Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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The COS Youth Players of Congregation Ohev Shalom present, "Joseph and His Dreamcoat," April 7 at 1:30 p.m. and April 10 at 6:45 p.m. Both performances are at the synagogue located at 613 Concourse Pkwy S., Maitland. "Joseph and His Dreamcoat" is a delightful musical based on the famous story of Joseph and his brothers. Cantor Allan Robuck is the musical director and Amy Geboff is the producer. The goal of the project is to connect 4th-12th graders to the synagogue, to work together toward a... Full story
(JNS)—The decision last week by the U.S. State Department to change its designation of the Golan Heights from “Israeli-occupied” to “Israeli-controlled” in its annual human-rights report comes amid a push for the United States to officially recognize Israeli sovereignty of the Golan Heights, which it captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. Additionally, the report’s section on the West Bank and Gaza did not label those areas as being “occupied” or under “occupation.” The current U.S. policy on who controls the West Bank and Gaza is that the final s... Full story
Enjoy a day of learning, spirituality, and kosher dining at Temple Israel's Shabbaton on April 13. This community event begins at 9:30 a.m. with a Latino Shabbat morning service, followed by a kosher Kiddush lunch. Guest Speaker Dr. Luis Fleischman will give a Dvar Torah on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. At 2 p.m., hear Dr. Fleischman speak on "The Influence of Iran in Latin America." A Mincha service follows at 3:30 p.m. End the day with a delicious kosher Shabbat dinner from... Full story
Chabad of North Orlando will host a special event to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the voyage of the MS St. Louis. The program will include the screening of the award winning documentary film “Complicit” and the presentation of the MS St. Louis Archival Exhibit. Robert Krakow, producer/writer, will lead the post film Q & A. The MS St. Louis was a luxury liner that left Hamburg, Germany on May 13, 1939. The ship, carrying 937 mostly Jewish refugees, was bound for Havana, Cuba. The passengers were seeking to escape Nazi persecution and had... Full story
On April 5 at 6 p.m., the Writer’s Block Bookstore and The Roth Family JCC will present a VIP event—dinner with former presidential speechwriter and staffer David Litt—with a talk to follow. David Litt entered the White House in 2011 and left in 2016 as a special assistant to the President and senior presidential speechwriter. Described as President Obama’s comic muse, Litt began contributing jokes to Obama’s speeches in 2009 and was the lead writer on four White House Correspon... Full story
The Orlando Chapter of Hadassah presents “Lunch with Hannah Howard,” noted author and food expert on Tuesday, April 2, at Ohev Shalom at 11:30 a.m. Howard will discuss and sign her highly praised memoir “Feast: True Love In and Out of the Kitchen.” Howard spent her formative years in New York eating, drinking, serving, bartending, cooking on a hot line, flipping giant wheels of cheese, in such Manhattan landmarks as Picholine and Fairway Market. She writes about delicious things for a living,... Full story
The Jewish Pavilion welcomed Cantor Lance Rhodes as a new program director in early March. Cantor Rhodes is coordinating Pavilion programming at all of the south Orlando senior living facilities as Walter Goldstein, who has served as program director for several years, steps down to focus on his health. As a longtime Central Floridian who grew up in Ormond Beach, Cantor Rhodes is very pleased to have a new roll in serving seniors in this community. Coming from a family that was steeped in... Full story
In the article “Is America’s head in the sand about Islam?” (March 8 issue of the Heritage Florida Jewish News) Prof. Jonathan Matusitz caught three items that needed correction: Every International terrorist organization today (that poses a threat to the global social order) is Muslim. It was Dr. Bruce Lieske who discussed the book “The Strange Death of Europe.” (Matusitz stated he had never heard of that book before). In regards to the sixth concentric circle of cultural Muslims, Matusitz said that many of them do not speak out (publicly... Full story
(JTA)-It wasn't so long ago that most major Israeli politicians supported establishing a Palestinian state. Now it's not clear that any of them do, including the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu began his political career in the 1970s opposing a Palestinian state, an idea that once had been off the table but was gaining traction. Three decades later, in 2009, he gave a pivotal speech endorsing the idea in principle. In 2015, however, Netanyahu retreated from the idea on the... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Adam Milstein, a major pro-Israel funder, has withdrawn from speaking at the annual AIPAC policy conference following a series of tweets in which he accused two Muslim lawmakers of clashing with "American values." The American Israel Public Affairs Committee distanced itself from Milstein. Milstein, the chairman of the Israeli American Council, said his views as expressed on Twitter had been "mischaracterized." "My social media postings represent my views-and my views alone,"... Full story
(JTA)—Two student activists confronted Chelsea Clinton at a vigil for the 50 Muslims killed in an attack on a New Zealand mosque and accused her of being a cause of the massacre. New York University students Leen Dweik, who is Muslim, and Rose Asaf, who is Jewish, approached Clinton at the vigil held at the school Friday night. According to The Washington Post, they took issue with Clinton’s recent tweet about Rep. Ilhan Omar, after the Minnesota congresswoman was accused of promoting anti-Semitic tropes in her own tweet. Clinton had res... Full story
(JNS)—By the time America woke up on Friday, Mar. 15, Google’s search engine was jammed with news of a mass shooting at another place of worship in the world. Counts of 49 dead and dozens wounded were being reported at the Al Noor Mosque in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. Doubtless, many people were looking for the manifesto penned in advance of this atrocity, titled “The Great Replacement,” which the gunman had apparently issued. The text was easy to find and nauseating to read. To summarize its ideas and arguments at any length... Full story
Since the first large wave of Jews arrived in the U.S., we have fought for human rights. It is in our own self-interest to do so. We believe in taking care of our fellow man, in equal rights, equal opportunity, etc. You know, the stuff that allowed us when we came to America to take advantage of the system. And, based on our heritage and our history, we have endeavored to pass it on to succeeding generations. This has resulted in Jews having the reputation of being “Liberals”; “Left Wing”, etc. All this because we tend to take up the cause o... Full story
The election may not decide anything. The clusters of parties seem nearly tied in recent polls, with neither right nor center-left clearly able to amass the seats need to form a government. What comes next will be long and messy, and ultimately create a government. Or another election. At the present, Bibi seems to be in charge of the right. But loosely. It shouldn’t take much to dislodge him, send him to a retirement, which itself will be a messy process that seems likely to end up behind bars. Currently we’re hearing more support for Lik... Full story
By Jonathan S. Tobin (JNS)—The announcement from the J Street lobby that it plans to sponsor a free trip this summer for college-age students to compete with the popular Birthright Israel program provoked predictable outrage. Many in the pro-Israel community already despise J Street as a Trojan horse organization that seeks to undermine support for the Jewish state. The idea of it shepherding Jewish kids around the West Bank to meet with Arabs who will trash Israel infuriates and deepens the resolve of some to exclude the left-wing lobby f... Full story
(JNS)—Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) has a lot of “firsts” to her credit. She is the first Palestinian Arab elected to the U.S. Congress. She is one of the first two Muslim women to be elected to Congress. And now she is the first member of Congress to make a fraudulent claim about her own grandmother in order to score points against Israel. Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union with Jake Tapper” on March 17, Tlaib was asked about her claims that “racism” and “Islamophobia” were the real motives behind the widespread criticism of the recent anti-Sem... Full story
Zionist Organization of America and its National President Morton A. Klein and Chairman Mark Levenson, Esq. condemn with all our hearts the horrific massacres in Nigeria of over 120 (which has now risen to over 280) innocent Christians since February, carried out by radical Muslim Fulani herdsman-terrorists. Militant Islamist Fulani herdsmen reportedly killed thousands of Christians last year, and more than 60,000 people since 2001. Radical Muslim Fulani militants have slaughtered Christians during church services, at and after funerals, and... Full story
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) 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 I... Full story
Celebrate Passover with Congregation Beth Sholom—Deadline April 5. The public is invited to attend our second night Seder, led by Rabbi Karen Allen, on Saturday, April 20, at 5:30 p.m. A traditional Kosher Seder dinner, catered by Deanna’s Catering, will be served. The reservation form is available on our website: http://bethsholomflorida.org For more information call Burt Kraft at 352-513-3517. Celebrate Shabbat with the synagogue that feels like family. Shabbat evening service will be led by Rabbi Karen Allen on Friday, April 12, at 7 p.m... Full story
(JNS)-Undergraduate students at Brown University are expected to vote on a referendum from March 19-21, calling on the school to divest from Israel. "The #BrownDivest campaign is organized by a coalition of undergraduate students to identify and divest from companies that profit from Israeli violations of human rights," states the referendum. It accuses the university of doing business that "engage in human-rights violations," such as "Boeing, Caterpillar, G4S, Hewlett Packard Enterprise CO,... Full story
Jewish Academy of Orlando kindergarteners raised $367 for the Pearlman Food Pantry at Jewish Family Services by operating a healthy snack store. The annual program at JAO begins with a cross-curricular study of nutrition and money and incorporates tzedakah (righteous acts of giving). The multi-faceted curriculum includes the benefits of making healthy food choices and mathematics concepts such as counting money and making change. The program also incorporates basic entrepreneurial and... Full story
(JTA)—Add Beto O’Rourke to the already crowded field of Democratic candidates hoping to unseat President Donald Trump. The El Paso native and former congressman hopes to build on the buzz that accompanied his unsuccessful but oh-so-close campaign against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in last year’s Texas Senate race. O’Rourke, a Roman Catholic, has clashed at times with the local Jewish community, particularly his vote in 2014 against funding for Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defense system. H... Full story
Review by Eleanor Bukowsky, librarian In her delightful picture book, “Creation Colors,” writer and illustrator Ann D. Koffsky reimagines the story of creation from an artist’s perspective. At first, the world was bleak and devoid of color. During the six days in which God created the oceans, trees, grass, moon, sun, stars, animals, and people, a variety of colors appeared that enhanced the earth’s beauty. Koffsky’s illustrations are eye-catching. On day three, lush greenery gladdens the heart; on day four, the sky is alight with a gorgeous... Full story
Enough nightmares... (Honestly, if it wasn’t for my children, my grandchildren, and someday, their children, I wouldn’t be so upset, because how much longer do I have on this earth? But I must worry about the hate that is returning... and also the rise of “white supremacists.”) One of the safest countries in the world has always been New Zealand. They are also allies with us. Recently, 50 people (including children) were killed while praying in two mosques. Their murderers were white suprema... Full story
The Jewish Pavilion celebrated Purim in over 50 senior communities including Brookdale Dr. Phillips. All festivities included a Purim spiel, hamantashen and music. Special thanks to the Orlando Torah Center and the Orlando Torah Academy for bringing the cutest children ever to celebrate Purim with their elders at Brookdale Dr. Phillips. More than 20 children came in costume and sang and danced with their residents. The seniors especially enjoyed cooing over the babies and hugging the little ones.... Full story
