Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - About 80 minutes into the two-hour Fox News Republican presidential debate on Wednesday night, the State of Israel came up. Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina, was going after entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who had an early target on his back after denouncing several of the other seven candidates on the stage. (Former President Donald Trump did not participate.) Several candidates cited Ramaswamy's lack of political...
(JNS) - Her iconic white lace collar translated in carved stone, the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is now memorialized in the New York State Capitol in Albany, N.Y. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul posted photos on Monday of the relief sculpture portrait created by artist Meredith Bergman, which now emanates from a wall near the capitol's Great Western staircase. It was the first time in 125 years, she wrote, that a new portrait carving was added to the historic capitol building. "Thr...
An American professor is speaking out about an archive of Jewish texts, records and materials he discovered in an Iraqi government building during the 2003 war. Dr. Harold Rudd was instrumental in salvaging much of a Jewish archive damaged during an American airstrike in Baghdad and retrieving the documents for restoration in Washington, D.C. Rudd, a Pentagon consultant at the time, was on the ground during the initial American invasion of the country. But after an American missile struck the...
(JNS) — Did you know that the name of Israel’s national airline, El Al, comes from the Bible? Like so much in Israel, its source is in our ancient texts. The prophet Hosea says, “They call them el al” or “to the One Above.” In Hebrew el means “to” and al means “above.” So El Al means “to the above,” definitely a great name for an airline. Last week’s Torah reading began with the words ki tetzei lamilchama al oyvecha, “When you will go out to war against your enemies.” The usual word used for “against” would be neged, but here the Torah uses th...
Why running is an ideal way for me to get into spiritual – and physical – shape. Hard to believe, but I used to get up at 5 a.m. to go for a 20-minute run, a long enough workout for me to become totally drenched in sweat and delude myself into thinking I’m Rocky Balboa on the streets of Philadelphia. I don’t remember the last time I went for a jog (I think it was around four months ago one Saturday night after psyching myself up all Shabbat. Thank God I didn’t have a coronary, even though there was a voice screaming in my head, “Stop rig...
Heart attacks are a leading killer of men and women. Each year, more than 1 million people in the United States have a heart attack, and half of them die. A heart attack happens when the flow of oxygen-rich blood in the coronary arteries suddenly becomes blocked, and a section of heart muscle can’t get enough oxygen. The blockage is usually caused when a plaque (fatty deposit) ruptures. A heart attack is an emergency — call 911 immediately Signs of a heart attack: • Crushing chest pain or pressure and/or discomfort or pain elsewhere in the u...
Friends of the Main Library St. Augustine and the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society have formed a partnership to celebrate the Jews who landed on Florida’s Coast with Pedro Menendez de Aviles on Sept. 8, 1565. Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, founder and chairman of the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society, will speak about the Jewish presence in St. Augustine at the time of the city’s founding and in the years that followed. The one-hour celebration will take place at the Main Library, 1960 North Ponce De Leon Boulevard in St. Augustine on Sep...
(JNS) — Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made pointed comments on Monday directed at the Biden administration for its criticism of the Israeli government’s policies. “No country is as ethical as Israel, and no military is as ethical as the IDF. Anyone in the world who criticizes us is a hypocrite,” the Religious Zionism Party head said during an interview with IDF Radio. “No nation has been fighting an existential war against terrorism for decades more cleanly and carefully than the Jewish nation,” the minister continued. “I’m not even talkin...
(JTA) — A Jewish couple has grounds to sue the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services after a state-funded adoption and foster care agency denied them services because they are Jewish, a Tennessee appeals court ruled Thursday. The decision is the latest development in a long-running battle that began in 2021, when Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram turned to the Holston United Methodist Home for Children in Greenville, Tennessee for foster parent training. The couple hoped to foster, and later adopt, a child. According to a lawsuit the couple...
(JNS) — Trisol Medical Ltd., an Israeli medical device company, has successfully implanted its Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve in two patients in the United States. The procedure involved the replacement of the tricuspid valve through a minimally invasive approach, avoiding the need for cardiopulmonary bypass. Both patients were suffering from symptomatic tricuspid regurgitation, a disorder in which the heart’s tricuspid valve does not close tightly enough, causing blood to flow backward into the right upper heart chamber every time the rig...
(JNS) — Israel last year had the highest cost of living among the 38 member countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Prices in the Jewish state were 38 percent higher than the OECD average, according to the report released by the Paris-based group. Switzerland was a close second at 37 percent above average followed by Iceland at 32 percent, the United States at 25 percent and Australia at 23 percent. However, the monthly data for June of this year showed Israel falling to fourth in the cost of living rankings, w...
(JNS) — Many uber-wealthy people believe they are wise and well-informed on all subjects because they have achieved financial success. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is a frightening example of this type of hubris. Born in Cincinnati to Indian-American parents, the 38-year-old Ramaswamy is a perfect example of what can be achieved in America. He became a billionaire as a pharmaceutical executive, hedge fund manager and lobbyist. His success should be applauded. However, this does not mean he knows anything about history or t...
When Israel declared the forming of the Second Jewish Commonwealth on the very land where the First Jewish Commonwealth was declared centuries ago, there were those who were thrilled, those who were nervous and those who violently protested the change in that part of the world. It took a war, according to biblical accounts, because there were people living there. This has been proven through archeological digs and other evidence – so whether it was God or Providence or a people tired of wandering – the First Jewish Commonwealth was formed, fou...
(JNS) — The role of halachah in the State of Israel was a point of contention even before the state was founded. In his landmark book The Jewish State, modern Zionism’s founder Theodor Herzl wrote, “Shall we end by having a theocracy? No, indeed. Faith unites us, knowledge gives us freedom. We shall therefore prevent any theocratic tendencies from coming to the fore on the part of our priesthood.” “We shall keep our priests within the confines of their temples in the same way as we shall keep our professional army within the confines of their...
(JNS) — In a dramatic scene from the new film “Golda,” Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir meets with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Kissinger says, “You must remember that first I am an American, second I am secretary of state and third I am a Jew.” Golda replies, “Henry, you forget that in Israel we read from right to left.” The upcoming release of “Golda” will remind and educate Americans, Israelis and people around the world about the tense days of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, when Israel’s fate hung in the balance. It will no...
(JNS) — Things cannot go on like this. Well, they can, but it would be beyond the pale. We must not tolerate a situation in which Jews are killed all over the country as if this was some incurable disease or natural phenomenon that cannot be prevented. It’s not that the settlers can’t stand it anymore—they have shown resilience in the past, and during tougher times. They know full well why they are not giving up their hold on the areas of the Land of Israel: They’re doing it for the sake of the entire nation. Nor are Israelis in general going t...
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) — Gal Gadot’s cinematic super powers couldn’t protect the Amazon warrior from an army of 10 fiery supervillains (spicy wings). The Israeli actress was a guest on the show “Hot Ones,” during which host Sean Evans interviews guests while they eat 10 increasingly spicy chicken wings. The show is part of the YouTube channel First We Feast, which has nearly 13 millions subscribers. “It comes in waves,” Gadot, known for playing Wonder Woman, says at one point, just a few spicy wings in. “So easy. Too easy,” she said. Evans said he would rem...
(JNS) - Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria are lining up to take a driving course that teaches survival skills in the event of a terrorist attack on the road. Courses began a month ago and 10 have been taught so far, with 24 additional communities requesting the course. "In each community, we'll teach it two to three times. We teach 20-to-25 people at a time," said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, head of Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center, which sponsors the course. Darshan-Leitner admits it's a litt...
By David Isaac (JNS) - Conservatives have long warned against George Soros, the Hungarian-born billionaire famous for pouring money into left-wing causes, but Rachel Ehrenfeld, author of "The Soros Agenda," was one of the first to speak out about what she describes as the subversive threat Soros poses to America and the West. Ehrenfeld first became aware of Soros's plans in the 1990s due to her research on drug addiction and drug trafficking (Soros's first foray into American public policy was d...
(JTA) — Six decades ago, shortly before Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Rabbi Joachim Prinz called for racial equality in an address that began with the words, “I speak to you as an American Jew.” Last Saturday, about a dozen Jews were in the lineup of more than 100 speakers who returned to the memorial’s marble steps for what was billed as a continuation of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on its 60th anniversary. Alongside the anniversary march, whic...
Critics are slamming a New York Times reporter for her religious insensitivity in complaining that she had to stay on the women's side of the Western Wall when covering New York City Mayor Eric Adams' visit to the holy site Tuesday. Emma Fitzsimmons, City Hall bureau chief for the paper, posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, a picture of herself looking over the partition that separates male and female worshipers at the Wall, as per Orthodox Jewish tradition at a prayer site. She...
(JTA) - A Russian court has extended the pretrial detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich for another three months. In a hearing on Thursday at Lefortovo District Court that was closed to press, a judge ordered Gershkovich to remain in detention until at least Nov. 30, a court spokeswoman said. Investigators from the FSB, a Russian state security agency, had requested the extension. Gershkovich, 31, is the American-born son of Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union. He was...
(JTA) - Ahead of the first Republican presidential debate, the candidate with the least political experience is making some of the biggest headlines - in part due to his views on Israel. Vivek Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur who has never held elected office, is seeing growing support for his long-shot candidacy. A recent poll placed him neck-and-neck in second place with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the crowded GOP field, and the RealClearPolitics polling average places him in...
(JNS) — Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy told JNS late last month that he supports most of former President Donald Trump’s policies on Israel and that he wanted to go further than the former president with respect to the Abraham Accords. In a recent interview with The Washington Free Beacon, Ramaswamy articulated a rather different aspect of his “Abraham Accords 2.0,” including ending military funding to Israel by 2028. “If we’re successful, the true mark of success for the U.S. and for Israel will be to get t...
