Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 26 - 36 of 36
Will it ever end?... I read this in a recent edition of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and pass it along: "The World Jewish Congress strongly condemned photographs that emerged recently in Bulgaria showing two boys at the Bulgarian Cup Football finals with neo-Nazi symbols scrawled across their chests. 'The WJC stands with the Organization of Jews in Bulgaria, Shalom, in categorically condemning the disgusting and cynical exploitation of children to spread messages of hate and...
(JNS)-Thousands of people gathered at the Kfar Etzion cemetery just before midnight on Sunday to eulogize and lay to rest Ari Fuld, a 45-year-old father of four living in Judea whose fight against the terrorist who stabbed him earlier in the day earned him acclaim throughout the country as a hero. "You were a good man. I'm not sure how to go on without you," Fuld's wife, Miriam, said at the funeral. "You were always running towards danger instead of away from it, and you never backed down from...
(JTA)-For months author JK. Rowling has been warning about the dangers of anti-Semitism in England, sparring on Twitter with critics who either downplay the phenomenon or say its proponents are confusing criticism of Israel with Jew hatred. Now, in her newest book, she includes a character whose obsessive anti-Zionism morphs into anti-Semitism. "Lethal White," the fourth series in Rowling's Cormoran Strike mystery series, written under the pen name Robert Galbraith, features a pair of hard-left...
(JNS)-Four years ago, the world waited with bated breath to learn the fate of three Israeli boys-Gilad Shaar, 16; Naftali Fraenkel, 16; and Eyal Yifrach, 19-after they went missing just outside the Gush Etzion community of Kfar Etzion. After a three-week search, news broke that their bodies had been found. Their abduction and murder set off a chain reaction that led to "Operation Protective Edge," the Israeli incursion into Gaza in the summer of 2014. One year later, on Nov. 17, 2015, Ezra Schwa...
(JTA)—For years, American Jewish groups have agitated for more religious pluralism in Israel. And year after year, the Israeli government has acted as if the country’s demographic and political realities make any kind of substantial reform impossible. The latest version of an annual survey disputes that claim: It shows that Jewish Israelis disapprove of how their government handles religious issues. It shows that they want more liberal religious policies. And it says they want American Jews to intervene in the debate. The one wrinkle is tha...
Susan L. Spiwak, age 71, of Orlando, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018, at Cornerstone Hospice at Orlando Health. She was born on Jan. 24, 1947, in Baltimore, Maryland, to the late Arnold and Evelyn Whitehouse Landau. Susan grew up in Baltimore and graduated from the University of Maryland with her bachelor’s degree. She also earned Certifications in Special Education and Pre-School Education. On May 26, 1976, Susan married Norman Spiwak, her husband of over 42 years who survives her. In June 1990, the family relocated to the Orlando a...
PRAGUE (JTA)-A new Torah scroll is being used in this historic city by one of its two Reform Jewish congregations to welcome the High Holidays and the series of solemn and joyous celebrations that conclude with, what else, Simchat Torah-the rejoicing of the Torah. But it's really not a new scroll at all. Originally a Czech scroll, the Torah has spent the last several decades at a Reform synagogue in London. How it got there, and how it made its way back to Prague, points to the continuing rebuil...
One of Hezbollah’s most important members arrested in Brazil BUENOS AIRES (JTA)—One of Hezbollah’s most wanted members, Assad Ahmad Barakat, was arrested near Brazil’s border with Argentina and Paraguay on Friday. Barakat has been labeled by the U.S. Treasury as one of the Lebanese terrorist group’s main financiers. He is part of the Barakat Clan, a criminal organization known for its links to Hezbollah. Barakat was arrested in Foz de Iguazú, in southern Brazil. That triple border, or Triple Frontier as it is known as, has been linked wit...
AMSTERDAM (JTA)-Wandering the ornate streets of the city of Fes in northern Morocco, Noam Vazana heard several men singing a tune so familiar that it made her stop in her tracks. Vazana, a successful 35-year-old Israeli musician living here, was visiting her ancestors' country of birth for a performance at the Tanjazz festival in Tangier when she heard the tune. She began following the men through alleyways to a square where hundreds of locals were singing that same Arabic-language song at a...
WHIPPANY, N.J. (New Jersey Jewish News via JTA)-When Clifford Kulwin celebrated his 13th anniversary as rabbi at Temple B'nai Abraham in Livingston, New Jersey, he knew he had to mention another local institution. "I understand there are some present who do not consider this a 'real' bar mitzvah. To them I have just one word: Sam's!" he said before opening his suit jacket and pointing to the label sewn into the lining: Sam's Fine Men's Clothing in Livingston. "Eight hundred people there utterly...
“Smash Cancer” is a tennis tournament to raise funds for oral cancer screenings and Human Papillomavirus, better known as HPV, vaccinations. There will be a Smash Cancer tennis tournament at the USTA National Campus in Orlando on Saturday, Nov. 3. However, if you don’t play tennis, or aren’t even interested in tennis, but enjoy having a drink with your buddies, you can still help support the cause. On Sunday, Oct. 7 at Flemings Steakhouse in Winter Park, there will be a “Smashed Cancer” whiskey, wine and beer event from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m...
