Official uVu Blog

Lawyers without Rights: The Fate of Jewish Lawyers in Germany after 1933

EWISH MUSEUM OF FLORIDA COLLABORATES WITH
GERMAN CONSULATE GENERAL IN MIAMI TO PRESENT
"LAWYERS WITHOUT RIGHTS:
The Fate of Jewish Lawyers in Germany after 1933"

The exhibit, "Lawyers without Rights: The Fate of Jewish Lawyers in Germany after 1933," opened to the public on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at the Jewish Museum of Florida located at 301 Washington Avenue, South Beach. This is a traveling exhibition of the German Federal Bar, with the support of the Jewish Museum of Florida and the German Consulate General in Miami. The local sponsor is Baur & Klein, P.A.

At the Members and Guests Opening on June 28 at 6:30 pm, speakers included JR Dr. Norbert Westenberger, Vice President German Federal Bar, who is coming directly from Germany for this event, and German Consul General in Miami Klaus Ranner.

At the start of 1933 over 3,000 of the practicing lawyers in Prussia, nearly 30%, were Jewish or of Jewish descent; in Berlin over 1,700, which is more than half. This exhibition charts the life of twenty German Jewish lawyers from 1933 through the years of Hitler's regime and - for those who survived - beyond. Of this small sample, one took his own life and three were murdered in concentration camps. The rest escaped to England, America or the then Palestine.

The exhibition will be on display at the Jewish Museum of Florida from June 29 to July 25, 2010, Tuesdays - Sundays, 10am - 5pm.

Miami Today Profile - Marilyn DeVoe

After 10 years away from South Florida, American Airlines’ Marilyn DeVoe has returned to run the airline’s operations at Miami International Airport, where a new terminal is underway and nearing completion.

Ms. DeVoe most recently served as vice president at American’s Dallas/Fort Worth headquarters. In her new role running airline operations in Miami, she plans to focus on improving the customer experience. 

In part, that means rolling out new technology like a handheld mobile device, now in the testing phase, that allows agents to issue tickets and bag tags to customers right on the spot.

Another aim: growing service. Today, American operates 289 flights daily and counting – up from the 19 daily flights Ms. DeVoe remembers from 20 years ago. Though most plans are still under wraps, Ms. DeVoe was able to reveal that the airline has applied for authority to run new service to Brasilia, Brazil.

Meanwhile, here in Miami, gates continue to open at the long-in-the-works new north terminal, expected to be complete in 2011.

“Every day we’re seeing improvements and continuing to grow,” Ms. DeVoe said. “If you walk through the concourse now, it is just a beautiful place to be, a great place to work.”

She talked airline growth and industry trends in an interview with Miami Today staff writer Risa Polansky.

Issues: Meek-Greene Debate

This past Tuesday, the Palm Beach Post partnered with WPBT2, to host a debate between Congressman Kendrick Meek and Businessman Jeff Greene, the Democratic candidates for U.S. Senator.  Here are some of the highlights.

 

You can watch the debate Sunday, June 27^th at 10 AM.  The debate can also be viewed by going to www.palmbeachpost.com.

Miami Today Profile - Steven Sonenreich

Mount Sinai Medical Center CEO Steven Sonenreich said he grew up in the center, where he started in the billing department straight out of college. But in 2001, when the center was in dire financial straits, its leaders turned back to Mr. Sonenreich, who had left five years earlier to take the reins of Cedars Medical Center, to help steer it back to success. Now, nine years later, he sits atop Miami Beach's only remaining hospital, where he's spent most of his 30-year career, and is preparing to drive it through the myriad changes that will be brought on by health care reform. "This is the latest change that those of us who have been veterans of changes in health care reimbursement over the last 30 years are about to experience," Mr. Sonenreich said. "Like any other challenge, it's a question of who can manage the best." And he's confident he's got the best hospital administrators in town who focus on keeping costs down by finding efficiencies in every aspect of health care delivery. Mr. Sonenreich was interviewed in Mount Sinai's Miami Beach offices by reporter Zachary S. Fagenson.

A chat with "True Blood" author Charlaine Harris

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/... Need to Know on PBS sits down with Charlaine Harris, the author behind the Sookie Stackhouse book series that inspired HBO's "True Blood." Harris talks about her choice of northern Louisiana as a setting for the story, vampires as a metaphor for gay rights, and her hometown's reaction to her novels. NEED TO KNOW is on Friday nights at 9pm on WPBT2

50 Years of Jewish Life in Cuba

Members and visitors of the Jewish Museum of Florida gathered on June 16^th to hear George Feldenkreis speak about “50 Years of Jewish Life in Cuba.” Born in Cuba in 1935, Feldenkreis was once deeply involved in organizations in Cuba such as the Zionist Youth Council. He, along with his wife and one-year-old son, arrived to Miami in 1959 with just $700 in his pocket. In 1967, he formed a partnership with his brother Isaac called Supreme International. After years of success it became a public company in 1993, and in 1999 acquired the renowned Perry Ellis name. Today Perry Ellis is a successful corporation employing almost 2,500 in the United States and overseas. All the while Feldenkreis has played an integral leadership role in the Greater Miami Jewish community, which was rather evident by the full audience he attracted Wednesday night. With a great knowledge of his Cuban heritage and love for his religion, it is no surprise he is a sponsor for the University of Miami Judaic Studies Program. About sixty people attended the event and Feldenkreis got the chance to mingle with guests over appetizers and wine.

By Julie Rosa

Guava Rugelach

Miami is the only place where one can find rugelach filled with guava, hence Guava Rugelach, a music festival uniquely specific to Miami's diverse Jewish community. In this seven-minute docu-short hosted by YoungArts' Sarah Arison, SocialMiami examines how musical traditions can help to galvanize a culture and the importance of having those traditions passed to younger generations through arts education. http://socialmiami.com/articles/Guava-Rugelach-music-festival-046.asp

Best of....

The New Times came out with their "Best Of..." issue and there are many familiar faces on the list.  In other words, we knew they were the best all along. 

In particular, we'd like to give a shout out to some of our great uVu partners like the Caldwell Theatre and in particular, the production of VICES.

Also noted is the Norton Museum and you can see some of our recent segments here.

Then of course, the Mai Kai, which was home to the The Hukilau this past weekend. And our resident host of "Check Please, South Florida," Michelle Bernstein was on the list.  Also on the list, Carlos Garcia, whose Sound Theory Live program on WDNA makes a semi regular appearance on N Life on WPBT2. Writer John Dufresne made the list too and here is an interview he did with uVu at the Lit Live Festival in 2009.  Lotus House and founder Constance Collins Marguiles have been frequently featured on uVu.

Congratulations to all the best of winners (and to any of our friends we may have left off this post).

Miami Today Profile - Stephanie Norman

While earning a degree in English and political science at Duke University, Stephanie Norman fell in love with theater and realized – that was her calling.
She got the opportunity to work for award-winning producers in New York, learning how to produce plays.
After moving back to South Florida, Ms. Norman joined forces with an actress/director and playwright to produce local theater.
“We were three women who really wanted to shake things up here in South Florida and we wanted to do something new and we wanted to do something that would be collaborative,” she said.
They created City Theatre, which found its first home at the University of Miami’s Ring Theatre and four years ago moved to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

The Hukilau 2010

uVu had a chance to spend some time this weekend soaking up Tiki culture under the tutelage of King Kukulele (kingkukulele@hotmail.com), ukulele player and MC for the evenings festivities.

In addition to vendor stalls offering everything from sarongs to hand carved tikis, the evening featured some great entertainment from bands like Walk The Plank (and their Guitar Slide player who was married on the beach just a few hours earlier).  Also on hand was Elena Brandhofer and her hula hoop, courtesy of Centrifugal Force Hoop Dancers (cenforce@gmail.com).

In this clip, King Kukulele laments the demise of great Tiki Palaces, like the Mai Kai, which remains one of the last great shrines to Tiki Culture.