Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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It’s an irony that as Russia celebrated Victory Day, 73 years since the Allied victory of the tyranny of the Nazis, President Putin hosted Prime Minister Netanyahu as an honored guest. The timing and symbolism were meaningful. At the same time, Israel was preparing to launch a bold military strike against the modern regime that’s the Nazi’s successor: Iran. According to reports, Netanyahu informed Putin of impending strikes on Iranian military targets in Syria, and at least passively received Putin’s blessing. Numerous reports have been pu...
Seeing trees blossom and grow fruit in the Land of Israel as I leave my house every late winter and early spring morning makes me realize another way in which I am grateful to be able to live and raise my family here. When we built our house, it was important not only to plant trees, which Jews have done for more than 100 years, and where Israel has become the only country in the world to enter the 21st century with more trees than it had at the beginning of the 20th century, but also to realize...
Seventh-three years ago this week, three young men who were neighbors of my family, borrowed weapons from Soviet troops occupying post-war Poland, and returned to their hometown to escort the remaining Jews out of Kanczuga for the last time. The three young men had survived the war that ended three months earlier, but the anti-Semitism that fueled the Holocaust was alive and well. They had returned to Kanczuga because of threats of a pogrom, to murder the remaining surviving Jews who had returned to Kanczuga. The pogrom started a day before....
It’s like the beginning of a bad Polish joke: A group of Polish politicians go into a room to debate their role in the Holocaust... The problem is there’s no funny punch line, except to underscore all the other funny punch lines of many more Polish jokes before. The bill that was approved by the Polish lower house of parliament this past week (giving new meaning to the term “lower house”), and now this week by the Polish Senate, makes it a criminal offense to mention Polish complicity in crimes committed during the Holocaust. If enacted...
This past week Israel commemorated the 70th anniversary of one of its most heroic, sad, and yet pivotal battles in its early struggle for independence, among ongoing battles to defend itself until today. I was reminded of the anniversary when I drove by a pristine Judean mountain location known as “Battle Hill.” But had I forgotten that it was the anniversary, I’d have been reminded with the weekend newspapers recounting the story of heroism then, and reminding us today how pivotal the battle was 70 years earlier. In reading the newsp...
Perhaps you didn’t hear about Israel’s alleged air strike on a Syrian military installation last week, but the incident has significant global ramifications about which you should be aware. In Israel, it’s always reported that incidents like these are “alleged” to be carried out by Israel because in most cases, Israel neither officially confirms nor denies any responsibility. This is part of a culture where all military items go through a censor, so making statements affirming that Israel did something like this is typically not allowed....
The story I am about to tell is real, happened to me, and I am glad to share both as a way to praise God for His mercy and grace, and to share a uniquely Israeli and Jewish perspective on a story that may not be so unique in general. It is in every way a Shabbat miracle for which I will forever be profoundly grateful. Shabbat, complete day of rest. The Torah lists 39 forms of work that were used to build the Tabernacle. Observance of Shabbat means a full avoidance of all these, and the modern...
Until I moved to Israel, the closest I got to farming was knowing were to get good produce at a farmers market. Since living in Israel, I see how the simple act of eating and growing produce is a fulfillment of God's promise, and Ezekiel's prophesy which impacts and moves me personally. "I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and...
Every time I see the movie “Titanic” I hope that there will be a different outcome. I hope that the captain will successfully avert the massive iceberg. I hope that the ship won’t sink, that so many of its passengers won’t perish. I hope that “Jack” will live to write his strongly worded letter to the shipping line. Despite knowing the outcome, that’s the same feeling I got when reading “Six Days of War” by noted historian and former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., now Knesset member Michael Oren. Leading up to the 50th anniversary of th...
On March 8, 2016, American Taylor Force was murdered along the Tel Aviv beach. Bashar Masalha stabbed Force and wounded 12 others, including a pregnant woman. Sadly, Force was not the first, and will likely not be the last, American victim of Palestinian Arab terror. More sadly, and shocking, your U.S. tax dollars indirectly motivate, and fund, such acts of terror against Americans, Israelis and others. In light of Palestinian Authority President Abbas meeting with President Trump recently, and...
Israel observed Yom Hashoah—Holocaust Memorial Day—last week, pausing to remember the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. As Holocaust survivors age and die, it’s not long before our memory will be without the benefit of people who actually suffered and still bear witness to these unspeakable and unparalleled horrors. It’s all the more important to remember in light of Holocaust denial; claims that the Holocaust simply didn’t happen, that there was no systematic murder of European Jews, or that we are exagg...
Following my articles taking to task President Obama and John Kerry and their stabbing Israel in the back I received many replies. The vast majority were supportive and expressed embarrassment by the Obama-Kerry tag teaming. Some apologized and made sure I knew their vindictive behavior did not reflect that of the American people. One email led to a thoughtful discussion I would like to excerpt here. A friend wrote: “I read your article with much interest. However, (I’m) a bit puzzled. While I believe (in) and support the Zionist dream..., I a...
As the sanctity of the Sabbath, the day of rest, set over Israel, two stabbings hit close to home and were jarring personally and nationally. The first took place in our neighborhood Friday evening. Despite the lack of use of electronics as is customary on Shabbat in traditional Judaism, word spread throughout town like a game of “telephone.” No one person got all the details correct, but the gist was clear: early Friday evening, a couple was out for a walk on the brisk clear night. Our 11-year-old sons are close friends. Out of the sha...
I never knew Kristine Luken but I feel like I did. I feel that we were old friends, that I knew her well. It's strange because on one hand I know very little about her, but on the other hand I feel like I know most everything that was important. I feel like I know this because everything about her last day on this earth in so many ways personified her life. At the same time that I feel like I knew her well, I am sad and I feel a deep sense of loss at not actually having known her, and more so...
It’s always interesting when Jimmy Carter raises his head from the depths of his presidency in exile, like a perennial groundhog. The main difference is that when groundhogs raise their head, it forecasts either more winter or an early spring. In Carter’s case, it’s always gloom and blame of Israel. As President Reagan famously and appropriately quipped, “There you go again.” It’s novel for Carter to use the anniversary of the UN Partition vote to be heard from most recently. He’s too smart to make errors of the magnitude that he has in his NY...
Initially, this was going to be written in the future tense, not the past tense. As much as Americans may be equally tired of, and curious about, the outcome of the upcoming presidential election, I wanted highlight on another election scheduled for this week, one with many implications for the US, and the world. Yet keeping on top of the scheduled Palestinian Authority municipal elections, called for October 8, has been a bit like sitting at center court at a tennis match. As soon as the ball lands on one side and seems like it’ll never be r...
I hosted a Christian journalist recently. She wanted to visit a “settlement” to see for herself what life is like, to understand better the Jewish connection to biblical Judea and Samaria, and actual life on the ground. What she learned, witnessed, and took away is very different from that which is portrayed in the world media, and among those with anti-Israel agendas that delegitimize Israel’s very existence. At the top of a hill overlooking the adjacent Arab village next to my neighborhood, so close that someone with a good arm could throw...
According to U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), I am a termite. Speaking to an anti-Israel group on the sidelines of the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, the congressman said, “There has been a steady [stream], almost like termites can get into a residence and eat before you know that you’ve been eaten up and you fall in on yourself, there has been settlement activity that has marched forward with impunity and at an ever increasing rate to the point where it has become alarming.” So much for brotherly love. Why should I care? What diffe...
Recently I visited with Christian friends from Orlando in Jerusalem. We connected some time ago and became immediate friends, sharing our respective faiths, reverence for God, and love for Israel. They are frequent visitors, know Israel well, and we are in touch often. We’ve been planning an Israel solidarity event together and spent some time discussing details of date, timing, format, and how to involve both Jews and Christians. We also spoke about our respective families, ministries, and current events in Israel and the U.S. The week they l...
Sometimes we sow seeds in life and don't get to appreciate the harvest. Recently I had the privilege to experience the result of my sowing seeds close to a decade ago, and seeing the full impact of the harvest today. In what seems like a lifetime ago, I had connected with Avi Liberman, a well-known comedian whose career was (and is still) taking off. During the beginning of what's known as Israel's "second intifada," Liberman resolved that his response was to fight terror with laughter. He...
Speaking through her tears it was not clear whether Eliana, 15, was crying tears of sadness because of her loss, or tears of joy because she was in a place where she could express herself, and cry openly. "Before coming to Camp Koby I was so broken. This was my first sleep away camp and on the first day I couldn't eat. But I felt an immediate connection. I have met so many amazing people. There's so much effort put in to help us. It gives energy and strength to continue with everyday life." She...
I’ve hesitated to write this for some time because every time I think there might be a lull in the plague of terror attacks to which Israel has been subjected these past several months, there’s another attack. This past week alone there was a stabbing, an attempted stabbing, a “successful” car ramming, car stoned with a mother and three kids, a shooting at Israelis from across the border with Gaza, and something else. I forget. Israel has been suffering an ongoing plague of terrorist attacks - shootings, stabbings, stoning and car ramming...
Silly me. When I heard reports throughout Israeli national media about three Palestinian Arab youth missing for nearly two weeks, I was concerned on two parallel levels. First I was concerned that because if Israeli media was reporting the missing youth, there must have been serious concern that something bad had happened to them: Something so bad that it was even relevant to Israelis and noteworthy in our media. It’s rare that Israeli kids go missing as in other western countries making the notion of Amber Alerts quite foreign. We have other c...
There are a few paradoxes as the World Happiness Report was published this month by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), ranking Israel as the 11th happiest country in the world. As summarized in the daily Yisrael Hayom, “Israel is caught in an intractable conflict and situated in a region that is crumbling amidst religious extremist violence. And yet, Israelis are amongst the happiest people on earth.” It’s noteworthy that the top 10 happiest countries this year were Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Neth...
Last week Jews worldwide were treated to two stabbings, one murdering a Jewish mother of six bereaved children. The consequence of the second is the imminence of more to come. The immediate threat is to Jews, but there are many reasons why everyone should care. In Israel, Dafna Meir, a Jewish mother of six, was stabbed to death fighting off an Arab terrorist who broke into her home. Her children were home as she struggled with the terrorist to protect them. Her actions were selfless and heroic, and her death equally sad and grotesque. Israelis...
