Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Articles from the May 7, 2021 edition


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  • LGBTQ students sue Yeshiva University for discrimination

    Simone Somekh|May 7, 2021

    NEW YORK (JTA) — A group of students and alumni is suing Yeshiva University for discrimination, claiming that the university violated New York City’s human rights law when it refused to recognize an LGBTQ student club. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in New York County Supreme Court. Over the last few years, the students repeatedly lobbied the university’s administration to formally recognize a Gay-Straight Alliance club. The university, a prominent Modern Orthodox institution, has grappled with how to reconcile a traditional inter...

  • A Bosnian War prosecutor from Boston is trying to help Sarajevo's Jews survive a brutal COVID-19 surge

    Bette Keva|May 7, 2021

    (Jewish Journal-Massachusetts via JTA) - It's been nearly a decade since Phillip Weiner last lived in Sarajevo, where he served as an international war crimes judge. But Weiner has remained in touch with the Bosnian Jews he met there, and when he heard about their plight during the COVID-19 pandemic, he knew he had to do something. Serving in The Hague court at the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal, Weiner prosecuted those responsible for the atrocities committed during the Bosnian War from 1992...

  • A woman will lead an Israeli Orthodox synagogue

    Ben Sales|May 7, 2021

    (JTA) — A woman will be the spiritual leader of an Israeli Orthodox synagogue for the first time. Shirat Hatamar, a congregation in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, elected Rabbanit Shira Marili Mirvis, 40, as spiritual leader on Monday with the support of 83 percent of its membership. “I truly hold in my heart all of the women, across all of the generations, who are greater than me, and smarter than me, and fear heaven and are students of Torah that didn’t receive the recognition and love that I have received,” she said in a speech this week...

  • Obituary - ADELE BANKS DORMAN

    May 7, 2021

    Submitted by the family Adele Banks Dorman (“Bama”), 78, of Fern Park, Florida, passed away on April 26, 2021, in Orlando. Adele was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in Druid City Hospital, to Isadore and Rose Banks, on Aug. 2, 1942. She went to high school at Huntsville High and graduated in 1960. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in education from the University of Alabama in 1964, where she was a member of Delta Phi Epsilon sorority. She worked as a teacher for about 45 years. She was awarded Teacher of the Year for Seminole County in...

  • Obituary - JEROME GLADSTEIN

    May 7, 2021

    Jerome Gladstein, 93, of Maitland, passed away on Saturday, April 24, 2021, at AdventHealth - Altamonte Springs, following a brief illness. Mr. Gladstein was born on July 2, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, to the late Benjamin and Lillian (Daniels) Gladstein. He moved to Maitland in 1972, from New York, and was a Navy Veteran. Mr. Gladstein is survived by his loving wife, Belle (Sefekar) Gladstein of Maitland; his son, Robert (Jovina) of Phoenix AZ; and his daughter, Lois (Robert) Palis of Maitland. Burial took place in New York. Arrangements...

  • History of the Jews in Ireland

    Tamar Fox, My Jewish Learning|May 7, 2021

    Jews have made their home in Ireland for centuries, and many have risen to be successful and prominent figures in politics, business, and theology. Ireland produced Chaim Herzog, the sixth president of Israel, and Leopold Bloom - the hero of James Joyce's "Ulysses," a canonical Irish text - is a Jew. However, the Irish Jewish community can hardly be called thriving, and Jews have not always been welcomed in this predominantly Catholic country. During the Holocaust, Ireland denied refuge to Jews...

  • Irish Presbyterians called for rescue of Jewish refugees

    May 7, 2021

    Not everyone in Ireland supported the persecution of the Jews in Europe. The following archived Jewish Telegraphic News article, dated July 2, 1939, is a statement made by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland: A strong resolution protesting against the persecution of Jews by Nazis was unanimously adopted by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland at their annual conference here. The resolution, introduced by the Rev. Professor J.E. Dave states. “The General Assembly deplore and condemn the continued and...

  • ADL calls on Oregon university president to resign over firing of Jewish professor who alleged antisemitism

    Ben Sales|May 7, 2021

    (JTA) — Criticism is mounting over the firing of a Jewish professor who accused his Oregon university’s leadership of making antisemitic comments, with the local branch of the Anti-Defamation League joining calls for the president of the school to resign. Students as well as fellow academics are also protesting the decision by Linfield University, a Baptist-affiliated school with some 2,000 students, to fire Daniel Pollack-Pelzner. According to The Oregonian, the university has hosed down sidewalk-chalk messages supporting Pelzner, thr...

  • Weekly roundup of world briefs

    May 7, 2021

    Kerry denies claim he informed Iran of Israeli strikes in Syria (JNS) — U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry on Monday denied allegations that he had discussed covert Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in Syria with Iran’s foreign minister. “I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false. This never happened—either when I was Secretary of State or since,” Kerry tweeted on Monday night. Kerry was responding to a leaked audio recording of a closed-door discussion involving Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad...

  • Prestigious Jewish schools in London are shaken by allegations of sexual abuse

    Jacob Judah|May 7, 2021

    LONDON (JTA) — Two of London’s most prestigious Jewish schools are in turmoil after they were implicated on a website for Brits to share their stories of sexual abuse. The website, Everyone’s Invited, launched in March after the disappearance and murder of Sarah Everard launched a national conversation about the safety of women. Among the tens of thousands of testimonies shared on the site already are dozens that name Jewish schools as either the location of an alleged assault or the school that students attended when the alleged events took...

  • California Department of Ed official linked to antisemitic beliefs gets reinstated

    May 7, 2021

    (JNS) — An official in California’s Department of Education accused of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories about the Holocaust and the Sept. 11 terror attacks has recently been reinstated, reported The Sacramento Bee. California state superintendent of public instruction Tony Thurmond said during an April 23 call with reporters that a third-party investigation into Craig Heimbichner, who works as an administrator in the Department of Education’s charter-school oversight division, determined that there was no basis for disciplinary actio...

  • Heritage changes spelling of the word 'anti-Semitism'

    May 7, 2021

    The Associated Press has changed its spelling of the word “antisemitism,” now writing it without a hyphen — joining the leading experts of hatred against Jews who have long advocated that usage. The Twitter account of the AP Stylebook — the leading reference for news publications — posted on April 24, 2021, “We now write antisemitism (n.), antisemitic (adj.), without a hyphen and with no capitalization.” “This is a change from AP‘s previous style: anti-Semitism and antisemitic,” it added. Because Heritage Florida Jewish News has adhered to...

  • Infuriated by the Sarah Halimi ruling, French Jews decry the state's handling of antisemitism

    Cnaan Liphshiz|May 7, 2021

    PARIS (JTA) - A rumble rose from the 20,000 Jewish protesters at Trocadero Square, then exploded into shrill screams. "I don't even know whether to reassure you or cry out my fury," boomed Joel Mergui, president of the Consistoire, the organ of French Jewry responsible for providing Orthodox religious services. "Yes, cry out your fury!" French Jewish events are usually dignified affairs that often end with the singing of the Marseillaise, the French national anthem. But the rally on Sunday...

  • Elie Wiesel's bust will be in the National Cathedral

    Ron Kampeas|May 7, 2021

    WASHINGTON (JTA) - Washington's National Cathedral, known for its role during presidential inaugurations and other days of national import, is honoring Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Laureate and Holocaust memoirist with a bust, making him the first Jew to be so honored. Or maybe not the first, depending on where you sit. "I would say he is the first 20th-century Jewish person," the cathedral's dean, Rev. Randy Hollerith, said when asked how Wiesel came to be the first Jew to earn a sculpted depiction at the cathedral. Asked if he was referring...

  • Oscars 2021: Jewish nominees (nearly) strike out

    Gabe Friedman|May 7, 2021

    (JTA) - It was an unusual Academy Awards in several ways. Forced to adapt to social distancing protocols, the ceremony was split into different venues but mostly took place in Los Angeles' Union Station. For only the second time in history, a woman won best director - and the first woman of color at that, as the award went to Chloe Zhao for "Nomadland," which also won best picture. And then there was Glenn Close's meme-able dance to the self-explanatory 1988 song "Da Butt." Also notable: a very...

  • Baptist-affiliated Oregon university fires Jewish tenured professor who alleged antisemitism

    Ben Sales|May 7, 2021

    (JTA) — Linfield University, a small school in Oregon, has fired a Jewish professor who accused the university president of making antisemitic remarks. Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, a tenured professor who taught English literature, has accused Linfield President Miles K. Davis of making multiple antisemitic remarks in recent years. The antisemitism, he said, was partly a backlash to Pollack-Pelzner demanding that the school do more to address allegations of sexual assault against multiple university trustees, including Davis. Pollack-Pelzner and a...