Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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One of the great ironies revealed by the Covid-19 pandemic is the action of many Americans who profess to be lovers of freedom and of their fellow Americans, but who have ignored common sense and betrayed that love, in their irresponsible exercise of freedom during these trying days of pandemic. Not only have they endangered their own health, they have acted in a manner that expresses an abandonment of their concern for the health of their fellow citizens. Abraham Lincoln warned of the threat to the Nation of the irresponsible exercise of...
The selection of Bruce Gould as this year's recipient of the Heritage Human Service Award was a long time coming. One might ask why he had not been selected earlier. Well, he'd never been nominated. Perhaps everyone thought someone else would nominate him because his family's generous donations and endowments surpassed many other generous givers. One of those "other generous givers," Alan Ginsburg, who has had "the pleasure of knowing Bruce for 20+ years both socially and community-wise," said...
When Chabad of Greater Orlando, under the leadership of Rabbi Sholom and Devorahleah Dubov, saw the need for a Chabad House to service the Jewish student community, they asked Rabbi Chaim and Rivkie Lipskier to join them and establish Chabad at UCF. When the Lipskiers moved to Orlando in the fall of 2006, they knew there was an urgent need to service the Jewish students on campus, but couldn't imagine how rapidly they would be moving from one location to the next to accommodate that need. UCF is...
Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation will hold a Meet and Greet for its new part-time interim rabbi, David Shmidt Chapman, on Aug. 22, 2021. Rabbi Chapman has served as rabbinic intern at Sutton Place Synagogue in New York City as well as a chaplaincy Intern for Project ORE for the homeless. In the fall, he will be entering his final year at Jewish Theological Seminary, where he is a Wexner Graduate Fellow. He originally hails from Chicago and received a Bachelor of Arts with the highest...
Decades after the U.N. General Assembly passed Resolution 3379, which declared Zionism was a form of racism, Zionists continue to be maligned on college campuses, social media and city streets. Confronting the ongoing hostility toward Zionism in a positive, multifaceted way, Jewish National Fund-USA launched "This is What Zionism Looks Like," a campaign that features a website, social media strategy, online events, boot camps, and educational courses designed with the aim of celebrating Zionism...
Amid surging enrollment at Orlando Torah Academy, the school welcomed a new beautiful library. Jean Gould, together with her children Bruce Gould and Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Gould and joined by many friends and community leaders, celebrated the dedication of the brand new Gould Family Library at Orlando Torah Academy. The beautiful new library was dedicated in honor of Jean's late husband, Norman S. Gould, ob'm. For all those that know them, the Gould family and books have long been synonymous....
(JTA) — The Jewish Federations of North America has canceled the in-person portion of its signature annual event, the General Assembly, citing the coronavirus. The umbrella group for local federations had planned to combine online and in-person events, but told participants this week that it was canceling the latter for the expected 500 participants. Events last year were held online only, but Jewish Federations until the recent spike in coronavirus cases had hoped to reemerge into in-person events. Instead, the events Oct. 4-5 will take p...
(TCJewfolk via JTA) — A Jewish summer camp in Wisconsin sent its campers and staff home three days early following a COVID outbreak affecting nine cabins. Herzl Camp in Webster primarily serves Jews from the Twin Cities area and, as of 2019, had about 500 campers ranging from third to 11th grade. Its summer began in mid-June and was due to end on Aug. 4, but camp administrators made the decision to close early on Saturday night. “Out of an abundance of caution and with the health of your children our number one priority, our Medical Com...
(ORLANDO, FL) — Investing two years of research and commitment, Laurie Cardoza-Moore, founder and president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations is grateful as both Civics and Holocaust Standards submitted by PJTN were approved late last week for adoption and use in Florida classrooms. She noted on the vote, “Our work in preserving America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and values in our children’s Civics education amid the national push towards Critical Race Theory will benefit the more than 1.8 million students in Florida classrooms — as will th...
(JNS) — The state of Florida notified Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, on Tuesday that it has 90 days to cease its “boycott of Israel” or face a ban on contracts and investments with the Sunshine State. The move is in response to the July 19 announcement that the ice-cream maker will stop selling its product in areas it calls “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” which includes the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem. It comes after Florida state officials held talks with Unilever’s investor-relations department on July 28 an...
(JNS) — The United States transferred $135 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees on Saturday. This was in addition to the nearly $33 million that it gave to the organization in May to help the Gaza Strip, ravaged by Hamas rockets and Israel’s response to them during “Operation Guardian of the Walls.” The latest cash bonanza also came three months after Washington provided an initial gift of $150 million to “restore” the aid that was cut in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump. It’s not necessary to...
(Jewish Journal, JNS) — Five months ago, with his back to the wall and facing calls from his own allies to resign, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a ready answer to the accusations of sexual misconduct that were engulfing him: Let’s wait for the investigation. “I ask the people of this state to wait for the facts from the attorney general’s report before forming an opinion,” he pleaded. It almost sounded reasonable. It bought him precious time. So, New York Attorney General Letitia James promptly called Cuomo’s bluff by initiating the investi...
(JNS) — The plot was audacious: Agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran would kidnap an American citizen on American soil. Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-born journalist and human rights activist, was to be grabbed, spirited out of Brooklyn to Venezuela, and then on to Tehran where she would have been imprisoned, tortured, and, almost certainly, executed. Earlier this month, the FBI, to its enormous credit, foiled the plot. “Not on our watch,” FBI assistant director William Sweeney told reporters. Spokesmen for the Islamic Republic dismissed the cha...
(JNS) — For many of us, the world’s hypocrisy when it comes to Israel is self-evident, and the double standards applied to the only Jewish state are clearly anti-Semitic. Typically, we think about these biases when issues arise directly related to Israel, but it may be even more obvious to others if we consider the likely response if Israel engaged in some of the policies and activities of other countries. Imagine the reaction if … Israel announced it was planning to ban halal slaughter. The European Union’s highest court ruled in 2020 that co...
In columns recently published by The Heritage, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream was excoriated for deciding not to sell ice cream in what the company calls “the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” Mel Pearlman equates the decision with antisemitism, stating “This action is part of the BDS effort to delegitimize the existence of the Jewish State, and to deny the indigenous right of the Jewish people to their homeland.” And Jim Shipley titles his column, “Anti-Israel equals antisemitism.” Whether you a...
Dear Editor: I was completely taken aback by your decision to publish Tamara Aronowsky’s article “Abortion’s Juneteenth” (July 9, 2021 issue). It was offensive on so many levels. At the very least, you should have included a counter article in support of this important and necessary law. That you chose to publish this despite the fact that 83 percent of Jews believe that abortion should be legal in all/most cases defies logic. Equally disturbing is that The Heritage believes it is an appropriate place for such a topic. Having a Jewish author...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, some minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) 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. Congr...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett blamed Iran on Sunday, Aug. 1, for the attack that left two dead on the oil tanker in the Arabian Sea on Thursday night. Speaking during the weekly Security Cabinet meeting, Bennett was quoted by Maariv as saying that while Iran is denying responsibility for the incident, “I state here absolutely: Iran is the one that carried out the attack on the ship.” “The intelligence evidence for this is there and we expect the international system to make it clear to the Iranian regime that they have made a...
AMSTERDAM (JTA) - A disoriented teenage girl lies on Anne Frank's bed as people swarm the family house. But these people are not Nazis; they're modern-day tourists. And the girl on the bed isn't Anne, but Kitty - the imaginary friend to whom she addressed her now world-famous diary. Magically resurrected from the page and transported into modern-day Europe, Kitty is appalled by how society has fetishized her best friend Anne, hawking cheap merchandise and endless inaccurate reinterpretations of...
(JNS) - A group of Senate Republicans led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) introduced a bill on Thursday that would prevent the Biden administration's State Department or U.S. Customs and Border Protection from rescinding late 2020 federal guidelines that allow goods produced in Judea and Samaria to be labeled "Made in Israel." If passed, the bill titled the Anti-BDS Labeling Act, would require that current laws regarding the marking of products with "Made in Israel" codified by executive order on...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - President Joe Biden is set to nominate Deborah Lipstadt, the Emory University Holocaust historian, to be the State Department's antisemitism envoy. The White House alerted top Biden supporters of the pick, which has been expected for weeks, on Thursday night, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency has learned. Lipstadt is perhaps best known for defeating Holocaust denier David Irving after he sued her in a British court for defamation for calling him a Holocaust denier. Her 2005 book,...
(JTA) — Over the last year, Jewish college students took it upon themselves to combat antisemitism at their schools. Now, two major Jewish organizations are working together to play a stronger role in fighting antisemitism on campus. Some of the student activists documented incidences of antisemitism at colleges nationwide, often submitted anonymously, while others have taken a confrontational tone on social media. With some portraying themselves as the ideological successors to early Zionist activists, the students often argue that a...
More Famous Jews ... JAY SCOTT GREENSPAN is an American actor who became famous with JERRY SEINFELD on his long running TV show, "Seinfeld." Oh yes! You would know him as Jason Alexander who played George Costanza, Jerry's buddy on the television show. And of course, Jason has appeared in several movies as well. A Newark, New Jersey born actor/comedian, Jason is Jewish! (But you knew that!) Here's a surprise ... Fabulous Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz, the son of Friedrich "Fritz"...
Our deepest condolences go out to Rush lead singer and legendary bassist Geddy Lee, whose Jewish mom, Mary Weinrib, passed away on July 2, 2021. Weinrib, who was set to turn 96 on July 16, was not only a massive supporter of her son’s music career but she was also a Holocaust survivor. In a moving tribute on Instagram, Lee shared a brief synopsis of his mother’s incredible life — including how she survived Auschwitz and loved to cook for family on the Jewish holidays — as well as a snapshot of the pair outside together. According to her obi...
In an interview with David Poland for "DP/30: The Oral History of Hollywood," director Ari Folman expressed that the reactions he received in Israel toward his 2008 adult animated film, "Waltz with Bashir," were the most shocking out of every country he visited. He expected to be accused of being anti-Zionist and his film being written off as just a pile of liberal propaganda. Little did he expect the overwhelming praise from audiences and critics alike. And no one could blame him for his...
