Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) — When the world shut down last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Natan Sharansky figured his experience as a Soviet political prisoner meant he had a thing or two to teach the millions of people who were suddenly confined to their homes. So he recorded a video providing his advice that went viral among the many Jews around the world who have long seen him as a sage figure. Nearly a year and a half later, Sharansky, 73, announced on Facebook that he and his wife, Avital, had contracted the disease. The Israeli couple had both been v...
(JTA) — Dozens of progressive Jewish leaders have signed a letter condemning the Israel lobby AIPAC for social media ads targeting Reps. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the group of progressive Congress members known as “the Squad.” J Street, a liberal Israel lobby and rival of AIPAC, spearheaded the letter. In its ad about Omar, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee said the Minnesota Democrat sees “no difference between America and the Taliban, between Israel and Hamas, between democracies and terrori...
(JTA) — Over the last year, Jewish college students took it upon themselves to combat antisemitism at their schools. Now, two major Jewish organizations are working together to play a stronger role in fighting antisemitism on campus. Some of the student activists documented incidences of antisemitism at colleges nationwide, often submitted anonymously, while others have taken a confrontational tone on social media. With some portraying themselves as the ideological successors to early Zionist activists, the students often argue that a...
(JTA) — The suspect in the stabbing of a Boston Chabad rabbi has been charged with committing a hate crime and civil rights offense. Khaled Awad, 24, was arrested Thursday after allegedly stabbing Rabbi Shlomo Noginski outside of his school and synagogue in the Brighton neighborhood. Noginski survived the stabbing and has been released from the hospital, which he called a “miracle.” Awad was charged initially with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a police officer. Prosecutors now have added the h...
(JTA) — The suspect in the stabbing of a Boston Chabad rabbi has been charged with committing a hate crime and civil rights offense. Khaled Awad, 24, was arrested Thursday after allegedly stabbing Rabbi Shlomo Noginsky outside of his school and synagogue in the Brighton neighborhood. Noginsky survived the stabbing and has been released from the hospital, which he called a “miracle.” Awad was charged initially with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a police officer. Prosecutors now have added the h...
(JTA) - Rabbi Anna Levin Rosen has counseled Jewish students at the University of Chicago through crises before. But she says the last two weeks have been "devastating." First, Ilan Naibryf, 21, disappeared in last month's Surfside, Florida, building collapse. He had been visiting with his girlfriend, Deborah Berezdivin, whose family owned two units in the building; neither of them has been found yet. Then, last week, Max Lewis, 20, was struck by a stray bullet while riding the train back from...
(JTA) - As he ends his tenure as the director of the largest Hillel in the country after 20 years in the post, Andrew Getraer says Jews at Rutgers University face a reality out of Dickens: the best of times and the worst of times. Jewish life at the school, New Jersey's flagship university, is thriving. There are 6,000 Jews on campus, and it's known as a destination for students seeking a vibrant Jewish community with a range of services, religious communities and clubs. But it's also been a...
(JTA) - As the United States woke up to news of the building collapse in Surfside, Florida, it quickly became clear that the disaster is an American Jewish tragedy. The 12-story building in the heavily Orthodox enclave near Miami Beach collapsed just before 2 a.m. Thursday, as families slept in its 55 apartments just blocks from the beach. As of Thursday evening, almost 100 people are believed missing, and even as rescue efforts continue, officials fear that many of them are dead. At least one...
(JTA) — The Palestinian Authority canceled a deal that would have seen Israel give it 1 million COVID vaccine doses in exchange for a later shipment. The P.A. made the move because many of the doses were set to expire in the coming weeks, according to Haaretz. By time Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila announced the cancellation, 100,000 of the doses had already been delivered. The decision, made Thursday by Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and approved by Naftali Bennett, the prime minister, constituted a change of Israeli policy followin...
JTA - Israel's new prime minister is probably the first one who has stuck a wad of chewing gum to his head right before a public event. Naftali Bennett, who took office last week, is the first prime minister in the country's history to regularly wear a kippah, the Jewish ritual head covering (sometimes called a yarmulke or skullcap). Unlike his secular predecessors, he identifies as a religious Zionist and practices Modern Orthodox Judaism, which requires men to cover their heads. He's also...
(JTA) - "The Shrink Next Door," a 2019 reported podcast about a Jewish psychiatrist on the Upper West Side of Manhattan who takes control of the life of one of his Jewish patients, is being made into a limited TV series. And it's starring two comedy stars who last collaborated on "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues." The 8-episode adaptation will star Paul Rudd as Dr. Isaac "Ike" Herschkopf, the psychiatrist, and Will Ferrell as Marty Markowitz, the patient whose life he takes over. It will...
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned violent rhetoric on “every side” of the political spectrum Sunday but also claimed that Israel’s incoming government, which will replace him, is the result of “the greatest electoral fraud in the history of the country.” Netanyahu’s speech came as the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service warned of a rise in rhetoric that encourages violence. A pro-Netanyahu lawmaker compared two of his rivals to “terrorists” facing a “death sentence,” and members of the incoming coalition have...
(JTA) - Benjamin Netanyahu will no longer be Israel's prime minister, as his political opponents announced Wednesday night that they have formed a coalition that will replace him, pending a vote in Israel's parliament. The new coalition, dubbed the "change bloc," is an ideologically broad alliance that spans the Israeli political right, center and left. For the first time in Israeli history, it will include an Arab-Israeli party, not as an external supporter of the government, but as a full memb...
(JTA) - In the days before Benjamin Netanyahu's rival lawmakers announced that they had formed a government to replace the longtime prime minister, one fled her home with her partner and baby after receiving what she called "severe threats" against their safety. The threats to Tamar Zandberg of the left-wing Meretz party included a fake notice of her death that circulated on social media. Zandberg wasn't the only Netanyahu opponent to receive death threats. So did Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali...
(JTA) — The chancellor of New Jersey’s flagship public university condemned antisemitism and then, following protest from a pro-Palestinian student group, apologized for the condemnation. On Wednesday, the chancellor of Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Christopher J. Molloy, released a statement condemning antisemitism, which spiked across the country during and after the recent fighting in Israel and Gaza. The statement also condemned “all forms of bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, xenophobia, and oppression, in whatever ways they may be ex...
(JTA) — When actor Mark Ruffalo apologized on Monday for posts that “suggested Israel is committing ‘genocide,’” it wasn’t clear what comments of his own he was speaking about. But he drew attention to a loaded word that has leapt into public discourse in the past two weeks, during and after the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Accusations that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza have flown freely, from seasoned activists to the Palestinian foreign minister to people wading into the Israeli-Palestinian issue for t...
(JTA) — When Ricki moved into her new ground floor apartment in New York City less than a year ago, she felt perfectly comfortable placing a mezuzah on the front door for all who passed through the lobby to see. Today she feels less sanguine about that choice. Ricki hasn’t removed the mezuzah, but she has asked the building’s management to put bars on her windows. And she’s still considering taking down the Jewish symbol. “When I put it up I was really proud of it,” Ricki said, declining to use her last name due to privacy concerns. ...
NEW YORK (JTA) — One person was burned when two fireworks were thrown from a car amid an altercation with anti-Zionist protesters in a heavily Jewish New York City business district, according to police. The fight on Thursday evening came on what appeared to be the final day of the conflict between Hamas and Israel prior to a ceasefire that took effect overnight. Additional videos circulating on social media appeared to show other physical altercations between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators in New York City earlier in the day. A...
(JTA) — On Tuesday, Israel found itself fighting what may be another war in Gaza. And American Jews are watching. Israel and Hamas, the militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, have already traded hundreds of airstrikes and missiles since Monday. Dozens of Palestinians and two Israelis have lost their lives — a number that is likely to rise. As the eyes of the world turn again to violence in Israel, Jews in the United States will be paying attention and speaking out. During past conflicts, American Jewish groups from across the pol...
(JTA) — After 11 days of fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed to a “mutual and simultaneous” ceasefire on Thursday that began at 2 a.m. Friday Israel time. Israel’s security cabinet unanimously approved the truce, according to reports, after military officials presented what they deemed the successful outcomes of their campaign. A Hamas official confirmed the news to Reuters on Thursday. Israeli forces “achieved military goals unprecedented in their strength, accuracy and strategic significance in their fight against terror organizations in the Ga...
(JTA) — Despite COVID-related restrictions that kept Americans inside for significant portions of last year, the number of reported antisemitic incidents barely decreased in the United States in 2020, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The number of antisemitic assaults fell sharply, however, and for the first time in three years, no one was killed in an antisemitic attack. The ADL’s annual audit, published Tuesday, tallied 2,024 incidents of antisemitism in the U.S. in 2020, a decline of only 4 Percent from the 2,107 recorded in 2019. Th...
(JTA) - At least 45 people were crushed to death and at least 150 wounded Thursday night in a stampede during a celebration that drew tens of thousands of haredi Orthodox Jews to the northern Israeli mountain village of Meron. Meron is home to the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, an ancient sage associated with the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer, which began Thursday night. More than 100,000 people had reportedly traveled to the town, in the largest gathering in Israel since the onset of the...
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to form a government by the deadline imposed by Israeli law, thrusting the country into uncertain political territory yet again. This could mean that after more than 12 years as Israel’s prime minister, Netanyahu will have to leave office. But he’s been in this situation before and managed to survive. It all depends on what happens next: Another politician could replace him, or Israel could head to its fifth round of elections since 2019. Netanyahu has been trying desperately to av...
(JTA) — The videos circulating out of Jerusalem — of beatings, stone throwing and racist chants — are shocking. Reporters say it’s some of the worst fighting the contested city has seen in years. But the tensions that fueled the violence in the Old City on Thursday night are anything but new. Hundreds of Jewish extremists marched down Jerusalem streets chanting “Death to Arabs” and singing “Burn their village.” The demonstration followed days of unrest in eastern Jerusalem in which Palestinian residents clashed with police over restrictions im...
(JTA) — A woman will be the spiritual leader of an Israeli Orthodox synagogue for the first time. Shirat Hatamar, a congregation in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, elected Rabbanit Shira Marili Mirvis, 40, as spiritual leader on Monday with the support of 83 percent of its membership. “I truly hold in my heart all of the women, across all of the generations, who are greater than me, and smarter than me, and fear heaven and are students of Torah that didn’t receive the recognition and love that I have received,” she said in a speech this week...
