Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Jewish Academy of Orlando kindergarteners performed in the school’s annual Thanksgiving show. The remote audience was taken back in time to the days of the pilgrims. The students sang Thanksgiving favorites like, “Happy Thanksgiving, hurray, hurray, hurray!,” and shared what they are thankful for. The music helped to tell the story of the first Thanksgiving with songs about Plymouth Rock, the Mayflower, and the harvest. The students also shared a cookbook with their favorite recipes for the h...
When the first wave of coronavirus infections reached the American South, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, knew the religious school's classes at his synagogue would have to move online. But he also knew his institution was ill-equipped to make that change. "We are a small congregation – 170 households – and our religious school is generally run by volunteer teachers," Cytron-Walker said. "We don't have a paid religious school director. When COV...
ZOA Florida is very excited to announce that two of its board members - Dr. Dan and Staci Layish and Dr. Craig Deligdish and Gila Bronner of Melbourne - will be recognized as 'Zionists in the Spotlight' honorees at the upcoming ZOA Virtual Superstar Gala on Sunday, Dec. 27, at 7 p.m. The Virtual Superstar Gala will feature an outstanding line-up, including, Rapper/Actor Ice Cube, Ambassador David Friedman, Israel's new Ambassador to the U.S. and UN Gilad Erdan, Philanthropist Dr. Miriam...
The U.S. Parole Commission has issued a certificate terminating parole and lifting all parole restrictions on Jonathan J. Pollard, effective Nov. 21, 2020. According to the law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, Pollard is no longer subject to a curfew, is no longer prohibited from working for a company that does not have U.S. government monitoring software on its computer systems, is no longer required to wear a wrist monitor that tracks his whereabouts, and is free to travel anywhere, including Israel, for temporary or permanent...
Chabad of South Orlando, 7347 W. Sand Lake Rd, Orlando invites the community to sign up for six thought-provoking classes titled Secrets of the Bible. Find the answer to these questions: • What is the deeper meaning behind these stories? • How did they shape the Jewish worldview? • What wisdom do they hold for you today? Classes begin in-person or via Zoom on Tuesday, Dec. 1 and run through Jan. 12, from 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. Course outline: Session one Would you choose knowledge over paradis...
On Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 6 p.m., the director of the Jewish Sports Heritage Association, Alan Freedman, will present "Jewish Sports Legends," a free Zoom program open to the entire community. Freedman founded the not-for-profit JSHA in 2015 to help educate the public about the role of Jews in sports and bring to light contributions that are often overlooked. Previously, Freedman was the founder and director of The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and Suffolk Y JCC, both in Commack,...
Last year Jewish Federation CEO Keith Dvorchik participated in the Encounter program in Israel. Encounter works to help Jewish leaders understand the diverse Palestinian narrative. “It was a fascinating experience that was hopeful, depressing, and aggravating at the same time,” Dvorchik said in the Fed Friday newsletter. This November he was to return as a facilitator for an Encounter trip before COVID-19 changed the world. Since Dvorchik can’t go to Israel for the experience, Encounter is bringing some of the speakers to Central Florida free...
The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando will present the video “Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg” virtually on Dec. 9, 7 p.m. The presentation includes a video from Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center. Chief Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Arielle Weininger will discuss the history of RBG and the exhibition, complete with embedded audio, video, and photographs of artifacts as seen in the exhibition. After the video is a live Q&A session with a docent. The cost is $18/person. Register at htt...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced his optimism on Monday that the country's coronavirus crisis could soon be over after drug-maker Moderna announced that testing had shown its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to be highly effective. "This is great news for Israel," said Netanyahu shortly after the announcement. "Already in June I, along with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, instructed that an agreement be signed with Moderna for the supply of vaccines. Today, Moderna...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Veteran CNN anchorwoman Christiane Amanpour apologized during her Monday show for having equated the events of Kristallnacht with U.S. President Donald Trump’s term in office. Her comments caused a storm of controversy, including a demand from Israel to issue a retraction. “I observed the 82nd anniversary of Kristallnacht, as I often do. It is the event that began the horrors of the Holocaust. I also noted President Trump’s attacks on history, facts, knowledge and truth,” Amanpour explained. However, she said, “I...
(JTA) — After several challenges to pandemic-induced restrictions on houses of worship citing religious liberty, an Orthodox Jewish advocacy group is taking its case to the U.S. Supreme Court in the hopes that the new conservative majority will rule in its favor. Agudath Israel, an umbrella organization representing haredi Orthodox Jews, is challenging New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s limitations on houses of worship in “red zones,” areas with especially high COVID test positivity rates. Agudath Israel claims that they were implemented in a way t...
The mainstream media and pollsters have once again soiled themselves. Let’s begin with the best news of election week. Republicans appear likely to retain control of the Senate. That means no court-packing (though the idea has now been given legitimacy in some Democratic circles), no Equality Act, expanding the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock. And no economically ruinous Green New Deal. A Democratic president might well have one or more Supreme Court appointments in the next four years, but to secure confirmation, he or she will have to...
(JNS) — Thomas Friedman, The New York Times columnist who built his career on a lie about his pro-Palestinian past, has just authored a column bemoaning the legitimization of lying in American culture. Then, just a few hours later, he publicly urged Democrats around the country to temporarily relocate to Georgia and lie about their intentions in order to vote in the upcoming U.S. Senate runoff races there. In his Nov. 11 column in the Times, Friedman announced that “the worst legacy of the Trump presidency” is that “lying has been normali...
The out-going Trump administration has implemented many policy decisions regarding the Middle East during its term in office that have resulted in a paragon shift in the Arab World’s perception of Israel from non-recognition and enemy to recognition and alliance. While the Trump Deal of the Century has been summarily rejected by all Palestinian factions and their terrorist partners, Hamas and Hezbollah, the Abraham Accords entered into between Israel and respectively, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and subsequently Sudan has revealed a m...
(JTA) — Joe Biden won the 2020 election. This fact is indisputable, and has been reported as such by Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post — some of the most conservative outlets in the country. Yet due to President Donald Trump’s pervasive and systemic attack on our electoral system, nearly 70 percent of Republicans believe there was widespread fraud and the election results are not legitimate, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted Nov. 6-9. This assault on truth and American institutions will last long...
Last Thursday night, 567 days after Joe Biden officially announced his presidential campaign and five days after he won the election, I learned that all of Biden’s children married Jewish partners. I’ll admit, I was surprised. There I was, gushing over our new Jewish second gentleman-elect, Doug Emhoff, when I discovered there was a gaggle of Jewish grandchildren to coo over, too. But here’s what makes Biden’s extended Jewish family so significant to me: I didn’t need to know they exist in order to believe that Joe Biden supports the Jewish co...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, some minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) Chabad of North Orlando is holding in-person 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.,...
(JTA) — Jewish schools and other private schools in New York City will remain open even as the city shutters its public school buildings starting Thursday amid a rise in new COVID-19 cases in the city. City officials decided this summer to shift all schools to virtual learning if the city’s seven-day test positivity rate reached 3 percent. That happened Thursday, according to the city’s data. But the rules do not affect the city’s private schools. That’s because every public school district and private school in New York state was required...
VANCOUVER, Canada (JTA) - On a January afternoon, snow blanketed the streets of this western Canada city of famously weather-fickle residents. But it didn't keep 30 Jews from packing into the living room of Noam and Val Dolgin to talk about Jewish cohousing. The group ran the gamut in age, from young adults to families with kids to retirees. Some were secular in search of cultural fellowship, while others were more religiously observant and cared about living in a space conducive to observing...
On Sunday, Nov. 15, children gathered at Chabad of North Orlando to experience kosher in a whole new way. The program channeled children's inner designers, entrepreneurs, and chefs as they created their own kosher restaurant startups. This was a showdown where everyone was boss. Children planned and showcased their very own startup ideas, and learned important Jewish lessons along the way. "It was a fresh activity that got the kids excited about the mitzvah of kosher," said Chanshy Majesky, co-d...
The Jewish Pavilion has many volunteers who go into the facilities and visit with our seniors but those volunteers are just the tip of the iceberg. The Jewish Pavilion's volunteers aren't just those seen at the facilities. There are a lot of them working hard behind the scenes to help our operations run smoothly. Marlene Adler is one of those volunteers working hard for the Jewish Pavilion. Marlene is a Brooklyn native who at 22 got married and moved to New Jersey. A move that she has never...
Repair the World and Hillel International are collaborating to mobilize thousands of college students in meaningful volunteer service and learning through the national Serve the Moment initiative. About 100 Hillel "Campus Corps Members" will serve on campuses throughout the world and recruit peers to engage in ongoing service work with local nonprofits to address urgent needs in their communities. "Jewish college students witness inequity and racial injustice in their neighborhoods and across th...
What a loss ... I loved watching the television show, "Jeopardy." Although I rarely knew the answers to the questions, I enjoyed watching the game hosted by Alex Trebek. Maybe its because I felt such warmth from him, such tenderness. Also, although he was not raised Jewish, I believe he had Jewish ancestry on his father's side. Alex was from Canada, his ancestry is Ukrainian, like mine on my mother's side. (My mom was born in Canada but her parents and siblings were born in Ukraine.) I will...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Israel’s Energy Ministry announced on Monday that the country plans to reduce carbon emissions by 7.5 percent within the next 10 years. The ministry also recommended an interim goal of an 11 percent improvement in energy efficiency by 2025, compared to 2015 (which would work out to an average 1.2 percent improvement per year) and an 18 percent improvement by 2030. “The new goal links energy consumption to the amount of products and services in the country,” the ministry said in a statement. “It is appropriate for Israe...
(ISRAEL21c) - Thursday, Nov. 19, was World Toilet Day, established by the United Nations to raise awareness of sanitation challenges across the globe. To mark the special event, we looked at the sanitary situation in the Land of Israel these past couple of millennia and learned more about the best ancient toilets uncovered by archaeologists. What can we say - it certainly left us feeling flushed. City of David, Jerusalem (Iron Age) Magnificent remains of toilets were found in the archaeological...
