South Florida

The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) is offering a six-session winter 2013 course called “Living With Integrity: Navigating Everyday Ethical Dilemmas.” The classes will begin at 7:30 p.m. January 29. Rabbi Ruvi New will lead the sessions at 120 NE 1st Avenue, in Boca Raton.

.

Cantor Avi Albrecht, a major figure in the cantorial world, will appear for Shabbat Shirah, January 25-26, at the Palm Beach Synagogue in Palm Beach together with the a cappella group Kol Fusion. The program is presented by the Palm Beach Synagogue and American Friends of Meir Panim.

Young Israel of Deerfield Beach, located at 202 Century Boulevard, will host a Holocaust remembrance program on January 20. The event will mark the anniversary of the infamous Wannsee Conference, which set into motion Hitler’s plan for the genocide of the entire Jewish population of Europe.

The Chaya Aydel Seminary (CAS) in Hallandale Beach is entering its 12th (bas mitzvah) year of excellence in education. CAS has become well known for its top-notch academics and beautiful frum environment.

More than 175 people attended a complimentary educational program called “Respect and Resilience: Foundations for a Healthy Marriage and Family.” In partnership with Ohel Children’s Home & Family Services and The Shul of Bal Harbour, the event was sponsored by Yehi Ohr, JCS’s new initiative expanding its commitment to the South Florida Orthodox Jewish community.

A Jewish couple from Toronto was found dead inside their Hallandale Beach, South Florida condo on Thursday night, with police investigating a double homicide.

The South Florida area is quite cosmopolitan and often hosts an array of cultural events including art shows and festivals, indie and foreign films. A movie presented in French, Hebrew and Arabic (with English subtitles) running in a small theater in North Miami Beach recently piqued my interest.

Every Wednesday evening the Young Israel of Bal Harbour welcomes an international gathering of guests for Dr. Henry Abramson’s lecture series in Jewish History.

Chabad of South Broward held its 33rd annual South Florida Chassidic Chanukah Festival on December 13, the 6th night of Chanukah, at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach.

The Chabad Hebrew School in Highland Lakes held a joyous musical Chanukah Celebration on December 12. Over a hundred students performed “Chanukah Down Memory Lane.” Each class dressed in the era they represented as they sang oldies for the audience.

This September, Southern NCSY – the international youth movement of the Orthodox Union – launched an exclusive leadership program for high school teens known as Teen LLC: Leadership, Learning and Chesed. The program accepted 20 teens who spend two hours every other week learning the Torah sources on charity and meeting with representatives from various social service organizations at Yum Berry yogurt store.

Chanukah was a happy swirl of activity for many in South Florida Jewish community. Every day and every night was filled with festivals, events, parties, and menorah-lighting celebrations. Diets were suspended, dreidels were spun, presents were exchanged, and in every Jewish school little Maccabees sang and danced with glee.

The Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy of Miami Beach recently participated in the American Airlines Arena Court of Dreams. This unique opportunity allowed student athletes to play on the Miami Heat’s home court.

The Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy’s Early Childhood division entertained family and friends with a spectacular Chanukah festival.

.

The Keystone Jewish Center held a public menorah lighting on Wednesday, December 12, in front of the City Hall of North Miami. The celebration took place for the ninth consecutive year at the city’s building and featured a 15-foot menorah, the largest on city municipal property in South Florida. The menorah was lit throughout the eight days of the holiday.

Recently, a porcelain bathtub appeared atop a jetty off Miami Beach. The gleaming white object was perched upon craggy rocks. Ocean waves lapped around it. The origin of the tub was a mystery.

The NBA champion Miami Heat and the Florida Jewish community will gather on Wednesday, December 12at American Airlines Arena for Jewish Heritage Night and to celebrate the 5th night of Chanukah. Several thousand tickets are being made available exclusively to the Jewish community.

Young Israel of Bal Harbour, located at 9592 Harding Avenue in Surfside, presents a wide array of classes and activities for the communities of Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor and Surfside. Talmud classes are held Monday through Friday before Shacharis at 6:20 a.m. Daf yomi classes are held Sunday through Friday immediately after Shacharis.

A hundred cars with menorahs on top of their roofs are expected to participate in Chabad of Boca Raton's annual car menorah parade on Monday December 10th. The fleet will depart from the Central Boca Chabad on Military Trail at 5:30 p.m. and then head across town for a Chanukah concert and menorah lighting hosted by Chabad of East Boca.

What: Israel Bonds Aventura Turnberry Brunch (honoring Ursla Kersh and Myrna and Robert Kopf; guest speaker – foreign policy analyst Dr. Ralph Nurnberger) Where: Aventura...

It’s that time of year again. Turkey, cranberry sauce and a harsh lesson in the reality of “land for peace” deals.

The 33rd annual South Florida Chassidic Chanukah Festival is getting bigger and better. Over 10,000 people have attended the event since it was moved to Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach in 2007, and the upcoming festival set for Thursday, December 13, will include a star-studded show that is guaranteed to attract the largest attendance yet.

.

The South Florida Shomrim Society was formed to meet the needs of Jewish law enforcement officers and support personnel in Miami-Dade County. The organization has grown from a mere handful of members in 1984 to nearly three hundred. And Shomrim supports more than thirty charities each year with donations and hands-on physical help.

The Dr. Abe Chames High School of Yeshiva Toras Chaim Toras Emes will hold its annual Open House for prospective ninth grade talmidim and their parents on 19 Teves, Sunday evening, December 2 at 7 p.m.

Passover Resorts, which hosted Passover for 13 years at the Ritz Carlton Palm Beach and a couple of years at Loews South Beach, is back in South Florida at the spectacular Omphoy Ocean Resort & Spa on the beach in Palm Beach. This spectacular luxury hotel has 128 rooms and all are dedicated to Passover 2013.

The Jewish community is marking the 74th anniversary of Kristallnacht, which occurred on November 9-10 in 1938. South Florida’s Holocaust Memorial, located at 1933-1945 Meridian Avenue, held its ceremony on the evening of November 8. Commemorations were observed around the world.

Rabbi Pinchas Weberman hosted a luncheon honoring the new Miami Beach fire chief, Javier Otero.