Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1518 - 1542 of 1886
(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...
Following the election of Mr. Donald Trump and Governor Mike Pence to the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the United States, Rabbi David Zwiebel, Agudath Israel’s executive vice president, issued the following statement of congratulations: Agudath Israel of America congratulates Mr. Trump and Governor Pence on their historic victory in yesterday’s election. We offer them our most sincere wishes and heartfelt prayers for success. We have always enjoyed close working relationships with the White House, irrespective of which political party hap...
“As a supporter of Secretary Clinton, I feel its important to state its our duty as Jews & Americans to pray for President-Elect Trump and his success-may he merit divine inspiration & bring together our nation. Elections are sacred & the moment its over we are united under the leadership of the President- elect.” Ezra Friedlander CEO, The Friedlander Group...
The Blue Card, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding Holocaust survivors in the United States, is hoping to spread awareness of the many living survivors who are still in need of help. As the anniversary of Kristallnacht, “The Night of Broken Glass,” came on November 9 to 10, it should be noted that of the approximately 100,000 Holocaust survivors living in the United States today, around one-third live at or below the poverty line. It is estimated that 61 percent of the Holocaust survivors living at the poverty line live on...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Donald Trump’s campaign debuted a video at a Republican event in Jerusalem linking the “honor and respect” for Jewish values the candidate says he learns from his family to his support for Israel. The one-minute video aired Wednesday (Oct. 26) night at a Republicans Overseas Israel event on the rooftop of the Harp of David restaurant overlooking the Western Wall and Temple Mount in the Old City. “For me, respect and reverence for Judaism is personal. My daughter Ivanka and my son-in-law Jared are raising their children...
By Sean Savage JNS.org With only a few weeks remaining before the presidential election, and the start of early voting in most states, Jewish voters may still be weighing their decisions. Over the last year, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump have actively courted the Jewish and pro-Israel vote, especially as they seek to firm up support in key battleground states such as Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania—all home to large Jewish communities. How each candidate would support and strengthen the special U...
(JTA)-Hillary Clinton has been reticent about making Iran a major issue throughout the campaign: It's a hard straddle for her between her skepticism of the nuclear deal reached last year and honoring the legacy of President Barack Obama. (Her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., was a prominent backer of the deal, and in a rare tonal differentiation from Clinton, has emphasized the deal as a win.) Yet she was the first to mention Iran in the final debate on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas...
(World Israel News)—A list of the top 10 beneficiaries of 2015-2016 campaign contributions from individuals who subscribe to “Islamic supremacy,” compiled by the Middle East Forum’s “Islamist Money in Politics” (IMP) project, has U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the top. Clinton, IMP claims, raked in $41,165 from prominent Islamists who, according to IMP, “subscribe to the same Islamic supremacism as Khomeini, Bin Laden, and ISIS.” This includes $19,249 from senior officials of the Council on American-Islami...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—While the Iran nuclear deal gets fleeting attention in the presidential race, it is shaping up as a key issue in at least nine states integral to Democrats’ hopes of regaining control of the U.S. Senate. Rival pro-Israel factions are pouring money into many of those races, and candidates are using support or opposition to the controversial deal as a means of tarring their opponents. And depending on what happens in November, the election could redefine what it means to be “pro-Israel.” Democrats are seeking four to five wi...
(JTA)—The Jewish Federations of North America opened an emergency fund for Hurricane Matthew relief. As the Category 3 storm whipped Florida’s Atlantic coast with 100-mile-per-hour winds Friday, forecasters warned about a storm surge in parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina that could bring widespread destruction to homes, businesses and infrastructure. The National Weather Service warned that some places hit by Matthew could be uninhabitable for “weeks or months,” CNN reported. Palm Beach and Broward counties in South Florida, home to...
(JTA)-Seven times during the vice presidential debate, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the deal his running mate, Hillary Clinton, worked on had helped "stop Iranian nuclear weapons." Seven times, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said no, it did not. Twice, Kaine said Israel's military "says it stopped." Both times Pence, the running mate to Republican nominee Donald Trump, disagreed. Who's right? It's a mixed bag. The jury is still out on whether the deal has stopped Iran's suspected nuclear weapons quest...
The 2016 Chanukah stamp will be issued on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The First Day Ceremony will be held at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, Florida. "This is the first time, I believe, such a ceremony for a Chanukah stamp has been held in a Temple," said Ronald Scheiman, founder of The Quest for Annual Hanukkah Stamps. This design is only the sixth new design since the first Chanukah stamp was issued in 1996. If your local post office does not have the stamp at any time on/or after Nov. 2, please let...
By Penny Schwartz BOSTON (JTA)—A new study, touted as the first-ever state-by-state, county-by-county Jewish population estimate, shows how the Jewish vote could play a crucial role in key battleground states. The study, released Thursday and conducted by the Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University in suburban Boston, found that in Bucks County, Pennsylvania—one of the areas closely watched this election cycle—Jewish adults make up more than 6 percent of the population. “That’s three times more than the national numbers...
The number of retired U.S. military generals and admirals endorsing Donald Trump in an open letter has grown from 90 to 162, says the only Holocaust survivor signing it, retired Green Beret Maj. Gen. Sidney Shachnow, a key proponent behind the effort. Shachnow and retired Rear Admiral Charles Williams organized the letter and signature collection earlier this month, citing Trump's commitment to rebuilding the military, securing the borders, defeating Islamic supremacy and restoring law and...
ELIZABETH, N.J. (JTA)-Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man who police say planted four bombs in Manhattan and New Jersey-including one in the train station here-used to come to the One Stop Kosher Market to buy snacks. The market is a couple minutes' walk down Elmora Avenue from First American Fried Chicken, the fast food restaurant run by Rahami's family. Rahami stopped by a couple times, employees told Yaakov Weiss, who manages the market and works at the adjacent kosher restaurant, Avenue Grill and...
NEW YORK (JTA)—When Rosh Hashanah came around last year, Rabbi Aaron Gaber wanted to grapple with an issue roiling the country. So he decided to focus his sermon on racism. But several members of Brothers of Israel, a 120-family Conservative synagogue in suburban Philadelphia, weren’t pleased. “Some of the feedback from some of my congregants has caused us some consternation,” Gaber said. Congregants accused the rabbi of calling them racists, he recalled, “which I didn’t do.” This year, with the presidential election looming just one month afte...
WASHINGTON, DC—BBYO is pleased to announce it has received an unprecedented $28.8 million in support from two long-time funders toward its newly launched $90 million, five-year “This Moment in Time” campaign. The campaign will enable BBYO to double its annual growth rate, with the goal of having 27,000 members annually by the end of the 2022 school year. BBYO will also expand its workforce, increase summer program offerings, better support its volunteer advisors, and grow its endowment. Ultimately, BBYO’s compelling year-round experie...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-A Florida state senator caught up in a boycott-Israel controversy. A Wisconsin state representative who combated anti-Israel bias on his campus. The diversity of Israel-related outlooks among the 63 candidates endorsed by Our Revolution underscores the eclecticism of the left-leaning movement launched by Bernie Sanders. The endorsed candidates represent an opening salvo by Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont to build on the progressive following he earned in his...
