Scene Around

How thrilled I am ...

Sure, sure, at my age anything would thrill me, right? WRONG! It has to be something very special ... and it was!

The other evening on the KELLY CLARKSON television show, her first guest was BARRY ALAN PINCUS! WHAT? You don't know who that is? How about if I say BARRY MANILOW? AHA! Now you know.

Is there any better entertainer? Not if you ask me. "Mandy," "I write the songs," "Can't smile without you," "Copacabana," to name but a few of his fabulous hits. What a thrill to see him!

Also born in Brooklyn like me, Barry was brought up Jewish like his mom. His maternal grandparents were Russian Jews. He also attended Julliard School of Music.

This was truly a surprise ...

I never knew that GOLDIE HAWN was Jewish, born and raised. Her mom was Jewish, the daughter of emigrants from Hungary.

(Wow! We're not only a talented people, but a beautiful people too!)

Poland unfair to Jewish property owners ...

I read this in the World Jewish Congress and pass it along to you:

"Jewish property owners and their descendants have been fighting unsuccessfully for restitution or compensation from Poland since the fall of Communism in 1989.

Reacting to this latest development, WJC President Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER declared: "This law is a slap in the face to what remains of Polish Jewry and survivors of Nazi brutality everywhere. It also sets a terrible precedent throughout Europe as survivors and descendants continue to seek justice. I have been an unwavering advocate of Poland in Washington and elsewhere ever since the country rejected the Communist system in favor of Democracy. I was inspired by Poland's fight for freedom and its national rebirth even when I disagreed with some of Warsaw's policies. But this flagrant and entirely gratuitous act by the Polish Parliament leaves me questioning my own commitment and the future of U.S. Polish relations. It pains me to say this, but I think that the time has come for the international Jewish community to reevaluate our relationship with a government that is behaving with unimaginable callousness and is emulating the worst traditions in Polish history rather than the best and most uplifting ones.

"Since moral persuasion clearly has not been effective, perhaps the time has come to treat Poland with the same consideration it accords to Polish Jews and their descendants seeking justice."

Prior to 1939, Poland was home to more than 3 million Jews, one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, most of them murdered in the ghettos, death camps, and concentration camps of German-occupied Poland.

Jewish property owners and their descendants have been fighting unsuccessfully for restitution or compensation from Poland since the fall of Communism in 1989.

Ambassador Lauder has a long history of constructive engagement in Poland and has done much to ensure the rehabilitation of the Jewish community, including building schools, synagogues, and community centers and restoring the memorial museum at the German death and concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

A note from AIPAC ...

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee just a few years ago, targeted Palestinian payments to terrorists.

AIPAC worked with Congress to pass the Taylor Force Act, bipartisan legislation that targets the abhorrent Palestinian practice of paying terrorists and their families, which incentivizes terrorism and sets back the pursuit of peace. (I didn't know that.)

The Jewish Pavilion ...

To support Central Florida senior citizens (I guess that includes me), the Jewish Pavilion is sponsoring an online auction on the dates Oct. 24th-29th. For further details, contact

The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando ...

The Federation will hold a spectacular evening of art and connection as they create a beautiful Jewish-themed embroidery on canvas led by SANDRINE FARACHE. Masks will be required. The event is planned for Tuesday, Oct. 26. For more information, phone the Roth Jewish Community Center at 407-645-5933.

One for the road ...

Shlomo had never been to an automat before. He stood feeding the apple pie slot with coins when his friend Moshe tried to stop him. "Shlomo, what are you doing? For heaven's sake, stop! You already have 8 pieces of pie!

"I should stop at a time like this," Shlomo replies, "when I'm on such a winning streak?"

(Oy vay is all I can say!)