Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 35
(JNS) - In a sign of the times, billboards have been placed along highways in Los Angeles and Philadelphia to address the rising tide of antisemitism in the United States. "Who's behind this chaos?" reads one. Another says, "Did you miss your flight when this airport was shut down by an anti-Israel mob?" Three billboards were put up in Los Angeles during the last week of July, and two in Philadelphia were erected the first week of August. Both are scheduled to stay in place through most of the...
(JNS) - When we discuss Israel's history, we often speak in terms of geography: the partition plan, the 1948 border, the pre-1967 armistice lines, the post-1967 borders and the post-1973 boundaries. Now, we must add the pre- and post-2023 borders. The major difference is that instead of expanding the size of the Jewish state, it has shrunk since Oct. 7 because of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's failure to protect northern Israel. For roughly a decade, he avoided direct confrontation...
Sam Friedman, Shalom Orlando's chief development officer, left the Central Florida Jewish community on Aug. 2 to begin a new position as the executive director & CEO of the Jewish Educational Alliance and Jewish Federation in Savannah, Ga. He will begin his new job Aug. 26. Friedman moved to Central Florida in 2014 to take the position of director of community relations at Central Florida Hillel, under the leadership of Aaron Weil. In this capacity, Friedman built relationships with off-campus...
Two years ago, the two towers comprising Kinneret Apartments were sold to a private developer and manager of low-income housing projects. Having been built 50 and 40 years, respectively, earlier, the apartments needed a more complete renovation. The trustees studied the issue extensively and determined that this transaction represented the best option for financing such a project and thus maintaining the residents’ quality of living. Not long after completion of the Kinneret Two tower at the end of the 1970s, the building’s trustees formed the...
Congregation Ohev Shalom is pleased to offer an outstanding opportunity for schools seeking a well-maintained, move-in-ready educational space in Maitland. This shared space is available for lease, ideal for private, charter, or special needs schools, and is located within a vibrant, active community. COS continues to operate in this space, holding classes on Wednesday afternoons and Sunday mornings for their successful Hebrew School. This means the space is shared, providing a unique opportunity to occupy the space exclusively during the...
The Jewish Chamber of Commerce has announced a new partnership with One Senior Place, located at 715 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, is a vibrant community hub dedicated to serving the needs of seniors. This collaboration aims to strengthen ties within the business community and foster a supportive environment for local enterprises. Monthly breakfasts to kick off in September As part of this partnership, One Senior Place will host the Jewish Chamber of Commerce’s monthly breakfast meetings, beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 3, at 8:30 a.m. These b...
More than 3 million older adults are treated in emergency departments for nonfatal fall injuries each year. Fall prevention refers to the strategies and measures geared towards reducing the number of accidental falls suffered by older individuals. Falls can lead to severe injuries such as fractures and head traumas, and unfortunately, they are the leading cause of accidental death among the elderly population. Thus, it’s essential to implement strategies for prevention. The role of physical therapy Physical therapy plays a crucial role in p...
(JNS) — An Iranian attack on the Jewish state “could be this week,” but U.S. President Joe Biden “is confident that we have the capability available to us to help defend Israel should it come to that,” John Kirby, the White House national security communications advisor, told reporters on Monday. The White House shares Israel’s “same concerns and expectations” about the potential timing of Iran’s reaction to the July 31 assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in a heavily-guarded Tehran guest house complex. Israel has neithe...
(JNS) — The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, notified Congress on Tuesday that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had approved five potential sales to Israel—collectively worth up to $20.3 billion—of tactical vehicles, mortar and tank cartridges, missiles and F-15 fighter jets. The sale of F-15IA and F-15I+ aircraft “and related equipment” costs up to $18.82 billion, according to the agency. Israel has requested to buy 50 new F-15IA jets, which are made by Boeing, the agency said. “The United Stat...
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces said on Monday night that it was investigating a claim made by Hamas that a hostage was executed and two others wounded in separate incidents in Gaza. Al Qassam Brigades spokesman Hudayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout, known by the alias Abu Obeida, published a statement on Telegram on Monday claiming that one Israeli male captive had been executed and two female abductees seriously wounded by their Hamas captors. “In two separate incidents, two [Hamas] soldiers assigned to guard enemy prisoners fired at a Zio...
(JNS) — Tehran is advancing its secret nuclear program, bringing the Islamic Republic closer to building atomic bombs, Iran International reported on Wednesday. Three independent sources in Iran told the London-based opposition media outlet that the regime is moving forward with its nuclear weapons program “by restructuring the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), retaining Mohammad Eslami as the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and resuming tests to produce nuclear bomb detonators.” The Biden admin...
(JNS) — Mark was preparing for his bar mitzvah. Besides the excitement of the Shul event, to be perfectly honest, he was also looking forward to receiving lots of gifts and money, as is the “tradition.” He was particularly anticipating a large monetary gift from his Uncle Abe, a very wealthy and generous man. How shattered and disappointed Mark was when Abe presented him with his bar mitzvah gift: It was … a pair of tefillin! It was only many years later that Mark happened to check his tefillin and discovered that inside lay a check from Un...
(Jewish Journal via JNS) — Rabbi Shai Held’s latest book Judaism Is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life is the culmination of a career spent correcting a great misconception, namely that “Christianity is the religion of love” while “Judaism is the religion of law.” “My aim is to tell the story of Jewish theology, ethics, and spirituality through the lens of love,” Held writes, “and thereby to restore the heart—in both senses of the word—of Judaism to its rightful place.” A similar point could be made about Zionism. Over the past yea...
(JNS) — Iran’s propaganda mills are falsely claiming that they have not attacked Israel in retaliation for Israel’s targeted assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh because they do not want to interfere with ongoing ceasefire talks. With this excuse, Iran is trying to garner legitimacy in world politics. So, once again, it has to be pointed out that Iran is the “head of the snake”; the cause of all of the instability in the Middle East. Oct. 7 could never have happened if it weren’t for Iran. Hezbollah would not have one missile if...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Cynthia Nixon, John Oliver, Chef José Andrés; an award-winning writer with an essay in The London Review of Books; protesters outside the Nova exhibit in Manhattan; celebrities, faux-academics, and activists. These are some of the people who have been engaging in a particularly noxious form of antisemitism since the Oct. 7 massacre. Lesley Klaff explained this particular phenomenon in 2014. “What has been called ‘Holocaust Inversion,’” she wrote in Fathom, “involves an inversion of reality (the Israelis are cast as the...
There are certain stories that just never go away. They don’t get swallowed up by the 24-hour news cycle. They grind away at your soul, drop by drop, day by day, hour by hour. In Israel, that story looks at you wherever you go. From the moment you land at Ben Gurion Airport, you’re greeted by images of hostages captured by Hamas ten months ago. All over the country, billboards and posters carry their faces. In the cosmopolitan city of Tel Aviv, you see those faces everywhere, on city streets, on the ocean promenade, on Dizengoff Square, whe...
Dear Editor: My sincere congratulations to Christine DeSouza and Marilyn Shapiro on winning awards from the Florida Press Association. It is exciting to be recognized for a job well done. Marilyn’s award for her Feature Story-Profile demonstrates a journalistic excellence in both research and writing. Christine’s award for best Serious Column takes op-ed writing to a whole new level of addressing the topic of antisemitism. I know that Jeff is extremely proud of your accomplishments. Wishing you both continued success. Marilyn Wat...
MORNING 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 of Orlando — Monday – Friday, 7:45 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Temple Israel — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-647-3...
(JTA) — A group of 99 Jewish clergy from across the United States signed a statement calling for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire deal that would free the remaining hostages held by Hamas. The signatories of the clergy statement include well-known rabbis spanning the country and the Jewish denominational spectrum. The list includes Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Renewal and Secular Humanistic leaders. The statement comes as a new round of negotiations is set to begin Thursday in Qatar u...
(JTA) — As nearly 30 million viewers tuned in for the waterborne opening ceremony at this summer’s Paris Olympics, it’s safe to bet that most were not thinking of Adolf Hitler. Malcolm Gladwell isn’t most people. Gladwell, the author, journalist and podcaster, explores the 1936 Berlin Olympics on the latest season of his podcast series “Revisionist History.” Gladwell and co-host Ben Naddaff-Hafrey examine the complex cast of characters and political developments that led to Nazi Germany hos...
(JTA) - Kamala Harris' presidential campaign has named Ilan Goldenberg, an Israeli-born former peace negotiator, as its liaison to the Jewish community, sources say. Three people with close ties to the organized Jewish community and the Harris campaign confirmed the pick to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The campaign did not return a request for comment. Goldenberg, who has served as Vice President Harris' adviser on Middle East issues, has previously been an acerbic critic of both Israeli...
(JTA) - As the resident film impresario at Manhattan's JCC, Isaac Zablocki specializes in screening movies that challenge, provoke and enlighten audiences. When he first heard of the Israeli feature "Legend of Destruction," before it had even hit theaters in 2021, he knew he needed to screen it. While many of the films Zablocki screens revolve around current events - including a steady diet of offerings on Israel's myriad challenges - "Legend" was different: It retold one of the most well-worn...
(JNS) - Mary Ellen Richichi, a non-Jewish middle-school teacher in the Florida public school system, grew up immersed in Holocaust education. Her father, who served in the U.S. military during the Cold War, was always watching History Channel documentaries about World War II. "I'll never forget, I was probably about 7 or 8, and he said to me, 'Holocaust and World War II is one of the events you need to know and never forget,'" Richichi told JNS. Her father passed what she called his extensive...
(JNS) - Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that the current negotiations could be Israel's last chance to secure the return the remaining hostages captured by Hamas on Oct. 7. Speaking ahead of meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv, Blinken said, "This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security." "I'm here as part of an intensive diplomatic effor...
(JTA) - Hundreds of mourners gathered in Rishon Lezion, Israel, Tuesday night for the funeral of Jordan Cooper, 26, an American-born "lone soldier" who had died the day before from a severe allergic reaction. His parents, Marla Covin Cooper and Ross Cooper, younger brother Ethan and grandfather Jerry were visiting him in Israel when he died, and ahead of his funeral a request went out to the public saying that they were inviting members of the public to "come and accompany him on his final...
