Johnny Carson, Chocolate Chip Ice Cream & I Kings? When I was in college, no matter what craziness was going on I would generally finish my night watching Johnny Carson and eating an entire pint of Howard Johnson's vanilla chocolate chip ice cream, every night – peace- ful fun-time nonpolitical and tranquil – that was my ritual. I was born and grew up on Miami Beach and played a lot of sports and got hurt my fair share; if it bounced, I played it. Basketball, baseball, foot- ball... and I had standing orders from my mom: "Don't come home and ex- pect me to bandage you up; stop at St. Francis Hospital" (where I was born) and have the nuns do it. I never thought about that until a few years ago. St. Francis was only a few blocks from our house across Indian Creek, which in Miami Beach is the Intercoastal, so the nuns were very familiar with me even though I was Jewish; that was another ritual. My backyard was actually my second playground because our house was on LaGorce Country Club, a very upscale ritzy private country club: No Jews Allowed. Until recently I never gave that much thought either. On one side of our house was LaGorce and the other side St. Francis and Miami Beach was predominantly Jewish! Miami Beach was perhaps one of the most racist cities in America? Little did I know until this year, Miami Beach (MB) was perhaps one of the most racist cities inAmer- ica. We were happy; everyone was happy. That was life in the 50's, 60's, 70's. Miami Beach is an island eight miles long, just under two miles wide, bordered on all sides by water with only three bridges connecting it to inland Miami. My Dad was a hotelier, so growing up in MB I was aware, "Negroes" had to register at the MB police station to get their “card” in case they were stopped. To be on the island, either working in one of the hotels or as a housekeeper in a home, they had to leave the island by 6 p.m. and be on one of the circling “jitneys” to take them back over the causeway and back to Miami. So here I am, a minority myself, disallowed membership or entrance in a bigoted Country Club in my backyard, attending a predominately Jewish MB High School, that was routinely bombarded by flying rocks and bottles and racial slurs when our school bus rolled into opposing schools’ parking lots to play our away games, needing uniformed police officers to ride and then escort us into the gym or field. It was life. Our life. Jews understand racism like few others; after all Jews are raised knowing most of the world want us dead; we are told, be very careful . My friend and mentor in my Christ Journey is Omar Aleman , a Cuban and the other half of our combined Jewban . Recently Omar has been tutoring me in 1 Kings, the relationship of David to Solomon, Israel- Samaria. Picture Omar's voice sounding like a Cuban Ricky Ricardo (I Love Lucy) talking about the prophets, Kings, Samaritans and how the Northern (Jerusalem) had no stinkin' good kings; 0-20 and I'm actually interpreting Omar's voice hearing the voice of Rabbi turned famous come- dian: Jackie Mason? So the world is currently sideways. I'm engaged non-stop, and the challenges seem monumental, but we've had challenges before. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV). Now, I go to sleep most nights again watching Johnny Carson on late nite COZY TV, the oldies station reruns because I need some tranquility and rest my mind because of the bombardment of the bad-news media. No ice cream now... and what ever happened to Howard Johnson's? “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt” (1 Kings 4:29-30 NIV). - Les PUBLISHER 4 JULY 2020 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition South Florida Edition • Good News • July 2020 • Volume 22, Issue 4 - Leslie J. Feldman - PERSPECTIVE . . . . . . . . . . 6 My Rabbi – by Stephan Tchividjian CHURCH UNITED . . . . . . . 8 Spiritual Epidemic and an Asymptomatic Christianity – by Edwin Copeland VILLAGE HYMNS . . . . . . 10 Revive Us: Peace Requires A New Heart for Our Nation– by Krislyn Placide INSIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Peacemakers – by Rob Hoskins PARENTING . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Refocus Your Family – by Dr. Bob Barnes & Torrey Roberts LIVE THE LIFE . . . . . . . . . 16 Life’s Ledgers: What’s your Balance? – by Lisa May YOU ASK WHY? . . . . . . . 18 A Lesson Learned Amid COVID – by Tommy Boland GOOD NEWS WANTS TO KNOW .20 - 22 What creative ways have you discovered to reshape your summer plans? COVER STORY . . . . . . . . 24 CBMC Fosters Authentic Relationships in the Marketplace – by Shelly Pond CALENDAR . . . . . . . 34 – 35 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . 36 – 39 (L toR). 1. JohnWeiss 2. IvanRosa 3. Guy Shashaty 4. Steve Solomon 5. Steve Estler 6 Bill Tolia 7. OmarAleman 8. Bill Davell 9. Newton Fairweather 10. Nick Betzold 11. MarkMeyer 12. Roemer “Rick” Ricardo 13. Harley Storrings 14 Bill Hood 15. Wes Scott 16. Chuck Tiedje 17. Greg Barthelette Christian Business Men's Connection (CBMC) board members and leaders meet on the steps of the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Promenade overlooking The New River and downtown Fort Lauderdale. Photo by Justus Martin www.justusmartinphoto.com On The Cover Publisher: Leslie J. Feldman
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