-- Amy Argetsinger
Phony Rabbi Fails to Seal Wedding Vows for Dozens
Rabbi, cantor -- isn't a marriage a marriage?
Apparently the answer is no. A judge in a suburban county north of New York City found that Jerry Heller, a religious singer, had billed himself, falsely, as a rabbi. As a result the state legislatures in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut passed special legislation acknowledging more than 35 marriages as legally valid.
A Rockland County judge sentenced Heller, 72, to five years' probation and ordered him to repay $29,750 plus interest to his duped clients. Heller pleaded guilty to a felony fraud charge. "My initial reaction was a little bit of humor, because I never felt that I wasn't married anyway," Steven Lazan, 46, who found a new rabbi and got remarried, told the Daily News. "But my wife is more religious, and she felt terribly defrauded."
But for Heller, the problems has gotten worse. Investigators say he left his post as cantor for a synagogue: turns out he had faked his cantor credentials, as well.
-- Michelle Garcia
Golden Oldie Dancers Get Blood Pumping at Heat Games
Few places on Earth do "golden years" with anything close to the age-defying energy of Florida.
Proof was right out there at center court last month amid the hip hop-blaring, dance club-cacophony of a Miami Heat basketball game. Instead of the Miami Heat Dancers, a group known for its super-saucy style, the crowd was treated to the hip-shaking moves of 11 women, and one guy, who call themselves the Heat Golden Oldie Dancers. This graying troupe, ranging in age from 63 to 79, practiced its steps at a senior citizens center.
They wowed the crowd, but it wasn't easy to get to that point. Gearing up for the big performance required some updating in pop culture for group members more accustomed to Frank Sinatra and Cole Porter than Nelly and Fat Joe.
Ermalene Cunningham, 69, a retired schoolteacher from the suburban Miami town of Pembroke Pines, was puzzled at one practice when her instructor cranked up the Buckwheat Boyz pounding out "Peanut Butter Jelly Time."
"I couldn't figure out a song about peanut butter, and I still haven't figured it out," she said. "I guess they don't need a reason."
When another artist went on and on about "booty," she thought he was talking about a treasure hunt. She said, "I've heard a lot of words I didn't know."
-- Manuel Roig-Franzia
