Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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"Writing is a messy process," says author Elizabeth Poliner. "People who don't write fiction would be surprised to see what early drafts could look like." But readers wouldn't know "what a mess it was for the longest time," as the Jewish author puts it, when reading Poliner's critically acclaimed latest book, "As Close to Us as Breathing." The volume garnered Amazon's "Best Book" designation in March 2016 as well as rave reviews from the New York Times, W Magazine, NPR, People, Good... Full story
Dr. Tim Shepherd raised his son Adam, a pre-law student at the University of North Texas, to become a devoted supporter of Israel. The Shepherds not only support Israel from their vantage point as Christian Zionists, but they also prioritize connecting fellow Christians to the Jewish community in order to foster deep, lasting friendships. "We need to be best friends," Tim Shepherd told JNS.org, detailing how he and his Jewish friends attend each other's birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, weddings,... Full story
(JTA)-"Septembers of Shiraz" is a film about a prosperous Jewish family in Iran caught up in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution that overthrew the shah. It's based on Dalia Sofer's well-received 2007 novel of the same name, which used her own family's experiences as source material. When the film debuted last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, the reviews were uniformly negative. One critic called it "a disappointing misfire." (The movie officially opens a commercial run in New... Full story
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (JTA)-A nascent Jewish community was officially born in Madagascar last month when 121 men, women and children underwent Orthodox conversions on the remote Indian Ocean island nation better known for lemurs, chameleons, dense rain forests and vanilla. The conversions, which took place over a 10-day period, were the climax of a process that arose organically five to six years ago when followers of various messianic Christian sects became disillusioned with their churches... Full story
Will it NEVER end?... We've all heard and repeated the saying "Never Again" referring to the Holocaust. Correct words... but unfortunately, it will take more than words to stop the rise of anti-Semitism that seems to be repeating itself in Europe and even here and there in this country. The following is just an example of attacks all over Europe in recent months: Manchester, England: While waiting for their train, four young Jews were attacked by four hatemongers, leaving the youngest, just 17 y... Full story
By Hillel Kuttler The "Seeking Kin" column aims to help reunite long-lost friends and relatives. (JTA)-For over six decades, Chaim Schwimmer has thrown a kiddush every Simchat Torah, but it's not only to celebrate the joyful holiday. The food and the schnapps also mark the anniversary of Schwimmer's miraculous rescue in 1944 from certain death at Auschwitz. In October that year, the 14-year-old was pulled from a crowd just a few steps from being murdered in the concentration camp's gas chamber.... Full story
ISRAEL21c-YouTube makeup tutorials are extremely popular. New videos are constantly being added to the online library of how-to demos for covering blemishes and attaching false eyelashes. So when a former Los Angeles songwriter-turned-IDF-combat-soldier uploaded her Camo Makeup Tutorial on May 9, her parody could easily have gotten lost in the pile. But Hannah Laskow Defore and her friend Neta Avitan already have more than 250,000 people chuckling along to the utterly fabulous makeup tutorial... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Say the words "Jewish" and "superhero" together in a sentence, and most people will likely think of Gal Gadot, the dark-haired former Miss Israel who's better known these days as Marvel's Wonder Woman. Milton Maltz wants to change that. The Cleveland, Ohio-based philanthropist and businessman is a longtime friend of Tel Aviv's Beit Hatfutsot-Museum of the Jewish People. And when he got wind of the museum's plans for a massive $100 million upgrade, one particular exhibition piqued... Full story
KRAKOW, Poland (JTA)-For the sixth year in a row, the seven synagogues in Krakow's historic Jewish district, Kazimierz, opened their doors for 7@Nite-or the Night of the Synagogues, a one-night mini-festival aimed at bolstering Jewish pride and promoting Jewish awareness among the public. Each synagogue-from the Gothic Old Synagogue, now a Jewish historical museum, to the ornate 19th century Tempel Synagogue, used for both services and cultural events-hosted an exhibit, concert, film or other... Full story
(JTA)-They say the best stories happen when a writer gets pushed out of his or her comfort zone. Since the "they" in this case was my editor, this is how I found myself readying to post a topless photo of myself online-all in the name of good journalism. But this isn't a story about-well, whatever you're thinking it's probably about. Rather, this was an investigation into a legit Israeli startup, Brayola, a social network for lingerie shopping. The site, which also sells and ships bras, just... Full story
ISRAELI21c-Israeli cookbook authors won four awards at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2016 including top prize, Best in the World Wines & Drinks book. Mira Eitan's "Happy Hours-Famous Bar Stories and Cocktail Recipes" book, which is in Hebrew, was chosen out of nine finalists in the Drinks category. "It is not taken for granted that a book in Hebrew would triumph over eight award-winning books and take first place," Eitan, an editor and writer on the subject of Israeli wines, told Yediot... Full story
(The Nosher via JTA)-I'm a cheese and dairy fanatic. So for obvious reasons my favorite holiday is Shavuot. This is when spring has sprung and my family makes a whole spread of cheese and dairy-filled foods and desserts. There is always a ton of different cheeses, spreads, breads, fluffy cheesecake, kugel, blintzes and my absolute favorite, bourekas-puff pastry or a simple butter pie dough filled with cheese and either potato, mushrooms or spinach. When you manage to get one hot out of the oven... Full story
On Friday, May 27 the second floor social hall at Spring Hills Assisted Living in Lake Mary was packed wall-to-wall with more than 40 kippot-clad residents, caretakers, and family members, for a memorial service in tribute to late resident, Charles "Dill" Hurvitz, who passed away on Sunday, May 8, 2016. He was a resident at Spring Hills for eight years, and lived to age 98. However, this was not Mr. Hurvitz's funeral. That service had already taken place graveside with a handful of mourners in h... Full story
Back in Orlando... Wow. I didn't think it was hot in Chicago when it hit 81 degrees the other day. However, many local folks donned shorts. Most complained about the high heat. (I cooled off!) You know I write this column more than a week in advance of publication. I just returned from Chicago late last night. I was there for a private gig and most important... for the bar mitzvah of my grandson, ZACHARY AARON YOUSHA, son of Dr. STEVEN YOUSHA and Dr. JESSICA GOLUB of Wilmette, Illinois. The... Full story
(Kveller via JTA)—My camp duffel bags are 30 years old. This is the first time since 1986 that they will not make the trek with me from Chicago to Wisconsin for a summer filled with outdoor adventure and friendship. As a lifelong camper and now “retired” camp director, I have enough experience to write a doctoral dissertation on how to prepare your child for the essential Jewish-American tradition: going to overnight camp. Instead of boring you with endless suggestions, I’ll share some tried and true advice. 1. Shop, label, and pack with your c... Full story
(JTA)-Sara Wolf was running around a water park in an oversized T-shirt when she became acutely aware of the need for a "less frumpy" yet covered-up swimwear option. So she and Daniella Teutsch, a former fashion industry colleague, launched HydroChic, a swimwear company for women who want to enjoy the water and stay modest at the same time. "The only options we were finding were these long, flowery dresses that just weren't our style or skin-tight surfing-style wetsuits," Wolf says. The company... Full story
Not only was Marcia Jo Zerivitz awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters-Honoris Causa, as was noted in the May 20 issue, but Heritage recently discovered that this award was an extremely rare honor. The following is more on the honorary degree Zerivitz received, as well as pictures with family and friends from the Central Florida area. Marcia Jo Zerivitz, founding executive director of Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters-Honoris Causa from... Full story
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) praised Mosab Hassan Yousef (a/k/a “the Green Prince”), the son of a Hamas leader, for his courageous, important, and insightful speech at the Jerusalem Post conference in New York on May 22, 2016), urging the free world to unite against Islam itself as a belief system that has resulted in so many murders “in the name of Allah” and that threatens not only Israel, but also all of humanity. “I speak with the authority of experience, not from books or second-hand knowledge, and I don’t represent a... Full story
By Jerry Silverman NEW YORK (JTA)-In Israel, when the two-minute siren sounds at 11 a.m. on Yom Hazikaron, the Jewish state's Memorial Day, the nation comes to a halt. As we saw just two weeks ago, cars on streets and highways pull over, and drivers and passengers get out of their vehicles to stand and observe a moment of silence. Shoppers halt in the aisles of stores. Workers stand next to their desks. Places of entertainment close for the day. In a nation as tiny as Israel, nearly everyone... Full story
You know Shavuot is coming when you begin to see cheesecakes everywhere. Countless variations in the bakeries and supermarkets. Endless numbers of recipes in the media. Cheesecake is the iconic Shavuot dessert, as sacrosanct as a Hanukkah latke or Passover matzah ball. Unfortunately, cheesecake is one of those deceptively simple recipes, the kind that requires some tips and techniques to get right. Also, not everyone agrees on what makes a cheesecake perfect. Some like it dense; others,... Full story
As I write this... I am getting ready to fly to Chicago from Orlando International Airport in a few days. (Of course when you read this, I will have hopefully already returned.) My grandson, ZACH is becoming a bar mitzvah and I am looking forward to presenting him with his grandfather's tallit. His grandfather, Papa Irv (my loving spouse of 55 years) died several months ago. Needless to say, I am nervous to fly... actually, I'm always nervous to fly, but this time in the age of terrorism,... Full story
(JTA)-Science has finally provided evidence of what Jewish "Star Wars" fans long suspected: Yoda is a member of the tribe-or at least he speaks like one. The bad news is the science has been widely dismissed as junk. The Yoda reference appears in a video in which a a 36-year-old Israeli linguist at Sheffield University in England argues that Ashkenazi Jews and the Yiddish language originated in Turkey. The study joins a number of others published in the past 15 years that challenge the... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)—In 1978, when Beit Hatfutsot-Museum of the Jewish People opened, it did something big. But it did it in the smallest way possible. Among the museum’s first exhibits was a gallery filled with 18 miniature synagogues, each as intricate and tiny as a dollhouse. Representing houses of worship from around the world, the Synagogue Hall—like the museum itself—was a picture of global Jewish diversity, its models reflecting the wide range of building styles that house Jewish prayer. Visitors to the museum gasped at the fine detaili... Full story
By Pamela Ruben When my 76-year-old mother had recent back surgery, my siblings and I had a zillion questions and concerns that we shared with her orthopedic surgeon. It turns out we should have saved a few of those questions for the anesthesiologist... My mom slept most of the day following her procedure, and was in and out for most of the night. When I arrived in her room the next morning, she was sitting upright in bed, with a plate of eggs and bowl of fruit resting on her tray. My mouth dropped open in surprise as I watched my glassy-eyed... Full story
"We had an enjoyable Koffee and Kibbitz session at Plantation Oaks this morning, highlighted by three weeks of Heritage publications!" said Gloria Green, Jewish Pavilion program director for the Southwest Orlando area. Green pointed out articles of interest in each issue for the avid readers, and they all said they would love to be able to read it each week. Green saw a need among the residents for a connection to their Jewish community and the Jewish world. The Jewish newspaper was the perfect... Full story
