Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) - Hamas released four hostages on Saturday in a choreographed ceremony in Gaza, making them the second group of captives to go free in the ceasefire. The four hostages released on Saturday are Daniela Gilboa, Liri Albag, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev. All are Israeli soldiers. Before being allowed to return to Israel after nearly 16 months in captivity, they were paraded across a stage in Gaza wearing green fatigues, against a banner with English, Arabic and Hebrew slogans such as "Zionism...
(JNS) — Israel-related issues dominated the Senate confirmation hearing of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) on Tuesday to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Nearly every senator on the Foreign Relations Committee probed her views on the Jewish state and the region. The congresswoman vowed to use her seat in Turtle Bay to combat antisemitism just as she had done in Congress. “If you look at the antisemitic rot within the United Nations, there are more resolutions targeting Israel than any other country, any other crisis, com...
On Jan. 19, graffiti was painted on the Historic Oviedo Colored Schools Museum. The graffiti included the racist “SS lightning bolts” symbol and hateful, explicit language. Since then, a felony criminal mischief investigation has been launched. Seminole County deputies said they painted over the graffiti. The following is the Holocaust Center’s statement: On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida solemnly honors the 1.1 million victims—most of whom were Je...
(JNS) - The first three female hostages freed by Hamas terrorists during the current ceasefire have been released from the hospital, Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer in Ramat Gan announced on Sunday. Former Gaza captives Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, completed their tests and initial medical treatment at the hospital, according to the statement, which noted that "Sheba Medical Center will continue to support them and their families." The ex-hostages and their...
The Jewish Chamber of Commerce of Orlando invites community members to its free monthly Networking Breakfast, held the first Thursday of the month at One Senior Place, 7157 Lansdowne Blvd, Orlando, FL 32810. This event is free Ffor Chamber members. There is a nominal fee for nonmembers. This monthly gathering is a great opportunity for local professionals to connect, collaborate, and build relationships in a welcoming and vibrant environment. The next breakfast is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 6, at 8:30 a.m. The event, designed to foster...
Many Seminole County subscribers received their Jan. 10 and Jan. 17 issues of the Heritage after Jan. 20. Several readers called Heritage to ask what had happened? We don’t know why this only affected the Seminole County papers, but we do know that there were several holidays that delayed delivery of the paper: Christmas day, New Year’s day, former President Jimmy Carter’s death and Martin Luther King day. We aren’t “passing the buck” but in our defense, for over 40 years, through hurricanes and power outages, the Heritage has gone to the prin...
The Israeli American Council Central Florida, in collaboration with Shalom Orlando, is bringing The Anti-Zionism Escape Room to the Roth Family JCC, 851 N. Maitland Ave., on Feb. 4-5, 2025. This Escape Room is an immersive experience designed to address the challenges of anti-Zionism, inspired by the events of the past year and the rising protests on campuses and in public spaces. Through collaboration and critical thinking, participants will learn definitions and ways to identify anti-Zionism and develop strategies for addressing cases of...
The Jewish National Fund-USA Orlando Women for Israel is presenting "United With Purpose: Special In Uniform" on Feb. 6, from 6:45 p.m.-8:30 p.m. The location will be provided upon RSVP. Special in Uniform is a program in which the Israeli Army integrates young adults with disabilities into the IDF, and in turn, into society. Guest speaker Lt. Col. (Res.) Tiran Attia, Special In Uniform director, will discuss the program and its effectiveness in Israel. Omer Lahat, a young adult in the SIU...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump revoked a host of what he called “harmful” executive orders and actions under former President Joe Biden, including Executive Order 14115 of Feb. 1, 2024, which sanctioned Jews living in Judea and Samaria accused of “undermining peace, security and stability in the West Bank.” “The previous administration has embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal and radical practices within every agency and office of the federal government,” Trump stated on Monday. “The injection of ‘diversity, equity and inclus...
(JTA) — President Donald Trump says he has asked Jordan to accept Palestinians from Gaza and plans to press Egypt to do the same. Trump said he spoke to Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Saturday, five days after being inaugurated for his second term and six days into a ceasefire that he pressed for in the Israel-Hamas war. “I said to him I’d love you to take on more because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess. I’d like him to take people,” Trump told reporters Saturday night aboard Air Force One followi...
(JNS) — Eight of the 33 hostages intended for release during the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal are dead, according to a list provided by Hamas. Israeli government spokesman David Mencer confirmed that the terrorist group stated the remaining 25 hostages are alive. The list was delivered to Israel overnight Sunday. After repeatedly violating the truce deal with Israel, Hamas released three additional captives on Thursday — civilian Arbel Yehud, IDF soldier Agam Berger and an unidentified man — the Prime Minister’s Office...
(JNS) — The Israeli passport is the 19th strongest worldwide, according to a global ranking released last week. Israeli passport holders can now enter 170 countries without a visa, according to The Henley Passport Index, which measures the number of visa-free destinations available to holders of a given passport. The Israeli passport increased in strength from last year, when it was ranked 21st. Singapore tops the ranking of nearly 200 passports included in the index, followed by Japan, Finland, France, Germany, South Korea and Spain. The U...
(JNS) — The last few weeks have not been good for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees. They were, therefore, good for humanity as two senior UNRWA staffers indicated in a New York Times article that the U.N. agency will shut operations in Judea and Samaria, and the Gaza Strip. The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman, Yuli Edelstein, welcomed the report. Edelstein’s committee shepherded a new law through the Knesset that declares UNRWA to be a terrorist organization and bans it in Israel. The law is to tak...
(Gatestone Institute via JNS) — Those who think that the Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist group Hamas will abandon its jihad to murder Jews and destroy Israel in the aftermath of the recent ceasefire agreement are mistaken. Although the agreement may put an end to the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, it does not, in any way, reflect a shift in the radical and dangerous ideology of the Islamist group, as outlined in its 1988 Covenant. The document quotes Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood organization (of w...
(JNS) — In the realm of cinema, where the boundaries between good and evil are sharply drawn and the villains are unmistakably monstrous, one might imagine a collision as stark and tragic as the one currently unfolding in the Middle East. The reality, however, is far from fiction. The contrast between two societies—one fighting to protect its citizens and the other entrenched in a culture of violence—is painfully evident. The fragile ceasefire brokered to exchange hostages and prisoners has exposed not just a sliver of hope, but also the endur...
Israel is celebrating the release and homecoming of three hostages this past week. At the same time Israel is grieving for the hostages and families that are not on the list of the 33 to be released in this stage of the current deal with Hamas. That’s assuming that Hamas does not violate the deal. It’s expected that at least one third of the hostages to be released in this current six-week phase are already dead. At least their families will have closure. But at such a price. To secure the release of the first three, Israel had to release 90...
(JNS) — Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has drawn some fire as a result of his legislative initiative in proposing the “Retiring the Egregious Confusion Over the Genuine Name of Israel’s Zone of Influence by Necessitating Government-Use of Judea and Samaria Act”—for short, the Recognizing Judea and Samaria Bill. In essence, it requires all official U.S. documents and materials to use the historically accurate term “Judea and Samaria” instead of the “West Bank.” Moreover, it calls the term “West Bank” as language that is “politically charged....
MORNING MINYANS Chabad of South Orlando — Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. and 10 minutes before sunset; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 8:15 a.m., 407-354-3660. Congregation Ahavas Yisrael — Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-644-2500. Congregation Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Daytona — Monday, 8 a.m.; Thursday, 8 a.m., 904-672-9300. Congregation Ohev Shalom — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-298-4650. GOBOR Community Minyan at Jewish Academy of Orlando — Monday – Friday, 7:45 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Temple Israel — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-647-3...
(JNS) — The three Israeli hostages who returned from captivity in Gaza Sunday recalled in testimonies how they helped each other survive for 471 days amid uncertainty and lacking medical care, Israel’s Channel 12 reported. In statements vetted by the military censor and approved by the hostages for publication, they recalled living in underground facilities with little medical attention, tremendous uncertainty and, at times, despair. Emily Damari, who has a leg injury and lost two fingers on her left hand during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attac...
The Jewish Pavilion Senior Services hosted a successful Sponsors Breakfast at Legacy Pointe recently, creating a welcoming space for board members, sponsors, and community leaders to connect over a shared commitment to supporting seniors in the Orlando area. The event was a unique opportunity for sponsors and board members to build lasting friendships while also engaging in meaningful business discussions that strengthen the organization's mission. The event highlighted the Jewish Pavilion Senio...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Emily Damari (28), Doron Steinbrecher (31) and Romi Gonen (24) have begun their journey back to life at Sheba Medical Center following 471 days in Hamas captivity. Medical teams, having spent months preparing for the hostages’ return, prioritized the family reunions while establishing the foundation for an intricate medical and psychological rehabilitation process. Following the hostages’ return, Hospital Director Dr. Yael Frankel Nir announced: “I am deeply moved to report that we have received the three hostages. Thei...
Lindsay and Ira Bellinkoff of Winter Park, Fla., are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Bina Winter Bellinkoff. Winnie was born on Dec. 30, 2024, in time to celebrate the new year, open presents on Chanukah and provide her parents with a tax deduction! She weighed 8 pounds and was 20 inches long. Also welcoming Winnie is her proud big brother, Benjamin (Benji) Gray Bellinkoff, and her grandparents, Caryn and Robert Winter of Orlando, Fla., Debra and Irwin Bellinkoff of Lake Mary,...
(JNS) — Harvard University has resolved two federal lawsuits alleging antisemitic discrimination on campus with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education. As part of the agreement, Harvard will incorporate the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, and the contemporary examples appended to the definition, when evaluating whether alleged discrimination violates the university’s non-discrimination and anti-bullying policies. Harvard Unive...
Video Calling Apps Video calling has become a staple for staying connected, especially during events like the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person visits were limited. Apps like Zoom, FaceTime, and Skype are easy to use and allow seniors to see their loved ones in real-time, fostering a sense of closeness. For example, a study published by the National Institutes of Health highlighted how video communication tools significantly reduce feelings of loneliness among older adults. Seniors who regularly use these apps report better emotional well-being...
