Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) The ability of Israel's enemies to target civilians and members of the armed forces with cyber attacks is growing, security experts have warned. In August, the Israeli ClearSky cyber-security company uncovered a Hamas phony and irremovable rocket-alert application, which, if downloaded, can take over a smartphone and access its camera, location services and communications. The malware was timed to coincide with an increase in rocket attacks last month, according to the company. During the...
Political newbie Tracey Kagan won the Democratic primary spot for Florida State House 29 against her primary opponent, Darryl Block, with 66.8 percent of the vote in all 34 precincts. "This win is a pinch-me moment and a dream come true," said Kagan. "It is also the culmination of months of speaking with the voters of District 29, knocking doors, calling and really listening. What I heard is that our families care passionately about public education, affordable healthcare, common-sense gun legis...
Keith Dvorchik, CEO of The Roth Family JCC, announced that Jacob "Jake" Silverman has been hired to fill the security director position vacated by Andy Brennan. He will assume his new position on Oct. 3. Brennan is relocating in the middle of October. "Andy has been a wonderful addition to our team and we will miss his presence and hope he returns to visit us in Central Florida often," said Dvorchik in a safety update. Silverman has been in security and law enforcement for more than 30 years....
The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando announced that it has received a grant under the Department of Homeland Security’s Urban Areas Security Initiative. The grant, which totals almost $130,000, is the only one of its kind for the Orlando area this year. For several years, members of Congress from Central Florida have pressured the federal government to include Orlando in the special program. Led by Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (D-7th district), the delegation argued that Orlando’s position as a national tourist destination made it a top...
Jewish Academy of Orlando announced that it is providing gifted training for the entire faculty. "From the coding and robotics teacher to the Hebrew language teachers, all faculty are participating in the training," Alan Rusonik, head of school, stated. Teachers began gifted endorsement training in March 2018 and will complete their endorsements by June of 2019. Bryan Demeritte from Suncoast Education Center and an author of the Standards for Gifted Curriculum in the state of Florida conducts th...
A warm, sweet noodle kugel makes a wonderful goodwill ambassador. Throw in bagels and lox and apple cake alongside breakfast staples such as boiled eggs and oatmeal, and you’ve got yourself a satisfied and receptive crowd. That’s what Nancy Ludin, CEO of the Jewish Pavilion, aims for when she hosts breakfasts at the Maitland Chamber of Commerce with the help of staff and volunteers. “The Jewish Pavilion is an important public relations force for Jewish culture in the wider community,” said Ludin. “Anything we can do to make people feel posi...
Sam Friedman, Stetson Hillel director, gave a shoutout to Max Perez-Duel, Rebecca Klages and Daniel Crasnow for all their hard work cleaning Lake Beresford at Beresford Park in DeLand as part of the nationwide #ReverseTashlich. The Stetson Hillel students collected 26 glass bottles, 38 cans, 33 pieces of plastic, and 30 lbs of additional garbage. The students were rewarded with gallons of sweat, scratches and bug bites, and lots of pride in making the community and the world a better place....
At the Jewish Pavilion, our staff is family. Recently, the Pavilion was given sad news about our South Orlando program director, Walter Goldstein. He has been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, and we wish him and his family all the best. While Walter is technically working for the Jewish Pavilion as a program director, lots of mensch's have come to the forefront to lead his high holiday programs. Special thanks to Pam Ruben, Emily Newman, Gloria Green, Judy Appleton, Yvonne David,...
The residents of Kinneret Apartments will hold a community sale Oct. 6 and 7 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Social Hall. There will be something for everyone: household items, Christmas decorations, clothing, etc. The ladies of Kinneret will also be serving hot dogs, chips and a beverage, as well as goodies like pumpkin bread and Spanish delights for purchase. Kinneret Apartments are located at 515 Delaney Ave., Orlando. There will signs posted on Gore and Delaney as well as Anderson and Delaney. For more information, please call Betty Zimmerman...
(JNS)-A University of Michigan professor who denied a student a letter of recommendation for a semester-long study-abroad program in Israel is standing by his decision, citing his support for the BDS movement. John Cheney-Lippold, an associate professor in the American Culture department, told JNS that this was the first time he rejected a student's request for a letter of recommendation to study abroad anywhere, as he labeled Israel an "apartheid" nation. "I declined to write the letter because...
(JNS)—Students for Justice in Palestine will host its annual national conference in November at the University of California, Los Angeles. Despite the notoriously anti-Semitic rhetoric used by this group, UCLA will be directly facilitating the spreading of SJP’s deplorable and racist ideologies by providing campus grounds for this national summit. There, students under the auspices of “social justice” will be trained how to promote false propaganda about the Arab-Israeli conflict via events and news articles; most importantly, they will be...
(JNS)—The state of Texas will require schools to teach that “Arab rejection of the State of Israel has led to ongoing conflict” in the Mideast. The Texas Board of Education voted during a curriculum review last week to keep the controversial sentence in high school textbooks, used by approximately 5.4 million public-school children. The board is comprised of five Democratic members and 10 Republican members, implying that the decision was likely demonstrative of a shift towards a more right-wing educational program. After a period of publi...
(JNS) WASHINGTON—Ahead of the second round of American sanctions on Iran in November since the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Friday that those measures will drastically change the way any business is done with the regime. “Make no mistake, come November 4th, there will be a fundamentally different set of rules on anyone who deems it necessary to engage in economic activity with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said. Pompeo added that countries, especially in Europe, have alrea...
Two events took place yesterday; both were the kind we have gotten used to, especially since the Oslo accords were signed a quarter of a century ago. One was the murder of yet another holy, beautiful Jew by an Arab, and the other was a meeting between a group of Israeli “thinkers and intellectuals” and the PLO leadership in Ramallah. They made the trip to the terror incitement capital in order to keep the dialogue and communication channels open for peace. They wanted to lift their “peace partner’s spirits and encourage him to stay the path as...
By Mel Pearlman This has been a rough year for the Palestinian Arabs. First they lost the diplomatic battle for Jerusalem. Then they lost the battle to prevent the relocation of the U.S. and Guatemala embassies to Israel’s declared capital city. On March 23, 2018, President Trump signed into law The Taylor Force Act. The Act is named for an American college student who was stabbed to death in Jaffa in 2016 while on an educational tour of Israel as part of his studies at Vanderbilt University. His killer, a Palestinian from the territories, w...
Dialogue and argument among Jews are as old as our people. When God told Moses to “get out of town” not every Jew in Egypt agreed. “Too dangerous!” “Moses is meshugana.” Luckily for us all, the “ayes” won and the Jews became a nation. The synagogue was always a place for discussion—not just about Torah portions or arguments over particular rabbinical sayings—but about politics, business and various other subjects. Part of the tradition is to “join” discussions—okay: Butt in. It’s going away. The younger generation arrives with earphones in a...
It’s thrilling to be part of a historical moment when women are stepping into the political arena in record-breaking numbers. They’re tossing their hats into the ring—left, right and center—in national, statewide and local races. It’s an auspicious lead-in for next year’s 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. I still remember my own first visits to the voting booth, brought by my parents to see American democracy in action. And I’m sentimental thinking about how not long after my own (now-grown) daughter could walk, she was “helping me...
This week’s murder of a neighbor in a terror attack carried out by a teenage Palestinian Arab was glaring and jarring in many ways. First and foremost, his death is a great loss for our community and Israel on the whole, but mostly for his wife, four children, parents, siblings and many other family and close friends who survived him, of which there were many. He’s been lauded as a hero in his life and his death. It’s jarring because not only was he armed, but he chased down the terrorist after being fatally stabbed, shooting the terro...
(JNS)—In miserable timing, the PLO’s Executive Committee announced that the Palestinian Authority has turned to the International Criminal Court at The Hague to open proceedings against Israel over its decision to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar east of Jerusalem within the framework of Israel’s “settlement crimes.” When the Palestinian media covers Khan al-Ahmar, the viewer at home can see a few tents and tin structures, built with the help of the European Union—ornaments intended to curb the growth of Jerusalem’s urban ring. The images of utter deva...
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) 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 I...
(JTA)-When the Argentine-Jewish filmmaker Pablo Solarz was 5 or 6 years old, he asked his grandfather if he was Polish. On the phone recently, in heavily accented English, he described his grandfather's reaction. "He gave me a very dead face," Solarz recalled. "My father said that [Polish] is a very bad word, and I don't want to [talk about] it with my grandfather again. My grandfather never wanted to talk about his life in Poland." Solarz's grandfather didn't spend time in a Nazi concentration...
SAN FRANCISCO (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA)-While growing up in Palo Alto, Raphael Bob-Waksberg was a serious consumer of popular culture. He would watch TV for hours on end and view movies over and over until he memorized them. In particular, he was a huge fan of "The Simpsons." "We used to talk about Bart and Lisa at the dinner table as if they were real people," said his mother, Ellen Bob. Nowadays, the conversation around American tables is more likely about "BoJack Hor...
(JNS)-When Lt. S (full name withheld), a professional skateboarder, slammed into a safety barrier while traveling at 60 kilometers an hour during a sports event-breaking his back, pelvis and shin a few years ago-he knew he had a long road of recovery ahead of him. He also knew that his dream of having a meaningful service in the Israel Defense Forces would need to wait. Now though, the experience of getting back on his feet helped him gain the mental fortitude that he would later call upon to...
Geoffrey S. Goldberg, son of Sivan and Howard Goldberg of Debary, Fla., will be call to the Torah as a bar mitzvah on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 5 and 6, 2018, at Congregation Ohev Shalom in Maitland. Geoffrey is in the seventh grade at River Springs Middle School where he is a member of the Lego Robotics Club, Rubik's Cube Club, and the Wind Symphony. He is also a member of COS Kadima and Boy Scout Troop 306. His hobbies and interests include Legos, swimming, Fortnite online games, Dungeon &...
SAN FRANCISCO (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA)-A Jewish inmate serving life in prison without parole took a step toward freedom Aug. 21 and credited the local Jewish newspaper for the turn of events. James A. White Jr., was sentenced in 1981 for the murder of his wife's ex-husband. Last week, California's Board of Parole Hearings unanimously voted to recommend commutation of his sentence after 37 years behind bars, in part because of the work he has done in establishing a comm...
