Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Monday to establish a statewide voucher program in which every child will be eligible to receive nearly $8,000 toward schooling, tutoring or other educational-related expenses. "The State of Florida is No. 1 when it comes to education freedom and education choice, and today's signing cements us into that No. 1 position," said DeSantis. He called the new law "the largest expansion of education choice not only in the history of this state but in...
(JTA) - The most notable message Melissa Klapper got during her four-night run on "Jeopardy!" didn't come because the Jewish studies scholar was unable to answer a question about Yom Kippur. It also wasn't an unkind note from a game-show stickler who believed she'd gotten credit for a wrong response. Instead, it was an email from a past student who recognized herself in the story Klapper told as part of her self-introductory stage banter - a staple of the game show. Klapper, who teaches history...
Yom HaZikaron laShoah, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, is most often referred to as Yom HaShoah. It is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, and for the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the largest act of resistance to Nazi aggression during the Holocaust. The first official commemorations took place in 1951, and the observance of the day was anchored in a law passed by the Knesset in 1959. It is held on the 27th o...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday in a national address that he was putting a hold on the government’s judicial reform efforts in order to “provide a real opportunity for real dialogue.” “We are on the path toward a dangerous collision in Israeli society. We are in the midst of a crisis that endangers the basic unity between us. Such a crisis requires us all to act responsibly,” he said. “Yesterday, I read [National Unity Party Chairman] Benny Gantz’s letter in which he undertakes to enter in good faith into...
Beginning in May, Chabads in Orlando are going to offer Judaism’s most satisfying answers on dreams, astrology, demons, and ghosts in a four-week course titled Jewpernatural. Paranormal beliefs are rising fast. In 2016, 46 percent of Americans reported believing in ghosts, according to Chapman University. That figure has reached 57 percent, and since the pandemic, one in five Americans say they’ve personally met a ghost. And it’s not just ghosts. Topics like astrology, dream interpretation, and psychic abilities are rapidly becoming mains...
On Tuesday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m., Chabad of North Orlando will be hosting Leon Melamed for a lecture and book signing at Nate's Shul,1701 Markham Woods Rd. in Longwood. "We survived. At last, I speak" is the title of the book written by Mr. Leon Melmad. It is the true story of Leon's and his sister Rachel's escape from the Holocaust in Occupied France. In 1942 gendarmes arrested Leon's parents as Jews, and two French neighbors generously offered to watch the children "until they returned."...
On Sunday, May 7, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., there will be a giant plant, book and jewelry sale at Temple Beth Shalom, 40 Wellington Drive, Palm Coast. There will be annuals, perennials, herbs, orchids and home-grown Heritage tomatoes in the plant section. Late edition hard cover and soft books, all categories. Vintage and costume jewelry collected from Estate Sales. For further information, call Marylynne at 954-401-1144....
Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations for the 2023 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando this summer. “For more than 30 years, individuals who have made major, voluntary contributions of their talent, time, energy and effort to the Central Florida community have been honored with the selection and presentation of this award,” said Jeff Gaeser, editor and publisher of the Heritage. Last year’s recipient was Dr. Edward Zissman. Former recip...
(JTA) — The University of Florida has more Jewish students than any other public college in the United States — and last week, one of them reached out to a professor, fearing that it would no longer be possible to study Jewish topics there. Citing a graphic that had been making the rounds on social media, the student asked if it was true that a new bill working its way through the state legislature would remove all “Jewish Studies courses, majors and minors” in the state. The graphic was shared by several people with large online followi...
(JTA) — Like hundreds of thousands of her fellow Israelis, Kelly Breakstone Roth’s instinct on Sunday was to take to the streets. The only wrinkle: She and her family have been in Brooklyn for the last two years, part of the diaspora of hundreds of thousands of Israelis living abroad. They couldn’t just walk out the door of their apartment and join the sweeping nationwide protest that ignited after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister, who had called for a pause on proposed changes to Israel’s judiciary. So they bought...
JERUSALEM (JTA) — After three months of demonstrations dominated by detractors of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan, supporters of the proposed reform took to the streets, making their voice heard in Jerusalem and across Israel. Gathered outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, thousands of pro-reform protesters, including settlers bused in from the West Bank, sought to back Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, even as the prime minister announced his intention to temporarily suspend the plan. “We are trying...
(JNS) — After months of increasingly strident mass protests against his government’s plans to reform Israel’s out-of-control and highly partisan judicial system, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have given in to the pressure. He said he was going to be “delaying judicial reform to give real dialogue a chance.” But it’s highly doubtful that this will merely be a timeout that will help his supporters regroup and enable opponents to calm down and accept a compromise on the issue. On the contrary, Netanyahu is waving the white flag...
(JNS) — We have just seen an insurrection that shut Israel down being hailed as a “peaceful” pro-democracy movement. A movement that is proud of having used BDS/antifa tactics against their own state in order to further “de-Judaize” the country. Israel is the one and only Jewish state, but what does that mean? What is “Jewish” about Israel? Is it protecting gay rights, trans rights, Arab rights, women’s rights, refugee rights, the rights of a Supreme Court over and above the rights of a democratically elected government? Is this what is me...
One of the disturbing things about watching the judiciary food fight in Israel is that the supporters of the most extreme reform proposals act as though those changes were inscribed on a tablet by God that Bibi brought down from Sinai, and that all of the protesters are worshiping a golden calf. I’m not concerned that Israeli democracy is in danger, because what I am watching is the best of the democratic nature of Israel in the streets, where hundreds of thousands of citizens believe they are acting to protect their democracy. Bibi’s loy...
(JNS) — Whatever one thinks about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, any true Israeli patriot will surely react viscerally to U.S. President Joe Biden’s outrageous attack on Israel’s right to govern itself without foreign interference. On Monday, Netanyahu announced he was suspending his coalition’s judicial reform legislation in order to negotiate a compromise with the opposition. The next day, Biden told Netanyahu to “walk away” from the legislation, saying he was “very concerned” about the health of Israeli democracy. Warn...
MORNING MINYANS Chabad of North Orlando and Chabad of Altamonte Springs are holding in-person 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...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A law passed by Israel’s government yesterday has sparked a strong rebuke from the Biden administration, words of caution from some of Israel’s strongest supporters in the Senate — and damage control from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The new law repeals a portion of Israel’s 2005 disengagement, in which it withdrew settlers and troops from the entirety of the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank. While much of Israel and the world focused on the evacuation from Gaza, opponents...
TEL AVIV (JTA) - When Daniel Schleider and his wife, Lior, leave Israel next month, it will be for good - and with a heavy heart. "I have no doubt I will have tears in my eyes the whole flight," said Schleider, who was born in Mexico and lived in Israel for a time as a child before returning on his own at 18. Describing himself as "deeply Zionist," he served in a combat unit in the Israeli army, married an Israeli woman and built a career in an Israeli company. Yet as Prime Minister Benjamin...
(JTA) - Even though he hasn't officially declared his Republican presidential campaign (yet), Ron DeSantis has been pitching his governance of Florida as a model for running the United States - telling Fox News last week, for example, that "we can get America back on track and back on our foundations" by following Florida's example. This week, he repeated the pitch with a twist: His close relations with Israel are a template for the U.S.-Israel relationship, he said - and he's ready to make...
Herb Maneloveg, who recently turned 98, is a regular attendee of the Jewish Pavilion's Shabbat services at Oakmonte Village. He has always been connected to his Jewish roots, even though he was born and raised in a small Western Pennsylvania town called Aliquippa, a town of 25,000 with 15 Jewish families. Plans to attend Penn State after graduation were curtailed because he was drafted into the Army and serving two and a half years abroad. Maneloveg was injured in the Battle of the Bulge and...
Hiring a Driver The instinct for many older people is to stay at home as long as possible. Even if a person at home has visitors, he or she may still be alone most of the time, especially if he or she no longer drives. One option is to hire a companion care company to facilitate transportation needs. Another option is to contact Go Go Grandparent, 855-464-6872 (an Uber service geared toward the elderly). Jewish Family Services, 407-644-7593 offers the RIDE program for medical appointments, etc. There are also public transportation options such...
This recipe originally appeared on The Nosher. Apple matzah kugel is a classic Ashkenazi Passover dish. Just like many noodle kugels, this is a sweet kugel that is meant to be served with the main course at the seder. For a modern twist and some textural contrast, a simple streusel topping is added to the kugel for a nutty, sweet, crunch on top of the soft apple filling. Warmed-up leftovers make a perfect breakfast, served with a little yogurt or a drizzle of cream on top. And we won't tell if...
This recipe originally appeared on The Nosher. These dessert truffles are play on the classic Iraqi haroset of date molasses (known also as date honey or silan) and chopped walnuts. Pressed baking dates are available at Middle Eastern and some kosher supermarkets, as well as online. Alternatively, you can use pitted dates (details in the recipe.) Ingredients 1 cup chopped walnut pieces 13 oz package pressed baking dates or 10 oz pitted medjool dates 8 oz dark (semisweet or bittersweet)...
(JNS) — In what the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty calls “a special kind of chutzpah,” California denies Jewish families the opportunity to use special-education funding for children with disabilities at private, religious schools. “It takes a special kind of chutzpah to deny Jewish kids with disabilities equal access to special education benefits,” stated Eric Rassbach, Becket vice president and senior counsel. “California politicians can end this unlawful discrimination the easy way or the hard way,” he added. “Either they change the law...
(JNS) — Harvey Milstein’s introduction to chronic pain, and to opioids, began in 2006 when he attempted to wrestle a shotgun cartridge filled with shot out of the barrel of his gun. The gun accidentally fired, shattering his left kneecap and filling it with shrapnel. At the hospital, Milstein was given OxyContin and Percocet, opioids, to ease the pain. “The first few years they gave me medication whenever I needed it,” he recalls. “In later years they began putting limits on how much I could get.” As his walk became affected by his injured kne...
