Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Wednesday July 2nd, the Jewish community came together to mourn the loss of the three Israeli teens who had been kidnapped on June 12th. Eighteen days after their disappearance, the bodies of Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Frenkel, were discovered Monday, June 30th. Communities around the world responded with prayer services, letters of condolence to the families and memorials. Here in Orlando, The Jewish Federation, JCRC and GOBOR came together to plan a memorial service. Ina Porth,...
MODIIN, Israel (JTA)-They were their mothers' sons. They were all of our sons. They were dear boys. They were martyrs for Israel. They were funny, clever, creative. They are the messengers of the Jewish people in heaven. The joint funeral Tuesday of Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach provided a capstone to a harrowing ordeal that over 18 days united Israelis in hope and prayer. When the teens were found dead Monday night, their bodies lying half exposed in a field near Hebron, the...
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched "Operation Protective Edge" in Gaza after at least 80 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel on Monday night. Above Netivot and Ashdod, the Iron Dome missile defense system shot down 12 rockets. In Ashdod, residents fled for shelter as rocket sirens sounded throughout the city, and eight people were injured. Beersheba-Israel's largest southern city-and Ofakim were also subjected to Gaza rocket fire, with most of those rockets either striking open...
Emerging from the chaos of the Syrian civil war, the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has gained the world’s attention for its brutal medieval-style Islamic justice and its swift victories in Iraq, threatening to overrun the weak U.S.-backed government there. But now ISIS is also setting its sights on Jordan, threatening to drag Israel into the global jihadist conflict. “They are a vicious and brutal group, and have even done some things that al-Qaeda thought were unwise,” Elliot Abrams, who served as deputy natio...
NEW YORK (JTA) - What does a fervent religious movement do after the death of its singular leader? That was the existential question the Chabad-Lubavitch movement faced 20 years ago this week when its charismatic rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, died with no heir. Amid the grief and turbulence following his 1994 death, many believed Chabad would be torn apart by those who believed it should proclaim its departed rebbe as the messiah and those who didn't, or that the messianists would doom the...
By Linda Gradstein The Media Line JERUSALEM—Three of the six young Israelis who were arrested for the murder of 16-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khdeir have confessed to the killing and have cooperated in a reenactment for police in the Jerusalem forest where the body was found. The murder has sparked outrage in Israel, both because of the brutality of the act — Abu Khdeir was reportedly burned to death — and because, according to media reports, the killers are ultra-Orthodox Jews. “The hand that did this murder is impure,” Rabbi Benny Lau...
This year marked the 19th anniversary of the Holocaust Center's annual Teachers Institute. Teachers at every grade level, and in every discipline, were invited to participate in this five-day institute designed to assist them in incorporating Holocaust Education in their classroom as required by Florida Statutes, Chapter 1003.42. Nearly two dozen teachers, from five various school counties, and local community residents enrolled in this year's program. The week-long program, which began June...
Rabbi Karen Allen of Congregation Beth Sholom will lead a Torah Roundtable on July 24 at 11 a.m. at the Sumter County Administration Building (with the golden dome) at 7375 Powell Rd. (near Pinellas Plaza and 466A), Wildwood. The roundtable provides a unique opportunity to talk with the rabbi as she leads an informal and interactive discussion focusing on topics of contemporary Jewish interest suggested by the Torah portion of the week. The public is also invited to join us for our Saturday morning service at 10 a.m. on July 26. A Kiddush...
The 31st annual Beat-the-Heat 5K JCC Road Race is happening Thursday, Aug. 7. It will start and finish at Maitland's Roth JCC, 851 N. Maitland Ave. This legendary (non-chipped) event benefits the Roth JCC. Startint time is 7 p.m. and finishes at 9 p.m. The cost is $23, which includes entry, race T-shirt, and post-race pizza pool party (ever swim in pizza?) Registrations made on the day of the race in person will be $28. For more information, contact Royal Webster, 407-645-593...
By Gary Bretton-Granatoor NEW YORK (JTA) — The Jewish world has been shaken by the decision of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to divest from three companies that it claims “further the Israeli occupation of Palestine.” The denomination has placed itself squarely on the side of the divestment movement that seeks to hold Israel solely to blame for the plight of the Palestinian people. It did so, furthermore, over the opposition of many Presbyterian pastors and lay leaders. Despite protests to the contrary by the denomination’s leaders, the chu...
One of the most important, but least-reported stories connected to the recent kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers by Palestinian terrorists is the discovery of numerous terrorist tunnels and weapons depots in areas ruled by the “peaceful” Palestinian Authority. The conventional wisdom is that Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas is a “moderate” who opposes terrorism and wants to make peace with Israel. PA spokesmen have assured Western reporters that they oppose the Hamas terrorists and were “cooperating” with Israel in the search...
Things have escalated in the south to the point where the IDF is now pursuing an “operation.” The Hebrew word touches more buttons than the official English translation, “Protective edge.” Alternative translations that might touch different buttons, are “Strong rock” “Impregnable rock,” or “Impregnable fortress.” In IDF parlance, a named operation is less than a war, but more than a limited response to a limited attack. Yesterday saw more than 80 missiles fired toward Israel. As usual, the vast majority landed on empty land. IDF responses--more...
Yit’gadal v’yit’kadash sh’mei raba... May His great Name grow exalted and sanctified How do parents standing at the gravesite of teenage children say this in the spirit in which it is meant? Having been there myself the only option is to draw strength from the three Fs, family, friends and faith so that in the face of indescribable tragedy one can still sincerely affirm one’s faith in the Almighty. b’al’ma di v’ra khir’utei... in the world that He created as He willed. Is this really the plan that God had for the world he created and willed? Or...
After receiving the bitter news about the murder of the three kidnapped boys, a cloud of mourning has descended upon the entire Jewish nation. The only bit of consolation is that probably they did not suffer much, and that now they are attached to the Almighty’s mantle, in a closeness of everlasting fondness and permanent remembrance before Him. They are now in eternal rest, but we are here with our grieving and our questions. Many ask: What about all our prayers and supplications to God that now we know were said in vain, since they were alrea...
Dear Editor: In the last few hours, it has come to light that Jewish criminals were behind the brutal murder of Mohammed Abu Khedair. While they have admitted their crime and are cooperating with the investigation, it is now clear that this was a clear act of terrorism and their shame and dishonor is our own. We, Israelis and members of the Jewish People worldwide, must look at this as a watershed event that causes us to redouble our efforts at education to actively and absolutely eradicating the kind of thinking that might lead others to...
Dear Editor: I was instrumental in establishing the “Israeli National Skin Bank,” which is the largest in the world. The National Skin Bank stores skin for everyday needs as well as for war time or mass casualty situations. This skin bank is hosted at the Hadassah Ein Kerem University hospital in Jerusalem where I was the chairman of plastic surgery. This is how I was asked to supply skin for an Arab woman from Gaza , who was hospitalized in Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, after her family burned her. Usually, such atrocities happen among Ara...
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 11 Light Shabba...
JNS.org– The full recording of the emergency call made by one of the kidnapped Israeli teens was released on July 2. On the recording, the murderers can be heard singing in celebration in Arabic, saying “Three!” after gunshots that presumably killed the teens were fired. The 2-minute, 9-second recording was published on the Ynet website. On Tuesday, the first 49 seconds of the call were released by Israeli police. In that portion of the call, a voice, identified as Gilad Shaar by his father, Ofir, says in a whispering voice to police, “They...
“One of the abducted youths put up a serious fight against his captors,” a source connected to the forensic examinations of the bodies of the three teens, told Israel’s Walla News on June 30. The families of Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frankel, 16, eulogized their sons in separate ceremonies in their communities, Elad, Talmon, and Nof Ayalon. Yifrach “died a hero,” his grandfather Ezra, said in his eulogy. “He didn’t go like a lamb to the slaughter,” he said, according to The Times of Israel. All three youths had “glorified...
Harvey Arnowitz passed away on June 19, 2014. He was 91 years old. Brooklyn born to first-generation Americans, Sam and Freda, Mr. Arnowitz grew up with his brothers Paul and Zuckie in an idyllic neighborhood. He was a devout Dodgers fan along with everyone else. His grandmother made sure to take play-by-play notes during the day games so the boys could catch up on the action when they got home. He was a kind young man with a great sense of humor and knack for tinkering. He even rigged up a wheelchair to help his grandfather. He just wanted to...
The "Seeking Kin" column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA) - The regular phone calls stopped, the letters went unanswered. For Lily Kraut, living in Judea and Samaria, communication with her mother, Regina Ament, all but ceased in late 2008 after the latter suffered a stroke. Then last late November, Kraut heard the terrible news – her mother had died in Florida several months earlier. This week, she will observe the first yahrzeit, the Hebrew anniversary o...
Washington Jewish Week Religious freedom, family values, fiscal policy, and Israel were the primary drivers of discussion as faith activists and Republican politicians recently gathered in Washington, DC for the Road to Majority 2014 conference, put on by the conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition. Despite the group’s reputation as being mostly focused on evangelical Christians, Jewish speakers, pundits, and issues were prominent on the agenda, as was quoting the Old Testament, an apparent nod to the broad range of inclusion that the group c...
I'm very bitter... And well I should be! Surely among the six million Jews slaughtered in the Holocaust by Hitler's Nazis (while much of the world looked away and did nothing) were many very gifted people. I feel certain there would have been all kinds of inventions to better our lives; we could have had cures for many of today's ills as well. For instance, all kinds of cancers; kidney and liver diseases; diabetes; blood diseases, etc. I also feel certain that global warming issues could have be...
(JTA)—Leaders of the Czech Jewish community criticized a local film festival’s decision to honor actor and director Mel Gibson. Gibson was due to receive a lifetime achievement award last Friday at the Karlovy Vary film festival. But the Czech Federation of Jewish Communities said in a statement July 3 that Gibson was unworthy of the honor both because of a 2006 drunken anti-Semitic rant and because of his controversial 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ,” which some critics had called anti-Semitic. The federation called the film “one of...
BALTIMORE (JTA) – As director of professional scouting and baseball development for the Oakland Athletics, Dan Feinstein scouts amateur players, evaluates the organization's talent, is involved in contract negotiations and arbitration cases, ponders trades and analyzes potential free agent signees. His varied portfolio is news to at least one of the team's players. "I don't doubt that he does a lot, and has done a lot, for the organization, but I don't know to what extent," catcher Derek N...
