Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 31
(JNS)-In addition to showcasing a major pro-Israel constituency, Christians United for Israel's 13th annual summit, which took place from July 23-24, emphasized the contrast between the current White House administration and previous ones, with Israel's ambassador to the United States hailing U.S. President Donald Trump as the best ally Israel has ever had. "Over the decades, Israel has been blessed with strong supporters in Congress on both sides of the aisle. We have been blessed with... Full story
When it comes to choosing judges on a ballot, many voters really don't know much about the people they select. The position is nonpartisan, so being "Democrat" or "Republican" doesn't help; and many folks hope to never see the inside of a courtroom, so what difference does it make which name one chooses? Adam Pollack, who is running for a Circuit Court judge seat in Group 24 of the 18th Judicial Circuit in Brevard and Seminole counties, knows that it makes a big difference who the person is... Full story
(JTA)-Israel will launch a rocket from Florida in a bid to become the fourth country to reach the moon. Israel Aerospace Industries and the nonprofit SpaceIL announced Tuesday that they plan a December launch from Cape Canaveral to land on the moon on Feb. 13. The landing would culminate eight years of collaboration on the $88 million project. Private donations mostly paid for the project, including from the American businessman and Jewish philanthropist Sheldon Adelson. SpaceIL's president,... Full story
The seating areas in the light-filled lobby and commons of Brookdale Lake Orienta were abuzz with youthful energy on a recent Wednesday when a group of more than 40 middle schoolers from the Camp J's Tayarim (Travelers) program came for an afternoon of games and socializing with the residents. Groups of the young teens and seniors played checkers, worked puzzles, colored intricate designs in adult coloring books, solved word searches, or just settled in for a nice chat in an annual visit... Full story
SAN DIEGO-The Jewish Federation of San Diego County (Federation) has named Michael Jeser as its new CEO. On Aug. 27, Jeser will succeed Michael Sonduck, who retired in June after his 12-year tenure, including six years as CEO, with the organization. Jeser joins San Diego's Federation after serving as director of financial resource development at the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, where he oversaw all aspects of the organization's annual and supplemental fundraising campaigns for three... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-The heavy stone that fell out of the Western Wall and came crashing down on a platform set aside for egalitarian prayer has been removed for examination and restoration, but the conversation about the reason for its sudden sky dive, including hints of divine intervention, keeps on going. The stone fell on Monday morning, hours after the area had been full of worshippers visiting the wall for Tisha b'Av, 25 hours of intense mourning for the destruction of the two Holy Temples in... Full story
On Thursday, Syrian state media reported that government forces had entered the town of Quneitra on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, reaching Israel's doorstep. According to the government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's troops raised the nation's flag on Thursday afternoon. SCMM posted photographs from inside the town, where homes had been left badly damaged since Syria waged war. Several Syrians interviewed Thursday say they don't trust the Syri... Full story
(JTA)—Berlin issued a withering critique of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s recent announcement that he would not remove Holocaust denial posts from the widely used social platform, stating that such a policy was contrary to German law. “There must be no place for anti-Semitism. This includes verbal and physical attacks on Jews as well as the denial of the Holocaust,” Justice Minister Katarina Barley said. “The latter is also punishable by us and will be strictly prosecuted.” In a statement to Politico Europe, a Justice Ministry spokeswoman... Full story
(MEMRI via JNS)—Speaking on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV, Islamic cleric Salah Nour cited the anti-Semitic hadith according to which the Muslims would fight the Jews on Judgment Day, and the trees and stones would give up the Jews hiding behind them. He praised the “virtue” of jihad, and said: “Islam will prevail, Allah willing, and the Muslims will rule the entire Earth.” His address aired on June 24.... Full story
Due to an unusual conflation of events, over the past two weeks we’ve caught a rare glimpse of the face of European foreign policy. We shouldn’t let it pass unremarked. Last Friday, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini presided over a curious summit in Vienna. In the same hall where she and her colleagues concluded the nuclear deal with Iran three years ago, Mogherini and her comrades tried to concoct ways to save the deal by undermining American power and defying its decision to abandon the deal. Mogherini was joine... Full story
By Mel Pearlman As if we have not been emotionally exasperated and mentally mutilated by the endless debates regarding the existential question of “Who is a Jew,” playwright Joshua Harmon has come along to challenge us with an even more vexatious question: What makes a Jew a “good” Jew or a “bad” Jew? Growing up in Brooklyn in a neighborhood of Orthodox Jews and not one, but two orthodox synagogues down the block on which we lived, we always did Shabbat dinner on Friday night and regularly attended Shabbat services. My parents kept kosher and... Full story
Florida is not a panacea especially when it comes to the scourge of anti-Semitism. Nowhere is and especially not the United Kingdom. In April 2016 I wrote a piece for the Heritage “thanking U.K.’s Labour Party for mainstream anti-Semitism.” At the time I was still in the process of becoming an American citizen (which I achieved earlier this year) and was very worried about the blatancy and openness of anti-Semitism in the U.K. especially in the Labour party, a party in political terms to the left of center. I ended the piece by ironi... Full story
Holocaust denial isn’t just getting “a few things wrong.” It’s a pernicious form of anti-Semitism that serves no other purpose than to attack Jews. Dear Mark Zuckerberg, I’m one of your many fans. Like over two billion people around the planet, I use Facebook to keep in touch with friends, hear new ideas, and digest news. Your decisions about social media affect my life every day. Unbelievably, now those decisions include giving Holocaust denial free reign. On July 18, 2018, you gave an interview to Kara Swisher of the tech site Recode in... Full story
A digital-age cautionary tale about privacy, shaming and hurtful words. It started as a cute online romantic tale. A woman began tweeting photos and updates of a supposed “love story” that was happening before her eyes while flying on an Alaskan Airlines flight. After requesting a seat change to sit beside her boyfriend, the passenger thought that the strangers who now sat side by side may be discovering each other and “the love of her life.” She began photographing the pair from her seat that was directly behind them. The trip was documented s... 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. Tem... Full story
Hundreds of family members, friends and acquaintances attended the funeral of Yotam Ovadia, 31, murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in a stabbing attack on Thursday night. Yotam was buried at Har Hamenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem, leaving two young children, Harel and Itai, and his wife Tal. “I don’t know what will happen to me and the children now,” Tal said Saturday, as quoted by Ynet. “I don’t know how to continue to be strong for the children. We were everything to him. The house was his kingdom.” “Yotam was a decent, modest and humble ma... Full story
(JNS)-Quite literally among the booms and billows of black smoke across the nearby Gaza border, deep in Israel's southern Negev Desert, the new community of Shlomit laid a cornerstone and broke ground for their future community center. The new structure will serve not only Shlomit, but the entire Eshkol region in southern Israel. A mere 700 meters from Israel's border with Egypt and just a few kilometers from Gaza, Shlomit and the other budding communities of Halutza are defying the odds and... Full story
By Josefin Dolsten NEW YORK (JTA)-The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's new production of "Fiddler on the Roof" enacts a familiar story in an unfamiliar language. The actors sing about joy and hardship, and argue about the importance of tradition, in the language their characters would have spoken in the Old Country. But before rehearsals started in June, the majority of them had no experience with the language. Of the 26 cast members, only three spoke Yiddish fluently. Another nine had... Full story
Life goes on... Today, Aug. 3, would have been Irv's and my 58th wedding anniversary. He passed on Aug. 20, 2015, after marking 55 years of marriage, and being blessed with three wonderful sons. When we took our marriage vows back in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1960, "Till death do us part," we really didn't focus on those words. But, life goes on. Justice finally... I read this in the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and pass it along: "World Jewish Congress President Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder... Full story
(Kveller via JTA)—It’s possible you haven’t yet heard about RIE, the hottest new parenting trend, but trust us: You will. RIE is an acronym for Resources for Infant Educarers (and, no, that’s not a typo). It’s a parenting philosophy that has recently gained traction, thanks to endorsements from celebrities such as Tobey Maguire, Jamie Lee Curtis and Hank Azaria. Vanity Fair and the New York Post have featured articles on the method, as if you need further proof that RIE has “arrived,” and a new parenting center that’s focused on the philosop... Full story
This one-pot paprika chicken is a take on my mom's memorable paprika chicken recipe. I have very fond memories of cleaning the whole bird and then rubbing it down with loads of paprika for weeknight dinners. The spice gives a deep rich color and imparts a delicious smoky flavor. This is my updated and modernized variation of mom's simple recipe made into an easy one-pan meal. Oh, and find yourself some Castelvetrano olives-they are buttery with a bit of brine and are so addictive. Tip: If you can't find the specified olives, substitute with... Full story
(The Nosher via JTA)-From bulbous and egg-shaped to small and thin, the eggplant (or if you're British like me, the aubergine) is a staple fruit within Sephardic Jewish cooking. Originating in India or perhaps even China, eggplant seeds are thought to have traveled along the Silk Road into the hands of Jews and Arabs as early as the 18th century. From there, eggplant has been used so often in Jewish cooking that some refer to it as the "Jewish apple." Eggplant is now enjoying a wonderful... Full story
(JTA)-Like many heavily Orthodox sections of Brooklyn, Borough Park has been served for decades by an all-male volunteer ambulance corps called Hatzalah. The corps caters to a religious Jewish community with particular needs and customs-including one custom that can increase the tension for patients in already stressful emergency situations. The strict boundaries between men and women are familiar to anyone who has attended an Orthodox synagogue or has read the stories of airplane flights being... Full story
(JTA)-In the quiet opening of "Naharin's Virus," an hour-long dance piece by the famed Israeli choreographer Ohed Naharin, an onstage narrator tells you what the evening won't be about. You the audience will not receive its due. Your curiosity will not be satisfied. You won't agree on the meaning of what you are about to see. OK, fair enough. You don't go to modern dance for the plot, at least not in the conventional sense. You go for the pleasure of seeing bodies in motion, to see how the dance... Full story
Ruth Abels, age 101, of Longwood, passed away on Monday, July 9, 2018, at her residence at Brookdale Island Lake. Mrs. Abels, was born in Brooklyn on June 9, 1917, to the late Samuel and Frieda Klein Friedman. A high school graduate, she was a homemaker and was the widow of the late David Abels who passed away in 1988. She was a Life Member of Hadassah. The family owned Abel’s Luncheonettes in New York and New Jersey until 1977. Mrs. Abels is survived by her son, Edward (Kathy) Abels of Corona del Mar, Calif.; and daughters, Flory (Robert) K... Full story
