Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 32
(JNS)-The formal recognition of Israel's sovereignty in the Golan Heights by the United States could not have come on a more sobering day for Israelis. As rockets were being launched deep into the central Israel by the terror group Hamas in Gaza, the importance of the Golan Heights for Israel's security was on full display. In his remarks at the formal signing of the presidential proclamation at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Donald Trump that the... Full story
(JNS)-While the AIPAC policy conferences features panels and breakout sessions on almost every issue central to the geostrategic challenges facing the State of Israel, one key issue is repeatedly left off the schedule. That is the issue of Jewish settlements and growing neighborhoods outside the Green Line. To that end, more than 700 conference participants gathered off-campus on Sunday night to participate in an event supporting approximately 700,000 living in Judea, Samaria and periphery neigh... Full story
The Jewish Community Campus in Maitland is about to be debt-free for the first time in a generation, thanks in part to a resoundingly successful 24-hours fundraiser held March 25-26. Just three years ago, the campus at 851 North Maitland Ave., which is owned and managed by the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, carried a debt of nearly $4.5 million. At that time the Federation launched the Campus 2020 Debt Retirement Campaign with the goal of eliminating the debt by Jan. 1, 2020.... Full story
(JNS)—The Hamas rocket that shattered a village home in the Sharon district of central Israel, north of Tel Aviv early on morning of March 25, is an attack that for Israeli leadership represents a step too far. Eleven days after Hamas fired two rockets in the direction of Tel Aviv—in what it claimed was “an accidental” maintenance error—this time, it appears as if the organization’s addiction to gambling and upping the ante to extract concessions from Israel has led it to commit a serious mistake, one that will come with punishing repercussio... Full story
Jewish Pavilion staff and volunteers worked hard to bring the joy and fun of Purim to seniors in living facilities all over town last month. At more than two dozen festive parties and special events, Jewish seniors and family members were joined by residents and staff of other faiths to sing Purim songs, eat hamantaschen and other treats, and enjoy Purim spiels that retold the story of Queen Esther, King Achashverosh, and the wicked Haman. At Brookdale Dr. Phillips, women from Gesher and their... Full story
Jewish Academy of Orlando celebrated Purim with a megillah reading, party, performances, delivery of mishloach manot (Purim baskets), and grogger sculpture creations. Third-grade students performed in the annual Purim play that tells the holiday’s story through music and dance. Even JAO teachers joined in the celebration with their debut performance of “I’m Queen E,” a parody of the song “This is Me,” from The Greatest Showman. At the Purim party, the students participated in games, read an emoj... Full story
(JNS)-Former top Mossad spy Rafi Eitan, who led the team that captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann and was the personal handler of Jonathan Pollard, died on Saturday at the age of 92. Eitan, who served in the Shin Bet and the Mossad, began foreign spy work for Israel in the 1950s and is considered a founder of the Israeli intelligence community. He was born in Kibbutz Ein Harod in 1926 to Zionist immigrants from Russia who came to Palestine in 1923 and grew up in Ramat Hasharon. At the age... Full story
(JNS)—Vice President Mike Pence blasted Democratic freshmen in the House of Representatives on Monday, in addition to certain candidates on the 2020 presidential campaign trail, for the former using “rank anti-Semitic language” and the latter for declining to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual policy conference in Washington. At the same time, he touted the Trump administration’s pro-Israel accomplishments, including the United States withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and relocating the U.S. emba... Full story
(JNS)—Russia, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iraq criticized the United States for recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, following a ceremony attended by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. The ceremony featured the signing of an official proclamation, and was also attended by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The pen Trump used to sign the declaration was handed to Netanyahu as a gift for the Israeli people. “In a blatant attack on the sov... Full story
(JNS)—Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), as part of a series of addressing fundraisers for groups that promote Islamic extremism, appeared at a fundraiser on Sunday, March 24, for a political action committee affiliated with the Council on American Islamic Relations. The private event in California was hosted by CAIR-CA PAC and only allowed the first 100 confirmed guests to attend, according to a screenshot of the meet-and-greet invite acquired by The Washington Free Beacon. “CAIR has a long history of being a vicious anti-Semitic Israel-hating gro... Full story
(JNS)—It was a day for Israelis to cheer the unprecedented degree of closeness between their nation and its sole superpower ally. Using his favorite form of communication, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted a clear intention to discard yet another longstanding U.S. policy in the Middle East. Trump’s declaration that he was going recognize Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights is correctly interpreted as a blatant interference in the upcoming Israeli elections on behalf of his friend and ally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the sam... Full story
As reported in this newspaper several weeks ago, a number of prominent local Jewish philanthropists have pledged millions of dollars to relocate the Holocaust Memorial, Resource and Education Center from the Jewish campus in Maitland, Florida, to an expanded site in Orlando. Along with the relocation, the Holocaust Board has decided to change the name of the new facility to “The Holocaust Museum of Hope and Humanity.” The decision to relocate and to change the name were apparently made without broad discussion and input from the general Jew... Full story
Let’s leave the Israeli election to continue brewing. The voting is next week. Nastiness rampant. Currently in the air are comments about U.S. Jews. Where are they? What’s their interest in Israel? That we’ve developed into two separate communities should not be a surprise. It’s been more than two generations since the Holocaust and the establishment of the Israeli state. Israel is no longer in danger of collapse. It has developed good relations with a number of former enemies, and gets along with most Israeli Arabs and Palestinians. Holocau... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—I am a rabbi and progressive faith leader in this city who has fought for racial and economic equality for almost two decades. I am also an unapologetic Zionist and a proud supporter of AIPAC. The public perception of AIPAC among my fellow progressives is that it is a white, Trump-supporting, right-wing organization for millionaire donors. In this progressive imagination, AIPAC is a place where evangelical Christians join with their Jewish ideological counterparts to leverage undue influence over American politics. Nothing c... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—AIPAC has long promoted bipartisanship as the key to maintaining broad support for the U.S.-Israel relationship. Members of Congress from both parties regularly attend its annual policy conference, which concluded Tuesday, and the organization’s biggest legislative priority, securing foreign aid for Israel, is overwhelmingly supported in both chambers of Congress. In AIPAC’s worldview, every legislator is a friend or a potential friend. This approach works—until it doesn’t. In 2016, AIPAC’s then-president Lillian Pinkus cont... Full story
(JNS)—This year, AIPAC awarded an official on-stage presence to a recognized representative of the almost half a million Jews currently residing in the areas of the heartland of the Jewish national homeland, Judea and Samaria. Not that in previous years have persons living in those “beyond-the-Green-Line” territories addressed the annual conference, but they haven’t been openly identified as such. Oded Revivi, Yesha Council Foreign Envoy, spoke on Monday, although some were not happy. This was in addition to the off-site reception, the fourth... Full story
Dear Editor: This morning, the AIPAC Policy Conference 2019 came to a close after a highly productive weekend. We have seen our politics becoming more divided, including on the subject of Israel. This is exemplified by Rep. Ilhan Omar who, after embroiling herself in controversy by continuously and deliberately making anti-Semitic remarks, today lashed out in a gratuitous attack against AIPAC and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Nevertheless, as we saw during this year’s conference, AIPAC’s annual event remains a strong bipartisan space tha... 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... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Rep. Ilhan Omar hit back at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after they called out the first-year congresswoman at the AIPAC policy conference for her attacks on the lobby and support for the Israel boycott movement. Pelosi, D-Calif., told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual confab on Tuesday that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel was a form of bigotry. Americans must “be vigilant against bigoted or dangerous ideologies masquerading as po... Full story
(CENTRAL FLORIDA)-What's the longest you've ever hugged your sibling? This National Siblings Day (Wednesday, April 10), award-winning performance artist Brian Feldman plans to hug his sister, Adrienne McIntosh, for 24 seconds. In 24 cities. In one day. "24 Second Embrace" is the thrilling conclusion to the "24 Embrace Trilogy," following "24 Minute Embrace," Brian's 2015 project which featured him and his mother sharing a hug for 24 minutes in three cities (Orlando; Washington, D.C.; and... Full story
(JTA)-President Donald Trump recently signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Here's what you need to know about the Golan Heights, the 52-year argument over the plateau and why Trump's proclamation is a big deal for Israel's upcoming election. What is the Golan Heights? The Golan Heights is a territory in Israel's northeast corner, on the Syrian border. It's rural, mountainous and mostly empty. Fewer than 50,000 people live there-less than 1 percent of... Full story
We will never forget... Who really died at Auschwitz? What really died at Auschwitz? Here's an interesting viewpoint. The following is a copy of an article written by Spanish writer Sebastian's new James Brown Vilar Rodriguez and published in a Spanish newspaper. It doesn't take much imagination to extrapolate the message to the rest of Europe - and possibly to the rest of the world. "I walked down the streets in Barcelona and suddenly discovered a terrible truth-Europe died in Auschwitz... We... Full story
(JNS)—The Young Progressives of America at Brooklyn College and the Brooklyn College Islamic Society & Muslim Women’s Educational Initiative held a vigil on Friday, memorializing the 50 Muslim worshippers murdered in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15 with students chanting terrorist slogans. The Instagram account of the Brooklyn College Student Union clearly displays students chanting, “Long Live the Intifada!” Additionally, an unidentified student accurately mentioned that there were six Palestinians who were killed in the shootin... Full story
Middle-school students at the Saul Mirowitz Community School in St. Louis have spent a lot of time over the last year outside the classroom. They traveled to Alabama-the cities of Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma-as well as Memphis, Tennessee, to learn about civil rights. They spent a week at a Wisconsin nature preserve to learn about environmental stewardship. They went to Heifer Ranch in Arkansas to learn about hunger and poverty, spending a night without beds and with little food to give... Full story
(MEMRI via JNS)—Palestinian cleric Abu Taqi Al-Din Al-Dari said in an Al-Aqsa mosque address that was uploaded to the Internet on March 12, 2019, that young people in Germany and France do not value marriage as much as Muslims do, but that this is not the reason that France will become an Islamic country. Rather, he explained, France will become an Islamic country through jihad, since Muslims must have a country that will bring Islam’s guidance and message to the West. He gave examples of times in history when countries in the West and Asi... Full story
