Spanish explorers arrived in Tampa Bay in the 16th century. Jews were first allowed to live in Florida in 1763 and less than 100 years later, Tampa became a city. The arrival of the railroad and the cigar industry in the 1890s attracted immigrants. Many were Jews, who helped propel growth, especially in Ybor City, where they owned more than 80 businesses. Over the decades, Jews participated in civic and Jewish organizations, the military, politics, and in developing Tampa as a sports center. Today, with about 23,000 Jews in Tampa, there are fifth-generation residents who represent the continuity of a people who contribute vibrancy to every area of the community.
This first comprehensive history of the Jews of Florida from colonial times to the present is a sweeping tapestry of voices. Despite not being officially allowed to live in Florida until 1763, Jewish immigrants escaping expulsions and exclusions were among the earliest settlers. They have been integral to every facet of Florida's growth, from tilling the land and developing early communities to boosting tourism and ultimately pushing mankind into space. The Sunshine State's Jews, working for the common good, have been Olympians, Nobel Prize winners, computer pioneers, educators, politicians, leaders in business and the arts and more, while maintaining their heritage to help ensure Jewish continuity for future generations. This rich narrative - accompanied by 700 images, most rarely seen - is the result of three-plus decades of grassroots research by author Marcia Jo Zerivitz, giving readers an incomparable look at the long and crucial history of Jews in Florida.
Being Jewish in Brazil--the world's largest Catholic country--is fraught with paradoxes, and living in São Paulo only amplifies these vivid contradictions. The metropolis is home to Jews from over 60 countries of origin, and to the Hebraica, the world’s largest Jewish athletic and social club. Jewish identity is rooted in layered experiences of historical and contemporary dispersal and border crossings. Brazil is famously tolerant of difference but less understanding of longings for elsewhere. Celebrating both Carnival and the High Holidays is but one example of how Jews in São Paulo hold themselves together as a community in the face of the forces of assimilation. Misha Klein’s fascinating ethnography reveals the complex intertwining of Jewish and Brazilian life and identity.
Noted educator and community revitalization pioneer Dr. Ron Wolfson presents practical strategies and case studies to guide Jewish leaders in turning institutions into engaging communities that connect members to Judaism in meaningful and lasting ways.
Winner of the 2021 National Jewish Book Award for Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice Finalist for the 2021 Kirkus Prize in Nonfiction A New York Times Notable Book of the Year A Wall Street Journal, Chicago Public Library, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year A startling and profound exploration of how Jewish history is exploited to comfort the living. Renowned and beloved as a prizewinning novelist, Dara Horn has also been publishing penetrating essays since she was a teenager. Often asked by major publications to write on subjects related to Jewish culture—and increasingly in response to a recent wave of deadly antisemitic attacks—Horn was troubled to realize what all of these assignments had in common: she was being asked to write about dead Jews, never about living ones. In these essays, Horn reflects on subjects as far-flung as the international veneration of Anne Frank, the mythology that Jewish family names were changed at Ellis Island, the blockbuster traveling exhibition Auschwitz, the marketing of the Jewish history of Harbin, China, and the little-known life of the "righteous Gentile" Varian Fry. Throughout, she challenges us to confront the reasons why there might be so much fascination with Jewish deaths, and so little respect for Jewish lives unfolding in the present. Horn draws upon her travels, her research, and also her own family life—trying to explain Shakespeare’s Shylock to a curious ten-year-old, her anger when swastikas are drawn on desks in her children’s school, the profound perspective offered by traditional religious practice and study—to assert the vitality, complexity, and depth of Jewish life against an antisemitism that, far from being disarmed by the mantra of "Never forget," is on the rise. As Horn explores the (not so) shocking attacks on the American Jewish community in recent years, she reveals the subtler dehumanization built into the public piety that surrounds the Jewish past—making the radical argument that the benign reverence we give to past horrors is itself a profound affront to human dignity. Now including a reading group guide.
Traces the steps of Florida's Jewish pioneers from colonial times through the present through the historical sites in each county that reflect their heritage.
This effortless and unapologetic approach to self-promotion will manage your anxiety and allow you to champion yourself. Does talking about your accomplishments feel scary or icky because you're worried people will think you're "obnoxious"? Does it feel more natural to "put your head down and do the work"? Are you tired of watching the loudest people in your industry get disproportionate praise and rewards? If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you might be self-sabotaging. You need to learn to Brag Better. Meredith Fineman has built a career working with "The Qualified Quiet": smart people who struggle to talk about themselves and thus go underestimated or unrecognized. Now, she shares the surefire and anxiety-proof strategies that have helped her clients effectively communicate their achievements and skillsets to others. Bragging Better doesn't require false bravado, talking over people, or pretending to be more qualified than you are. Instead, Fineman advocates finding quiet confidence in your opinions, abilities, and background, and then turning up the volume. In this book, you will learn the career-changing tools she's developed over the past decade that make bragging feel easy, including: Get remembered by focusing your personal brand and voice on key adjectives (like "effective, subtle, and edgy") Practice explaining what you do in simple, sticky terms to earn respect and recognition from the public and people at work. Eliminate words that undermine your work and find better ones--like your bio saying you're "trying" or "attempting" to do something instead that you ARE doing it. If you're ready to begin Bragging Better--to telling the truth about your accomplishments with grace and confidence--this book is for you.
As Atlanta evolved from a sleepy, backwater, 19th-century frontier railroad town into a 21st-century international metropolis, Jewish men and women significantly contributed to the rich tapestry of the "Gate City of the South." The commercial infrastructure of the expanding city was greatly enhanced through numerous small businesses established by Jewish merchants, some of which became major players in various industries. Many of Atlanta's most recognizable icons--The Coca-Cola Company, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Atlanta Braves--originated, in part, thanks to support from visionary leaders in the Jewish community. While there are many success stories throughout Atlanta's Jewish history, there are also dark episodes of blatant antisemitism that traumatized the community and had national implications. The lynching of Leo M. Frank; the bombing of the city's historic synagogue, the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation; and the deliberate expulsion of Jewish students from Emory University Dental School marred Atlanta's self-proclaimed reputation as "The City Too Busy to Hate."
The daughter of one of the most powerful mobsters in America describes growing up amidst the glamour and tragedy of 1940s, 50s and 60s Las Vegas and recounts knowing Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano and Frank Sinatra as a child.
