Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA)-Political turmoil, terror attacks and natural disasters around the world: 2017 had plenty of people feeling down, for good reason. But there were also notable moments of light. As this year draws to a close, here is a chronology of some of the more heartwarming stories JTA published this year. An Orthodox Jew builds bridges with his Yemeni Muslim neighbors After President Donald Trump issued his first executive order banning immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, Alexander R...
Please join the Jewish Pavilion on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. at Sheraton Orlando North (Maitland) for their 'Gems and Jeans Gala,' as they honor community 'gems,' Marian Bromberg and A.J. Kronenberg, for providing exemplary volunteer assistance to Orlando's elder-care community. Slip on your favorite pair of 'dressy' jeans, and the Pavilion will provide the sparkle, with an evening featuring gourmet dining, live music, and a silent auction, along with dazzling 'surprise' entertainment. All...
BBYO North Florida Region is honored to welcome and host BBYO’s International Convention 2018. Over President’s Day weekend (Feb. 15–19, 2018), more than 5,000 of the Jewish community’s top teen leaders, educators, professionals, and philanthropists from around the world will come together in Orlando for one of the largest Jewish communal events of the year. Delegates will hear from and meet inspiring speakers, deepen leadership skills, serve the local community, celebrate Shabbat, learn, have access to exclusive music performances, and do...
(JNS) The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a resolution denouncing President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The 193-member General Assembly voted 128-9, with 35 abstentions, to express “deep regret” over Trump’s Jerusalem policy changes, which also include plans to move the U.S. embassy to that city. The nine countries voting against the resolution were the U.S., Israel, Togo, Micronesia, Guatemala, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands and Honduras. The 35 abstentions included...
Joseph Hara died on Dec. 24, five days shy of his 92nd birthday. He always likened his life to a Horatio Alger tale, a man who rose from a humble background and achieved success beyond his wildest dreams. Hara was born in Chicago to a Syrian mother, Rose Beyda and Turkish father, Shabo. Hara was one of nine children, and like many, the family struggled to make ends meet during the Depression. After serving in the Army Air Corps in the South Pacific during World War II, Hara returned determined...
(JNS) The Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation (MFF) on Monday announced the winners of its second competition for the creation of pro-Israel social media memes. The competition brought together hundreds of participants from around the world, including the U.S., Israel, Egypt, South Africa, Germany, Romania, Kenya and Denmark. Second prize winner Eric Fihman created a meme featuring Israeli actress Gal Gadot's "Wonder Woman" movie character along with the "wonder women" of the IDF and text...
JOIN Orlando and SPARK, the women’s division of JOIN, are hosting an evening with delicious appetizers, a variety of drinks and a discussion about “Mission Possible - Discovering Your Life’s Purpose” by Rabbi Ahron Hoch on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, from 7:30—9 p.m. Rabbi Ahron Hoch helped found Aish Toronto in 1981, one of the first outreach centers in North America. He went on to become educational director of Aish Toronto, a position he held for 15 years. During that time the branch expanded and built three separate communities with over 8,00...
The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando has announced that applications for 2018 Ronald Colman Israel Scholarships will be available online starting Monday, Jan. 8. The Ronald Colman Israel Scholarship Fund was made possible by a generous endowment established by the Colman family to encourage Jewish teens in the Greater Orlando area to participate in educational experiences in Israel. The Federation administers the program and awards the scholarships each spring. The program is open to all Jewish teens in grades 9 to 12 who are permanent...
Join Congregation Ohev Shalom’s Men’s Club and Sisterhood for a fun night of bowling. Bowl the Night Away will be held on Jan. 18, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at AMF Bowling Lanes in Altamonte Springs. The cost is $18 for two hours of bowling, and includes shoes and pizza. Please RSVP to Michael Asher at michaeldasher3@gmail.com AMF Bowling Lanes is located at 280 Douglas Ave. Please make your check payable to COS Men’s Club. Mail by Jan. 10 to: COS Men’s Club & Sisterhood—Bowl the Night Away, 613 Concourse Parkway South, Maitland, FL 32751....
Hamas's latest effort to join a Palestinian unity government is little more than a facade, and the terror group's top immediate objective is to seize control of Judea and Samaria and turn it into a second Gaza, according to the assessments of defense experts. After years of failed attempts at reconciliation, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement and Hamas in October announced that they would implement a unity deal, which included the restoration of PA control in...
By Ben Sales NEW YORK (JTA)-When President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, many foreign policy experts called it a blunder. It could spark a conflagration of violence in the city, they said. It would alienate Palestinians who revere the city and ice any remaining hopes of a peace process. It could be the death knell for an increasingly elusive two-state solution. "Raising this the way he has done doesn't advance the cause of peace, it doesn't advance the cause of...
(JNS) The U.S. on Monday vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital to be withdrawn. Following the vote, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley called the Security Council measure “an insult” and said it will not be forgotten. “The United States will not be told by any country where we can put our embassy,” she said, referring to Trump’s plans to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. “The fact that this veto is being done in defense of America’s role...
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—The Israeli-American Council’s Fourth Annual National Conference in Washington, D.C., held last month felt like a long-overdue family reunion. Enveloping warmth and a powerful sense of togetherness, the love for Israel was infectious, radiating to and from all the participants. In the corridors of the Washington Convention Center, teenagers spoke with unique pride about their hybrid Israeli-American identity, rooted in the idea that they are deeply connected to their home in America while maintaining a strong affinity to the...
(JTA)—We were wrong. As Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky pointed out, “The Reform response to the recognition of Jerusalem was terrible. When... a superpower recognizes Jerusalem, first you... welcome it, then offer disagreement. Here it was the opposite.” Sharansky was referring to the Dec. 5 statement issued by all 16 North American Reform organizations and affiliates in response to President Donald Trump’s declaration recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The operative clause reads: “While we share the president...
U.S. National Security Advisor Gen. H.R. McMaster underlined an important point this week that deserves a wider audience. Speaking at a conference in Washington, D.C., McMaster highlighted two countries that he said were playing a key role in advancing radical Islamist ideology through the Muslim community’s “charities, madrassas and other social organizations.” Not Pakistan. Not Libya. Not Shi’a Iran. The two countries named by McMaster have been regarded for most of the past century as stalwart allies of the West. One is a member of the NAT...
(JTA)—I’m sorry... sometimes adults just don’t get it. A number of articles have been published recently in the Forward about a “point system” game played by members of United Synagogue Youth (and other Jewish youth groups) now and in the past. According to the game, teens keep an informal tally of their “hookups” with other members, earning points for their partner’s position in the youth group hierarchy. “Sexual experimentation is a fact of life anywhere teens gather,” according to the Forward. “But the ‘points system’ explicitly link...
PORTLAND, Ore. (JTA)—As a 27-year-old female Hillel executive director, I spend my days focused on enriching the lives of Jewish students in my community. Working for an organization with a mission and vision so closely aligned with my values is a privilege. It’s not lost on me how fortunate I am to hold such responsibility. One of my most important responsibilities is to raise the funds needed to carry out the work with students that I care about so passionately. Last week, I received an email from a prominent donor in our community ask...
In the last two months, the avalanche of stories about sexual abuse and harassment has touched virtually every sector of American society. The revelations about deeply troubling behavior on the part of politicians, journalists and figures in the entertainment world have transfixed the country. As more victims come forward to tell their stories, the consequences have gone beyond the disgrace of some prominent individuals, the end of careers and, in Alabama, a surprising election result. What began with a shocking story about movie mogul Harvey...
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) 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 I...
(JNS) As President Donald Trump was poised to publicize his administration’s national security doctrine Monday, reports indicate that the document will emphasize that Israel is not the cause of chaos in the Middle East. According to The Associated Press, the 70-page doctrine is based upon a significantly different national security approach than that of Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama, particularly regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “For generations the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been understood as th...
Most residents of Tübingen, Germany, probably don't know that the local "synagogenplatz" (synagogue plaza) even exists. The rusted memorial to the synagogue that burned to the ground during Kristallnacht is one of the few tributes to Jewish life that once existed in the city-not that Jews ever really thrived there. The source of Tübingen's growth (its population is 90,000) and fame is its university, founded in 1477 by Eberhard the Bearded, who expelled all Jews from the medieval town. Upon t...
BOSTON (JTA)-Emily Katz and Liora Hyman arrived early enough to snag front row seats for a concert with some of their favorite performers. But this show wasn't at one of Boston's storied nightclubs. Rather, it was the first-ever music lab at last week's biennial convention of the Union for Reform Judaism, where 6,000 delegates gathered at the Hynes Convention Center for the movement's largest ever gathering. When popular Jewish singer-songwriter Peri Smilow led off the set with her new song, "On...
(JTA)—More than 130 Jewish studies scholars from U.S. colleges and universities signed a statement expressing “dismay” at President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The statement criticizes Trump’s “decision to reverse decades of bipartisan U.S. policy by declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel, and authorizing the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv, outside of a negotiated political framework that ends the legal state of occupation and ensures respect for the rights of all Israelis and Palestinians...
NEW YORK (JTA)—The suspect in a pipe bomb attack on this city’s Port Authority Bus Terminal said he was motivated by Israeli actions in Gaza, CNN reported. Akayed Ullah spoke with authorities at Bellevue Hospital, where he was taken after the bomb went off prematurely. He was among four people injured in the attack when his homemade bomb partially detonated in a tunnel connecting the Times Square subway station with the Midtown Manhattan transit hub during Monday’s morning rush hour. New York Police identified Ullah, 27, as a resident of Brookl...
Stella Haiden Cohen, daughter of Tracey Kagan of Longwood, will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018, at Congregation Ohev Shalom in Maitland. Stella is in the seventh grade at Rock Lake Middle School. Her hobbies and interests include lacrosse, reading, music, and playing piano. She is also a member of Kadima and Lacrosse. Sharing in the family's simcha will be Stella's sisters, Emma and Sofie Cohen, and her grandmother, Janice Kagan....
