Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 35
(JNS) - Atop a nearly barren mountain ridge at the tip of southeastern Gush Etzion, with breathtaking views overlooking the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea, two American immigrants are building an oasis - a working organic farm and spiritual retreat center - with the hope of turning the site into a global tourist destination. Meet Ari Abramowitz and Jeremy Gimpel. Both are rabbis, former Israeli Defense Forces' soldiers, best friends and business partners, who combined their life savings and move...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - House Democrats have put together a letter that they hope will unite their entire caucus in warning Israel against annexation of part of the West Bank. The letter, now circulating among the party's House caucus and obtained exclusively by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, warns Israel about the dangers annexation would pose to Israelis and to the region. But it does not hint at any danger to the U.S.-Israel relationship and restates the signers' commitment to the relationship....
(JNS) -The student senate at Florida State University voted on June 18 not to remove its new president, despite his past anti-Semitic posts. The final tally was not disclosed. Ahmad Daraldik was selected by the Florida State University Student Senate to replace its previous president, Jack Denton, who was accused of racism. Along those lines, Daraldik faced calls to step down after screenshots surfaced of past anti-Semitic posts. "Being in a position of power presented Ahmad the opportunity to...
Local resident Donna Render wrote a letter to FSU President Thrasher about student president Ahmad Daraldik. She is encouraging others to email him as well. “Ahmad should be expelled and nothing less,” Render said. “A message has to be sent here. Anti-Semitism on campuses have become much too common and the media largely remains quiet. We need to speak out and say this is unacceptable.” Feel free to cut and paste her message below or write your own. President Thrasher’s email address is president@fsu.edu. Dear President Thrasher, It has come...
Hundreds of tickets have already been sold in an online raffle benefiting UCF Chabad's vital work enhancing Jewish life at UCF and Valencia. All of the proceeds gleaned from the $36 tickets will go directly to fund programming; including a grand prize of $10,000, a second prize of two tickets to Israel and various other prizes. The last few months as we are all dealing with the effects of the COVID-19, UCF Chabad has once again seen how vital their work is with the student community. Now more...
Rabbi E. Arnold Siegel is always available to local individuals and families who need a rabbi’s guidance and perspective. It’s a time in our lives that isn’t easy for anyone, and we all go through at some point. When a loved one or even we ourselves get sick or approach the end of life, an essential part of what we need is a listening presence and a voice of hope and healing. That is exactly what JFS Orlando’s Rabbi Siegel provides. Some of the comments from those Rabbi Siegel has helped:...
Jewish Pavilion volunteers Meril Salzburg, Jill Cousins Levy and Peri Goldberg miss senior resident Ruth. The weekly mahjong games may be on hold, but the friendships are still there. Consistent letter writing and phone calls hopefully keep Ruth smiling through this pandemic. Several other friends of Ruth are also reaching out to her on a regular basis. The love of the game of mahjong may have brought these ladies together but now the love of Ruth is what keeps them all staying with her,...
(JNS) - The Jewish Democratic Council of America has affirmed that it will not support Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in her upcoming primary, but did not provide a endorsement to her chief primary opponent, progressive Antone Melton-Meaux. Omar is set to face Melton-Meaux, who has been critical of Omar's anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements, in an Aug. 11 primary for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District. When asked by JNS about whether JDCA would be taking on Omar, executive director Halie...
(JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League, along with the NAACP and other civil rights groups, is calling on corporations not to advertise on Facebook in July because of the social media platform’s unwillingness to police hate speech. The campaign, which launches Wednesday with a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times, charges that Facebook has not done enough to combat hate and disinformation on its platform. It points to CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s repeated refusal to moderate posts for misinformation, even as extremists have used the platform to incit...
(JTA) — They protested the mayor’s decision to keep the parks closed on Sunday. By Monday, they vowed to cut the chains of the park gates themselves if Mayor Bill de Blasio didn’t accede to their requests. In a tweet Monday evening, New York State Sen. Simcha Felder said he and two other Orthodox lawmakers, City Councilman Kalman Yeger and state Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, would open the parks themselves if the mayor refused to do so. “We’ve asked nicely and waited patiently. We’ve made every logical argument. The people have spoken and the...
In addition to Donna Render starting an email letter campaign against the newly elected Student Senate president, Ahmad Daraldik, there is also a petition started by Alums for Campus Fairness. The petition calls for Daraldik to step down from his position or for his impeachment, and for FSU to take the necessary steps to counter anti-Semitism. These include the Student Senate affirming and recognizing the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, and the mandatory anti-racism training for student government members and other university leaders. Alums...
(JNS) — In the weeks since the brutal and unjustified killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, America has been undergoing what The New York Times approvingly called a “reckoning” that marks a fundamental shift in attitudes about race. But the onset of this surge of public soul-searching and consciousness-raising about race has brought with it a trend that is deeply troubling. The heightened sensitivity about racism has led not merely to an epidemic of insincere virtue signaling about racism. It’s also brought about a flood o...
Well, hello there! I suppose you’re wondering why I’m writing after all this time. Let’s do a Cliff Notes: Got sick in February of 2019. Three weeks in the hospital after a misdiagnosis. Lost 16 pounds. Recuperated at home. Rachel and I could not maintain the apartment while I healed. So, we moved. We spent two months with son Tom and daughter Pam in N.J. (Tip: Avoid living with relatives, even those you love with whom you really get along). So Rachel and I moved to New Orleans, home of son Adam and granddaughter Bar. NOLA is, well, diffe...
I know it is late in the game for a courageous national political leader to emerge and challenge Donald J. Trump and Joe Biden for the presidency. However, a survey of states with registration deadlines to be on the Nov. 3, 2020, ballot reveals that except for about three minor electoral-vote states the registration deadline has not passed, with most states having qualification dates in July, August and in one case September, to be on the printed ballot. Since January, the somewhat mercurial president has descended into increasing...
(JNS) — Donald Trump was elected four years ago because Americans wanted to save their country. Both in domestic and foreign policy, in the eighth year of Barack Obama’s presidency, America was going off the rails. At home, Obama’s identity politics were tearing the country apart. As is now graphically apparent, identity politics are not about expanding justice. They are geared toward tearing Americans away from one another and undermining the very idea of America. Abroad, America had become the laughingstock of its enemies and the worst night...
NEW YORK (JTA) — As a biracial Jew, there is an expectation that I must have something to say in this historic moment. Unlike at any other time in my life, people are treating my opinion as though it deserves a stage, or a glass case for passersby to take in as they walk through a new exhibition on the lives of various “Jews of Color.” When I tell people that I do not have much to say about my experience as a “Jew of Color,” I see faces drop just a smidge. I sense that people want to hear about the time I was rejected because of the color of...
Dear Editor: Two writers who obviously represent the 71 percent of the “Jewish” voters who, like them, are totally oblivious to the actions of President Trump because they merely reflect the biased narratives recited by the biased media, which led to prolonged, expensive persecution of this elected president for non-existing crimes. Despite the exhaustive preoccupation with reversing the will of the people by Democrats who will never recover from their frustration over the lost election, President Trump has devoted his unlimited energy to ful...
(JNS) — The Republican Jewish Coalition announced on Tuesday that it will not endorse or support a candidate in a safely Republican district in Georgia who is leading in fundraising, as she has trafficked in conspiracy theories and posed for photos with a former neo-Nazi leader. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a businesswoman, has posed for photos with former Ku Klux Klan leader Chester Doles, posted them on social media and shared conspiracy theories about the Rothschild banking family, left-wing billionaire George Soros and factions of Saudi A...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, all minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) 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...
This is the second article in a four-part series about the Puerto Rican Jews living in Central Florida and their history. Following the Spanish-American War, in 1898, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States, after which Jews were allowed to live openly. However, there were practically no Jews on the island. After the war, a small number of Jewish American soldiers remained on the island many of whom worked in Puerto Rico's government bureaucracy. They helped create the legal and court...
(JNS) - Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom Mark Regev discussed Israel's relations with Britain and its neighbors during a webinar on Thursday, his last livestreamed event before ending his five-year term as ambassador. Regev, who has served in the Israeli foreign ministry for more than three decades, began the online discussion, hosted by the pro-Israel organization StandWithUs, by voicing support for Israel's move to apply sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria. "All Israeli...
What makes one person tick is totally subjective, but science confirms that people are hard-wired to respond to music. It lifts moods, eases pain and triggers powerful emotions. Some songs become so popular that they transcend their original meaning. Take "I've Been Working on the Railroad" - today it's known as a popular children's folk song, but the origins of its lyrics lie in caricaturing Black dialect, and it makes light of the abusive and exploitive conditions endured by Black laborers....
The RAISE program for young 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...
(JUF News via JTA) - When Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jason B. Rosenthal first got married, they brainstormed long-term marriage goals. Some that made the list: "Get dressed up and go on dates," "Record our kids' voices every year" and "Whenever we sign something 'Amy & Jason,' we both sign our name." The Chicago Jewish couple lived by their rules in an almost fairy tale-like marriage for more than two decades. But in 2015, their marriage took a devastating turn when Amy was diagnosed with ovarian...
About the "new" normal... In a very short time, COVID-19 has changed almost everything in life, the way we interact with one another, the way we work (or don't work), the way we play and shop, and even the way we think about the future. But in the midst of the crisis, certain things have remained the same: our concern for each other, our gratitude to our supporters, and our commitment to the animals we care for. I love you, Chloe. Happening around the world... I read this in the World Jewish Con...
