Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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LOS ANGELES (JTA)-Part "God Bless America," part "Shabbat Shalom," the Fourth of July this year falls on a Friday. In this land of religious freedom, how do we plan to observe both? As the sun sets over the "fruited plain," will we be lighting Shabbat candles and fireworks? How will the Sabbath Queen look in red, white and blue? Those who traditionally observe the Sabbath by not kindling fire surely will take a pass on the "rockets' red glare." But for many U.S. Jews and congregations, the day r...
The bodies of the three Israeli teenagers-Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16-who'd been kidnapped from a hitchhiking post south of Bethlehem on June 12 were found in a field north of Hebron in Judea-Samaria. Reports started coming in from The Algemeiner, Israel's Channel Two and Channel Ten, CNN, The Jerusalem Post and The Jewish Forward around 1 p.m. EDT on Monday, citing sources in the Israeli military. "They were under a pile of rocks in an open field" between Halhul...
They’re divesting from three companies for the crime of selling products to Israel security forces and Jews in Judea and Samaria. “In no way is this a reflection of our lack of love” for the Jewish people. So assured Heath Rada, the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s moderator, at their annual Assembly on Friday, June 20, 2014, moments after his church voted to divest from three companies. Their crime: selling products to Israel security forces and Jews living in Judea and Samaria. Supporters of divestment erupted in tears when the results were re...
NEW YORK-Taglit-Birthright Israel has passed a significant milestone with the designation of the program's 400,000th participant: Ryan Hunter, 20, a student from Syosset, N.Y. (Long Island). By reaching this milestone, Taglit-Birthright Israel turns a corner and has now provided a free heritage trip to half of the young Jewish adults who are eligible every year. Hunter is the group captain for the 'Amazing Israel Lacrosse' Taglit-Birthright Israel special interest group tour, in which he and...
Almost every day, Nadia Matar, 48, steers her battered white SUV along the hilly roads between Jerusalem and Gush Etzion to visit the soldiers stationed at Shdema. The revival of the small former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) army base located on Israeli-controlled land is one of the concrete achievements of Nadia and Yehudit Katsover, 66, her co-chair in the activist Women in Green movement. But Shdema is just the tip of the iceberg in what the women hope to achieve in the larger battle to shift...
The latest anti-Israel trend to gain momentum on college campuses has been the distribution of mock eviction notices in dormitories by members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Whether or not the notices have specifically targeted Jewish students, experts say the tactic highlights the convergence of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism on campus, creating a hostile environment for Jewish students. Over the last two years, the mock eviction notices have appeared on at least a dozen campuses...
Cantor Isaac Kriger has been officially engaged as permanent cantor and spiritual leader for Temple L'Chayim in Clermont. Born in Mexico of Lithuanian descent, Cantor Kriger has officiated as a cantor extensively throughout Central Florida as well as Southern California, Boston and Las Vegas. He has also performed in concert for various Jewish organizations in Central Florida as well as throughout the United States. Kriger's training and experience have given him the ability to daven in both...
Boy Scout Troop 641, the only Jewish-sponsored Boy Scouting Unit in Central Florida, is sending four members to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico July 15. Usher Larry Brown will accompany his son Daniel, and Scoutmaster Mark Kluger will accompany his son Nathan. The four will be part of the Central Florida Council Contingent leaving for a 15-day expedition to the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. The members have trained since August 2013 for their 80-plus mile hike through the mountains, where...
The formulation of the Zionistas, an organization of Christians and Jews who love and support Israel, began over lunch at the Garden Gate Tea Room in Mt. Dora. Owner Karen Sandvick, originally from Norway, spent her earlier years as a photojournalist working for international news organizations. She has been a devoted supporter of Israel since her first assignment to Israel. At the end of June, the doors closed at the Tea Room and the Zionistas lunched there for their last visit on June 25. The...
The recent kidnapping of three Israeli teenage boys by terrorists in Judea and Samaria is an appalling reminder of the cruelty guiding radical elements in the Middle East and of the need for vigilance and solidarity by all those who cherish the sanctity of human life and fundamental values of human rights. I was in Israel the week when the boys were abducted. In fact, I passed very near the spot where it took place the following day. The stark contrast between the humanity and benevolence visibly on display on my visit to Israel and the open...
The Presbyterian Church (USA) symbolically voted in support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) against the State of Israel. The Presbyterian Church’s ideological support of anti-Israel sanctions and divestments is so strong, former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke publicly supports the Presbyterian Church’s anti-Israel and anti-Jewish trajectory. The Presbytery of New Covenat, 221st General Assembly (2014) voted 310-303 to divest their substantial assets from Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions, and Hewlett Packard because of the...
Israeli governments have long recognized the need to tread carefully in pursuit of national security. Greater powers have a limited tolerance for Israel daring to approach what they do in defense of their own interests. Part of the balance is the considerable power of the Israeli military that can threaten any state that would overstep vaguely defined lines. The latest examples of Israeli balance between its security and others’ tolerance have been emerging as Israeli forces seek the three kidnapped young civilians, and do what they can to w...
We are indeed one family. And one that dwells alone. More than two weeks have passed. Naftali Frankel, 16, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19, are still in captivity and all we can do is continue to pray—to pray that they are still alive and to pray that they will soon be reunited with their families, their friends and all those who love them. Initially, I thought my pain was greater than most. Naftali is a cousin. Just a few short weeks ago I celebrated the traditional Yom Ha-Atzmaut Bar-B-Q with him at his home, together with our f...
The newest nonsense from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is its declaration of victory in convincing the Metropolitan Opera to cancel plans for a worldwide simulcast of its production of the American opera The Death of Klinghoffer. Under the terms of the ADL’s compromise with the Met, the show will only be seen by those few who happen to be in New York for the live version and can pay hundreds of dollars per ticket. ADL director Abe Foxman acknowledged that the work, which deals with terrorism, the murder of a Jewish cruise passenger, and t...
The Algemeiner) The State Department’s demand that Israel “exercise restraint” in its search for the Hamas kidnappers makes a mockery of President Obama’s pledge two years ago that he “will always have Israel’s back.” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki declared on June 20 that the Obama Administration is “urging all parties to exercise restraint and avoid steps that could destabilize the situation.” That phrase “all parties” was a thin veneer of even-handedness. Everyone knows the call for “restraint” was aimed at Israel. In fact, Psaki ma...
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) Chabad of South Orlando—Monday and Thursday, 8 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 of Orlando—Monday—Friday, 7:45 a.m.—8:30 a.m. Temple Israel—Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-647-3055. FRIDAY, JULY 4 HAPPY INDEPENDE...
(Israel21c)—As Israel carries on its search for kidnapped teenagers Gil-ad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach, and Naftali Frenkel, Israeli doctors of Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) continue to save the lives of Palestinian children at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon. Since the beginning of Operation Brother’s Keeper, five Palestinian children have undergone life-saving heart surgery at Wolfson, eight Palestinian children were admitted, including two urgent cases brought by ambulances from Judea and Samaria and from Gaza, and 15 children are expected to ar...
(JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Combat Engineering Corps uncovered numerous secret underground compartments in Palestinian homes during the course of the ongoing search for three Israeli teens kidnapped in Judea and Samaria. Engineering Corps special forces discovered the secret compartments in various locations, in one case under a washing machine. Israeli troops have also uncovered more than a dozen explosives laboratories, the IDF said. “We were not surprised, but the number [we discovered] is not what you see every day,” an off...
"Some of My Best Friends, A Journey Through Twenty-First Century Antisemitism," by Ben Cohen. Edition Critic (May 2014). 230 pages. JNS.org columnist Ben Cohen's new book, "Some of My Best Friends, A Journey Through Twenty-First Century Anti-Semitism," is a collection and analysis of previously published essays, reporting, and commentary that meticulously capture the current climate of anti-Semitism around the world. Throughout a turbulent, modern decade dominated by war and economic...
A Jewish upbringing taught Paul Shaffer, David Letterman's musical director and sidekick for 32 years, the value of giving back. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Shaffer served as musical director for "The Concert for New York City," and in 2012 he accompanied Adam Sandler in "12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief," a fundraiser for people affected by Hurricane Sandy. He was also the national spokesman for Epilepsy Canada. "My mother taught by example," Shaffer said in an interview with...
For most Westerners, Iraq is a foreboding and dangerous place that is filled with extremists and daily violence. Yet as little as 75 years ago Iraq was a vibrant country that was home to many different ethnic and religious minorities, including large Jewish and Christian populations. But the latest round of violence spearheaded by the jihadist terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is driving through the heart of Iraq to the capital of Baghdad and inflicting...
Happy Fourth of July!... How lucky we are to live in this glorious country, the United States of America. As a second generation American (I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.; My mom was born in Montreal, Canada, but came here as a child; My dad was born in Brooklyn, New York) I realize what my ancestors suffered, coming from Ukraine, Russia and Poland. Because they fled when they did, I and my offspring enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) a life of freedom and happiness! Unfortunately, not everyone can feel this way. Friendly neighbors?... Here are some...
NEW YORK—“Pew-ish,” an unusual new project to expand the conversation about Jewish identity, especially among unaffiliated Jews, launched with a special dramatic production of 10 new plays on June 26 at the Loft at Judson Memorial Church in New York. Participating playwrights include Bekah Brunsetter (ABC’s Switched at Birth, upcoming “Cutie and Bear” at Roundabout Theatre), Jonathan Caren (“The Recommendation” at the Flea) and Anna Ziegler (“Photograph 51” at Theatre J). Additional playwrights include Matthew-Lee Erlbach (“Eager to Lose” at Ar...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-At 3:30 Shavuot morning, more than 100 people are seated on folding chairs singing in Yiddish as men walk around with shots of vodka and cups of coffee. Up front, a man in a black frock coat and black hat is belting out the notes, his eyes closed. Except for the live instruments and free mingling of men and women, the scene would have been common in any of the many haredi Orthodox communities of Jerusalem. But in a room at City Hall in Tel Aviv, Israel's historically secular...
Entertainer Penny D'Agostino graced the residents of Conway Lakes, a Jewish Pavilion sponsor, with a show of old favorites and Broadway tunes. The residents, staff and Jewish Pavilion volunteers sang along with D'Agostino as she provided the words on the big screen TV creating a great afternoon program for everyone....
