Local and world events of the last month have been interesting to say the least; the Boston Marathon bombings, the nuclear threat from North Korea, the gun control debate, immigration reform, the Marlins, the Dolphins stadium issue and so much more. I have to admit that these issues have me so worked up, that I [...]
I recently switched on the TV in the middle of a joint press conference by President Barak Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Now, honestly, these press conferences usually bore me to death, but before I could change the channel, I witnessed an amusing exchange. NBC’s Chuck Todd had just started the third of [...]
Happy 10th anniversary — to me! It occurred to me this morning that I have been writing this column since 2003, and the very first installment was about the Dave and Mary Alper JCC’s Grand Tournament. This is 11th time I am writing about the tournament, now in its 21st year. So much has happened [...]
I am firmly convinced that the Alper JCC fitness center saved my mother’s life. In 2011 my healthy, active 70-something mother started falling out of bed — not falling while getting out of bed, but landing on the floor while sound asleep. After four falls mom had severely injured her back. She was in constant [...]
When I was a kid, The Wizard of Oz was my favorite movie. Long before the days of VHS and DVD, the Wizard of Oz movie was televised each year only on Thanksgiving. It was a tradition to watch it and I still can’t get through the end without crying. The theme of this year’s [...]
If you are a child of the ’60s like me, get out your calendar. There’s no need to fight the parking downtown or schlep to the Beach or Broward. One concert you won’t want to miss will be right here in our community this month. Melissa Manchester, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and actress, returns to the [...]
Maggie Anton, author of the dramatic trilogy Rashi’s Daughters, will speak at the Dave and Mary Alper JCC on Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7:30 p.m. In her latest novel, she follows Hisdadukh, daughter of the rabbi Hisda and one of the most frequently mentioned women in the Talmud. Her story, set in the household of [...]
Teen obesity is not a new phenomenon. In the early 1970s, I had a teenage acquaintance that spent a summer at Duke University on the Rice Diet program. Back then, they called it fat camp. He came back thin. A few years ago, my son had a friend who went away for a summer to [...]
About 10 years ago my mother introduced the Miriam’s Cup to our Passover Seder. Each year she reads a passage that speaks of the multi-talented Miriam as a dancer, prophetess and stitcher, among others. We have always been a little skeptical about the stitcher claim because my mother is an accomplished needle artist. So, I [...]
The theme of the Alper JCC’s 32nd annual Jewish Book Festival and Women’s Day Luncheon is The Power of Relationships – Personal & Political. Here are this month’s appearances: Monday, Oct. 29 Francesca Segal The Innocents 7:30 p.m. at Temple Beth Am In her slyly humorous debut novel, The Innocents, Segal (daughter of Erich Segal [...]
Thursday, Oct. 11 Kati Marton Paris A Love Story 1 p.m. - Alper JCC Marton,Peabody Award-winner and former NPR and ABC News correspondent, has written a memoir of love and loss. During college Marton spent time in Paris researching her family’s escape from communist Hungary to France. After the sudden death of her husband, Ambassador [...]
Growing up in Miami Josh Rader and his twin brother spent every summer at the Dave and Mary Alper Jewish Community Center as campers, returning to the J as camp staff during their college years. Josh even met his future wife Michelle Applerouth-Rader at the JCC. Their life-long friend Matthew Bittel’s childhood also revolved around [...]
And then there was one. Last month I travelled to Dallas for the funeral of a wonderful woman. She and her sister grew up in a small Texas town with my late mother-in-law. Though technically cousins, the three were closer than most sisters and, as her obituary fondly read, they were “a trio of women [...]
The big story of the summer of 2012 is the heat wave across the country. I don’t know about you, but South Florida’s combination of unbearable temperatures and extreme humidity put a damper (focus on damp) on everything I do. This week I saw the first signs that the hot summer is coming to an [...]
