Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) - The United States Postal Service has released a new series of Forever stamps honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the late Jewish Supreme Court justice and liberal icon who died in 2020. The stamp, which became available for purchase on Monday, shows Ginsburg wearing her black judge's robe and signature white collar. It was announced last year as part of the postal service's 2023 lineup of new stamps, reflecting a jump on the service's standard timeline for honoring deceased people. The...
(JNS) - The Jerusalem March, the largest and oldest march in Israel, took place during the intermediate days of Sukkot, with tens of thousands of Israelis and participants from some 90 other countries joined in. Participants had the choice of three routes on Oct. 4: A 10-km. (6.2-mile) circuit, suitable for experienced walkers; one of about 8 km. (5 miles), medium level of difficulty; and one of about 5 km. (3.1 miles), low level of difficulty and suitable for the whole family. The event...
(JNS) - Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) began a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia on Wednesday with a moment of silence for Taylor Force, the 28-year-old West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran who was killed in 2016 while on a graduate-school trip to Israel. "His death was a deranged and inhumane action," said Wilson, who chairs the subcommittee, which is part of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The congressman also slammed the Palestinian...
(JNS) - A unique inscription written in Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament, was unearthed by Hebrew University archaeologists during excavations at the Hyrcania Fortress, about three miles west of Qumran in the Judean Desert. Paraphrasing Psalm 86, the inscription reads, "Jesus Christ, guard me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to you." The first section of the original psalm reads "Lord" instead of "Jesus Christ." It was found on the side of a large...
As we gracefully age, it becomes even more important to prioritize our health and well-being. One of the most effective ways to do this is by eating a colorful diet of plant foods. Whether you’re a health-conscious senior or a caregiver seeking optimal nutrition for your loved ones, incorporating a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains can have a major impact on vitality and strength. The Power of Plant Foods Plant foods have a myriad of nutrients that are essential for our bodies to thrive. By consuming a rainbow of colors f...
This year’s Jewish Pavilion online auction will feature luxury hotel stays, fitness packages, sports memorabilia, wine baskets and wine tastings, event tickets for unforgettable experiences, restaurant gift cards and homemade meals. The Jewish Pavilion’s 4th Annual Online Charity Auction, set to run from Oct. 22 to Oct. 27. It’s not just an auction; it’s a chance to make a difference while treating yourself to some of life’s finest offerings. Registering for this extraordinary event is a breeze — no credit card required. Just share your name a...
The Rosen JCC will host Community Bingo on Thursday, Oct. 19. The event will be held monthly at the Rosen Event Center, with dates to be announced. The doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the games start at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $20 to play and for a chance to win cash prizes. There are refreshments available for an additional fee. This is a night of fun and games. It’s the perfect opportunity for friends and family to get together. Or come alone and meet new friends....
(JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu used his address to the United Nations to tout the prospect of a diplomatic agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and to broach a topic that he has previously downplayed: Israeli-Palestinian peace. The Israeli prime minister also used the end of his 25-minute speech to herald the benefits — and warn of the dangers — of artificial intelligence, largely reprising what he told tech mogul Elon Musk in a live streamed conversation earlier in the week. And he did not mention one burning issue that has preoccupied Israe...
(JNS) — Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday in Berlin signed an agreement to provide Israel’s Arrow 3 missile defense system to Germany. At an estimated value of $3.5 billion, the deal is the largest of its kind in Israel’s history. The first missile battery, including radar, launch and interception management systems, is to be supplied to the Germans by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) by the fourth quarter of 2025. Germany is the first foreign purchaser of the system. Arrow 3 is the upper-tier layer of Israel’s missile defense...
(JNS) — President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were among the speakers Tuesday at Israel’s state memorial ceremony marking 50 years since the Yom Kippur War. The ceremony took place at the Hall of Remembrance on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The attendees included Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and Supreme Court Justice Yitzhak Amit. On Oct. 6, 1973, a coalition of Arab states, led by Egypt and Syria, coordinated a surprise attack on Yom Kippur, “thinking that the IDF would not be able to defen...
The Feast of Tabernacles is how many Christians refer to Sukkot, the biblical festival we celebrated this past week. It is also a multi-day event known in shorthand as “the Feast,” organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, arguably Israel’s largest annual tourist event, drawing thousands of Christians from all over the world since 1980. As I have done for years, this year I celebrated both. But this year, all the more so, I celebrated the thousands of Christians who came to Israel to celebrate with us all the more so, in li...
(JNS) — On that day 50 years ago, I was in the parking lot of my synagogue in Keene, N.H., taking a break from Yom Kippur services. Someone had the car radio on and tuned to the news. I heard that Israel had been the victim of a surprise attack on our holiest day. Like millions of others, my heart sank. The news sounded ominous. I worried first for our relatives who lived on a kibbutz in the Jordan Valley, not far from the Syrian border. As the news dispatches came in, it only got worse. The existential threat to the Jewish state was coming fro...
(JNS) — Depending on the pundit, the Oslo Accords were at best a broken dream, at worst a deadly disaster. No one calls them a success. Thirty years ago this month, in 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed the first of the Oslo Accords, a series of agreements intended to create a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel signed the accords believing that if the Palestinian Arabs received land in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip, they could fulfill their desire for a state. In return, the Jews w...
(JNS) — This Yom Kippur, one of my favorite songs came to mind, and it was not a happy occasion. Each year on the holiday, I take the opportunity to walk in a carless Tel Aviv. This time, I found myself returning home via Dizengoff Street. I knew there was a controversial prayer service set to take place in Dizengoff Square. Amidst the ongoing clash over the government’s judicial reform campaign, it had become a flashpoint. Some activists opposed it because of the planned mechitzah, which technically violates laws against gender seg...
(JNS) — Palestinian Arab journalist Bassam Tawil recently described a “fierce crackdown” on Palestinian reporters by the Palestinian Authority, including arbitrary arrests and beatings. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden, in his recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last week, emphasized the importance of “upholding democratic values.” Then the president called for the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state next to Israel—a state that would be governed by the same regime that...
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) — Leaning into his latest controversies, Elon Musk is planning to join a bevy of Jewish men for a live chat. The conversation will focus on “X, anti-Semitism, and the future of free speech,” according to conservative pundit and social media personality Ben Shapiro, who announced Wednesday that Musk would join him on his “Daily Wire” podcast. Also participating in the conversation, Shapiro said, are Rabbi Ari Lamm, an Orthodox scholar and podcaster; former Israeli politician and Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky; an unnamed represent...
(JNS) — In the first Republican candidate debate on Aug. 24, Israel became the center of a heated exchange between two of those vying for the presidency in 2024. The Jewish state did not come up at all during the two-hour second debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, Calif., a month later, on Sept. 27. Instead, the seven candidates focused largely on domestic issues, including urban crime, illegal drugs, immigration and the Southern border. Throughout the e...
(JNS) - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in an interview that aired on Wednesday shot down reports that U.S.-led talks over normalization with Israel had been suspended. In an hour-long interview with Fox News' chief political correspondent Bret Baier-MBS's first ever interview completely in English and the first with a major American network since 2019-the crown prince said that peace with the Jewish state was "getting closer every day." Asked what it would take for Riyadh to join...
(JNS) — Dalia al-Aqidi secured 4.7 percent of the vote in the 2020 Minnesota Republican primary in an unsuccessful bid to unseat Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). The Iraqi-born media adviser announced on Monday that she is again running for the Republican nomination in the state’s 5th Congressional District. “Many people assume that because Ilhan and I are both female, Muslim refugees, we must think alike,” al-Aqidi, who immigrated to the United States in 1993, told JNS. “We couldn’t be further apa...
(JNS) - Sen. Robert "Bob" Menendez (D-N.J.), a longtime supporter of Israel and critic of the Iran nuclear deal, is facing widespread calls for his resignation following charges from the U.S. attorney's office that he accepted bribes. The Democrat "allegedly agreed to use his official position to benefit" three New Jersey businessmen "and the government of Egypt in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes to Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, which included gold bars, cash...
(New York Jewish Week) — When a small group of people convened next to an inconspicuous plaque steps from the entrance to the Staten Island Ferry’s Whitehall Terminal, they weren’t there to catch a boat leaving the island. Instead, they had come to the southern tip of Manhattan to celebrate a ship that had arrived on its shores centuries before. The gathering was the 369th anniversary of an event most New Yorkers don’t know about, let alone celebrate: the arrival of the first Jewish community to the United States in 1654. That lack of awarene...
Mrs. Alice H. Gamson, 91, of Sun City Center, Florida and formerly of Orlando, Florida passed away at Aston Gardens Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, peacefully with her children at her side. Mrs. Gamson was born Nov. 18, 1931, in Bronx, New York to the late Benjamin and Rose (Baskin) Hoffman. She and her late husband, Alvin Gamson of blessed memory, moved to the Orlando area in 1978 from Mount Vernon, New York. She was a member of Congregation Ohev Shalom. Mrs. Gamson is survived by her devoted... Full story
Mae (Millie) Heller passed away on Sept. 29, 2023, at the age of 92 after a tragic automobile accident in Mount Airy, MD. Mae resided in Winter Springs, Florida and was on an extended stay in Mount Airy, MD. Mae was born on June 13, 1931, in New York City, New York, and raised in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx for the next 20 years. Afterward, Mae spent nearly 20 years living in Deer Park, NY. Mae entered the workforce after her husband Louis Nathan Heller predeceased her at an early... Full story
Mrs. Linda J. Slone, 80, passed away peacefully on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, at Westminster Winter Park following a brief illness. Mrs. Slone was born Sept. 29, 1942, in Erie, Pennsylvania to the late Sam and Sarah (Brandt) Cohen. She and her late husband, Sheldon Slone, of blessed memory, moved to the Orlando area in 1973 from Akron, Ohio. Mrs. Slone retired as an account executive with the Heritage Florida Jewish Newspaper. Mrs. Slone is survived by her devoted sons; Michael (Lisa) Slone of... Full story
