Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - Israel's 36th government passed a vote of confidence at a special Knesset session on Sunday night with Yamina Party leader Naftali Bennett sworn in as the country's 13th prime minister. Bennett has replaced now-former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held the position for the past 12 years and who served another three years prior to that, from 1996 to 1999, making him the longest-serving premier in Israel's history. With the transfer of power, Netanyahu became the head of the...
Tampa, FL — Tuesday afternoon, more than 1,200 people participated in a Town Hall Briefing on antisemitism organized by seven Florida Jewish federations (Orlando, Tampa, Gulf Coast, Sarasota/Manatee, Lee/Charlotte, Greater Naples and AJC West Coast Florida). This was assembled in response to the recent vandalizing of the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg on May 27. St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said, “The Florida Holocaust Museum was vandalized by a person or group on May 27, 2021 with antisemitic /racially biased gra...
Everyone knows the game where people sit in a circle and one person whispers something in the ear of the next person. The message is then passed on around the group. Nine times out of 10, the message ends up completely changed, portions deleted or information exaggerated. Such is what happened at Trader Joe's about a month ago. This is what happened. A woman, who will remain anonymous, but I will call "Carol," was checking out of the Trader Joe's in Dr. Phillips. She was engaged in pleasant smal...
(JNS) - Mansour Abbas, head of the Israel's Ra'am Party, said on Sunday that he would "reclaim the lands that were expropriated from our people." In a mostly-Arabic speech before the Knesset plenum ahead of the swearing-in of Israel's 36 government, Abbas called the reclamation of those lands a "national cause of the first order." Abbas switched to Hebrew toward the end of the speech to criticize remarks made earlier before the plenum by outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who...
On a hot morning in early June, I met with Grandparent Program participants Isa Vogel and Rebekah McNarney, age 9, as Isa was hosting a lovely brunch for her adopted 'granddaughter,' Rebekah and her mother, Lauren. Sitting together at Isa's table was a newly freeing experience after the isolation of COVID and a complete lack of visitors. Delicious homemade food was served by Isa, and the conversation flowed easily. The isolation felt by Isa and many of our seniors was intensified by the death of...
The Orange County Sheriff's Office has designated the Rosen JCC a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community. This designation was earned after the staff completed the required training on how to manage LGBTQ+ individuals who come to the facility feeling they are in danger. The Rosen JCC recognizes many in the LGBTQ+ community struggle with discrimination and acceptance. They want to provide a safe space for those who need a place to go for protection. The Rosen JCC is proud to be a place the...
The Jewish Pavilion is hosting a soiree on July 11 from 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at Dillard’s department store in Altamonte Springs. The store will close early to the public on Sunday to host the first Jewish Pavilion Summer Soiree. “Our partnership for the fashion show was so successful, we wanted to have another great event and open it up to everyone,” said Nancy Ludin, CEO of the Jewish Pavilion. Shoppers will enjoy hors d’oeurves, desserts, signature drink cocktails, wine and craft beers, and entertainment as they shop. There will also be demo...
The RAISE program for adults with special needs is now accepting online applications for a limited number of fall positions. RAISE is a 6- to 12-month work and social skills training program offered through the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando that is open to all faiths and provides paid employment at our partnering Jewish agencies. In addition, RAISE assists our employees in the transition to finding employment in the community. If you know a young adult who may benefit from RAISE or you are interested in volunteering as a Job Coach,...
(JNS) — Pro-Israel America announced 30 congressional endorsements for the 2022 election cycle on Tuesday. The bipartisan PAC endorsed 15 Democrats and 15 Republicans in total, which the group says are “proven leaders on issues related to the U.S.-Israel relationship and who are running for re-election next year.” Pro-Israel America endorsed 12 Senate candidates, including Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mike Crapo (R-Ind.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), John Hoeve...
(JTA) — Bestselling authors Elin Hilderbrand and Casey McQuiston removed references to Anne Frank and Israel from their novels this week following an outcry on social media from small subsets of readers. The moves have ignited a storm of controversy in the literary world. The campaigns against the books have been successful despite appearing to be relatively small in size, and originate from wildly different perspectives on Jews and Israel. One takes the authors to task for a joke perceived as antisemitic, while the other objects to the mere m...
(JNS) — Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Gilad Erdan met with senior leadership of the Associated Press on Monday in New York, where he told the media outlet that Hamas was using the Gaza media tower to jam Iron Dome batteries in Israel. “The unit was developing an electronic jamming system to be used against the Iron Dome defense system,” said Erdan, officially informing for the first time why Hamas operating in that building posed such an imminent threat to Israeli civilians and was prioritized by the Israel...
Hours before a vote to oust him, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly accused President Joe Biden of endangering Israel’s security by taking a soft line on Iran. He also compared Biden’s Iran policy to the refusal of the U.S. to bomb the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944. Netanyahu said that the Biden administration had asked him to keep their disagreements on Iran private, Axios reported, but that he refused to do so, valuing his hard line on Iran over smooth relations with the United States. The prime minister dep...
(JNS) — Perhaps to non-Israeli followers of Israeli politics, soon-to-be-king Naftali Bennett is doing what is only natural for a politician: making the best deal possible, while extricating the country from a political quagmire that has lasted for more than two years. Indeed, Bennett campaigned to be Israel’s prime minister, and this is precisely what he’s achieving. So why are there protesters outside the homes of Knesset members Ayelet Shaked, Bennett’s No. 2, and Nir Orbach, sixth on Bennett’s “right-wing” Knesset list? Why do polls show...
It was exactly 20 years ago. My wife and I were attending a Shabbat dinner in Madrid on June 1st when someone gave us the news. A suicide bomber had struck a seaside discotheque, the Dolphinarium, in Tel Aviv. There were reportedly many casualties. The final death toll was 21 youngsters, ages 14-25. They were mostly Russian-speaking immigrants out for a night of fun. Another 100 people were wounded. The terrorist was armed and sent by Hamas. His aim was to kill as many Israelis, as many Jews, as possible. His father, upon hearing the news, prou...
(JNS) — According to a May 29 report in The Hill, U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) is in the final stage of preparing a motion to censure Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) over concerns about her extremist views. Schneider said that the basis of his censure is “the failure of her party to call her out, to condemn her and to isolate her.” Multiple media outlets reported in February, however, that 11 Republicans voted with Democrats in favor of removing Greene from her committee seats. It would appear, then, that the heavy lifting has in fact...
(JNS) — In 1992, Israeli Labor Party leader Yitzhak Rabin came to power with an overwhelming 44 seats against the Likud’s 32. Then-Likud chairman Yitzhak Shamir suffered a major defeat and subsequently resigned. This was when Benjamin Netanyahu won the Likud leadership contest. Rabin built a coalition with the brand-new Meretz Party (12 seats), which was a merger of three parties (Ratz, Shinui and Mapam) and the religious Shas Party (six seats) to reach 62 in the 120-seat Knesset. “Oslo I” saw the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza St...
On March 28, 2021, three student organizations from the University of Miami Law School — the South/West Asian and North African Law Students Association, the Black Law Students Associations, and Miami Law National Lawyers Guild — welcomed Ahmad Abuznaid and Philip Agnew to speak about the Black social justice movement in the U.S. and Palestinians’ activism against “apartheid.” Abuznaid and Agnew are co-founders of the Dream Defenders, an organization founded after the killing of Trayvon Martin to promote “transformative justice,” socialist ide...
Whether you like Prime Minister Netanyahu or not, you cannot deny that during his 12 years in the premiership Israel has advanced technologically, financially, and influentially on the world stage. By all accounts, and obviously last month not withstanding, it was a time of relative security in Israel. You also cannot look at the coalition voted in and not see that his leadership was divisive and not supported by the vast majority of Israelis (if you’re concerned about my use of the word ‘vast’ I direct you to the latest voting results … or tho...
Dear Editor: Aside from the well-informed and intellectual analysis of relevant facts by Mel Pearlman, the Heritage reported the narrative-oriented nonsense of Mr. Shipley, the affinity of the BLM for Palestinian terrorism and the petition of 90 “Rabbinical” no-nothing students who want to kiss the lower anatomy of all critics of Israel and the Jewish people. Who pays the tuition for these future “spiritual leaders” of uninformed Jewish communities? J-Street billionaires? I do not really understand what Mr. Shipley wants Jews to do, but I d...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, some minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) 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. Congr...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — The years of archaeological excavations Israel has conducted on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City have yielded no proof that a Jewish Temple ever existed in the city, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told Al Jazeera on Monday. When asked about current tensions in Jerusalem, Shtayyeh said that Jerusalem was at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “Since 1967 and the occupation of the West Bank, Israel has carried out a series of excavations underneath al-Aqsa mosque which haven...
(JTA) - Shira Haas, the Israeli actress who vaulted into superstardom with her roles in the TV series "Shtisel" and "Unorthodox," has a track record of playing multifaceted characters. Nonetheless, she faced unprecedented challenges when making the new film "Asia," which dominated last year's Ophir Awards (the Israeli equivalent to the Oscars), was in the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival last November, and is seeing a U.S. release this week. In the starkly photographed, minimalist film, Haas...
(JNS) - They're baaaaack! If you're in Israel this month, you can't miss the clusters of them downing falafel on Jerusalem's Ben-Yehuda Street, cooling off in the Dead Sea, climbing Masada at sunrise or slipping prayers between the stones of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. After more than a year of pandemic silence, the Birthrighters have returned with all the gusto of young adults who'd waited out the year of coronavirus restrictions with visions of Israel dancing in their heads. Take Conor...
(JNS) — One week to the day after the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg was vandalized, hundreds gathered on Thursday to say no to anti-Semitism and stand up for the Jewish community. It was back on May 27 that graffiti, including a swastika and the words “The Jews are guilty,” was discovered painted on the outside of the museum. It came amid an upswing in anti-Semitic incidents worldwide — many related to Israel’s recent conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip — and St. Petersburg...
I need laughter. (We all do!) ... I recently saw on television (naturally) a television special. ROBERT KLEIN (and his harmonica and jokes) was the star. I also saw Don Rickles (super funny!) And one of my very favorites, JERRY SEINFELD. I tried to never miss a show of his (and still don't!) And, speaking of funny, I miss Joan Rivers. I knew her and have been told I sometimes sound like her (when I don't clear my throat) probably because we were both born in Brooklyn. TikTok, SAID MY CLOCK ......
