Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 27
(JNS) - The North MoPac Expressway runs up Austin's west side, a busy, eight-lane artery that speaks to the city's expanding suburbs and the extravagant consumption of space that is uniquely Texan. It's not a place that seems conducive to anti-Semitic demonstrations-or demonstrations of any kind, for that matter. But late last month, the MoPac came to national attention when a banner appeared on an overpass reading "Vax the Jews." The sign bore the name of a neo-Nazi group. Several men were...
Last year about this time, The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando began The Central Florida Jewish Community Study, conducted by the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University with the assistance of UNH Survey Center. The Cohen Center is one of the most reknowned research organizations in the Jewish community. Keith Dvorchik, CEO of the Federation, shared with Heritage that the 104-page study has a lot of information for our community - which has grown to about 51,400...
(New York Jewish Week via JTA) - Immortalized by pop-culture phenomena like "Dirty Dancing" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," New York's Catskill Mountains were once the go-to summer destination for hundreds of thousands of Jewish New Yorkers. According to the Catskills Institute at Northeastern University, "by the 1950s a half-million people each year inhabited the 'summer world' of bungalow colonies, summer camps and small hotels." And now, a little piece of Catskills history is up for grabs:...
Rabbi Yanky and Chanshy Majesky, co-directors of Chabad North Orlando and Nate's Shul on Markham Woods Rd., are planning to lead a trip to Israel called the Land and Spirit Israel Experience. No affiliation is needed to join and everyone is invited to participate in an eight day, one-of-a-kind VIP experience as they journey to Israel through Judaism's most holy and historical sites. From March 21 - 28, 2022, participants will be treated to a 5-star experience that will feed their hearts, minds,...
Upcoming events at the continuing Chanukah festival include: Dec. 5, 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Festival of Lights Celebration Join The Roth Family JCC for Festival of Lights. Enjoy latkes, DIY dreidels, and more at this can’t-miss celebration. Here are more ways we’ll be lighting up the night: Overnight Camp Fair, where kids and parents can learn about all of the fun options in store for summer 2022; Compete in the Chanukah Costume Contest for great prizes—the contest will be split into adult, child, and family categories; Check out the kid-fri...
Friday, Nov. 19 was a great day at the Cascade Heights in Longwood. The Jewish Pavilion had the pleasure of facilitating Shabbat services with staff members and volunteers. Residents were engaged in candle lighting, making the blessing over wine and challah. It was wonderful to see so many residents participate. Shown here are Bernice, a resident, with Alex Lehrer. The staff at Cascade Heights facility was welcoming and inviting. - Alexandra Lehrer, Jewish Pavilion administra...
(JTA) — Polish nationalists shouted “death to Jews” as they burned a book representing a historic pact protecting the rights of Poland’s Jews. The book burning Thursday at a rally in Kalisz, a city of about 100,000 inhabitants situated 120 miles southwest of Warsaw, was part of a series of nationalist events on Nov. 11, National Independence Day, which is the anniversary of when Poland regained its sovereignty in 1918. Videos and eyewitness accounts on social media show that Wojciech Olszański, a far-right activist, lit a red-covered book tha...
(JTA) — When Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, picked a favorite memory from the last year for a reflective Thanksgiving-themed tweet on Thursday, he didn’t turn to the day in January when his wife was sworn in or mention their first diplomatic trip together this week. Instead, he shared pictures from the day his family affixed a mezuzah on the doorframe of the vice president’s mansion. Mezuzahs are tubes containing the text of the Shema prayer that Jews traditionally attach to their doorposts. Emhoff is the first Jew t...
Palestinian human-rights activist Bassem Eid filed a complaint in New York state recently against Ben & Jerry’s over the ice-cream maker’s decision to boycott Israeli territories. Eid filed the complaint last month with New York State’s Division of Human Rights against Conopco Inc., the U.S. division of Ben & Jerry’s parent company Unilever, reported the New York Post. Eid alleged in his complaint that Ben & Jerry’s announcement in July to stop selling its products in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] and parts of Jerusalem is “counterp...
(JTA) — American officials have warned Israeli officials that their country’s repeated attacks on Iran’s nuclear program have been counterproductive, arguing that Iran has continually rebuilt the destroyed facilities to be more effective, according to a report in The New York Times. Israeli officials have ignored the warnings, according to the report. The report comes ahead of a planned meeting in Vienna between Iranian officials and the countries still remaining in the 2015 Iran deal to discuss the country’s nuclear program. Despite Preside...
(JNS) — When Elmer Davis, director of FDR’s Office of War Information, observed that “ … you cannot do much with people who are convinced that they are the sole authorized custodians of Truth and that whoever differs from them is ipso facto wrong,” he may well have been speaking about those well-meaning but misguided college students who rail against a world in which their dreams of social justice for the oppressed and weak are not being realized, despite their best efforts. That same tendentious behavior now seems to be exploited by editors of...
“We recognize there are not two sides of the Holocaust.” So spoke Texas school superintendent Lane Ledbetter, apologizing for North Texas school administrator Gina Peddy’s remark, surreptitiously recorded by someone among a group of teachers, that they should “make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one that has opposing, that has other perspectives.” “How do you oppose the Holocaust?” an unidentified and understandably puzzled participant was heard to ask. Well, you don’t, of course. Which is what Ledbetter felt the n...
(JNS) — Chanukah is a joyous time, as it should be. But many Jews celebrate it superficially, merely by eating latkes and sufganiyot, spinning dreidels and exchanging gifts. While some light a menorah to commemorate the miracle of the last pure jar of oil that lasted eight days, most don’t appreciate the full story of the holiday or its modern-day implications. Though Jews like to quip about this holiday and others that “they tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat,” the real Chanukah story is one of incredible bravery, commitment, determina...
(JTA) — Allegations of child sexual abuse against Chaim Walder, the author of children’s books beloved in the haredi Orthodox market, and the uncharacteristically swift and harsh community response, have left many wondering if this case could mark the turning point in how the community addresses sexual abuse. As an abuse survivor who supports and advocates for victims of sexual abuse in Orthodox communities, it’s a question I’ve been asked many times over the last week. That was when Mordy Getz, owner of Eichler’s of Boro Park, a Judaica s...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, some minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) Chabad of North Orlando and Chabad of Altamonte Springs are 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. Congr...
(JTA) - An 11-year-old girl found a rare silver coin dating from approximately 67-68 CE in dirt from excavations at the City of David park in Jerusalem. Liel Krutokop was visiting the site with her family recently to sift dirt from an archeological dig when she found the coin, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. "We poured the bucket with the dirt on the strainer, and as we filtered the stones that were inside, I saw something round," Krutokop said of the moment when she found the...
(JNS) - Lebanon, the least stable country in Israel's environment at this time, is home to Iran's strongest proxy, Hezbollah, which continues to get stronger despite the many crises plaguing its host country. Lebanon's multi-faceted dysfunction at the political, economic and social levels has seen its citizens plunged into misery with many of them staring into the abyss of a humanitarian crisis (the country has recently declined Israeli offers for humanitarian assistance). At the same time,...
The Mega Challah Bake has re-introduced the joy of challah-making to women throughout the Orlando area, following a year and a half Covid break. On Thursday, Nov. 11, Orlando's Chabad Centers brought the Mega Challah Bake back to Central Florida. One-hundred and fifty Jewish women of all affiliations joined together to prepare and bake challah as a collective, representing participation from all eight of Central Florida's Chabad Centers (South Orlando Chabad held their event on the same night...
You know I write weeks in advance ... Actually, as I write, Thanksgiving hasn't begun yet. I will be phoning my eldest son, DAVID, who is a Navy commander, and his wife, JOLENE, and I will be face-timing my son, Dr. STEVEN, a psychologist, his wife, Jessica, also a psychologist and my grandchildren, LAUREN and ZACH to wish them a happy holiday! My third son, RON, an experiential marketing event manager, will be here with me and we will also celebrate! I repeat... I know it's late but "Happy...
(Israel21c via JNS) - Just in time for Chanukah, Israeli archeologists have uncovered new evidence of the long battle between Hellenists and Hasmoneans in the holy land. Chanukah celebrates the 164 BCE victory of an army, led by a father and sons known as the Maccabees, over Hellenist (Seleucid) conquerors who'd outlawed Jewish practices and defiled the Temple in Jerusalem. In the years after the Maccabees purified and rededicated the Temple, battles against the Seleucids continued under...
On Sunday morning, Nov. 21, a terrorist attack took place in Jerusalem leaving one Israeli dead and three injured. Attacks like this are always sad and cause a range of emotions, from anger to despair, that no matter what, Palestinian Arabs are always trying to kill us, just because we are Jews living in the Land. The man who was murdered was Eliyahu (Eli) Kay, 26. Eliyahu was a new immigrant from South Africa. He came to Israel to serve in the IDF as a lone soldier, joining the elite...
Ten years ago, Illya Buzunov never could have imagined that one day he'd be teaching Jews around the world how to prepare potato latkes. Until 2014, the Ukraine native didn't even know he was Jewish. But that's exactly what Buzunov, 24, will be doing on November 30 - the third night of Chanukah - as part of a new video event series that brings together Jews from a variety of countries for Chanukah candle lighting celebrations and an inside look at their communities. Each night, Jews from a diffe...
YouTube holds a vast library of music, and Chanukah songs are no exception. The Chanukah terrain consists of the classics, creative recreations of popular songs and lots and lots of acapella. Here’s a wide mix of all different types of Chanukah songs to get you in the mood for a bright and joyful holiday! Al HaNisim Literally “for the miracles”, Al HaNisim is a classic Chanukah song that relates briefly the story of Chanukah and Purim. It is a song of thanksgiving to God for redeeming the Jews from oppression. This old school classical Israe...
Sally Rooney’s boycott of Israel publishers gets backing of 70 writers By Asaf Shalev (JTA) — Seventy notable writers and publishers including Rachel Kushner, Francisco Goldman and Eileen Myles have signed a letter supporting Irish novelist Sally Rooney in her refusal to have her third novel translated into Hebrew by an Israeli publisher. The letter calls Rooney’s boycott of Israeli publishers “an exemplary response to the mounting injustices inflicted on Palestinians.” Rooney published her newest novel, “Beautiful World, Where Are You,” in Se...
Today, we speak of a largely forgotten ethnic cleansing unparalleled in the history of humanitarian abuses. Recall the coordinated international expulsion of some 850,000 Jews from Arab and Muslim lands, where they had lived peaceably for as long as 27 centuries. In 2014, the Israeli government set aside Nov. 30 as a commemoration of this mass atrocity. It has had no real identity or name like “Kristallnacht.” But from this day forward, it will be known as Yom HaGirush: “Expulsion Day.” It began the moment Hitler came to power in 1933. The int...
