Notables

Patti Ambinder was executive assistant to Peter Malkin, the Israeli secret agent who captured Adolf Eichmann, Israel, 1996.
Ambinder met Malkin while flying home from the celebration of Jerusalem 3000 where Malkin was a speaker and Ambinder a participant. Malkin was the last to board and sat in the only open sea —next to Patti. “No woman has ever given me chocolates,” Malkin said to Ambinder. She replied, “And no man has ever offered me a drink of Bailey’s Irish Cream.” This introduction led to a ten-year relationship between one of Mossad’s most elite secret agents and Ambinder. She was Malkin’s closest confidante. Ambinder, who has lived in Winter Park for 36 years, is past president and honorary life member of the board of directors of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and chairs the Valencia College Peace and Justice Institute Advisory Council.
VWF Publishing, 2002

Orlando pioneer Pauline Berman (1892–1978), outspoken member of the community for more than 55 years, said, “Remove hate, bigotry and prejudice, advance good public relations and better understanding among all peoples,” 1964.
Berman, a successful businesswoman, community leader and civic activist, helped found Congregations Ohev Shalom and Liberal Judaism. She organized B’nai B’rith Women locally, served the Anti-Defamation League nationally and statewide and helped found Orlando’s first women’s group, the Orlando Civic League (1913). In 1948, she began the Know Your Neighbor program that brought together diverse leaders to encourage cooperation. She served the State Welfare Board for 12 years. Berman, the nation’s first-known woman radio news commentator, had her own program (1930–1933) in Orlando and traveled to Europe (1955) to report on the status of women there. Following the 1954 school desegregation decision, she represented Orlando for PEARL (Public Education and Religious Liberty), a statewide organization that fought against religious education in public schools.
Orlando Star

Malcolm Bricklin manufactured the Bricklin SV-1 (short for Safety Vehicle), a two-seat gullwing door, sports coupé, 1974.
Bricklin graduated from Boone High School and began his business career in Orlando with a chain of hardware stores called Handyman. Bricklin later founded Subaru of America. Next he built his own car, the Bricklin SV1, which rivaled the Chevrolet Corvette, and imported the Yugo. In the 1990s, he tried to get electric cars off and running and developed the electric bicycle. In the auto industry, he is noted as a visionary who spotted trends ahead of their time.
Barbara Bricklin Jonas

Aaron Fechter invented the Rock-afire Explosion show that includes his albino Doberman (front), Athena, 2011.
Aaron Fechter’s family moved to Orlando in 1957 when he was three. He attended local schools, experimented with electronics, studied piano and loved the Beatles. After graduating from the University of South Florida, Fechter started a career in Orlando as an engineering entrepreneur. In the 1980s, Fechter founded Creative Engineering and invented the Whac-AMole , the animatronic characters featured at Showbiz Pizza Place (later Chuck E Cheese’s). The Rock-afire Explosion show was installed in 200 Showbiz Pizza Place restaurants, entertainment centers and amusement parks around the world. Fatz (shown on far left) is the most popular character that Fechter created for the Rock-afire Explosion show. In recent years, this show has performed as the backup band for Cee Lo Green in Las Vegas and appeared in Just Go With It starring Adam Sandler, and Keanu starring Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.
Seth Christie

Stephen Gamson with two of his paintings and one sculpture at Seth Jason Beitler Fine Arts Gallery, Wynwood Art District, Miami, 2008.
This son of Elaine and Bob Gamson, renowned for his iconic pop art, now lives in Miami, where he was twice named Artist of the Year. His commissions include public art, such as a firehouse on State Road AIA in Deerfield Beach, and fundraisers, including Pink and Blue For Two, supporting breast and prostate cancer research. He was named artist for the 67th Monaco Grand Prix and the Princess Grace Foundation and represented the United States in El Museo Casa Turquesta in Mexico. He is shown here with his large Composition in Blue and Green (background), the small work, Split Personality; and the pyramid sculpture, Romantic Journey.
Stephen Gamson, photo by Brian Smith

Since 2012, Penny Gold holds the Guinness World Record for largest collection of Converse sneakers, Lake Mary, 2016.
Penny Gold grew up wearing Converse sneakers in Brooklyn, NY. She and her husband, Barry, moved to Longwood more than 25 years ago, when she began to collect the shoes—892 pairs and counting! Gold has low-top and high-tops ranging from musicthemed sneakers featuring Metallica and the Doors to comic-style Chucks with Batman and Robin. Her prized pair is designed with a map of the NYC subway system that shows the stops where she used to get onand off while attending Baruch College.
Penny Gold

Steve Goldman congratulates composers
Leigha Arnick and Justin White, finalists at the 2013 National Young Composers Competition, Orlando, 2013.
Steve Goldman, internationally acclaimed for computer innovations, has lived in Central Florida since childhood. Since selling his business in the 1990s, he has devoted himself to philanthropy in the arts and STEM education. Goldman’s mission has been to raise the area’s cultural and educational level to encourage more high-tech people to move their families to Orlando. In the 1990s, he persuaded Mayor Glenda Hood that the city needed a first-class orchestra and hen, as chair of the fledgling Orlando Philharmonic, he provided the financing to get the orchestra under the umbrella of United Arts. He then lent his leadership and philanthropy to the Orlando Museum of Art, the Orlando Science Center, the Festival of Orchestras and as Trustee of United Arts of Central Florida.
Steve Goldman

The 2015 Composium of the National Young Composers Challenge (NYCC), founded by Steve Goldman, held at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, October 18, 2015.
Steve Goldman studied composition at Interlochen and received the 1997 Composer Guild’s 1st place award for orchestral composition. He started the NYCC in 2005 as a competition for young composers ages 13 to 18 and incorporated it in 2008 as a nonprofit, funded by his charitable trust. The annual NYCC attracts close to 100 entrants from all over the United States. Usually six winners are selected—three for full orchestra and three for ensemble pieces. The culminating event for finalists is the Composium-—part concert, part rehearsal, and part master class. The Composium includes a professional orchestra, most recently under the baton of Christopher Wilkins, former conductor of the Orlando Philharmonic.
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

A conference room at the Tupperware
Worldwide Conference Center was dedicated in Joe Hara’s honor for his being the “heart of Tupperware” at a special day to commemorate his years of leadership, Kissimmee, 1985.
Joe Hara grew up in Chicago and started working for Tupperware in 1953. He and his wife Anita moved to Orlando in 1966 when Joe became the president of Tupperware International. Joe stated: “Tupperware parties: A simple formula is big business… the Tupperware company has taken women…and astutely turned them into a highly, seemingly unstoppable sales force.” Joe retired from Tupperware 1985. Generous to his core, Hara’s community leadership includes Jewish Federation, Orlando Museum of Art, Jewish Family Services, Orlando Human Service Council and more.
Heritage Florida Jewish News

Sy Israel helped fund the transport and refitting of the Galina, a 40-year-old boat similar to those taking immigrants from all over Europe and Asia to Israel in the 1930s and 1940s. Here, he’s with Galina at the Living Boat Museum, Atlit Illegal Detention Camp Museum, Israel, 2006.
Israel started sailing at age 12 and settled in Orlando in 1971. In 1973, he went on a mission to Israel during the Yom Kippur War. Two years later, he took his children Richard, Adrienne and Mark on a family mission to Israel. His lifelong love for boating and his passion for Israel culminated with his support for the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the Living Boat Museum in Israel. “I feel very proud to be a part of this. It will be there for all to see how Israel became a state.” Sy was Federation president (1976–78) and the second president of the Jewish Community Center. From 2006–2009, he fulfilled a dream by sailing to all 250 islands in the Caribbean.
Sy and Debra Israel

Michael Jackowitz in front of two Daddy Long Legs posters in Chou-Ginza, Tokyo, advertising a show he produced, September 2010.
A Broadway and off-Broadway producer, Jackowitz has had two passions—theater, since childhood, when, at age 10, he recruited his Maitland friends for a production of Robin Hood—and medicine and healing, which led him to become a physician. The Best Is Yet To Come: The Music of Cy Coleman, which he produced, received the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Best Revue. Among his many other credits was the 50th Anniversary revival of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying starring Daniel Radcliffe. Daddy Long Legs toured Tokyo, London,Chicago, Los Angeles, and Manitoba and held over 300 performances off-Broadway, closing in 2016. Michael is the son of Enid and Sydney Jackowitz of Central Florida.
Michael Jackowitz

Shelley Lake choreographs a scene from Academy Award winning The Last Starfighter at Digital Productions, Hollywood, CA, 1983.
Lake’s undergraduate degrees are in arts from the Rhode Island School of Design and Computer Science from Brown University. She received an MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she was the first female graduate of the Architecture Machine Group, now known as the MIT Media Lab. She owns and operates Sky Lake Studio, successfully fusing science, art and technology. Lake has won a Clio award, Japan’s NICOGRAPH award and placed first in an AT&T image competition. Lake states, “The computer, the most radical invention of our generation, and the camera, the ultimate art form of our time, when combined, can yield images of extraordinary spirit.”
Shelley Lake Archives

Dave “Dov” Jeser, an American television writer and cocreator of Comedy Central’s Drawn Together, c. 2015.
Dave Jeser lived in Orlando in 1976–1984 when his father Paul Jeser was the executive director of the Jewish Federation. His family belonged to Congregation Ohev Shalom, and Dave graduated from the Hebrew Day School. One of his career highlights was creating Drawn Together, the first animated reality series, which followed the unscripted life of cartoon icons. Currently he is working on Life In Pieces for CBS. He has also written for other television shows including 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Cleveland Show, The Man Show and Axe Cop.
Dave Jeser

US Ambassador to Luxembourg Robert Mandell is presented the Order of the Oak Crown at the ambassador’s residence, Luxembourg, 2015.
Robert Mandell moved to Orlando when he was ten. A developer by profession and an attorney, President Barack Obamaappointed him ambassador in 2012. Mandell reports that his weekly visits with Wounded Warriors and founding the Luxembourg Forum, an exchange between the justices of the US Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union, for US and European judges were highlights of his post. He found success as a first-time diplomat with lessons learned from his parents Lester and Sonia Mandell and his business career. “The key to being a good diplomat is building solid relationships … (The) object is creating a community. Make friends with as many people as you can and then work on those relationships.”
Bob Mandell

Dr. Marshall Warren Nirenberg (right) receives the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine from King Gustav of Sweden, with Princess Christina (center), Sweden, 1968.
Dr. Nirenberg (1927–2010) developed rheumatic fever as a boy, so the family moved from New York City to Orlando for the climate. He began his scientific career by catching bugs here. Nirenberg graduated from Orlando High School (1944) and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in zoology from the University of Florida where he was also a member of Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity. He received his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Michigan in 1957. That year, he joined the staff of the National Institutes of Health as chief of biochemical genetics at the National Heart Institute and remained there for the rest of his career. Nirenberg received the Nobel for “breaking the genetic code” and describing how it operates in protein synthesis. Collections of the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU originated by
Marcia Jo Zerivitz, LHD, Founding Executive Director

L-R: Visions—Talia Osteen, Amy Turner and Andra London cut their third CD, Visions Light of Dawn, 1999.
These Orlando young women became an ensemble when their Orlando congregation’s Cantor Allan Robuck noticed that each of them displayed exceptional vocal talents during their bat mitzvah training. Visions, the female Jewish pop trio from Congregation Ohev Shalom, made a mark on contemporary Jewish music from 1998 to 2010. They performed in more than 150 concerts at synagogues, federations, Jewish summer camps, the Jewish Federation National General Assembly, national conferences for Lions of Judah and Hadassah, and the Maccabi Games in 100 cities in the US and abroad. Visions released four CDs and a documentary.
Heritage Florida Jewish News

Talia Osteen tours nationally with her band The Wellspring, 2011.
The Wellspring’s music has been featured on TV shows including Fox’s House, ABC’s Cougar Town, and Netflix’s Orange is the New Black. Osteen directed and produced Blindsided (bought and aired by HBO), about a Jewish boy in Orlando who has gone blind, and how his Muslim best friend teaches him to see a new way. She lives in Los Angeles and has written and produced four records.
Talia Osteen

Many places are named in honor of Dr. Philip Phillips (1874–1959), an early Central Florida Jewish notable whose legacy impacted local agriculture, health care, education and the cultural arts.
Engraved on the tombstone of the legendary Dr. Philip Phillips (center photo) are the words, “Under His Hand the Wilderness Bore Fruit.”And indeed citrus greatly improved the quality of life for Central Florida residents. Shown clockwise starting at top left: The Dr. Phillips House where the family lived on Lucerne Circle was converted to an historic bed-and-breakfast and is now an events space. Dr. Phillips is a suburb in unincorporated Orange County. Dr. Phillips Elementary School opened in 1979 in Bay Hill. Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts opened in 2015. The 80-acre Dr. P. Phillips Community Park opened in 2007. Dr. Phillips High School opened in 1987 for approximately 2,500 students. Dr. P. Phillips Hospital serves southwest Orange County. Not shown are the Dr. P. Phillips Baby Place at Winter Park Memorial Hospital and the Opera House he built downtown in 1916 (now Arts Factory and comedy club).
Clockwise starting at top left: Collections of the Historical Society of Central Florida, Inc., Sara Stern, Sara Stern, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Sara Stern, Sara Stern, Sara Stern; center: Collections of the Jewish Museum of Florida FIU, originated by Marcia Jo Zerivitz, LHD, Founding Executive Director

Howard Roland (center) as the Big Bad Wolf at a Disney employee training and orientation, Disneyland, CA, 1969.
Roland moved to Central Florida with his family in 1970. He was the vice president of Corporate Contracting and Purchasing and an officer of the Walt Disney Company overseeing Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Euro Disney. During the opening of the Magic Kingdom, Roland’s name was imprinted on a window on Main Street for his work on the Contemporary and Polynesian Hotels. He was a member of the Tourism Development Council and president of the Center for Drug Free Living. Upon retiring in 1995, Howard headed the Construction Oversight Committee for Orange County Public Schools.
Howard Roland

Artist Harold Rotenberg, known for landscapes, seascapes and abstract paintings, 1961.
An artist whose life was as vibrant as the palette he used, Harold Rotenberg painted and inspired others until his death at age 105. Harold and wife Charlotte lived in New York and Safed, Israel, where he had a studio for 25 years. In the mid-1980s, they moved to Orlando to be near relatives. Rotenberg was the first American in the Israeli Artists Association. One of his paintings hangs in the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament). Born in 1905, Rotenberg received membership in France’s Legion of Honor and traveled the world painting. Still vigorous at 100, he said “I am always looking for adventure.”
Judi Rotenberg Ross Zuker

Artist Steven Seinberg in his studio in Asheville, NC, 2011.
Seinberg grew up in Longwood and now lives in Indialantic, FL. His art has been exhibited across the United States and in Hong Kong. His canvasses and paper creations are owned by such corporations as the Toll Brothers (New York), Nordstrom (Seattle), Wells Fargo (Charlotte), North Hampton Country Club (Tokyo), and the Hyatt in Muscat (Oman). His style is described as “atmospheric abstraction . . . essentially monochromatic and references the natural universe.” “I have been very lucky,” he wrote, “to be able to make art as my life and have galleries around the country showing my work.” Steven Seinberg is the son of Joe and Myra Seinberg and the grandson of Lou and Sylvia Shuman, all of Longwood.
Steven Seinberg

Josh Shader (right) is a TV producer and writer, 2014. Shader, son of Lynn and Gary Shader and a fifth generation Shader, graduated from Trinity Prep. Moving to LA in 1999, he became part of the American Pie franchise. He says it was a hilarious and thrilling way to jump into the entertainment industry. “Learning that I could make a living coming up with scatological humor was interesting to say the least.” Shader is the most proud of his unscripted television Starz series The Chair. He won the Television Critics Association Award for Best Reality Series, got rated 100 percent by Rotten Tomatoes and won a Directors Guild Award.
Josh Shader

A 1958 graduate of Edgewater High School and head of several major American companies, Ervin Shames received the National Leadership Award from A Better Chance, the nation’s leading organization for identifying and placing talented minority youth in exceptional education environments, 2010.
Who could have predicted that Erv Shames, Orlando and Florida AZAs’ past president, would become CEO of Borden, General Foods, Kraft USA and Stride Rite and chairman of Select Comfort Corporation! At 12, he moved to Orlando from Madrid, IA, (pop. 1,874) in 1952. He celebrated his bar mitzvah at COS and his wedding at CLJ. Now living in Connecticut, Shames has fond memories of Orlando. His wife Louise (Ginson), sister of the late Lynn Ginson Steinmetz, grew up here. Shames graduated from UF and Harvard. He served as national chair of A Better Chance from 2000–2005. His older brother Jay, a noted physician (New Orleans), is past president of the Louisiana Medical Society and is married to Phyllis Glass of Orlando.
Ervin Shames

Steve Sinofsky, president of the Windows Division at Microsoft, speaking at company headquarters, c. 2009.
Sinofsky graduated from Lake Brantley High School in Longwood in 1983. He joined Microsoft as a software design engineer in 1989 and moved up the company ladder to become president of the Windows Division at Microsoft (2009–2012). Sinofsky was responsible for the development and marketing of Windows and Internet Explorer, as well as online services such as Outlook.com and SkyDrive. Sinofsky is currently a board partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he serves on the board of investments. Sinofsky also coauthored the book One Strategy: Organization, Planning, and Decision Making (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).
Steve Sinofsky

The Florida Counseling Association’s Golden Anniversary Convention in Tampa was dedicated to Dr. Jeff Siskind, 1999.
Dr. Siskind, son of Zelda and Melvin Siskind, grew up in Sanford. In 1987, he was selected as Florida Secondary Guidance Counselor of the Year by the Florida School Counselor Association. He was recognized for setting up peer programs to assist new students, training sessions and other educational programs. Besides his high school career, Siskind has taught several university courses in sociology, psychology and education at Seminole Community College (now Seminole State College), Rollins College and Florida State University. Siskind was also president of the 2,000-member Florida Association for Counseling and Development, a professional organization of counseling groups in the state.
Jeff Siskind

Phillip and Robert Soven are World Wakeboard Champions, 2010.
The Longwood-native brothers are wakeboarding superstars and TV stars of WakeBrothers, an MTV reality series that chronicles the relationship between their polaropposite personalities. Since turning professional at age eleven, Phil is widely regarded as one of the most successful wakeboarders of the past two decades, with his innovative moves and consistent performances. Phil Soven shattered therecord books when he became the first rider in the history of competitive wakeboarding to take home the Pro Tour title, the King of Wake title and the WWA World Series crown all in the same year.
Wayne Soven

Mark Stone (left) making a guest appearance as a mentalist on the Dick Cavett Show, 1972.
Stone has resided in Orlando and has been the face of Congregation Ohev Shalom’s blood drive for years. In other circles, Stone is also known for his gift as a mentalist. His interest in ESP developed at the University of Maryland. Before he graduated, Stone performed a short show for his college dormitory. Soon after, he was invited to perform at New York’s Upstairs at the Downstairs, Dangerfield’s, and on the Dick Cavett Show. Mark Stone has performed his show Mentalmania for numerous audiences and has appeared on the Johnny Carson Show, the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Good Morning Show with Regis Philbin and with Chevy Chase and Maury Povich.
Mark Stone

Tess Wise, founding director of Orlando’s Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center (HMREC), c. 2005.
Born in Poland, Tess Wise, a WWII Holocaust survivor, escaped an ammunition factory forced labor camp in Radom, Poland, where she and her parents were sent. After the war, she earned a medical degree in Germany before coming to the United States, settling in Orlando and marrying Abe Wise. Together they began founding HMREC in 1981. Among many accomplishments, Tess helped pass a bill in the Florida Legislature that requires teaching lessons from the Holocaust. She also started Project Poland in 2006 with a matching grant from the conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. This program educates teachers in Poland about the Holocaust and provides teaching strategies and materials. Tess Wise is a champion for teaching tolerance and the fight against inhumanity.
Heritage Florida Jewish News

Come on in! MarciaJo Zerivitz, founding executive director of the Jewish Museum of Florida- FIU, beckons you to visit the Museum she created, as she asks the City of Miami Beach for $500,000, which she received, 2006.
Arriving in Orlando as a military wife in 1966, Zerivitz embraced the Jewish community. She led numerous organizations, ultimately as president of the Jewish Federation (1978–1980), where she started many programs. Transitioning to a professional for Jewish Federation as assistant director and CAP fundraiser (1980–1984), she found her passion for preserving the Jewish history of Florida. She trekked around the state (1984 1992) to collect the hidden past that resulted in an archive and the MOSAIC: Jewish Life in Florida traveling exhibit and then organized the Jewish Museum of Florida (1995). She initiated Florida JewishHistory Month and Jewish American Heritage Month. Zerivitz was awarded (2016) a Doctor of Humane LettersHonoris Causa from Florida International University for her achievements toward Jewish continuity.
Sun Post