Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - Several leading Israeli newspapers ran entirely black front page advertisements on Tuesday morning, in response to the passing of key judicial reform legislation the day before. The ads, published by "Israel Hayom," "Haaretz," "Yediot Ahronot" and "Calcalist," were paid for by the Israeli Hi-Tech Protest movement, a group comprising hi-tech employees and business owners. "A black day for Israeli democracy," the organization's ad read, while the word "advertisement" was only printed in...
The Pearlman Food Pantry at Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando is as busy as ever — working diligently to ensure those in need can get vital food assistance for themselves and their families. “So far this year, JFS Orlando’s pantry has distributed record levels of food not seen in our 45-year history” says Philip Flynn III, president of Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando. According to Flynn, four of the past six months have exceeded our previous record of 447 sets, with the highest being 581 in May 2023.” A set is enough gr...
Over 200,000 supporters of the proposed judicial reform gathered on Sunday evening, before the vote on judicial reform, in Tel Aviv's Kaplan Street, until now the main location for the weekly anti-reform protests on Sunday evening. The demonstration coincided with the reasonableness standard bill's expected second and third readings in the Knesset as well as several anti-reform protests happening in Jerusalem. Several pro-reform protesters blocked Tel Aviv's Ayalon Highway briefly before police...
(JNS) - A 2,000-year-old silver half-shekel bearing the Hebrew inscription "Holy Jerusalem" has been discovered in the Judean desert, the Israel Antiquities Authority revealed on Tuesday. The rare coin, dated to 66/67 C.E., the days of the first Jewish revolt against the Romans, was discovered at the entrance to a cave near Ein Gedi. The find was part of a cave survey operation, now in its sixth year, that the IAA is managing in cooperation with the Israeli Heritage Ministry and an archaeology...
Does Judaism believe in angels? How about heaven and hell? What’s a Hamsa charm used for? Why is the pig the most unkosher of animals? And speaking of food, what are the origins of gefilte fish, cholent and other Jewish delicacies? What about Jews with tattoos? These are some of the fascinating questions that will be discussed in “Myth Busters” from a six-lesson course from JLI teens. For over a decade, adults in our community have been enjoying and learning from the quality courses offered by the Jewish Learning Institute and we are thrilled t...
Camp J is just finishing and the Rosen JCC is getting ready for back to school. The Early Childhood Learning Center will be kicking off with new STEAM lessons for the kids. STEAM uses Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics to tap into a child’s natural curiosity. It allows them to do experiments, be creative and how to interact with technology. In addition to the ECLC school year, the After School program will be kicking off the first week of school. The program offers convenient pick up from Dr. Phillips, Bay Meadows and Sand L...
Conversation and connecting is what the Jewish Chamber is all about. Enjoy networking at a Happy Hour on the covered patio at Firebird Wood Fired Grill, located at 1562 N. Mills Ave. Orlando, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, from 5-7 p.m. RSVP is not necessary. For more information about the Jewish Chamber of Commerce or to be added to the mailing list visit https://jewish-chamber.com....
WASHINGTON (JTA) — For months earlier this year, mainstream American Jewish groups waffled on how much to weigh in on Israel’s internal political debates, something many had studiously avoided in the past. But that felt like a distant memory on Monday after Israel’s parliament approved a law that its authors and critics — including many of those American Jewish groups — alike said would reshape the country. Reactions poured in immediately, many of them deeply critical of what Israel’s right-wing government had just done in signing off on a la...
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s government has passed a law restricting the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down laws, the first piece of a proposed overhaul of the country’s judiciary that has led to massive street protests and a growing movement of civil disobedience. The vote, which was boycotted by the opposition in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed 64-0 and is a landmark moment in a conflict that has consumed Israel since the beginning of the year and drawn the attention and criticism of world leaders and a range of Diaspora Jewish or...
(JNS) — Israeli-American astrophysicist believes he may have found alien life. The purported discovery took place more than a mile underwater near Papua New Guinea. Those in search of aliens from other planets would typically look to the stars. But one high-level academic who happens to have a $100 million budget opted to look into the depths of the ocean to uncover what he reported earlier this month may be key discoveries. Avi Loeb, 61, who chaired Harvard University’s astrophysics department from 2011 to 2020, recently led a $1.5 mil...
(JNS) — A Pittsburgh jury agreed unanimously on Wednesday that Robert Bow-ers, 50, should be put to death for killing 11 Jewish worshippers at Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2018. The judge will formally sentence the convicted killer on Aug. 3. “As we collectively process the jury’s decision today, what should always be top of mind is the memory of the 11 people murdered in a synagogue while at prayer by a cold-blooded hater of Jews,” said the American Jewish Committee. “Ultimately, what is of most significanc...
(JNS) — Last week, the Biden administration announced that it will no longer support scientific and technological research at Israeli institutions in Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller declared that “engaging in bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with Israel in geographic areas which came under the administration of Israel after 1967 and which remain subject to final-status negotiations is inconsistent with U.S. foreign policy.” Attempting to at least give the i...
(JNS) — This is a really extraordinary article. All of these months the Israeli left and media have been howling that judicial reform, which means rolling back the unlimited authority of the country’s Supreme Court, is a coup and a threat to democracy. Mostly the media and politicians in the United States have echoed those lies. In “Israel’s Political Crisis,” published on Tuesday, The New York Times breaks from that narrative, admits that judicial reform makes sense, and that the only problem is who’s carrying it out. “In their details, the...
(JNS) — I was born in Syria, grew up in Lebanon and eventually moved to Brazil from where I made Aliyah. After nine months of learning Hebrew in an ulpan, I met my husband and moved to the United States. But I left my heart in Israel. Later, I figured out a way to stay connected to Israel. I introduced a cutting-edge trauma healing technique to the country 25 years ago, created a nonprofit there and have been traveling to Israel four times annually ever since. The crisis we are now witnessing in Israeli society has been simmering for many y...
(JNS) — The night before Monday’s Knesset vote on the first of the government’s proposed judicial reforms, a video filmed on the escalators in Jerusalem’s central train station went viral on social media. It showed a great tide of people holding Israeli flags going down one escalator on their way back from protesting against the reforms in Jerusalem, and a great tide of people holding Israeli flags going up the other escalator on their way back from demonstrating in support of the reforms in Tel Aviv. What was so remarkable and moving was tha...
The Zionist Organization of America strongly supports and praises Israel’s democratically elected Knesset for passing the first part of much-needed judicial reform. The new law prevents the Israeli Supreme Court from striking down or reversing democratically appointed government officials’ actions simply because the Court’s self-appointed, unelected left-wing judges believe that the government’s actions are not “reasonable.” Thus, existing judicial tyranny has been diminished. There were hundreds of thousands of Israelis in Tel Aviv rallyi...
Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz puts Israel’s judicial reforms into proper perspective in this discussion featured on J-AIR 88FM Radio and J-AIR Internet radio Retired US attorney Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz debated Eugene Kontorovich, professor at George Mason’s Antonin Scalia School of Law, specializing in constitutional and international law, and Director of the International Law Department at Kohelet Forum, about Israel’s judicial reform. While Dershowitz starts out critical of the reform, as Professor Kontorovich gives him examp...
MORNING MINYANS Chabad of North Orlando and Chabad of Altamonte Springs are holding in-person minyans. 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...
(JNS) — All 15 justices of Israel’s Supreme Court will hear the petitions asking them to cancel the “reasonableness law” that the Knesset passed last week, Supreme Court President Esther Hayut announced on Monday. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sept. 12, three days before the start of the High Holidays. The government will have to file its response to the petitions 10 days earlier. It will be the first time in the court’s 75-year history that a panel of 15 justices will preside over a case. On July 24, all 64 lawmakers in the gover...
(JTA) - According to the Jewish Virtual Library, 550,000 Jews served in the United States armed forces during World War II. There were 38,338 Jewish casualties, while 26,000 Jewish soldiers "received citations for valor and merit." But in high-profile TV and film, identifiably Jewish soldiers have been a rare sight. One exception came 25 years ago this week, when Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" hit theaters. The movie is perhaps best known for its opening sequence, for which Spielberg...
(JNS) — Dov Hikind, a former New York state representative, announced last week that he is leaving the Democratic Party. In an interview with JNS, Hikind said the decision to become a Republican was a long time coming. “Over the recent years, and with some of the stuff that has happened even more recently, I’ve become very disillusioned with the Democratic Party that exists right now,” he told JNS. Members of the Democratic Party, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ilhan O...
(JNS) — If Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, strikes down the “reasonableness law” that the Knesset enacted on Monday it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis, legal experts tell JNS. Several Supreme Court justices visiting Germany, including Court President Esther Hayut, cut their trip short and are returning to Jerusalem to study petitions opposition groups filed against the amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary. “The court has recognized Basic Laws as...
(JTA) - As head of programming for Maccabi USA, Shane Carr is used to having people ask him to add sports to the organization's many Jewish sports tournaments around the world. But since 2019, one sport has been suggested above all others: pickleball. Widely considered the fastest-growing sport in America, pickleball is a sort of condensed court tennis and pingpong hybrid that has attracted millions of new fanatics since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, from middle schoolers to the likes...
(JTA) — Speaking at an event geared toward Jewish voters on Tuesday night, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said, “The charge of antisemitism is one that cuts me.” Kennedy, the anti-vaccine theorist and Democratic presidential candidate, was responding to mounting backlash against his claim that COVID-19 was “ethnically targeted” to avoid Jews and Chinese people. That remark, made without evidence at a campaign event earlier this month on the Upper East Side, led to criticism from a range of figures including Jewish leaders and Democrats in Congress. He...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - In an extraordinary swipe at a popular Fox News Channel host, a White House official condemned Greg Gutfeld's claim that "you had to be useful" to survive Nazi death camps. "What Fox News allowed to be said on their air yesterday - and has so far failed to condemn - is an obscenity," Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, said Tuesday in an unsolicited email to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The comment came as Gutfeld berated a Jewish cohost who was critiquing a Florida Depar...
