Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 26 - 36 of 36
A Special Chanukah Gathering will be held Sunday, the first night of Chanukah, on Dec. 22 from 5 to 8 p.m. with a Chanukah Candle Lighting service with a Latke Party that evening. Congregation Sinai President Jack Gartner announced, “This event will be free and open to the entire Jewish community of the Greater Central Florida area. We will light candles and serve latkes with applesauce and sour cream, salad, jelly doughnuts, punch, water, ice tea and sodas.” This Jewish festival commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jer... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Allan Gerson, a lawyer who made it easier for the families of terror victims to sue foreign governments, has died. His daughter Daniela told family and friends that he passed away Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, at his Washington, D.C., home. His wife, Joan Nathan, the cookbook author and authority on Jewish cuisine, told The Washington Post that Gerson, who was 74, died from complications from the degenerative brain disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob. In 1992, by his mid-40s, Gerson had already made a name for himself as a member of the U.S. Dep... Full story
Susan G. Gamson, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 27, 1942, passed away on Dec. 2, 2019. Susan was always an honest and supportive woman who prioritized the needs of her family above all else. She was very active within her community and at her temple, Congregation Ohev Shalom, when she lived in Orlando, and was a member of Hadassah. She enjoyed traveling, specifically RV Camping with her camping group throughout Orlando, was an avid game show enthusiast, and loved the television show “Say Yes to the Dress.” She was always very par... Full story
(My Jewish Learning via JTA)—Chanukah ’s proximity to Christmas can complicate the holiday. For those who try to make Chanukah more like Christmas, it inevitably seems to fall short. Yet while Chanukah was traditionally not one of the most central holidays of the Jewish calendar, it can offer many opportunities for fun and joyous celebration. Here are some suggestions for how you can make this Chanukah memorable while staying true to the essential meaning of the holiday. Bring light out of darkness There are many ways to make this year’s Chanu... Full story
(MEMRI)—At a pro-Gaza rally in Times Square in New York on Nov. 15, speakers called for “an intifada in every classroom” and denied Israel’s right to exist. Nerdeen Kiswani, of an organization called Within Our Lifetime, led a chant that went: “There is only one solution: intifada, revolution!” Husam Kaid of the City College, N.Y. branch of Students for Justice in Palestine called for an intifada in every classroom and in every college campus, saying: “We are going to shut down all the Zionist events [and] start an intifada everywhere!... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Last month, Bernie Sanders wrote about his support for Israel, calling the nation an “enormous achievement” and “a democratic homeland for the Jewish people.” A few weeks later Linda Sarsour, a prominent Arab-American activist and an official Sanders campaign surrogate, said that support for Israel as a state is unacceptable in the progressive movement. The contrast is sharp and, one would think, irreconcilable. Neither Sarsour nor the Sanders campaign has answered the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s request for comment. Le... Full story
(JNS)—The announcement last month by U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo that Israeli settlements are not illegal was either warmly welcomed or hotly rejected, depending on how you interpret international law. Indeed, recently 107 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Pompeo expressing “strong disagreement” with the State Department’s new policy and urged Pompeo to “reverse this policy decision immediately.” Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told JNS that Pompeo did a great service for Israel and for truth by stating tha... Full story
(JTA)—The U.N.’s leading cultural body was scheduled to vote this month on whether to remove a Belgian carnival that had hosted a float seen as mocking Jews from its list of important human cultural expressions. But the carnival’s organizers decided they wouldn’t wait for a possible censure and instead gave up the designation on its own. On Sunday, the city of Aalst said it wanted to withdraw the Aalst Carnival from the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It would be the first time an item had been removed... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—It’s the perennial anomaly of Jewish voter surveys: Vast majorities feel an attachment to Israel, but relatively few are thinking about the Jewish state when they cast their vote. On the day of last year’s midterm congressional elections, J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group, asked Jewish voters to name their two most important issues. Just 4 percent chose Israel. The same survey found that 65 percent said they were somewhat or very emotionally attached to Israel. The J Street survey is not an outlier. The A... Full story
Washington’s Sixth & I synagogue vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti By Josefin Dolsten (JTA)—The Sixth & I synagogue in downtown Washington, D.C., was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti. Michelle Eider, the synagogue’s communications manager, said the vandalism contained swastikas and anti-Semitic language and was discovered on Monday morning. In an email to congregants, the synagogue’s three rabbis said the damage was minimal and would be quickly fixed. “In these moments, it’s important to remember that it is not a shame but an honor to... Full story
With anti-Semitism skyrocketing, many Jews are finding themselves under attack. At times it can feel that few non-Jews want to stand up in defense of Jewish communities in their midst. Yet three recent events in Europe have given Jews some hope, as unexpected heroes stepped up to say enough is enough. Standing up against hatred on British train Asma Shuweikh, a 36-year-old Muslim mother from the British city of Birmingham, was travelling on the underground tube in London on Nov. 22, 2019, when she witnessed a Jewish family with young children... Full story
