Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1501 - 1525 of 1886
Keith Ellison in letter to Conservative rabbis 'regrets' past ties with Farrakhan WASHINGTON (JTA)-In a lengthy letter to the Conservative movement's rabbinical arm, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison said he regretted past positions that have unsettled Jews as he seeks the chairmanship of the Democratic Party. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, meanwhile, spoke Wednesday with about 50 Jewish Democrats about his own bid to head the Democratic National Committee and reassured them of his bona fides in the area w...
The Central Conference of American Rabbis has announced that Rabbi Cindy Enger will become the Reform Movement's director of Rabbinic Placement, effective July 1, 2017. Rabbi Enger will be the first woman to ever hold the position of director of Rabbinic Placement in any Jewish movement. Rabbi Enger comes to the directorship with a wealth of experience as a congregational and organizational rabbi, a lawyer, and a lay leader. Prior to her ordination from HUC-JIR, she served as an attorney in...
WASHINGTON (JTA) Weird paradoxes have been packed into Chanukah observance forever. It's the holiday about killing infidels that is now celebrated as a victory of religious pluralism. It's the unofficial little Jewish holiday that a U.S. congressman once tried to turn into a major American holiday. It's the Jewish holiday with terrible songs written by Jews competing with the Christian holiday with wonderful songs, also written by Jews. Add this to the ironies: When eight or so Jewish...
Nearly 70 percent of the major attacks against American Jews and their institutions during the last five decades have been carried out by white supremacists and Islamic terrorists, according to an unprecedented new report released by the Community Security Service (CSS), a Jewish security organization. "What is most concerning is that those who intend to harm the Jewish community are becoming increasingly brazen in their attacks," said Yehudit Barsky, the author of the report, which was...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-A year ago, when several dozen Washington-area Jewish and Muslim religious and lay leaders jostled for spots in a group picture, the mood was convivial. The most novel item on the agenda for that November 2015 confab was bringing in non-Middle Eastern Muslims into the Jewish-Muslim dialogue. The meeting and the venue-an Indonesian-American Muslim center in Silver Spring, Maryland-helped "dispel the myth that Muslims are inherently of Middle Eastern descent," a release said. On S...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Haim Saban, a major Democratic Party funder, said Rep. Keith Ellison's election as chairman of the Democratic National Committee would be a "disaster" for the relationship between Jews and the party, signaling a looming crisis between the party's progressives and the centrist pro-Israel community. The scathing broadside delivered Friday by the Israeli-American entertainment mogul from the floor of the annual Saban Forum, an event he funds bringing together U.S. and Israeli...
Democratic and Republican lawmakers are vowing to challenge a limit on U.S. defense aid for Israel that President Barack Obama included in the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between the two nations. The agreement—reached in September—guarantees Israel $38 billion in aid over 10 years, but it also states that if Congress increases the aid, Israel is obliged to return the extra funds. U.S. Reps. Paul Gosar (R-Texas), Randy Weber (R-Ariz.), and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday at Agudath Israel of America’s annual legislative lunch...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Add sweeping school reforms-and with them, funding for private schools that Orthodox groups embrace and secular Jewish groups fear-to the campaign promises that Donald Trump plans to fulfill. Last week, just before Thanksgiving, the president-elect named Betsy DeVos, a billionaire education reform activist and champion of charter schools and public funding for private schooling, as his education secretary. As leader of the American Federation for Children, a group that promotes...
(JTA)-The upset victory by Donald Trump in the 2016 elections stunned a Jewish activist and leadership class that is at times as divided as the electorate at large. JTA asked some of those leaders to describe their concerns and expectations in a series of brief essays, "Worst fears, best hopes." Nancy Kaufman CEO, National Council of Jewish Women As progressive Jewish women, our hope is that as President-elect Donald Trump realizes the gravity of his new role in the U.S. and the world, he will...
How many exceptional young Jewish students do you know? Probably quite a few! Here is your chance to acknowledge the outstanding efforts and character of the amazing young people in your life. The American Hebrew Academy Honor Society is now accepting applications for 2017. This is a prestigious organization that recognizes exceptional Jewish eighth and ninth graders from around the world who have demonstrated excellence in academics, leadership, community service, and character. Students accepted to the Honor Society will receive press...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-The most shocking thing about talk of Keith Ellison's Israel record as he rises within the Democratic Party is how few think it's shocking. Rep. Ellison, D-Minn., is a leading contender for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, despite a record of tough criticism of Israel that pro-Israel insiders say would easily have disqualified him a decade ago. That he is being seriously considered now-and with the backing of the party's foremost pro-Israel stalwart,...
The ISRAEL21c Digital Ambassadors is a program for English-speaking, vibrant college, graduate and post-college students, aged 18-25, from North America, who wish to learn about the intricacies and strategies of social media while “doing something for Israel.” The activities are apolitical and require about 2-3 hours per week. Members of the ISRAEL21c Digital Ambassadors program receive a small monthly stipend and lots of learning during the internship. Work is done on the member’s own computer or device, and within their own schedule. For m...
NEW YORK (JTA)—Thirty years ago, it would have been safe to say the American Jewish community agreed on the need to fight for Israel and against anti-Semitism. It may still be true that most American Jews support those causes. But now, apparently, some people aren’t so sure what either of those things mean. One Jew’s support of Israel is another’s attack on the Jewish state. And as we’ve seen this week, one Jew’s condemnation of an alleged promoter of anti-Semitism is another’s smear on a purported defender of the Jews. Nowhere did this emer...
(JTA)—President-elect Donald Trump has a complicated history with Jews. On the one hand, his daughter Ivanka converted to Orthodox Judaism before marrying Jared Kushner, and he’s spoken fondly about having Jewish grandchildren. On the other, some of Trump’s supporters identify with anti-Semitic elements of the alt-right movement. On Sunday, Trump appointed Stephen Bannon—the former chairman of Breitbart News, a conservative news site—as his chief strategist in a move that sparked swift criticism from the Anti-Defamation League. Still, Tr...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Criminal penalties for boycotting Israel would be extended to companies complying with the BDS movement, including the boycott of West Bank settlements, under a bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Reps. Pete Roskam, R-Ill., and Juan Vargas, D-Calif., introduced the bill Monday. The measure is a companion to one introduced in the Senate in September by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Ben Cardin, D-Md., called the “Protecting Israel Against Discrimination Act.” The House bill amends language in bills...
President-elect Donald Trump assisted the Israeli government to establish infrastructure for new communities for Israelis being evacuated from the settlements in the Sinai in the1980s and from Gaza in 2005, Yedioth Ahronoth has learned. Sinai was evacuated as part of a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt which Gush Katif in Gaza was done so at the behest of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a unilateral withdrawal. According to various estimations, Trump’s financial donations amounted to millions of shekels. The high costs of evacuatin...
(JTA)—The upset victory by Donald Trump in the 2016 elections stunned a Jewish activist and leadership class that is at times as divided as the electorate at large. JTA asked some of those leaders to describe their concerns and expectations in a series of brief essays titled “Worst fears, best hopes.” David Bernstein President/CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs Our fears are that some of the troubling views Donald Trump stated in the campaign are not just rhetoric but a blueprint for running the country. Our fears are that the new presi...
(JTA)-For years, whenever Jews and Muslims engaged in dialogue and activism, it usually concerned one issue: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With Donald Trump's ascent to the presidency, that appears to be changing. Regardless of what's happening across the ocean, Jews and Muslims in the United States are joining together to fight for shared domestic concerns. "It is a perhaps growing recognition that [the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] cannot define how American Jews and American Muslims...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Enforce the Iran deal. Violate the Iran deal. Leave it to Congress. Do nothing. President-elect Donald Trump has an array of options before him when he assumes the presidency on Jan. 21, according to supporters and opponents of the deal. Reached last year between Iran and six major powers led by the United States, the agreement rolled back Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The open question—as are so many questions about Trump’s intentions—is what does the next leader of the free world want to do? His p...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Offer an open hand or a closed fist-or maybe both. Name names. Don't name names, hint. Quietly adjust wording. Welcome to the second week of the World of Trump, Jewish organizational edition. Week 1 was fraught enough, with Jewish statements marking Donald Trump's surprise election ranging from the confrontational to "it's a new day" accommodation. Then President-elect Trump named Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist. The appointment of Bannon, formerly the CEO of Breitbart, t...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Donald Trump will be the next U.S. president, having swept to victory in at least 29 states with 288 electoral votes and jolted a Jewish community made increasingly anxious as his rough-edged nativist rhetoric emboldened the far right and amplified a strain of anti-Semitic invective not heard in decades. Trump called on all Americans to "heal the wounds of our nation" and "come together as one united people" in his victory speech shortly before 3 a.m. Wednesday at the New York...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-The top official of the Republican Jewish Coalition said the Anti-Defamation League had potentially compromised itself with its criticism of President-elect Donald Trump's words and actions during the campaign. The attack by the RJC on the venerated Jewish civil rights group-and an implied warning of more to come-signaled fraught times ahead for the more liberal precincts of the American Jewish community as they seek to establish ties with the nascent Trump administration....
WASHINGTON-Although it will be some time before President-elect Donald Trump names the members of his cabinet, the four individuals most often mentioned as contenders for the administration's top foreign policy post all have strong pro-Israel records. Trump himself once floated the name of John Bolton for secretary of state. Asked on the "Hugh Hewitt Show" radio program in August whom he might consider for the position, Trump replied that Bolton "is a good man" and that he was "seriously...
Election night brought mixed results for Jewish politicians vying for seats in Congress. In the House of Representatives, the Jewish delegation saw its best results, increasing representation from 19 to 22 seats, including the election of a rare Jewish Republican. But in the Senate, some Jewish contenders fared poorly, with defeats in two major seats that could have helped shift the balance of power from Republican to Democrat in the upper chamber. In the House of Representatives, several...
The following statement was released by Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Founder and Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center on the election of Donald Trump “The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights NGO joins with all other Americans in congratulating Donald Trump on his election to be the next President of the United States. We are buoyed by Donald Trump’s unambiguous commitment to a strong and safe democratic Israel and his recognition of Jerusalem as its eternal and undivided capital. We look for...
