Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 701 - 725 of 3521
Jewish Academy of Orlando is providing an academic program to serve the community. Transitional Kindergarten will be offered again for the 2021-2022 school year. TK is a grade that serves as a bridge between preschool and Kindergarten, providing students time to develop fundamental skills needed for success in an academic setting. "We are finding more and more that an extra year of maturational growth has long-term positive impacts on a child's social, emotional, and academic success. The gift...
JFS Orlando would like to give a BIG “Thank You” to all who supported their first-ever High Holiday Hope Drive (Sept. 1 — Oct. 15, 2020). Over the past several weeks, thanks to generous supporters, JFS surpassed their goal and raised more than $11,000 to support their community services! During the COVID-19 pandemic, families across Greater Orlando have needed hope now more than ever. Hope that can only be found through relief services like JFS Orlando’s Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry or Family Stabilization Program or Counseling, Growth and De...
It has been along 8 months for everyone, but especially for residents in long-term care communities. Jewish Pavilion Program Director Julie Levitt donned PPE and safely socially distanced so she could spend a few minutes to visit. "I may have been more excited to reunite with my friends than they may have been. Life Care of Altamonte did an amazing job to make sure the visit was safe for all of us and putting the residents safety an upmost priority. Knowing that this visit was such a success, I...
Jewish Academy of Orlando completed the recording of "Alice in Wonderland." The full-scale musical production, which was previously scheduled for May, is now being produced as a video production. Out of an abundance of caution, the school moved away from a live audience performance to video production. Shown here are Alice and the cast. Stay tuned for the final video....
This is the 22nd annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival and it has two "firsts." It's the first time there are two film shorts to enjoy, making a total of eight films; and the first film fest that can be enjoyed from the viewer's own living room. Because of circumstances beyond everyone's control, the film festival is virtual this year. Even though theater goers can't enjoy the ambiance of the Enzian and its wonderful food and drinks, the up side is that films can be viewed at the viewer's...
This year's Jewish Film Festival hosts two film shorts - usually there is only one short - and both of them have local ties. "Resemblance" is almost "home grown" Written, directed and produced by Kevin J. O'Neill, who lives in Central Florida, the short was filmed at Canterbury Retreat in Oviedo. The executive producer, Bethanne Weiss, is well-known in the community, and in a scene on the facility's patio, some familiar faces can be spotted: Weiss, Jacqueline Levine and Harriett Weiss. Starring...
After 17 years of service to Congregation Ohev Shalom, Rabbi David Kay’s leadership will be completed at the end of his contract, July 3, 2021. The COS Board of Trustees determined that it would be in the best interest of the congregation to change the rabbinic leadership. “Congregation Ohev Shalom is very fortunate and so pleased that Rabbi Kay will remain fully engaged as our rabbi through the end of July 2021. Rabbi Kay has been an extremely dedicated and valued member of our clergy for ove...
This past Monday, Nov. 2, The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center reopened with a limited schedule. Attendance at any of the programs must be by reservation as the Center has implemented many new procedure for safety. Visitors are also encouraged to review the safety guidelines, found on the website, holocaustedu.org. The next event, a live virtual conversation with Holocaust survivor Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, will be held on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 3 p.m. Dr. Paldiel is a leading scholar on...
Temple Israel is proud to bring another quality adult education program to the local Jewish community with ScholarStream. Two four-part Zoom series throughout November and December give communities the opportunity to learn from the world's leading Conservative movement scholars and engage deeply with Jewish texts and traditions. ScholarStream is an initiative of the Rabbinical Assembly, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Jewish Theological Seminary, and Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies...
Recently featured on the TV program A World of Difference were RAISE director, Loren London, RAISE director of Employment and Education Rachel Slavkin, and three gainfully employed RAISE alumni. A World of Difference is a monthly TV series that celebrates neurodiversity, which is a viewpoint that brain differences are normal, rather than deficits. The idea of neurodiversity can have benefits for children with learning and thinking differences. This concept can help reduce stigma around learning...
The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando is sponsoring a population study of the Jewish community of Central Florida. Studies like this are conducted by Jewish communities all over the United States to estimate the size and characteristics of the local Jewish community and to assist Jewish communal organizations to make well-informed, data-driven decisions for the benefit of the entire community. The study will be conducted by the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University,...
Monthly events for the new Jewish year 5781 are being offered for women with zoom and in-person options. "Jewish women don't usually need an excuse to get together," says Chanshy Majesky co-director of Chabad of North Orlando, "but, if they did, the feminine theme of the new Jewish month offers a perfect opportunity" This year the events, which begin Nov. 19, will include educational lessons as well as art activities. Some arts in the lineup for this year will be drip painting, truffle...
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Chabad of North Orlando has continued to innovate new ways to engage, educate and connect with the community. There was the Drive-In Lag B'Omer concert, Zoom classes and guest speakers, Holidays in a box for those celebrating at home, Sukkos Drive Through Experience to mention a few. The Jewish trivia game JText for teens has been very popular over the last two years in the Orlando Jewish community with over 100 local teens signed up. With no end in sight to...
Laughing has been an important part of Judaism since biblical times. Abraham and Sarah, were not able to have children. When G‑d's messenger gave the elderly couple the happy news, they both laughed. Because of this laughter, the heir to Judaism and the first Jewish child ever born was named Yitzchak (Isaac), which means "laugh." The history of Jewish merrymaking does not end in the Bible. We find in Talmudic times the account of how a great sage, Rabbah, used to begin each of his lessons w...
On Oct. 5, more than 100 households gathered on Zoom for a virtual thank you party in honor of Robby Etzkin, who left his position as executive director at The Roth Family Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic after nearly eight years of service. Guests included former and current JCC staff and members, staff from the JCC Association in which Etzkin has been an active fixture for nearly 15 years, as well as friends and family from across the...
Chabads of North Orlando and Greater Orlando will be hosting Holocaust survivor Dr. Jacob Eisenbach, who lived through the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Poland, a labor camp and concentration camps, will tell his story of survival at a special zoom event on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Dr. Eisenbach, 95, was the sole survivor of the Holocaust from his extended family of about 100 people. He immigrated to the United States in 1950, married a fellow survivor and built a dentistry practice he operated f...
The future needs of healthy and independent seniors are not on the radar of their family members until a crisis arises. An unexpected fall is often the beginning of a family member’s transition into caregiving. All of a sudden, the new caregiver has to learn so many things about their loved one: what insurance they have, who are their medical professionals, what are the rehabilitation options, are their finances in order, is their living environment still a safe and viable choice, and so much more. In 2012 the Orlando Senior Help Desk was f...
Jewish Academy of Orlando kindergarteners and first graders participate in PE despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is a peek at what PE looks like at the Jewish Academy of Orlando. Jewish Academy of Orlando serves central Florida students of all faiths from kindergarten through fifth grade. The school delivers a whole-child education fostering academic excellence and character education rooted in Jewish values. Jewish Academy of Orlando is accredited by the Florida Council of Independent...
Jewish Academy of Orlando students loved celebrating sukkot. They (safely) shook the lulav and etrog, had a snack, and made edible sukkot. The students also loved integrating STEM education into Judaic studies by building Lego Sukkot in the innovation lab - even the remote students participated! Here are some peeks from the week's celebrations. To learn more about Jewish Academy of Orlando, please visit: jewishacademyorlando.org or follow the school on Facebook https://facebo...
The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida announced via a webinar held Oct. 1, that it has partnered with USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education to be a content and creative partner in the development of the new Holocaust museum to be located in downtown Orlando. This marks the first time USC Shoah Foundation, a world leader in testimony-based research, education and interactive experiences, has teamed with a Holocaust museum to design, develop...
Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando, in partnership with the TOP Jewish Foundation and the Jewish Capital Alliance, is excited to announce the launch of a new financial assistance program called “JFS Orlando CARES.” Dedicated to providing relief to those severely impacted financially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the program will provide $500,000 in emergency rental assistance. The program, a reimbursable Housing and Community Development grant awarded to JFS as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also kno...
"We are doing our annual gala auction online this year because it's the best choice we have. We're just not going to lose sight of helping our seniors, no matter what," said Shirley Schoenberg, co-chairwoman of this year's "Ungala" event sponsored by the Jewish Pavilion. The highly anticipated annual fall fundraiser has moved online this year - the first time in the event's 13-year history. Participants won't have to leave the comfort of their living room to win the auction's most popular...
Beginning at the end of the month, Chabad in Metro Orlando will be offering a new six-session course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, titled Secrets of the Bible: Iconic Stories, Mystical Meanings, and Their Lessons for Life. Chabad of North Orlando's classes will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 27 from 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m., and held at Nate's Shul, 1701 Markham Woods Rd., Longwood FL, 32779. Interested students may visit www.myJLI.com to find the closest class, for registration and for other c...
For many, the recognition that a loved one is having trouble with their memory is scary and frightening. They are not alone. More than 5 million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer’s. An estimated 5.8 million Americans age 65 and older in 2020 were living with some form of dementia. One in 10 people age 65 and older (10 percent) has Alzheimer’s dementia. “Everyone in the family is impacted with the knowledge that a family member’s memory is slipping. The news can be devastating. First we minimize or deny it, then the family rallies to compens...
To promote the upcoming Jewish Pavilion “Gems and Jeans” auction Oct. 18-23, Marlene Adler, chairwoman of the board of directors, put her talents to use and designed one-of-a-kind denim masks. The masks are $20 or two for $36. To purchase, contact Nancy Ludin at the Jewish Pavilion office at 407-678-9363. Supplies are limited to 50 artistic masks, and can be selected any morning. Known as a “Denim Diva,” Adler has an enormous denim collection, purchasing jeans and gems at yard sales. In the pas...
