Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 26 - 37 of 37
(JNS) — The four hostages rescued on Saturday after eight months in Gaza captivity are in a “state of severe malnutrition,” according to a doctor who treated them upon their return to Israel. “They have been physically and mentally abused for a long time. They are all in a state of severe malnutrition, although it does not appear that way to them,” Dr. Itay Pessach, director of the Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, told Channel 12 on Monday. During “Operation Arnon,” Israeli forces rescued the four...
(JNS) — The Biden administration has talked about negotiating a unilateral deal for the release of five Americans held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, NBC News reported on Monday. The talks wouldn’t include Israel and would take place via Qatari mediators, two current senior U.S. officials and two former ones told NBC. One of the current officials called it a “very real option.” The five American hostages were abducted on Oct. 7 when the terror group invaded Israel. They are Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Omer Neutra and Kei...
(JNS) - The National Library of Israel in Jerusalem announced on Wednesday the acquisition of a one-of-a-kind manuscript, "Mezukak Shivatayim," whose title means "Distilled Sevenfold" in Hebrew. An encyclopedic work that "distills" and blends halachah (Jewish law), theology, and Aristotelian and medieval philosophy, the treatise is one of those few rare books representing the now lost Jewish community of Provence and its unique way of life. During the late 13th and early 14th centuries, a vast...
(JNS) — Five days after U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled a multi-stage outline for a hostage release deal and ceasefire, debate within Israel has intensified over the costs and merits of the plan, as well as the extent to which Biden’s claim that this is an Israeli proposal reflects reality. Biden’s three-staged proposal envisages a temporary truce lasting six weeks to enable the release of tens of Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners, and a return of Gaza civilians to the north of the Strip. This would...
(JNS) — When the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization designated the “Saint Catherine Area” as a World Heritage Site in 2002, UNESCO noted that the Greek Orthodox monastery “stands at the foot of Mount Horeb where, the Old Testament records, Moses received the Tablets of the Law.” “The mountain is known and revered by Muslims as Jebel Musa. The entire area is sacred to three world religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism,” the U.N. agency adds. “The monastery, founded in the sixth century, is the oldest Christia...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — One day before their university’s president was due to appear before Congress, hundreds of Jewish Rutgers University staff and students decried what they described as an intimidating campus environment for Jews. “The entire university community has suffered through the disruption of normal university operations and an often chaotic and intimidating environment on our campuses,” said one letter released Wednesday by Rutgers Jewish Faculty, Administrators, and Staff, with 208 signatures. A separate letter from close to 160 Jew...
Yvette Wentziger Bressler, 85, passed away peacefully in Winter Park, Fla., on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Yvette born Aug. 12, 1938, to Simone and Francoise Wentziger in Paris, France. She graduated from Girls Latin High School 1956 and attended Mary Brooks College for interior decor, both in Boston. She married her husband of 60 years, Sidney W. Bressler, in 1960 in Cambridge, Mass., after meeting at their place of work at Gilchrist Department Store in Boston. In 1959, Yvette moved to Orlando, to b...
Mrs. Carol Ann Strasberg, 77, passed away peacefully Saturday, May 25, 2024, at her Longwood, Florida home following a brief illness. Mrs. Strasberg was born Jan. 9, 1947, in Sharon, Pennsylvania to the late Gerald and Nancy (Jordan) McDaniel of blessed memory. Mrs. Strasberg was a retired stewardess for Eastern Airlines. Mrs. Straberg is survived by her devoted husband of 51 years, James “Jim” Strasberg of Longwood, Florida; loving son, Jordan Strasberg of Orlando, Florida; beloved sister, Bar...
Herzog hosts families of IDF spotters kidnapped by Hamas (JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal on Tuesday hosted the families of five female Israel Defense Forces soldiers who were kidnapped from the IDF Field Observers base in Nahal Oz by Hamas on Oct. 7. Karina Ariev, Liri Albag, Daniela Gilboa, Naama Levy and Agam Berger have been held captive in Gaza ever since. Last month, The Hostages and Missing Families Forum released video footage of their abduction filmed by the terrorists themselves. During the meeting, the H...
(JTA) — Columbia University has settled a lawsuit brought against it by a Jewish student alleging a hostile environment as a result of the pro-Palestinian encampment movement. The settlement is a major development in Jewish groups’ efforts to hold universities accountable in light of a reported increase in campus antisemitism since Oct. 7. As part of the settlement, Columbia has promised to provide walking escorts and safe campus entrances at all hours of the day, as well as accommodations for students who were unable to complete exams owi...
By (JTA) - Many people know Barbra Streisand as the awkward Jewish girl from Brooklyn who grew up to become one of the best-selling recording artists of all time - and an award-winning actor, director, producer, author, screenwriter and songwriter. Fewer may know that Streisand is a philanthropist, advocate and activist whose charity has transformed the lives of thousands in the United States, Israel and Eastern Europe. Over the past 37 years, the Streisand Foundation has poured tens of...
(JNS) — U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that Israel has accepted the ceasefire proposal President Joe Biden revealed on Friday, and that “the ball is in Hamas’s court.” “We are waiting for a response from Hamas,” said Sullivan. He acknowledged that the terror group in Gaza might well choose to continue the conflict instead. “That wouldn’t be terribly out of character for a vicious and brutal terror group, but what we hope they do in the end is see that the best pathway to an end to this war, the return of all t...