Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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My wife and I, and five of our children, had a discussion over Shabbat dinner recently about giving up our U.S. citizenship. Five of my six children were born in the U.S. On my father’s side, I’m a second generation American. On my mother’s side, fourth or fifth. When we moved to Israel, our children’s ages ranged from 11 to 3. A year later our youngest son was born in Jerusalem. He’s an American because we are. Some are surprised to know that we choose to keep our U.S. citizenship or that we’re even allowed to. Others ask why we’d want t...
Earlier this month I was watching a U.S. report about the war in Ukraine, which I have been following with a degree of obsessiveness. It’s hard to imagine that an unprovoked war is happening at all, much less destroying entire communities. The human tragedy is underscored with more than five million, over 10 percent of Ukrainians, having fled their country. Because I am Jewish and Israeli, I tend to look at this through a Jewish/Israeli prism. This relates to common experiences of war, which Ukrainians are suffering and which Israel has s...
If there was ever proof that Israel is not an apartheid state actively discriminating against its Arab minority, all one needs to do is look at the recent statement of Israeli Arab Knesset member Ayman Odeh. Not only does this reflect the reality that Israeli Arabs are equal parts of Israel’s democracy, that he can make statements that go against the interest and security of the state shows what a hyper-democracy Israel in fact is. As all this has unfolded, the thought I cannot shake is how much Israel’s Arabs deserve better. Odeh used the occ...
I had not even left the parking lot of Ben Gurion airport Thursday when I learned there had just been another terrorist attack that morning. The fourth in a week. This one took place near my home, on a bus that my kids use often. A Palestinian Arab terrorist boarded, carrying a screwdriver, and stabbed a 28-year-old man before being “neutralized” by another passenger with a gun. It’s understandable that you might not be aware of this specific attack, or what’s being called the recent “wave” of terror attacks in Israel. It’s not Ukraine, and...
Perhaps it’s a coincidence that I just finished reading Richard Heideman’s new book, “The Bloody Price of Freedom” last week, the same week in which U.S. Ambassador Thomas Nides said that he was “infuriated” by settlement growth. Ambassador Nides would do well to read the book too. I’ll lend him my copy. “I’m a bit of a nag on this, including the idea of settlement growth, which infuriates me when they do things that just infuriate the situation in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.” Nides was clearly playing to his audience, and likel...
A hopeful and dominant topic of conversation at this week’s National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville has been the re-opening of tourism to Israel for all, vaccinated and unvaccinated alike. Two years ago, at the same event and location, the early impact of the COVID virus started to be felt with early reports of Israel’s national airline laying off the first 1000 employees. Ultimately, nearly all tourism would be shut down leading to millions of cancelations, tens of tho...
As Russia has invaded Ukraine my feelings are mixed, contradictory, and contradictory to that of many others. For me, and many Jews, anything regarding Ukraine brings with it thought of our history and persecution there. In modern times we recall Babi Yar where 34,000 Jews were murdered in Kiev over three days in September 1941. The Nazis orchestrated and many Ukrainians were enthusiastic partners. Ukraine was part of the Pale of Settlement, the area in which Jews were permitted to live, meaning that we were prevented from living in the rest...
You’re aware of the phrase “history repeating itself” but I want to share a story of how history is being turned upside-down as millions of Ukrainians try to flee the Russian siege of their country. It’s especially appropriate to do so from a Jewish perspective, and especially this month as we celebrate Purim, commemorating the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia, at a time when all Jews were threatened with murder by the evil Haman, a plot that was also turned around. As recounted in the Book of Esther, rather than the Jewish...
A New Jersey evangelical minister and Orthodox Jew walk into Congress …. It sounds like the beginning of a quirky joke, but in fact it’s how we developed a close, warm friendship. Years ago, for a number of years in a row, we participated together in the annual Christians United for Israel Washington Summit. Shawn Hyland of Bayville, N.J., served as the CUFI New Jersey state coordinator. As such, he coordinated an annual day of meetings to lobby New Jersey’s congressional and senatorial representatives on issues related to and in support of Is...
As I was checking out of the grocery store on Friday morning and thanking a Palestinian Arab worker for helping to bag my groceries so efficiently and quickly, then wishing him and the Palestinian Arab cashier a Shabbat Shalom, I was pulled aside by the store manager and reprimanded. “Don’t you know, sir, that we are an apartheid state, and we are neither to show any interest in or empathy for the Palestinian Arabs workers, and certainly not treat them with kindness or respect because everything in our interaction with them needs to be abo...
I visited Ephraim Kholmyansky in Moscow in October 1987. It was my second trip to the USSR to help encourage Jews, bringing hope, make personal connections, and smuggle in a small amount of things to help them but that could have had me in some big trouble with the KGB. I knew about Kholmynasky before as I spent much of my early adulthood engrossed in the movement to free Soviet Jews. So, for me, when we met, I was meeting one of my heroes. But as much as I thought I knew Kholmynasky through my...
In a recent statement published on the annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, not only misrepresented and defamed Dr. King’s legacy, but he did so using some of the most vile antisemitic tropes singling out the Jewish people and Israel. In his statement, Dr. Nelson wrote of Dr. King’s legacy and overcoming societal inequities in the U.S. and all over the world. Listing a broad range of social problems, Dr. Nelson then seaml...
In a country whose biblical and modern history are intertwined and covered with dramatic events taking place at locations everywhere, Gush Etzion is among the most significant. Gush Etzion is the Judean mountain region between Jerusalem and Hebron. It sits at elevations between 2500-3000 feet, made extra beautiful by terraced hilltops and a range of crops including vineyards and olive trees, and ancient paths that were the biblical highways, which pilgrims and traders would transverse in religio...
Last week, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul blocked what would have otherwise been unanimous passage of the Iron Dome funding bill, HR5323, providing Israel with $1 billion to replenish its Iron Dome system following the war Israel endured with Palestinian Arab terrorists in Gaza this past May During the 11-day barrage, Hamas and other Palestinian Arab terror groups fired over 4000 rockets at Israeli cities. The Iron Dome is a defensive system that shoots down short-range rockets with a 90 percent success rate, saving both the lives of countless...
Recent reports have slammed Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert for comments that were offensive to her colleague, Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Boebert shared a security-related incident in the U.S. Capitol, quipping that she saw Congresswoman Omar, noticed she didn’t have a backpack, so everything would be fine. Since her comment, Boebert has been slammed by the media, other congressional members, and more. There have been calls for her to be censured. Omar herself called out Boebert for “real consequences” of her “anti...
On Sunday morning, Nov. 21, a terrorist attack took place in Jerusalem leaving one Israeli dead and three injured. Attacks like this are always sad and cause a range of emotions, from anger to despair, that no matter what, Palestinian Arabs are always trying to kill us, just because we are Jews living in the Land. The man who was murdered was Eliyahu (Eli) Kay, 26. Eliyahu was a new immigrant from South Africa. He came to Israel to serve in the IDF as a lone soldier, joining the elite...
Two seemingly parallel and completely unrelated things happened this week with an astonishing response. Running a nonprofit, the end of the year is an opportunity to tie up loose ends and be sure that in the last weeks of the year, the level of financial support is at least maintained. While planning some traditional year-end appeals on behalf of the Genesis 123 Foundation, I realized that Israel was in a bit of a crisis, with my organization and many others facing a financial deficit. In...
“If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!” (Psalm 137:5-6) There’s no place that’s more central to Jews and Christians than Jerusalem. It’s the city of the kings, prophets and where Jesus preached, worshipped, and was crucified. As central as Jerusalem is to our history and our faith, Jerusalem is facing a threat to be redivided today, a threat to Israel’s sovereignty. Sadly, the threat is not from on...
I've read many great books, but it's rare that I have the urge to thank the author. In the case of "Hidden Heroes," I wanted to do so on two levels: to thank Pam Cohen for her outstanding recounting of details of the struggle to free Soviet Jews, and for her incredible role from the beginning in the outcome. One of the beautiful things about "Hidden Heroes" is that while recounting her experiences, Pam interweaves stories of the lives of many of the refuseniks on whose behalf she advocated. Far...
Wait, what? Jews and Christians can pray on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Why is that news? At the conclusion of the 1967 Six Day War, Israel negotiated a cease fire with the Arab countries that had gone to war against it. A cease fire, not peace. Israelis believed that after the crushing defeat of the Arab armies and loss of vast territory, the Arabs would finally realize that they could not win militarily, and that Israel was a reality to live with, not fight against. Many believed that all that was needed was to negotiate to return the...
More than Facebook crashing, news in Israel this week has been about the vague announcement and gripping story of efforts to locate Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force officer who has been missing in action since October 1986. Ron Arad was a 28-year-old Lieutenant Colonel whose plane crashed during a mission over Lebanon. It is believed he is dead, though there are conflicting reports as to when and how he died. Arad and his pilot Yishai Aviram ejected from their plane, damaged when a bomb apparently exploded prematurely. Aviram was located and...
I followed reports of Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent exchange with a student at George Mason University with great interest, and dismay. In many ways, she reminded me of an incident with Hillary Clinton, not in a good way. Harris addressed students at George Mason to mark National Voter Registration Day. Following her remarks, she opened the floor for questions. During questions, one student commented to Harris, “You brought up how the power of the people and demonstrations and organizing is very valuable in America. But I see that over t...
By I woke up to the echoes of the Islamic prayers through the Judean mountains that were both beautiful and haunting. Living here among Palestinian Arab Moslems I hear the call to prayer daily, five times a day, but today was different. Today the volume and length of the prayer was considerably louder and longer. The sustained repetition of “Allah Akbar” is audible, perhaps amplified by the mountains, and only competing with an occasional car, or bird. I have no problem with how one approaches God in their respective faith, as long as the...
Israel just inaugurated a new president. He is largely a ceremonial figure as the official “head of state.” He has a limited but very structured constitutional role. Nonetheless, amazingly, he is a Palestinian. Isaac “Bougie” Herzog is Israel’s 11th president. His father was also (Israel’s sixth) president, Chaim Herzog. He was also a Palestinian. How do I know this? Because I am a Palestinian too. “What?!!” you ask. “But Jonathan, you’re Jewish. How ...” Yes. Stick with me. The new President Herzog’s grandfather was Israel’s renowned first...
Unlike many Israelis, I am not spiking the ball or dancing in the end zone today. (Forgive the exclusive American cultural reference for those who don’t follow U.S. football.) Prime Minister Netanyahu, Bibi, is not public enemy No.1. But his time to step down has passed, and that’s why this week Israel announced a new “unity” government, after four elections in two years. It gives me no sense of pride that we’ve come to this point, particularly how this has transpired. As prime minister, there’s no question that Bibi deserves enormous cr...
