Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA)-Eleven memorial candles stood on a table at the start of the public memorial service for the attack one year ago on the Tree of Life synagogue building. Family members of the 11 people killed in the attack walked around the table holding hands as a string ensemble played in the background. They then lit the candles, wiping their eyes and hugging each other. The Jewish community was joined at Sunday's ceremony by members of the Christian and Muslim faith communities, as well as city and...
After Israel killed a top commander from the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in a rare targeted strike in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the group's leader said that Israel has pushed the group "to go to war." Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a statement saying, "These terrorist crimes are aggression and a declaration of war on the Palestinian people, and the enemy bears for responsibility for them." Additionally, Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhala of the Palestinian...
NEW YORK (JTA)-Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and billionaire media mogul, appears to be preparing to run for president. Bloomberg, 77, flirted with presidential runs in past election cycles before declining to run. As recently as March, he ruled out a presidential campaign this year, writing that he was "clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field." But now he is registering to run in the Democratic primary in Alabama, whose...
With little progress otherwise reported toward forming a new Israeli government, one point of agreement which is said to exist between Likud and Blue and White is over Israel’s right to claim sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area. Before the September 17 Knesset election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he intended to immediately annex the Jordan Valley if he is re-elected. “In Blue and White, they are prepared to begin a process of imposing Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dea...
New York Times bestselling author Brian Kilmeade will be at the Roth Family Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. to talk about his newest book "Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers." In his now-trademark style, Kilmeade brings alive one of the most pivotal moments in American history, this time telling the heart-stopping story of the fight for Texas independence. While the events at the Alamo are familiar to most, fewer remember that, following that crushing...
Jewish Academy of Orlando fourth and fifth graders heard testimony from Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann as part of a visit organized by Dr. Dan Layish, an alumni parent. Steigmann visited students to share his incredible story of hope and survival. "I appreciated the timeliness of this visit," stated Emily Watson, 4th grade teacher. "Listening to Mr. Steigmann not only gave my students the opportunity to learn where prejudice and racism can lead; but also it allowed them to hear the lessons...
Ayelet Golan will present “An evening of Art and Puppetry with Ayelet Golan” on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 6:30 p.m., at the Central Florida Hillel, 3925 Lockwood Blvd., Oviedo. There will be a Q&A after her presentation. This event free and open to the public. Golan is a theater director, puppeteer, and performer. Her work has been presented at festivals and venues across the globe, including Israel, Europe, and the United States. She also directs and teaches in one Israel’s most prestigious junio...
(JNS)-Palestinian Islamic Jihad-the second-largest armed terror faction in Gaza after Hamas-is agitating for violence, and is in fact the organization that conducted Friday-night's rocket barrage on the Israeli border city of Sderot. It appears as if the commander of the PIJ's northern Gaza brigade-a terror chief named Baha Abu Al Atta-is directly behind the latest rocket fire that targeted Israeli civilians. The Iron Dome air-defense system intercepted most of the incoming rockets, though one...
The Zionist Organization of America achieved an important legal victory against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, after the ZOA filed an anti-Semitism complaint against UNC with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. In an April 17, 2019, letter to OCR, the ZOA complained that UNC sponsored a one-sided anti-Israel conference on March 22-24, 2019, titled “Conflict over Gaza: People, Politics and Possibilities.” The Conference included an offensive, anti-Semitic performance by a rapper. Days after the confe...
(JNS)—As Iranians took to the streets this week to commemorate 40 years since the U.S. embassy takeover in 1979, Iran announced new violations of the nuclear deal it signed in 2015. The rogue Islamic Republic admitted that it now operates 60 advanced IR-6 centrifuges and is working on a new type of centrifuge that will work 50 times faster than what is currently permitted under the deal. This announcement comes after Iran has engaged in attacks on oil tankers and Saudi oil facilities, shooting down an American drone, and, of course, its ongoing...
(JNS)—According to the Forward, the rationale for the New Israel Fund’s push to create an alternative philanthropic system can be explained by what a Philadelphia psychologist named Roy Idelson considered to be a reasonable request. He wanted his local umbrella Jewish philanthropy—the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia—to allow him to use its foundation to donate money to an entity of his choice, IfNotNow. A number of federations and many others operate foundations that allow their supporters to create so-called “donor-...
(JNS)—Roman landmark Caffè Greco, which opened on the Via dei Condotti in 1760, is in crisis. It has to be sold, and there is talk of Jewish buyers. To readers not living in or familiar with Rome this may not seem like a particularly interesting story—but then came a Facebook post expressing concern that the cafe would end up in the hands of “Zionists.” Responding to the post, the Italian branch of the BDS movement promised that if Zionists bought the cafe, they would lead a boycott campaign against it. At which the cafe’s current owners chi...
(JNS)—When it was founded some 10 years ago, J Street claimed to be a “pro-Israel and pro-peace” organization. That was taken to mean partnering with the mainstream Israeli political left to build support in Washington for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. Since then, J Street has morphed into an anti-Israel organization. J Street spends its time and money besmirching Israel, smearing AIPAC and other leading American Jewish organizations, boosting former President Barack Obama’s dangerous deal with Iran (and now trying...
(JNS)—One year after the Tree of Life synagogue shooting shook world Jewry to its core, we are continuously flooded with disturbing reminders that, unbelievably, anti-Semitism is back on the agenda and threatens our way of life more seriously than we could have ever imagined in the modern era. The latest wake-up call occurred when a neo-Nazi gunman came to kill Jews at a synagogue in Germany on Yom Kippur. By now, the attack in Halle is all too familiar. Violent anti-Semitic incidents rose 13 percent worldwide last year, according to Tel A...
(JNS)—It is a story that strikes a chord with anyone familiar with the struggle for civil rights in the American South. Jwnaid Murad, a businessman in Iraqi Kurdistan, has decided that he will no longer sell Turkish products in his supermarket in the town of New Erbil in response to growing calls among Iraqi Kurds for a boycott of Turkey because of Ankara’s onslaught against fellow Kurds in Syria. Even though goods from Turkey make up 60 percent of the inventory in his supermarket, Murad gathered his employees to pack up the remaining Tur...
NEW YORK (JTA)—There is something curious about the media attention given to the recent leak of Richard Spencer’s post-Charlottesville rant, in which he decried “little f—ing kikes” and “little f—ing octoroons,” an anachronistic slur for someone who is one-eighth black, and added that he rules “the f—ing world.” While it is actually impressive how Spencer manages to be so racist, anti-Semitic and egomaniacal in so few words, the public reaction to it is a reflection of the American view of white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Spencer’s...
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...
Jacksonville’s Josh Fisher has obtained Spanish citizenship through his Sephardic ancestry, demonstrating that his family was exiled in 1492. Fisher, who will be the featured speaker at the Dec. 18 meeting of the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society is one of the more than a 140 Sephardic Jews that have had the opportunity to become Spanish citizens through Spain’s Miami Consulate in the last few years. Fisher will explain the process and some of the background of Spain’s Law of Return to the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society at a mee...
"I am not what happened to me, I am what I chose to be." This is Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann's own words by which he lives. With an everlasting smile on his face, Steigmann shares his message of hope and positivity with everyone he meets. Steigmann was visiting friends Staci and Dan Layish in Orlando and had the opportunity to speak with the Knights of Israel at UCF and the fourth and fifth graders at the Jewish Academy of Orlando. Along the way, this reporter was fortunate to have lunch w...
The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society invites the community to join them on a tour the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica at the University of Florida on Sunday, Nov. 17, under the direction of Dr. Rebecca Jefferson, the unofficial “The Jewish Librarian of Florida.” The Society and guests will meet in the parking lot of the Main Branch of the St. Johns County Library, 1960 North Ponce De Leon Boulevard (Route U.S. 1), St. Augustine, FL 32084 at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17 for the drive to Gainesville and lunch at Falafel King, 325...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Nita Lowey, who is retiring after 32 years in Congress, fields a question about her legacy as a Jewish lawmaker. No trouble there-she talks about Israel and her Jewish pride all the time. Then there's one about her legacy as one of the pioneering women in Congress. That one goes down easy, too: Her office is plastered with photos signifying how far women have come in American politics. But when a reporter asks a question combining the two-about her legacy as a female Jewish lawm...
Colleen Norris has been associated with The Mayflower in Winter Park for over 23 years. She is the assisted-living director and recently stated that she is "happy to get up and go to work every day." When asked why her work is so rewarding, she answered that the feel of family and community that she creates makes it all worthwhile. Norris is responsible for providing a variety of activities that stimulate the senses and enhances the enjoyment of life. She stated that "with the help of the...
I'm shocked (and delighted!)... I learned this recently and share it with you: "The Dutch National Railway, Nederlandse Spoorwegen has announced its intention to offer financial compensation to the survivors and relatives of Holocaust victims who were transported via Dutch rail to Nazi concentration camps during World War II. 'Over 70 percent of Dutch Jewry was deported and murdered in the Holocaust, most of them carted to their deaths by the national railway that collaborated and cooperated...
By Liam Hoare VIENNA (JTA)-"Neither ox nor donkey can block the path to socialism," the East German leader Erich Honecker boldly declared on Aug. 14, 1989. Less than three months later, on Nov. 9, the Berlin Wall would fall. Newsweek's then-Berlin bureau chief Michael Meyer called 1989 the year that changed the world. In "We the People," British historian Timothy Garton Ash described the opening of the Berlin Wall as "a moment of emancipation and liberation." Ron Zuriel, a Jewish photography...
Denise Beumer and Sharon Littman share their love with seniors every week volunteering for the Jewish Pavilion at Savannah Court in Maitland. They also shared the evening as honorees at the Gems & Jeans Jewish Pavilion Gala. Joined by family and friends, the gala was filled with the comradery that everyone shared supporting seniors and ensuring their Jewish connection. The Jewish Pavilion believes in bringing the human connection to every senior at every place volunteers visit. Beumer spoke...
