Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS.org)-In the 1930s, Rabbi Tobias Geffen of Atlanta began to investigate the hidden ingredients inside mass-produced foods and to evaluate whether those ingredients conflict with kosher laws. He then set a precedent by getting The Coca-Cola Company to make a kosher-for-Passover version of its soft drink, convincing the company to substitute the grain alcohol used in the processing of its drink to alcohol derived from molasses. Geffen's achievement was a response to the fact that in the... Full story
Chanukah is known as the Festival of Lights. On each night we light one more candle to remember the victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks and the rededication of the Second Temple. But there are more ways to create light than using Chanukah menorah candles. JNS.org offers a list of eight gifts, one for each night of the holiday, that are guaranteed to light up your friend or loved-one's Chanukah. Night 1: Lantern Lanterns can make wonderful gifts. Consider buying a unique, decorative lantern... Full story
The rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the country's recent election has been described as a "political earthquake," while Jewish leaders' immediate reaction was toexpress concern about AfD's views. But what are the broader implications of the party's electoral showing for German Jews and for Israel? In late September, AfD won 12.6 percent of the public vote, in the first time a German far-right party won seats in the country's Bundestag legislature in decades. Chancel... Full story
An Israeli legal rights NGO and an attorney, who together won the largest judgment ever against the Palestinian Authority (PA) in America, say a U.S. Appeals Court decision to dismiss the judgment sets a bad precedent for future legal attempts to hold the PA responsible for terrorism against Americans in U.S. courts. The Shurat HaDin—Israel Law Center had joined forces with attorney Kent Yalowitz, of the law firm Arnold & Porter LLP, to sue the PA on behalf of 10 American families of victims of the Second Intifada. They won a $655.5 million com... Full story
Russia's unprecedented move last week of dispatching warplanes to bomb targets in Syria through an Iranian airbase may have Israeli officials worried. The move shows growing cooperation between Russia and Iran, Israel's biggest foe in the Middle East in recent years, and a regime that, like Russia, has been working to maintain the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. On Aug. 22, Russian and Iranian officials announced that Russia's use of the Iranian base has ended. Iran's Foreign Ministry... Full story
Beginning with the bloody July 14 Bastille Day terror attack in Nice, France that left 84 people dead, Western Europe has seen an unrelenting wave of violence mainly perpetrated by individuals with connections to or sympathies with the Islamic State terror group. These attacks on European soil are now occurring with a near daily frequency, with five different lone-wolf shooting and stabbing terror attacks in Germany in late July, at least three of which were claimed by the Islamic State, as well as the slaying of a Catholic priest in northern... Full story
In the aftermath of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's selection of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate, Democratic contender Hillary Clinton tapped U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as her vice presidential candidate. Kaine, Virginia's former governor, is being touted by his supporters as a moderate Democrat with considerable domestic and foreign policy credentials from his experience serving on the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees as well as formerly... Full story
The names of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher are familiar as prominent symbols of strong female leadership in times when women heads of state were rare. By 2015, however, the number of female leaders of nations reached 19, according to the United Nations. On July 13, British Home Secretary Theresa May joined the club by replacing outgoing U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, becoming the U.K.'s second female prime minister after Thatcher. As... Full story
British-Jewish and pro-Israel groups are congratulating Home Secretary Theresa May for winning the leadership of the Conservative Party and replacing outgoing United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron, who resigned following the U.K.'s decision to leave the European Union (EU) in the Brexit referendum last month. May takes over the role after all other candidates for the Conservative leadership exited the race earlier in the week, and after Cameron expedited his resignation to Wednesday, July... Full story
Jewish leaders in the United Kingdom have voiced their displeasure with the Labour Party amid an anti-Semitism scandal within its ranks that continues to engulf the country's second-largest party. With the reported suspension of at least 50 Labour members for anti-Semitic comments over the past two months, British-Jewish voters are also indicating that the scandal may have damaged their perception of the liberal party. Although the Labour Party's candidate for London mayor, Sadiq Khan, defeated... Full story
In January 2016, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Manpower Directorate report revealed that 36 Israeli soldiers died in 2015, marking the lowest single-year death toll the Israeli military has experienced in a decade. But although no major military operations took place in Israel last year, the fall season saw the start of a months-long (and ongoing) wave of Palestinian terror attacks that has so far claimed the lives of 34 people and injured 411 others since Sept. 13, 2015. The attacks began in... Full story
As untouched mounds of trash piled up on the streets of Beirut, Lebanon, in recent months, with no one coming to clean it up, a social movement began protesting under the motto “You Stink.” This “garbage crisis”—as it’s become known—has led to violent clashes between protesters and police and has showcased the broader inability of the Lebanese government to ward off its systemic dysfunction. Operating on a parallel track with Lebanon’s domestic unrest, the latest reports suggest that fighters from the Lebanese Shi’a Muslim terror group Hezb... Full story
Leading up to the 67th birthday of the State of Israel, more commonly referred as Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day), it may be difficult to stay upbeat given the rising anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism around the world. On American college campuses, the situation has been especially grave-but the picture may not be as gloomy as it seems. A report released in February by the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) revealed that pro-Israel activity on U.S. campuses has actually increased in the... Full story
The leaders of the eight political parties running in the March 17 Israeli Knesset election participated in their first televised debate on Feb. 26, moderated by anchor Yonit Levi of Israel’s Channel 2 network. Absent from the discussion, however, were current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his most formidable challenger, Zionist Union alliance chairman Isaac Herzog. If Zionist Union wins the most seats in the Knesset (Israel’s legislature) and is able to form a governing coalition, Herzog—whose Labor party merged with Tzipi Livni... Full story
As the debate on vaccination heats up again in the U.S., some “anti-vaxxers” are requesting exemptions from vaccinating their children on religious grounds. But what do their faiths, including Judaism, actually say about the issue? The recent outbreak of measles that began in the Disneyland theme park in southern California has led to the infection of more than 100 people who then possibly exposed countless others to the disease around the country. This is not the first such outbreak of a disease thought to have been nearly eradicated in 200... Full story
The death of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah last Thursday shouldn't change how the Gulf nation treats its relations with Iran and Israel, experts say. Saudi Arabia remains determined in its opposition to the Iranian nuclear program, and while that gives them at least one shared interest with Israel, a Saudi ambassador's anti-Israel remarks at the United Nations on the same day as Abdullah's death served as a reminder that the Saudi-Israeli relationship isn't exactly friendly. Abdullah, who died... Full story
Since its founding in 1948, Muslim-majority allies have been hard to come by for the Jewish state. Yet an improbable romance continues to develop between Israel and Azerbaijan. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon took a surprise trip to Azerbaijan in September, marking the first-ever visit by the holder of his position to a Muslim-majority nation in the Southern Caucasus region. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and former president Shimon Peres have also visited Azerbaijan, and Azer... Full story
The Nov. 24 deadline for negotiating a deal on Iran’s nuclear program expired, as the P5+1 powers (U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China, and Germany) were unable to reach an agreement with the Islamic Republic. But the talks were extended to June 30, 2015. At the same time, an Iranian official said over the weekend that his country gave the Hezbollah terror group—which is based in Lebanon, Israel’s northern neighbor—hundreds of missiles with 160-220 mile ranges. “Our strategic guiding principle is the appropriate arming of Hezbollah and Hamas wit... Full story
About a year after the American Studies Association’s (ASA) widely condemned vote to endorse a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, the organization’s policy on Israel is receiving renewed scrutiny over a practical application of that vote. The ASA’s 2014 annual meeting, to be held Nov. 6-9 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, has garnered criticism for a stated policy of excluding Israeli academics. In December 2013, a resolution passed in a vote among the 5,000-member ASA, the oldest and largest association devoted to the i... Full story
Following Israel's Operation Protective Edge this summer, Hamas continues to control the Gaza Strip and openly considers any truce with Israel as a time to re-arm for the next conflict. Across Israel's northern border, Hezbollah has been fighting to preserve the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but still poses a danger to the Jewish state. Meanwhile, the Islamic State has exploded across Iraq and Syria in a spectacle of unprecedented brutality that could one day also knock on... Full story
It has been six years since the economy crashed in 2008, and while finding employment has been a challenge, the tide may be taking a turn for the better-particularly in the non-profit sector. But where do Jewish non-profits fall within the current landscape, from the perspective of both job-seekers and employers? Broadly speaking, employment continues to be "a buyer's market," says Linda Wolfe, director of career development and placement at JVS Chicago, an affiliate agency of the International... Full story
Australia's Sydney Harbor is up in flames. Large letters superimposed on the scene ask, "How would they react?" That image and many others like it have been distributed by an Israeli student initiative called "Israel Under Fire," which now boasts more than 57,000 followers on its Facebook page. While rocket attacks continue from Gaza after Palestinian terrorists' rejection of a cease-fire brokered by Egypt and accepted by Israel, more than 400 student volunteers are working together from a compu... Full story
The latest anti-Israel trend to gain momentum on college campuses has been the distribution of mock eviction notices in dormitories by members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Whether or not the notices have specifically targeted Jewish students, experts say the tactic highlights the convergence of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism on campus, creating a hostile environment for Jewish students. Over the last two years, the mock eviction notices have appeared on at least a dozen campuses... Full story
In what many observers will see as the de facto expression of mainstream U.S. Jewry's outlook on J Street, members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations voted 22-17 (with three abstentions) to reject the membership application of the self-labeled "pro-Israel, pro-peace" lobby. J Street secured the votes of only about a third of the Conference's 50 members. The 42 Conference members in attendance in New York exceeded the 75-percent quorum needed to hold the vote,... Full story
In the Exodus story, Moses decides to rescue his people after he hears God speak to him through the burning bush. But when New York City-based artist Jan Aronson imagined the famous episode in which Moses must decide which path to take in life, she didn't see a magic fire, but rather the broiling sun rising and shining on the desert brush. In that moment of meditation, Moses heard the voice within himself that told him to go confront Pharaoh. That is just one of the inspirations behind the... Full story
