Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Announced at the annual Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando meeting were the new board officers: president - Ming Marx; vice president - Danielle Krise; treasurer - Diane Jacobs; secretary - Rhonda Forest; and immediate past president - Brad Jacobs. New board members and agency representatives:Barbara Weinreich, Edward Zissman, Matthew Broffman, Seth Hyman, Yeosh Bendayan, Leigh Norber, Edward Bromberg, Michael Soll, Rachel Slavkin, Debby Gendzier, and Natalia Goldenberg. Holocaust Center -...
Joni Okun's debut audiobook, "To Hold the Throne: A Novel of the Last Maccabee Princess and King Herod the Great" won the gold medal in the E-Lit Awards 2020 religious fiction category. E-Lit is an eBook awards program that honors the best e-books published each year in the North American market. Okun's book will be featured in www.IndependentPublisher.com and highlighted prominently in E-Lit's monthly newsletter, which goes out to more than 20,000 subscribers worldwide, many of whom are...
(JNS) — Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said on Thursday that his government has moved away from plans to extend sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, and Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, in the wake of the recent U.S.-brokered agreement with the United Arab Emirates. “I think it’s very clear and it’s very tangible that the Israeli government’s policy moved from annexation to normalization,” Ashkenazi said at a press conference in Berlin during his first official trip abroad. Speaking with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas at his s...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, families across Greater Orlando are in need of hope now more than ever. Hope that can only be found through relief services like JFS Orlando’s Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry. Over the past few months, the Pantry has helped double the usual number of hungry households it serves a day. This year, for the safety of clients and staff, JFS cannot host its usual holiday food drive. Instead, they are hosting their first-ever, virtual High Holiday Hope Drive. Supporting all of the essential “hope-giving” programs at JFS t...
Teachers from Orlando Torah Academy are taking part in an elite training program to better address the social and emotional needs of their students whose academic year will start off differently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hidden Sparks, a nonprofit dedicated to training teachers and providing them with the tools to support struggling students in mainstream Jewish day schools, is conducting the training, which focuses on Social Emotional Learning, and is helping teachers establish classrooms routines which could be easily transitioned online...
A unique opportunity is coming to Jewish high school students in Orlando this fall: The chance to earn two private college credits while exploring the tenets of Judaism. The course is being offered by CTeen U, a collaboration of Yeshiva University and CTeen International. Yeshiva University is the world’s premier Jewish institution for higher education. It is home to a network of undergraduate and graduate programs. The undergraduate programs offer a unique dual curriculum comprising Jewish studies and liberal arts, sciences, and business c...
There are two upcoming programs that the Federation is providing as New Year’s Gifts to the community, made possible by our generous sponsors. On Monday night Sept. 14, along with 24 other Federations around the country there will be a special Rosh Hashanah cooking class with Chef Michael Solomonov. Following that, on Wednesday afternoon on Sept. 16, JFGO will present an exciting program with the Jewish Federations of North America highlighted by the cast of the hit TV show Schitt’s Creek....
The Jewish Pavilion seeks to enhance the lives of our elders, of all faiths, in long term care. They provide festive holiday programs and arrange friendly visits so that our aged know that they are not forgotten by the community. Their Orlando Senior Help Desk is their free resource that offers information and referrals to seniors and their family members 407-678-9363. Like many nonprofits, the Jewish Pavilion depends on its fundraising events for one third of its budget, and these events have b...
(Jewish Journal via JNS) — The Alliance for Academic Freedom, which describes itself as a group of more than 120 progressive and liberal academic scholars, have announced their support for Rose Ritch, who resigned from her position as USC student vice president earlier this month. In an Aug. 24 statement titled “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been a Zionist?” the AAF noted that then-student president Truman Fritz faced calls for impeachment in June over allegedly racially insensitive remarks; Ritch also faced calls for impeachment for being...
(JTA) — Kamala Harris, the California senator who is the Democratic vice presidential nominee, told Jewish supporters that Joe Biden, the presidential nominee, would not place any conditions on US aid to Israel. “Joe has made it clear he will not tie security assistance to any political decisions that Israel makes and I couldn’t agree more,” Harris said Wednesday in a call arranged by the Biden campaign for Jewish donors. “The Biden Harris administration will sustain our unbreakable commitment to Israel’s security, including the unprecedented m...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, highlighted President Donald Trump’s Israel policies to make the case he has advanced a robust foreign policy. Haley depicted Joe Biden, the former vice president, and President Barack Obama as practicing a foreign policy of “weakness,” including their administration’s dealings with Iran. “Obama and Biden let Iran get away with murder and literally sent them a plane full of cash,” Haley said. “President Trump did the right thing and ripped up the Iran nuclear deal...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was among the victims of a gunman who attacked a high school in Parkland, Florida, delivered remarks at the opening night of the Republican convention. Pollack, who voted for Donald Trump in 2016, has praised the president in the past for emphasizing school safety instead of gun control. “The president did what he said he would do,” Pollack, who is Jewish, said Monday. “He took action. He formed the School Safety Commission that issued dozens of recommendations to make schools safe....
(JNS) — Three years later we’re still quoting, discussing and debating it. If there is a defining moment of the presidency of Donald Trump, it took place at a press conference on Aug. 15, 2017, when he allegedly called the neo-Nazis who conducted a frightening torchlight parade days earlier in Charlottesville, Va., “very fine people.” According to the narrative about Trump that is believed by most of his critics, that signaled a green light to extremists to attack Jews in their synagogues, as well as African-Americans and Hispanics. It allowed...
(JNS) — The Florida branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations started livestreaming a series of events on Aug. 16 under the title “EXPOSED” — described as “a compelling series of interviews with former political prisoners and their family members” to “expose real cases of government overreach and injustice.” According to CAIR, those featured in the series are “high-profile cases” whose plights are “critical to the life of […] any person of conscience.” In reality, CAIR-Florida seems determined to present an associate of the designat...
One by one, countries are scrambling to sign billion dollar contracts to buy nonexistent vaccines to Covid-19. At the moment, the development of an effective vaccine is highly questionable, at least according to WHO Secretary General António Guterres and White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, who both stated that an effective vaccine is unlikely in the foreseeable future, if ever. But even if a vaccine is developed, it will not end our troubles. In fact, it will only exacerbate them, and for a good reason. We need to understand that...
(JNS) — The police aren’t policing and the teachers aren’t teaching. While many vital services aren’t functioning, the useless machinery of the bureaucracy grinds on with no one to pay for it. Locked-down businesses don’t generate revenues and the unemployed aren’t a tax base. Tax revenues in New York City fell 46 percent in June. A third of small businesses in the city are likely to shut down for good and sales tax collections are down by a quarter, amounting to $1.2 billion. Statewide, there’s a 37 percent drop, and Rep. Alexandria Oc...
The truth is, I saw something coming this week, but not this. I never expected that “it” would be peace with another Arab country. “It” was the subject of speculation on a webinar I hosted this week about what was going on. But I thought “it” was something military that would involve Israeli F35s and Iranian targets. Perhaps we live in resignation that not having peace with most of our neighbors is the norm, expectations are low, and “it” caught most Israelis by surprise. Because it’s not every day that peace breaks out, even with the public s...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, all minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) 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...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Former U.S. Special Representative for Middle East Affairs Jason Greenblatt on Wednesday called on those who oppose the suspension of Israel’s sovereignty initiative in favor of peace with the United Arab Emirates to “reconsider their approach.” Greenblatt, one of the architects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, said he hopes Israeli sovereignty “isn’t a matter of if, but when.” Q: Why was the sovereignty bid essentially taken off the table? After all, President Trump declared that “Israel can app...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Lee Zeldin, the Jewish Long Island Republican congressman, made the case for President Donald Trump by talking up his own service to his constituents and telling a harrowing personal story. In getting a good word in for himself, Zeldin's pitch for Trump Wednesday night was affecting and also typical of the genre: He described the premature birth of his twins, and how the expertise of the medical staff who saved them engendered an affection that helped spur him to ask Trump...
(JNS) - Israel's national coronavirus project coordinator Ronni Gamzu apologized on Thursday for bypassing the country's political echelon and directly contacting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ask that he bar Chassidic pilgrims from visiting the city of Uman in September. Many thousands of Jews visit the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov every year around Rosh Hashanah. In his letter to the Ukrainian leader, Gamzu warned of the massive spread of the virus that could be caused by...
(JNS) — Each year, tens of thousands of Jews from across the world make a pilgrimage to Uman, Ukraine, to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, at the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. The leader of the Breslov Chassidic dynasty, Rabbi Nachman passed away in 1810 though urged his followers to spend the holiday with him, and it’s a tradition that continues. However, with the coronavirus pandemic raging worldwide, there have been calls from officials to avoid visiting the holy site. In a joint statement last week, the Ukrainian and Isr...
No one wants to be forgotten. At the Jewish Pavilion our mission is "Enriching the lives of residents in elder-care facilities" and our purpose is "To see smiles on the faces of seniors!" This is the core of what we hold near and dear to our hearts. All of this though would not be possible without our volunteers who make sure that we excel in our mission and purpose. Dolores Indek is one of our many volunteers who make it possible to achieve. Indek and her family moved to central Florida when...
The Simon Wiesenthal Center ... I received a letter recently from Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the SWC. It started off like this: In 1977, I made a sacred vow to Simon Wiesenthal that the Center that carries his name would uphold his legacy of combating anti-Semitism, defending the Jewish nation and standing up for justice and human dignity. Forty-three years later, that struggle is very urgent and very real. The last few months have been an unprecedented time in our country. Like...
Jewish Academy of Orlando welcomed many new "BEEs" this school year. Here are a few photos before the start of school. Jewish Academy of Orlando serves central Florida students of all faiths from kindergarten through fifth grade. The school delivers a whole-child education fostering academic excellence and character education rooted in Jewish values. Jewish Academy of Orlando is accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools. To learn more about Jewish Academy of Orlando, please...
