Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS)-Several camp counselors from Habonim Dror were present at an IfNotNow Jewish summer camp counselor training session in Boston on May 27. An organization that seeks to promote sympathy for the Palestinian narrative by encouraging fellow Jews to oppose the Israel "occupation," IfNotNow states on its website that its members "do not take a unified stance on BDS, Zionism or the question of statehood." Yet its critical statements against Zionist-aligned organizations, such as Camp Ramah, tell... Full story
An icon of the Jewish community has passed away. Harriett Lake, born Harriett Tuck on April 7, 1922, in Lebanon, Pa., died on Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Harriett was a special lady. She was (Hello) Dolly Levi, Cher, Lady Gaga and Elton John all rolled into one. From the top of her hat-covered head to the tips of her designer-shoe-clad toes, she was always impeccably dressed "to a (second) t"-like her name. In fact, the only thing that tops her fashionable wardrobe was her extremely generous... Full story
The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando will hold its 2018 Annual Meeting the morning of Sunday, Aug. 5, on the Maitland Jewish Community Campus. The meeting is set to begin at 10 a.m. and will wrap up at noon. Coffee and bagels will be provided. Those who attend will hear a comprehensive update on what has been a year of great transition for the Federation, which saw the departure of its executive director, the appointment of an interim executive director, and ongoing refinement of the Federation’s role so that it can best serve local J... Full story
(JTA)-A letter written by Albert Einstein on the day he renounced his German citizenship, after realizing he could not return due to the rise of the Nazis, was sold at auction for $30,250. The letter written on board the S.S. Belgenland and dated March 28, 1933, sold at the Nate D. Sanders Auction House in Los Angeles. Bidding started at $25,000. A second letter from Einstein written in 1938 in which he discusses helping Jewish refugees escape Nazi Germany sold for $31,250. The 1933 letter was... Full story
Whenever Shirley Schoenberger visits, the room always gets a little warmer. That's because Schoenberger, an active Jewish Pavilion volunteer for more than four years, brings with her a wonderfully upbeat attitude and a warm and caring way wherever she goes. "Shirley is a ray of sunshine. She is so warm and friendly. Her smile is contagious," said Nancy Ludin, executive director of The Jewish Pavilion. Schoenberger helps with the weekly Shabbat services at Brookdale Island Lake in Longwood,... Full story
What a spectacular year of learning! The Jewish Pavilion's Inter-generational Program had a fantastic year with more to come. This program was made possible in part due to grants from The Moskowitz Foundation, the Jewish Federation and the Staples Foundation. Teens and seniors were welcomed into each other's minds and worlds. Experience's varied from group meetings, discussions and playtime to one-on-one visitations. Programs enabled teens the opportunity to break out of their shells and engage... Full story
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... Full story
(JTA)—German prosecutors have identified three suspects from a 2014 list of nine alleged Holocaust-era war criminals accused of shooting countless Jews. Kurt G., Herbert W. and Wilhelm Karl Friedrich Hoffmeister, allegedly members of the firing squads that murdered Jews in Eastern Europe during the Holocaust, have been under pretrial investigation for months for alleged war crimes and participation in genocide, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Eastern Europe director, Efraim Zuroff, told JTA on Thursday. Each case is being handled by a dif... Full story
(JTA)-Mexico City elected a Jewish woman as mayor Sunday-setting two firsts for the largest city in North America. A woman had previously been appointed Mexico City's mayor on an interim basis for a year in 1999, but Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo is the first woman to be publicly elected to the office. The city, home to around 50,000 Jews, has also never had a Jewish mayor. Sheinbaum, 55, the granddaughter of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Bulgaria, is a scientist who holds a doctorate in... Full story
Last month, Islam Abu Hmeid murdered an Israeli soldier, earning him a spot among four of his brothers, all of whom are serving multiple life sentences in Israeli prisons. Hmeid, who tossed a marble block from a roof at Israeli staff sergeant Ronen Lubarsky, killing the soldier, confessed to the crime and is scheduled to be indicted on Thursday. With the latest Hmeid brother heading for the slammer for a murderous terror attack, the terrorists' mother, Latifa Abu Hmeid, can expect a significant... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel’s Knesset passed legislation on Monday that requires the government to deduct the amount of money that the Palestinian Authority gives to terrorists and their families from the taxes it collects on the Palestinians’ behalf. The so-called anti-Pay for Slay law passed a final reading in the Knesset following a two-hour debate by a vote of 87-15. Every Knesset faction except the left-wing Meretz party and the Arab Joint List passed the law Stuart Force, the father of Taylor Force, the American student who was killed by a... Full story
(JTA)—Australia has stopped giving direct aid to the Palestinian Authority due to concerns that the money is being used to pay Palestinian terrorists and their families. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement Monday that the country was cutting its funding to the World Bank’s Palestinian Recovery and Development Program fund. Australia will redirect that $10 million in Australian currency ($7.4 million U.S.) to the U.N. Humanitarian Fund for the Palestinian Territories, which supplies Palestinians with health care, food, w... Full story
(JNS)—Only hours after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision to uphold U.S. President Donald Trump’s right to restrict entry into the United States from seven countries, including five with Muslim majorities, Jewish groups were issuing condemnations and organizing protests. Much of the organized Jewish community has been involved in opposing the administration. That opposition has deepened as the understandable anger over the government separating children from their parents who had crossed the southern border without permission ign... Full story
By Jerome Marcus (JNS)—A peculiarly Israeli approach to national defense was on display recently at a high school in Shaar HaNegev, “Gate of the Desert.” There, as described in an article in the Hebrew-language online daily Globus, 350 Israelis showed up for a Hackathon dubbed “What Happens to Every Balloon.” The event announcement called for volunteers to try to develop solutions for the latest “war” effort emanating from the Gaza Strip. Balloons, filled with helium stolen from Gaza hospitals, are equipped with bombs, grenades and other flamma... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—A few months ago I wrote a humor piece titled “Don’t eat off the seder plate, and other tips for non-Jews attending their first seder.” It drew a miffed response from a rabbi friend who often works with interfaith families and suggested “it’s time to drop terms like ‘non-Jew’ and gentile.” At the time I scoffed. Yes, it is a little weird that a people who represent less than 0.1 percent of the world’s population define everybody else as “not us.” It’s like someone with lactose intolerance saying he doesn’t eat “dairy ice cr... Full story
The 75 or 78 percent figures frequently referred to by Democrat apologists as if they were the Holy Grail, are based entirely on entry or exit polls but many Jews are reluctant to identify themselves as conservatives and risk peer pressure. During the past two presidential election cycles, in many synagogues, there have been rabbis and congregants who have openly demonstrated a knee-jerk reaction to political issues denigrating conservatives and Republicans as reactionaries or anti-Semites, yet even if the real figure is “only” 70 percent, it i... Full story
(JNS)—In many Jewish households on Friday nights, parents bless their daughters in the names of our matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. We do so to hold our highest role models to our girls. Lately though, I’ve had the creeping inclination to consider another name to this list of women in whose footsteps I hope my daughter will follow: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. Haley represents our country with bold, honorable and principled leadership. In no forum are these traits more lacking than the United Nations. In no... Full story
(JNS)—“The United Nations Human Rights Council” and the principle of human rights are two things diametrically opposed to each other. The makeup of the council, which is determined by geographic location and dictates anti-American conduct by the leadership of nondemocratic regimes, is proof of that. Council member Venezuela, for example, is a dictatorship that puts opposition leaders in prison, is anti-American, and is aligned with the ayatollahs’ regime in Iran. The Congo is ruled by a dictator who murders those who oppose him and is keeping... Full story
Dear Editor: As a longtime subscriber to your newspaper, I have depended on it for accurate reporting of Jewish news in our community, in our country and the world. In your June 22, 2018, issue, I read with particular interest David Gemunder’s article, “Pass the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (and protect the First Amendment),” which cited examples of anti-Semitism at American colleges and universities. Listed first was my alma mater, Barnard College, where the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) resolution against Israel had been passed. Stunned... Full story
(JTA)-Omri Casspi, the first Israeli to play in the National Basketball Association, reportedly has agreed to a one-year contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. Reports of the deal emerged Sunday with the start of the weeklong free agency period. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN first reported the deal. Casspi, 30, can sign the deal on July 6. The Grizzlies will be his seventh NBA team. The 6'9" forward was waived in April by the Golden State Warriors, where he was under a one-year contract, after... Full story
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) 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 of Orlando—Monday—Friday, 7:45 a.m.—8:30 a.m. Temple I... Full story
(JNS)-The passage of an Israeli law to withhold funds that the Palestinian Authority uses to pay murderers for killing Jews is the correction of an unconscionable injustice. That a democratic country with a High Court of Justice has allowed itself to transfer funds month after month to a murder-sponsoring entity within its midst is not just bad policy, it is completely illegal and utterly immoral. Israeli parliamentarians finally awoke to the reality that the P.A. pays more than $360 million a... Full story
As a 66-year-old retiree, I play chess recreationally a few times a week. For the most part, I play in chess clubs that are open to the public and are drop-in. Such was the case, recently, when I did something during a chess game that only a handful of chess players in the history of the game can claim: I suffered a heart attack while playing. It was late afternoon on a Wednesday. All the other chess players had already gone home for the day. Kevin and I were the only ones remaining, and we... Full story
JERUSALEM-There's a war raging in Israel with life and death consequences worldwide. This war does not involve tanks, drones or tunnels, and the enemy is not Iran, Hamas or Hezbollah. Rather the war is being waged in science labs and the battlefield is the human body. The enemy: cancer. Israeli scientists are experimenting with a new weapon in this war: immunotherapy, which manipulates one's immune system to identify, fight and destroy cancer cells. While immunotherapy has been around for decade... Full story
About immigrants... This is a country made great by immigrants! My ancestry is Canada, Ukraine, Russia, Poland... as far as I know. (I plan to take an Ancestry test soon to see where else my ancestors come from). Everyone should be welcome... that is everyone but... (no, I am NOT getting political!) Great news from Greece... I read this in a recent World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and pass it along: "DAVID SALTIEL, president of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, a WJC... Full story
