Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - The singer and actor, who was president of ZOA's California chapter, died on May 21 at the age of 95. Some 15 or 20 years ago, Mort Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, saw a man who looked a lot like entertainer Ed Ames at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington. "He was tall. He stood out among everyone," Klein told JNS. "I knew it wasn't Ed Ames, because he was at an AIPAC conference. Ed Ames wouldn't be at an AIPAC...
This story originally appeared on My Jewish Learning. (JTA) — The Shavuot holiday that we observed last month commemorates two different kinds of harvests. Originally an agricultural festival, Shavuot marked the culmination of the wheat harvest in the ancient land of Israel. Only later did the rabbis layer on the receiving of the Torah to the holiday. Just as we celebrate the bounty of the land, we celebrate the bounty of Torah — the sustenance that feeds our hearts and nourishes our souls. In ancient days, as the wheat blossomed in its gol...
(JTA) — The Israeli satirical drama film “Concerned Citizen” opens with the sacrosanct rituals of a bourgeois Tel Aviv life: a robot vacuum slides gracefully across the floor; lush house plants are watered; vegetables are blended into green juice. The score from the Bellini opera “Norma” plays in the background. Then a car alarm rudely interrupts the utopia. It only gets worse from here for Ben and Raz, a progressive Israeli gay couple (played by actors Shlomi Bertonov and Ariel Wolf, who are a...
(JTA) - After five seasons, 20 Emmy awards and plenty of Jewish jokes, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" aired its final episode. The lauded Amazon Prime show from Amy Sherman-Palladino has enveloped viewers in a shimmering, candy-colored version of New York during the late 1950s and early 1960s - a world in which "humor" has meant Jewish humor and "culture" has meant Jewish culture. But as it comes to an end, the show's Jewish legacy is still up for debate: Did its representation of Jews on...
(JNS) - Israeli President Isaac Herzog met on Monday morning with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose ChatGPT has quickly become an international sensation. Launched in November, ChatGPT is an artificially intelligent chatbot that can have human-like conversations, answer questions and assist people in writing assignments. The software has been made available to the public through an app, and millions of users have used it primarily for writing and research. Herzog made waves in February when, while...
(JTA) - On Wednesday morning, Alfred Moses, 94, sat in a small white armchair at a round wooden table in a Manhattan office building as a historian gingerly turned the pages of a more than 1,000-year-old book in front of him. Two weeks earlier, Moses had paid a record-setting sum for the book - more than $38 million in total. But this was the first time he had ever seen it. The book was the Codex Sassoon, the world's oldest nearly-complete copy of the Hebrew Bible, and Moses had purchased it on...
For three weeks my family experienced an unimaginable nightmare from which we could not wake. On June 24, 2021, my world ended as I knew it. At 3 a.m., my mother received a news notification that a building had collapsed by Miami Beach. She had a mother’s instinct that this was the building Nicky and Luis lived in — my beautiful 26-year-old sister and her 28-year-old husband. We immediately drove to Surfside where my sister’s building once stood and saw an image that never stops invading my mind: half a building. I remember counting the floor...
(JTA) — When my wife and I were planning our wedding, we thought it might be cool to hire a klezmer band. This was during the first wave of the klezmer revival, when groups like The Klezmatics and The Klezmer Conservatory Band were rediscovering the genre of Jewish wedding music popular for centuries in Yiddish-speaking Eastern Europe. Of course we also wanted to dance to rock ‘n’ roll and needed musicians who could handle Sinatra for our parents’ benefit, so we went with a more typical wedding band. Modernity won out over tradition. Or did...
Shavuot is a two-day holiday, beginning at sundown following the 5th of Sivan and lasting until nightfall of the 7th of Sivan (May 25-27, 2023). In Israel it is a one-day holiday, ending at nightfall of the 6th of Sivan. Shavuot combines two major religious observances. First is the grain harvest of the early summer. Second is the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai seven weeks after the exodus from Egypt. The first determines the ritual for the holiday, which was one of the three pilgrimage...
As a new member with the North Orlando Chabad in Florida with Rabbi Yanky Majesky and his wife Chanshy, I was elated to be invited to attend Shabbat in the Heights that takes place in Crown Heights, New York City, New York for the Hakhel: Year of Gathering. I had no idea what to expect. I have never been to New York City or in a fully Jewish environment. With the months of Shabbos, Women's Studies and JLI courses at Rabbi Majesky's Chabad you would think that it would prepare you for this experi...
(JNS) — Among all the tales of heroism and death during the Holocaust, how many of us are aware of the rescue of nearly 50,000 Jews by the citizens of Bulgaria? In 1943, despite the planned and already commenced deportation of Bulgarian Jews to the Nazi death camps, thousands were released from the trains bound for Auschwitz and allowed to go home. The newly released “Acts of Resistance” by Dominic Carrillo is a fictionalized account of the actions of Bulgarian citizens that succeeded in stopp...
If a book were a candy store and I was a kid, "Every Generation's Story: 75 Years of American Christian Engagement with Israel" would be my kid in a candy store scenario. As I read page after page, I couldn't help but be inspired and drawn into one author's story after another, wanting more and more. As an Orthodox Jew called to build bridges between Jews and Christians, I am blessed by many, many deep friendships with Christians who love and support Israel unconditionally. Biblically. Even...
Caregiver burn out is real and can be very harmful. How can you take care of a loved one if you are exhausted or not feeling well. Consider options such as support groups, adult day care and hiring a part-time companion. There are many free resources for caregivers. The Jewish Pavilion has the Orlando Senior Help Desk; a free information and referral service 407-678-9363. AARP recommends the following: Create the Good, createthegood.org CaregiverAction Network, 855-227-3640, caregiveraction.org Family Caregiver Alliance, 800-445-8106,...
Standing in front of the Bielefeld, Germany, railroad station in June 2018, Harry Lowenstein traced his fingers over the all-too-familiar names etched into the Holocaust memorial: His father, David. His mother, Bernhardine. His sister, Klaere. Aunts and uncles and cousins. Friends and neighbors. During the Nazis' reign of terror, his family and hundreds of Jews from surrounding areas had stood on the station's platform before being herded onto railroad cars for the thousand-mile journey to ghett...
Bernie Marcus grew up dirt poor. Now he's giving away his fortune. Bernie Marcus is passionate about giving all his money away. The Home Depot founder is a signatory of "The Giving Pledge," a group of billionaire philanthropists who have committed to giving the majority of their money away to charity, during their lifetime or posthumously. Bernie has established a foundation which works tirelessly to support various causes. After he dies, he wants it dissolved and all his money to be given away...
(JNS) — Many see the creation of the modern-day State of Israel as part of a historical narrative, in which Israeli independence was a reaction to the Holocaust. “The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people—the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe—was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State,” the provisional government of Israel declared on May 14, 1948. But when JNS interviewed nearly 30 veterans of the 1948 War of Independe...
(JTA) – "Oppenheimer," the hotly-anticipated Christopher Nolan biopic about the Jewish nuclear physicist who developed the atomic bomb, will include another familiar Jewish face when it opens this summer: Albert Einstein. A new trailer for the drama, released last week, includes a brief glimpse of the scientist's unmistakeable visage, as rendered by the Oscar-nominated Scottish character actor Tom Conti. Underscoring the gravity of the bomb's development, this Einstein has foregone his usual c...
(JNS) — One of many United Nations bodies dedicated to the Palestinians announced last weekend an upcoming U.N. commemoration of “Nakba Day,” the supposed “catastrophe” that marked the birth of the State of Israel in 1948. Palestinian and their supporters mark this annually on May 15, one day after Israel announced its independence on May 14, 1948. The day purportedly memorializes the displacement of Palestinian Arabs. During the course of fighting beginning in November 1947, when U.N. member states voted to partition the land, and lasting u...
Good morning from the Judean mountains. I slept well last night but when I woke up I realized that just 30-40 miles from my home, for hundreds of thousands of Israelis it was a horrible night. Again. Palestinian Arab terrorists in Gaza fired over 60 rockets at Israeli communities, trying to kill, maim, and terrorize as many Israelis as possible. Despite the Iron Dome that typically shoots down 90 percent of all incoming rockets aimed at Israeli communities, some broke through and there have...
You never forget your first chicken-cilantro dog garnished with Caesar salad. The first time I ordered one was in autumn 2003, at Jeff’s Gourmet Sausage Factory, a small, glass-front eatery on a stretch of West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles known for its yeshivas, mezuzah shops and plethora of kosher markets and bakeries. Opened by owner Jeff Rohatiner in 1999, Jeff’s (referred to colloquially as such) is something of a legend in L.A. On any given weekday you can find an eclectic mix of cus...
Most seniors take multiple medications prescribed by many doctors. This is one reason why caregivers need to be aware of the potential for drug interactions. Interactions occur when medications don’t work in tandem with one another. The drugs meant to help you can work adversely to affect your loved one’s health. Prescription and over the counter medications should also be considered when looking at drug interactions. Herbal remedies and food interactions can be a source of concern as well. Medication-Medication Interactions: Drug interactions...
(JTA) - Shows about the Holocaust and a notorious American antisemitic incident picked up several Tony Award nominations Tuesday morning, as Broadway's biggest honors made room for a sizable Jewish presence. Most notably, a revival of the 1998 musical "Parade," starring Ben Platt as the early-20th-century Jewish lynching victim Leo Frank, scored six nominations, including best revival of a musical and a best actor nod for Platt. Jewish lead actress Micaela Diamond also scored a nomination for...
An egg cream was my father's kitchen claim to fame. He assembled them with great flourish - Fox's U-Bet chocolate syrup, cold milk from a glass bottle, and a long, hard shpritz of seltzer, followed by a vigorous stir. Even today, when I drink or think of it, it takes me back to my family's Brooklyn roots, and him. To my surprise, I have discovered that I am not alone in my nostalgic connection to this fancy-named but pedestrian drink. According to Pete Freeman, co-owner, cofounder and chief...
If there is one Jewish song known by Jews and non-Jews alike, it is undoubtedly Hava Nagila, which is Hebrew for "let us rejoice." From its obscure origins in early 20th-century Palestine, the song has gone on to become a perennial favorite at weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs and Jewish and non-Jewish cultural events around the world. With its short lyrics and simple yet distinctive melody, Hava Nagila has been recorded hundreds of times by musicians ranging from Neil Diamond, the Barry Sisters,...
Jews built the comic book industry from the ground up, and the influence of Jewish writers, artists, and editors continues to be felt to this day. But how did Jews come to have such a disproportionate influence on an industry most famous for lantern-jawed demigods clad in colorful tights? First Comic Books The story begins in 1933. During that year, the world experienced seismic changes in politics and pop culture. An unemployed Jewish novelty salesman named Maxwell Charles "M.C." Gaines (née...
