- April 19, 2024
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Ormond Beach residents Pam Ortiz and her son Jude Miller ride a camel. Photo by Paige Wilson
Ormond Beach residents Melissa and Marlowe Frankel play at the petting zoo with Jeri and Alexander Delgado. Photo by Paige Wilson
Cantor Nina Fine sings at the festival. Photo by Paige Wilson
Daytona Beach residents Alondra and Jessye Sosa pose by the Jewish flag at the festival. Photo by Paige Wilson
Ormond Beach residents Maddie, Olivia and Lennon Dimayuga ride a camel. Photo by Paige Wilson
Temple Beth-El of Ormond Beach President Lynne Ritter and Religious School Director Trienah Meyers at the festival. Photo by Paige Wilson
Ormond Beach resident Xiaohong Wang rides a camel. Photo by Paige Wilson
Ximena and Daniela Morales serve up Mediterranean cuisine from Oliv, a restaurant located in Daytona Beach, at the festival. Photo by Paige Wilson
Camel rides were available for $5. Photo by Paige Wilson
With camel rides, a Jewish Hall of Fame exhibit, food vendors, live music performances and Holocaust history presentations, the Jewish Heritage Festival showcased Jewish culture and history at The Casements and Rockefeller Gardens on April 15.
Jewish Heritage Festival President Jeff Bigman established the festival in 2007 to celebrate the Jewish culture in Volusia and Flagler Counties, with the first festival being held in 2008. Every other year since, the nonprofit has put on the festival for locals to learn and appreciate Jewish heritage. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary at the event Sunday.
"We feel we want to share our culture with everybody," Bigman said. "Three sects of Judaism— Reform, Conservative and Orthodox — came together for this."
About 150 volunteers, including students from local high schools, gathered to support the nonprofit's efforts to hold an event free of admission for locals, said Bigman.
Sponsoring organizations included Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Daytona, Chabad Lubavitch of Palm Coast, The Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties, The Endowment Fund of the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties, Temple Beth Shalom at Palm Coast, Congregation B'Nai Torah, Temple Israel of DeLand, Temple Beth-El of Ormond Beach and Temple Israel of Ormond Beach.
"The festival will express the heart and soul of Jewish Florida," Bigman wrote in a foreword in the festival program. "For a single day, it will intertwine the sounds, sights and spirit of Jewish culture and bring together every facet of the Jewish community — young and old, singles and families — regardless of their religious and cultural backgrounds."
