Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 32
(JTA) - When tickets for Los Angeles' Infinite Light Festival went on sale in October, just a week after Hamas' brutal attack on Israel, sales were brisk. In fact, tickets sold out to the annual Chanukah celebration held by the local Jewish federation's young adult division, NuRoots, faster than in any other year. "I truly believe that that's because people are just craving to be in community, to celebrate, to be given permission to have a sense of joy, and to show up and have fun," Chelsea...
Last Thursday, Dec. 7, Dr. Daniel Layish and Keith Dvorchik hosted a meeting with a group from CityServe Israel. The discussion was about how the Christian and Jewish communities can help the moshavs and kibbutzim in the southern Negev region that was attacked by Hamas. A spokesman from Moshav Ein Habesor, Dr. Yftach Gepner, who has lived in Orlando and now lives in Ein Habesor, shared his experience on Oct. 7. Ein Habesor is about 4 miles east of Gaza. On that fateful Simchat Torah, he woke to...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following last month’s historic March for Israel that brought nearly 300,000 people to the National Mall, the nation’s most prominent American Jewish organizations have today joined forces to launch The 10/7 Project — a new centralized communications operation. The 10/7 Project is designed to promote continued U.S. bipartisan support for Israel by working to ensure more complete and accurate information about the Israel-Hamas war in real time for policymakers and the American public. The 10/7 Project is led by the America...
Oftentimes, as nursing home residents decline, they lose the ability to communicate. Sadly, this is a time when families stop visiting as often because they don’t know what to say or how to make the visits meaningful for the family, as well as their loved one. Sometimes, just being present can be satisfying. Here are some tips for the families. • Prepare for the visit ahead of time. Bring items of interest with you. For example, if your loved one enjoys pets, bring your family pet to visit. If he loves music, bring music to play. • Talk with...
By Ben Sales (JTA) — The president of the University of Pennsylvania announced her resignation on Saturday, Dec. 9, after facing growing backlash for declining to say outright that calling for the genocide of Jews violated the school’s code of conduct. “I write to share that President Liz Magill has voluntarily tendered her resignation as President of the University of Pennsylvania,” Scott Bok, the chair of the school’s board of trustees, said in a statement. Bok subsequently said he would als...
On Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, at 8:30 a.m., the Jewish Pavilion and the Maitland Chamber of Commerce will come together for a celebration of Tu B’Shevat. This special event will take place at New Hope for Kids in Maitland, 544 Mayo Ave., Maitland. Tu B’Shevat holds significance in the Jewish calendar as a celebration of nature, trees, and the environment. Volunteers and dedicated Jewish Pavilion staff are gearing up to prepare homemade dishes, drawing inspiration from Jewish culture and the essence of Tu B’Shevat. To be a part of this $10 celeb...
Shalom Orlando, in collaboration with the Kabbalah Centre, is excited to announce the launch of its newest spiritual offering, the Kabbalah One Class, designed to provide a profound exploration of the mystical teachings of Kabbalah. This insightful course will take place at Shalom Orlando’s Maitland campus. Kabbalah is a proven system of spirituality that is grounded in ancient wisdom. With practical, everyday strategies, along with answers to humanity’s biggest questions, this system helps you design your best life and create meaningful cha...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — If there’s a trait that unites the 100 members of the U.S. Senate, it is volubility: These folks, who invented the filibuster, know how to talk. It was remarkable to see them then exiting a screening room on Tuesday in the bowels of the Capitol building, barely able to shape their mouths into a single word. The unusual silence came after two senators, Jacky Rosen, a Jewish Nevada Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, screened for their fellow senators 43 minutes of harrowing footage of the carnage Hamas ter...
(JNS) — More than 260,000 Israelis have applied for gun permits in the past six weeks, according to Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Speaking on Monday at a faction meeting of his Otzma Yehudit Party, Ben-Gvir said the applicants were normal people who simply wanted to protect themselves and their families. “My policy within the office is to allow as many people as possible to receive weapons, and as [to bring in] many people as possible to handle their applications,” he said. “In a very short period, the Firearms Licensi...
(JNS) — Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Tuesday accused Israel of the “systematic and deliberate” killing of Palestinian civilians. At the same time, he claimed to be working to restore the collapsed hostages-for-ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza. “It is shameful for the international community to allow this heinous crime to continue for nearly two months, during which the systematic and deliberate killing of innocent civilians continues, including women and children,” Qatar’s ruler told Gu...
(JNS) — Chabad’s CTeen International conducted a conference in Barcelona, Spain, that brought together Jewish youth from across Europe. Some 300 Jewish teenagers gathered from Nov. 24-26 for “Shabbat Across Europe,” which Chabad described as “a weekend of togetherness, belonging and Jewish pride.” Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, chairman of CTeen International and vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch—the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubatich movement—said the event “gave teens a space where it’s safe to express your Judaism fully.” And he remind...
(JNS) — Palestinian leadership must have a better inducement for Israel to come to the negotiating table than rape, mutilation, kidnapping, stabbings and missile attacks. The Palestinian people must be willing to accept two fundamental facts: 1) it is not possible to turn the clock back to June 4, 1967; and 2) it is a futile crusade to try and destroy Israel. For a state of war to be replaced by a state of peace, a state of acceptance must replace a state of rejection. Before Israel can feel secure enough to cede more control over any of the l...
I always find it incredible that with the Jewish custom of an annual cycle of reading the entire Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy) in the course of a year brings us back to the same verses, stories, and narratives that we read a year earlier, but in a different place in our lives that we relate to it differently each year. It underscores that the Torah, God’s word, is relevant to each and every one of us, no matter where we are in our lives, how old we are, or our circumstances. I see that often in my life, but never more than this w...
(JNS) — Former Prime Minister Golda Meir once said, “I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.” Never has this been truer than in Israel’s current war to destroy Hamas. For many years, a figurative diplomatic clock was set for Israel every time it launched a defensive military operation. This clock is not brought out for any other conflict in the world. It simply does not exist except in the imagination of Israel’s foreign interlocutors, who try to burn it into the psyches of the Jewish state’s decision-makers. As a result, the clock h...
(JNS) — When I heard the news that Henry Kissinger had died, the only thing I could think was “There goes the smartest man in the world.” This is hyperbolic, of course, but one cannot read any of Kissinger’s books without feeling that one has encountered an extraordinary intelligence. In a world that despises anything resembling intelligence, this is not easily dismissed. Many, however, do dismiss it. Even the more positive eulogists have hedged their bets, attempting to head off the inevitable fusillade of invective from the progres...
(JNS) — It is common to think that despite the extensive political, religious and cultural differences between different identity groups in Israel, on really important matters—such as survival in the face of enemy attack—they can all come together. Indeed, it seemed that this was illustrated by the total mobilization of Israeli society after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. Yet recent days have shown that this is not entirely true. There is one very important matter that has not enjoyed total consensus: The hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas...
(JNS) — Polish educator Janusz Korczak once wrote: “If I were a boy again, I’d want to remember and know everything that I know now. Only I wouldn’t want anyone to find out that I was already a grownup once. I would pretend as if nothing were the matter; that I’m the same kind of little boy as all the others.” Over the past two months, understanding the world as an adult has not been a great privilege. One could be forgiven if, for the past two months, one had been envious of the naivete of children, even if just for a fleeting moment. Of...
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...
(JTA) — Police estimated that 50,000 people showed up for a march against antisemitism on Sunday in what reports are calling the largest such gathering in London since before World War II. Organizers estimated that 60,000 attended the march, which was planned in reaction to the spike in antisemitism around the world that has accompanied the Israel-Hamas war that began on Oct. 7. Speaking at the march, British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said Jews “will not be intimidated.” “We must teach our children that the superheroes of our society are tho...
(JNS) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called Argentinian President-elect Javier Milei "a true friend of Israel" and invited him to visit Jerusalem. The Israeli leader congratulated Milei on his election victory in a "friendly" telephone call and thanked him for supporting Israel in its war against Hamas as well as for his pledge to move Argentina's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, according to the Prime Minister's Office. In a major foreign policy shift, Milei has said...
Yariv Hagbi, a farmer whose family has been growing produce in the area of southern Israel near Gaza for generations, spent part of Oct. 7 fighting terrorists who broke into his family home in the town of Yakhini. That Saturday, his brother, Yizhar Hagbi, and several other relatives were killed. Since then, the entire community of Yakhini has been displaced, but Hagbi stayed behind because he's determined to save the family farm - despite all the grief, shock and devastation. "At a certain...
(JTA) - Norman Lear, the Jewish TV pioneer behind iconic comedies of the 1970s and 1980s that helped bring social commentary and Black characters into the mainstream, has died at 101. Lear's death was announced by a spokesperson for his family, according to The New York Times. The decorated creator of "All In The Family," "The Jeffersons," "Maude," "Sanford and Son" and a host of other groundbreaking TV sitcoms, Lear lived and worked through just about every era of Hollywood comedy. A lifelong...
Israel Tsvaygenbaum views what is happening in Israel as a painful reminder of his own family history. His father was 29 when he fled Poland in 1939 to escape the Nazis. The remaining family members were murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau. "I have always reflected in my paintings the theme of the Holocaust and, in general, human tragedy, the loss of people close to us," said the Russian-American artist, whose work representing the magic realism art movement is known throughout the world....
By (New York Jewish Week) — In March 2022, Jack Waksal thought he recognized Sam Ron, the keynote speaker at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual South Florida dinner in Boca Raton. But he couldn’t quite place him — after all, at 97, Waksal had met thousands of people during his lifetime. But when Ron said the word “Pionki,” all the memories came rushing back. Ron, formerly known as Shmuel Rakowsk, and Waksal had been best friends as teenagers when they worked side by side making gunp...
(JNS) — The number of violent incidents committed by Israeli Jews against Arab residents of Judea and Samaria continues to drop, according to a leaked Israel Defense Forces memo published on Monday, two weeks after Israel Police data suggested a similar trend. The confidential document was prepared by IDF Central Command, which is responsible for Judea and Samaria, and was first reported by Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Monday. In the first week of October, the military recorded 32 incidents of nationalist crime, including four gra...
