNS.org Over the summer, the Israeli media highlighted a phenomenon that is both intriguing and encouraging: a movement among Israel’s Christian Arabs advocating that their community be drafted, along with the country’s Jewish and Druze citizens, into the Israel Defense Forces. Historically, Israel’s Arab citizens have been exempted from mandatory conscription. There have been exceptions—many Bedouin, for example, have served in the IDF with distinction—but those who actually volunteer are a tiny minority. At the same time, man...
The latest incident of violence to reach the headlines, which is not to say that it is the latest incident, involved the murder of a young soldier not yet finished with basic training, while on a bus returning from sick leave. The even younger lad who stabbed him numerous times before he was overwhelmed by other passengers is 16 years old. The story he told the police involves him getting into Israel illegally, via one of the paths that Palestinians use, most of them concerned only to find work. This young man came with a knife, and apparently...
Rachel and I sat in the comfortable living room of prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem. We had been invited for tea by Aliza Begin, wife of the prime minister. It was the spring of 1980. When Menachem Begin entered the room there were greetings and hugs all around. Rachel and I had been close friends of the Begin family since our meeting on an airplane in 1968. The prime minister had just returned from a meeting at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv. As I remember, we sat, had tea and some cookies. I asked Prime Minister Begin what could h...
Providing a proper response is like being caught in the horns of a dilemma. The real issue is a combination of first, how to avoid war; second, how to inhibit Iran from nuclearizing weaponry; and, third, how to impact Iran to become less of a terrorist outreach state. I assess the pragmatic goals in the following order: First priority is to keep Iran from a nuclear weapon. Unfortunately, there’s no practical way, short of all-out war, to keep Iran from having nuclear capabilities. Had the U.S. taken them on seriously five or eight years ago, w...
Dear Editor: Now that the Roth Renovation Project nears completion with a fabulous new courtyard playground, I would like to thank all community members who generously donated to the project. Along with the playground, the revitalized campus features a renovated pool area, a resurfaced and relit outdoor basketball court, resurfaced tennis courts and auditorium improvements. All of these components make the whole campus greater than the sum of its parts and promote sustainability as a vibrant and vital community hub. When my wife, Caryn, and I...
This year, the stars aligned! The first day of Chanukah and Thanksgiving fall on the same day! According to many calculations, it is the rarest of occasions that will not be repeated for many, many years. It is fascinating to delve into calculations and assumptions stemming from the differences between the Jewish and the Gregorian calendars, but let’s rather think about the meaning and the message behind this coincidence. Just like everything in Jewish life, the unique convergence makes sense and comes at a very important time when many of u...
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 29 Lig...
Our Jewish Orlando's Shalom Families hosted their first event on Thursday, Nov. 14th in Baldwin Park. With the help of their parents, children made Chanukah-themed maracas and sang along with music teacher Melissa Kohn. The morning ended with the youngest participants under the parachute. A very special December event is already in the works. Just a few days later, OJO gathered at TAPS in Winter Park on Nov. 19th for their monthly Torah on Tap event. This month's guest was a high-ranking...
In early November, John Halligan, a speaker against bullying, returned to the Central Florida area to inform teens about bullying and teen depression. A former IBM engineer, Halligan lobbied for laws to be passed in Vermont to improve how schools address bullying and suicide prevention after the death of his son, Ryan, as a result of bullying and depression. Sharing Ryan's story, he has given speeches at schools in other states, as well as interviews on PBS Frontline, Oprah and other televised...
Sam Behr of New Smyrna Beach, died Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013, in his home. He was 86 years old. Mr. Behr was born April 23, 1927, in Talledega, Ala. He played football at the University of Maryland and scored the first touchdown ever for Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. Mr. Behr was in the military and served at Elmore Air Force Base in Alaska, where he served as athletic director and received football help from Coach Bryant. He owned his own business, Behr Shoe Center, on Church Street in Orlando, for more than 50 years. But he is best known for his...
Dr. Marvin M. Nathan of Winter Park passed away on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013, at Hospice of the Comforter in Altamonte Springs. He was 98 years old. Dr. Nathan was born to Jacob and Elizabeth Greenberg Nathan of Ocilla, Ga., on May 23, 1915, in Onancock, Va., where his mother went to stay with her family to give birth. After the birth, they returned to Ocilla, where he excelled in school and was admitted to the University of Georgia at the age of 17, with the plan to go directly into medical school. Following the untimely death of his father, he l...
Baron Cohen’s ‘deadly’ prank HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (6NoBacon)—Sacha Baron Cohen killed when he took the stage at the BAFTA Los Angeles Jaguar Britannia Awards Saturday night. Literally, he killed. An elderly woman. At least that’s what everyone there thought for a minute. The Jewish comic actor was being presented the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy by Grace Cullington, an 87-year-old in a wheelchair billed as Charlie Chaplin’s oldest living co-star. Cullington bestowed upon Baron Cohen a cane she said belonged to Chaplin....
HARTFORD, Conn. (JTA)—My wife stared at me as if I were from another planet. “What do you mean you don’t know if you can come to my cousin’s wedding?” she demanded indignantly. She hadn’t seen her relatives in years and was looking forward to a weekend getaway with her husband of 28 years without our grown children. “Well, it’s on a Saturday afternoon, before Shabbat is over. It’s during the three weeks of mourning before Tisha b’Av, not to mention during my year of saying Kaddish,” I replied, knowing none of these reasons would resonat...
