Jewish history

As the weather cools down and the leaves turn brown, many cultures observe harvest in the fall. In the Jewish faith, Sukkot is a way to give thanks this time of year.

One Jewish community has faced serious challenges in the wake of Hurricane Milton—flooding, damaged homes, even a house fire. But as Yom Kippur approaches, Rabbi Simon Jacobson says the community is pressing forward.

Wednesday marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. We take a closer look at how the Jewish community in Southwest Florida is coming together to celebrate this impactful holiday.

Vietnam war veteran Harvey Charter didn’t have to be an expert in World War II relics to know that the old American flag hanging in the Fort Myers American Legion Post was special. As a Jewish-American, he recognized the symbolism the flag's creators intended in replacing the banner's traditional stars with a field full of the Star of David.Now known as the Nordhausen flag, it is on permanent loan at the Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center in Naples. It’s on display full time thru about January. It will then go on rotation with another treasure there, a quilt created by the survivors of Auschwitz who presented the gift to Soviet troops who liberated them.

With a mournful violin playing in the background, Holocaust survivors, their sons, daughters and grandchildren, took turns lighting candles, eight in all.The candle lighting highlighted Sunday afternoon’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day held by the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples.

We meet southwest Florida resident Marina Berkovich. She’s a native of Kiev, Ukraine, who fled the Soviet Union and Communism with her mother at the age of 18. Trained as a CPA, Ms. Berkovich was chief financial officer of a New York City-based hotel and property management company before she began teaming up with her husband Alex Goldstein, a renowned Russian-American cinematic composer, to make documentary films -- many of which help tell the story of Jewish people who made, and make, a positive impact on life in Southwest Florida. Ms. Berkovich is an oral visual history interviewer for the Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida. She and her husband moved here from New York in 2004, and in 2010 helped found the nonprofit Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida, where she remains president. We sit down with her to hear her thoughts on the world today — including Russia's war against Ukraine, and the Hamas attack on Israel and what has unfolded since — as well as the work they do at the Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida.

Antisemitism has been on the rise in the United States for about the past two decades – and 2021 was the highest year on record for documented reports of violence, harassment, and vandalism directed toward Jews. That’s according to data from the nonprofit Anti-Defamation League, which has been actively monitoring and documenting incidents of antisemitism and publishing this information since 1979. We go back into history to add some context to the world we find ourselves in, to an incident that unfolded in France in the late 1800s and early 1900s known as The Dreyfus Affair.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Naples community event features a memorial service and Gulfshore Playhouse performance.

The Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center opened January 15th in Naples.

Event commemorates sacrifice, tragedy and heroism in the face of the Nazi Holocaust as well as 9/11 victims and heroes.