Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Jenna Elise Jacobson, daughter of Barry and Sharon Jacobson of Orlando will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on Dec. 7, 2013, at Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation. Jenna is in the seventh grade at SunRidge Middle School in Winter Garden where she is an honor roll student. Her interests include competitive swimming, soccer, and music. When's she's not doing homework, you will most likely find her listening to her favorite band, One Direction. Jenna has decided to share her bat mitzvah...
Probably just coincidence... I've been telling myself "coincidence" for more than 25 years. It was about that length of time back when I was visiting at the home of my cousin who is like me, a professional vocalist. He is also (not like me) a superb pianist and composer of musicals. My cousin surrounds himself with show business artifacts, including books. Thumbing through one of his books about George Gershwin that particular day, I shrieked when I thought I saw a photograph of myself as a...
NEW YORK (JTA)-The biblical David used a slingshot to kill Goliath, thus earning the attention of King Saul. Today, Jewish organizations are trying to use Slingshot, an annual guide of the 50 "most innovative organizations and projects," to capture the attention of donors. The ninth installment of the guide was released Thursday. Launched in 2005 by a group of donors in their 20s and 30s, the guide evaluates North American Jewish organizations based on "their innovative approach, the impact...
WASHINGTON, D.C.—American Jews and American Muslims called on Congress in a joint statement to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a meaningful path to citizenship. In joining together as unlikely allies, Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) renewed their united push to refocus Congress’ attention on the nation’s most pressing domestic policy crisis. The following is a joint statement from Alan van Capelle, CEO of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice and Haris Tarin, direc...
Brandeis University announced the suspension of its decade-old partnership with Al-Quds University following a recent Nazi-style rally at the Palestinian school in Jerusalem. At the Nov. 5 rally, Al-Quds students wore black military gear, carried fake automatic weapons, gave the Nazi salute, and surrounded the main square of their campus with banners depicting images of "martyred" suicide bombers. "While Brandeis has an unwavering commitment to open dialogue on difficult issues, we are also...
NEW YORK (JTA)-When Susan Katz Miller's Episcopalian mother and Jewish father married in the 1960s, they did exactly what most religious leaders advised intermarried couples to do: They chose one religion and stuck to it. Katz Miller's mother put her religious tradition aside, learning to make matzah balls and shepherding her four children through bar and bat mitzvah lessons. But when Katz Miller married her Episcopalian husband, she didn't want to choose. Instead, she and her husband raised...
NEW YORK-With more than 1.6 million members, Pastor John Hagee's Christians United For Israel (CUFI) has become a powerful force in pro-Israel advocacy in American politics. Additionally, his humanitarian work-including the donation of more than $80 million to Israeli charities-has earned him growing praise from the Jewish community. But despite the efforts of Hagee, who is arguably the face of Christian Zionism today, many Jews remain skeptical of Evangelical support for Israel. That...
The American Hebrew Academy Honor Society is accepting nominations for eighth- and ninth-grade students who have shown excellence in academics, character, leadership and community service. The society’s goal is to acknowledge bright, hard-working, well-rounded students who are nominated by school personnel, rabbis, Jewish community professionals, camp directors, counselors, coaches, and/or friends for membership in to the American Hebrew Academy Honor Society. All Honor Society students will be able to compete for five (5) $20,000 annual m...
Abbas: Willing to speak to Knesset on my terms JERUSALEM (JTA)—Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he would be willing to speak to the Knesset, but only on the issues he chooses. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a public statement last week called on Abbas to address the Knesset and said he would travel to Ramallah to speak to the P.A. leadership. “Netanyahu comes up with an offer and then immediately puts forward his own terms – that this and that should be said and so on. No, if those terms are put forward, I do no...
BERLIN (JTA)-It's 4 a.m. at the famous Kater Holzig club and hundreds of beautiful young people are going crazy on the dance floor to the sound of heavy electronic beats. To the casual clubber, it's just another ordinary night out in Europe's hottest city. But this gathering is far from ordinary. Many of those dancing are immigrants from two countries whose ongoing tensions could explode in the world's face at any given moment. Welcome to the first Iranian-Israeli techno party organized by the...
NEW YORK (JTA)-For most of the seven years Tova Kinderlehrer lived with her young family in Pittsburgh, she wished she were somewhere else. Her son wasn't doing well in school, her husband's construction career had stalled and Kinderlehrer, though part of a "massive" urban community, felt isolated. She dreamed of escape. In 2011, Kinderlehrer and her husband, Micah Simmons, bought a 38-acre property in Conneautville, Pa., they named Farm Schmarm. Along with their three children, they care for 16...
