Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 36
(JNS) - An Orthodox rabbi from the Netherlands has called on the country's Jews to immigrate to Israel following mass antisemitic assaults in Amsterdam, accusing Dutch authorities of failure to address the root causes of the incident. Two rabbis from the country's large Progressive community disagreed with the remarks by Rabbi Meir Villegas Henriquez, an Orthodox rabbi and mohel from Rotterdam's Ohel Abraham beit midrash (Jewish study center). The debate reflects a growing sense of insecurity...
(JNS) - Family members of those who have been held captive in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, told a gathering of largely American Jews on Monday that "the most Jewish thing you can do" is speak out on the need for a hostage deal. With the U.S. presidential election in the rearview mirror and a new government readying to take over, "we need to hear from all sides that this is really important for the Jewish community now," said Orna Neutra,...
(JNS) — In a video message on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the Iranian people to imagine how much better life would be without the ayatollahs, warning also that the “tyrants of Iran” were putting their families in danger. “I want you to imagine—just imagine—how your life could be different if Iran was free,” said the Israeli premier. “You could speak your mind without fear. You could make a joke without wondering if you’d be carted off to Evin prison.” He underscored how the fanatical Iranian regime spends vast...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Anti-Israel activist organization CodePink has collected 15,000 signatures on a petition urging Trader Joe’s to remove Israeli products from its stores, while Jewish community groups have launched a counter-campaign encouraging supporters to purchase these same items. “As the Israeli genocide continues to devastate Gaza and the broader Middle East, companies like Trader Joe’s must take a stand,” CodePink states in their petition. “By stocking Israeli products, Trader Joe’s supports a system that perpetuates s...
On Nov. 7, Watercrest Winter Park was abuzz with warmth and community spirit as over 75+ people gathered for the Jewish Pavilion’s Harvest and Post-Sukkot Networking Festival. This festive event brought together individuals from across Central Florida in the true spirit of Sukkot—a season that encourages gathering in joy and gratitude. Attendees enjoyed an evening filled with lively music, delicious food, and exciting raffle prizes that kept the atmosphere electric. The carefully crafted dec...
Jewish Pavilion Senior Services will be hosting its Annual JP Connections event on Monday, Dec. 2, in the ballroom at Hilton Orlando/Altamonte Springs at 11a.m. This is a one-of-a-kind gourmet luncheon event and holiday shopping bazaar with an array of vendors and raffle prizes. Jewish Pavilion Senior Services volunteers will be recognized for advancing the organization's mission to enrich the lives of seniors of all faiths. More than 150 Jewish Pavilion Senior Services donors will be in...
The Holocaust Center of Florida strongly condemns the horrific scenes from Amsterdam late Thursday, which Deborah Lipstadt, U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, described as “terribly reminiscent of a classic pogrom.” These premeditated attacks have no place in a civilized society, and we welcome the strong response of the Dutch government in opposing and denouncing these attacks. These attacks, coming two days before the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht, served as a terrible reminder of the dangers of antisemitism and pro...
Relationships don’t just happen—they’re nurtured. This course empowers you to enhance, enrich, and nurture all your interpersonal relationships—at home, at work, and beyond. Explore classic Jewish texts to uncover knowledge and skills for practicing empathy, active listening, agreeable disagreement, interpersonal optimism, constructive criticism, and effective relationship repair. This course will run for 6 weeks, beginning Tuesday, Nov. 26 at Chabad of South Orlando, 7347 W. Sand Lake Rd....
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Columbia University Apartheid Divest, an unsanctioned student group, planned a “Martyrs Day” protest in rejection of Veterans Day, according to Fox News. “Veterans Day is an American holiday to honor the patriotism, love of country, and sacrifice of veterans. We reject this holiday and refuse to celebrate it,” the group’s flyer stated. “The American war machine should not be honored for the horrors unleashed on others. Instead, we will celebrate Martyrs Day in honor of those martyred by the Israel-US war machine.” In...
(JNS) — Individuals wearing masks attacked two Jewish students on Nov. 6 as they supported Israel outside the student center at DePaul University in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. The assailants punched Max Long in the face and body while pushing Michael Kaminsky to the ground, resulting in a concussion and a fractured wrist. Long, who has served in the Israel Defense Forces, was there with his friend encouraging dialogue about the Jewish state. In a statement provided to JNS, the Chicago Jewish Alliance described that before the i...
(JNS) — Israeli authorities on Tuesday warned Israeli nationals in Thailand to remain alert and avoid public Jewish gatherings and events, citing new information regarding possible attacks. The warning follows reports of plans to attack Israelis at a full-moon party on Nov. 15 in Ko Pha Ngan, an island south of Bangkok, Channel 12 reported. The island is a popular travel destination for Israelis. Thai and Israeli security officials have thwarted several attempted attacks already, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Prime M...
(JNS) — A group of about a dozen masked individuals protested outside a theater performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank” at American Legion Devereaux Post 141 in the Detroit metropolitan area, yelling vulgar insults and waving a swastika flag. For approximately 30 minutes on the night of Nov. 9, men described as in their 20s chanted, among other things, that “Anne Frank was a whore,” according to The Detroit News. Frank was a German-born Jewish girl living in Amsterdam who kept a diary of her life in hiding there with her family until the...
(JNS) — An Israeli broadcast journalist reporting on world leaders who condemned the pogrom in Amsterdam paused after quoting tweets by U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to ask a snide rhetorical question. “And guess who hasn’t responded to the antisemitic attacks in The Netherlands?” she said, sneering with unadulterated schadenfreude. “Donald Trump,” she answered, enunciating each syllable for effect, adding sarcastically that “he must be preoccupied with other matters.” Unlike this media figure and so many of...
(JNS) — If you search for “Zionism,” you’ll quickly find this bizarre definition on Wikipedia: “Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century and aimed for the establishment of a Jewish state through the colonization of a land outside Europe.” In other words, Israel is an ethnonationalist colonial movement—precisely what they scream in pro-Palestine demonstrations on university campuses all over America. Zionism is apparently not the self-determination struggle of the Jewish people to rep...
(JNS) — While hordes of politicians, celebrities, “influencers” and “wannabes” somberly intone “Never Again,” 86 years after Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass” that ushered in the Holocaust, cowardice reigns in the West. “Never again” is a pledge of Jewish defiance and Israel its embodiment. From the physical borders of the state and from Entebbe to Amsterdam, wherever Jews are threatened, Israel has taken on the role of defender of the Jewish people. If one is an optimist, “Never again” was also a way for the European community to ver...
(JNS) — For a magazine that prides itself on journalistic standards, Editor & Publisher seems to throw those standards right out the window when Israel is the subject of their reporting. A feature story in the October issue of E&P, the leading trade magazine of the U.S. news media industry, described the difficulties faced by some reporters covering the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But the biggest difficulty with the article was its parroting of blatant anti-Israel falsehoods. The author of the article, Gretchen A. Peck, w...
(JNS) —There was a pogrom in Amsterdam—and no, it’s not 1938. Ten Israelis were injured and hundreds were attacked as they left the Maccabi Tel Aviv/Ajax soccer match on the evening of Nov. 7, just hours before the 62nd anniversary of Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,” in Germany and Austria. The scene was apparently complete chaos. The video footage on social media has been harrowing; Israelis screaming things like, “Not Jewish” and “Free Palestine” to avoid the mob’s wrath. But the attacks didn’t end there. In truth, the onslaught...
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...
(JNS) — Jewish groups mourned the execution of Arvin Netanel Ghahremani, 20, in Iran on Monday and condemned the Islamic Republic for its decision to kill the young Jew, who allegedly killed a man in self-defense. “His life ended under a system that allowed discrimination and cruelty to guide his fate. Shame on the Islamic Republic of Iran,” stated the World Jewish Congress. “Our condolences are with his family through this tragedy and utter lack of justice.” Ghahremani “was attacked with a knife by a non-Jewish man to whom he had loaned mone...
(JNS) - Majed El Shafie, founder and president of the Canadian nonprofit One Free World International, didn't mince words when he spoke about Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, at a "Rally for Humanity" at the Toronto-area synagogue Sephardic Kehila Centre on Sunday evening. "Let me not sugar coat it. We have an idiot of a prime minister. The only prime minister who didn't go to Israel of the G7," said Shafie, whose nonprofit supports persecuted religious minorities. "The only one who...
(JNS) — “She’d rather sleep anywhere else than inside a bomb shelter, because that’s where she was kidnapped from. That’s where Hamas burst in and took her and Hila,” Tom Hand, the father of former captive Emily Hand, told JNS on Thursday. On Oct. 7, 2023, Emily Hand was sleeping over at her friend Hila Rotem Shoshani’s house in Kibbutz Be’eri, five miles from the Gaza Strip, when Hamas launched its assault, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 hostages including 40 children, among...
(JNS) — Leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement hosted a special reception honoring the president of the Berlin state parliament on Monday night at the Jewish Learning Institute headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y. About 50 guests gathered to honor Cornelia Seibeld, president of the Berlin State Assembly, and other German representatives to express gratitude for the government’s support of Israel and commitment to combating rising Jew-hatred throughout Europe. Yehuda Teichtal, chief Chabad rabbi in Berlin, presented Seibeld with an award in rec...
On Nov. 14, Jewish Pavilion Senior Services brought the holiday spirit to over 50 attendees from the Maitland Chamber of Commerce at New Hope for Kids in Maitland. The Pre-Hanukkah Breakfast, prepared by dedicated Jewish Pavilion staff and volunteers, offered a unique and engaging celebration, complete with festive décor and a menu of delicious homemade holiday foods. The highlight of the morning was an interactive presentation by Jewish Pavilion's CEO, Nancy Ludin, who captivated the audience...
(JNS) — More than 60 members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were arrested during a recent counter-terror operation in Judea and Samaria, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Israel Defense Forces announced in a joint statement on Tuesday. Local district heads and ground-level operatives were detained, along with university students active in PFLP cells, according to the statement. Among those detained were leaders of the PFLP-affiliated Union of Women’s Committees, including Abla Sa’adat, wife of the organ...
