Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1568 - 1592 of 1920
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... Full story
(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... Full story
(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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
Milan Chatterjee, the former president of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Graduate Students Association and third-year law student, informed UCLA that he would be leaving the school due to a "hostile and unsafe campus climate" fostered by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) groups. "It's really unfortunate," Chatterjee told the Los Angeles Jewish Journal. "I love UCLA, I think it's a great school and I have a lot of friends there. It has just become so hostile and unsafe I... Full story
By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA)-How extreme does vetting need to be to keep anti-Semites from entering the United States, and is Donald Trump's plan worth the effort? The Republican nominee's proposal to apply an ideological test to potential immigrants is based on precedent: The United States in the last century instituted a broad ban on communists and their sympathizers, and Jewish groups after World War II sought to extend similar strictures to those who sympathized with Nazis. Nonetheless,... Full story
For most students, the dog days of August are one final chance for summer traditions such as hitting the beach or visiting national parks with their family before heading back to campus. For dozens of pro-Israel college students, however, learning about ways combat increasing campus anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activism was their focus during summer’s final weeks. Over 80 college students from nearly 70 campuses around the world attended the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America’s (CAMERA) student conference in Bos... Full story
NEW YORK-UN Envoy Laurie Cardoza-Moore has condemned the American Lutheran Church for demanding the U.S. to stop sending aid to Israel until a Palestinian State is established and Jews cease building in the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. Cardoza-Moore, who represents the World Council of Independent Christian Churches (WCICC) at the United Nations and is president of Proclaiming Justice to The Nations (PJTN), speaks for over 44 million congregants who know their Bible and perceive the... Full story
Despite heat-index temperatures soaring above 100 degrees, 80 hardy New York area residents gathered for the annual Tisha B'Av prayer service at the UN's dramatic Isaiah Peace Wall on Aug. 14. Behind police barricades draped with a large Israeli flag and dozens of signs expressing prayers for the security of Israel and Jewish communities across the Diaspora, including the threat of the BDS movement, Rabbi Avi Weiss led the Mincha service, as Cantor Irving Ruderman led the prayers and read from... Full story
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Israeli-American Council (IAC) and the Orthodox Union’s Bring Israel Home (BIH) program announced a new initiative to strengthen Jewish continuity: the IAC will welcome more than 100 Birthright Israel alumni from the BIH program, along with Israeli soldiers, as part of its third annual National Israeli-American Conference, taking place Sept. 24-26 in Washington, D.C. The alumni will participate in the event’s wide range of programming, including a special Shabbaton experience and sessions with thought leaders from Israel an... Full story
Based in E. Windsor, N.J., the Endowment Fund for School Choice announced it is open for business. Aaron Sears, president of the Endowment Fund, explained that “The Endowment Fund’s goal is to provide every Jewish Day School student with a $10,000/yr voucher.” The Endowment Fund is requesting the public’s support to make this goal a reality. The vouchers would apply to day school students across the United States. The Endowment Fund for School Choice is a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. In New York City, Jews have recentl... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Hillary Clinton is a chameleon, her critics say, ready to adopt the colors of her environment: dove, hawk, social conservative, social justice warrior, friend, backstabber. Hillary Clinton is a Rorschach test, her supporters say, a projection of her haters' deepest fears and insecurities: the strong woman distorted into a witch, the progressive distorted into a radical, the pragmatist distorted into an empty vessel. Hillary Clinton, in her first autobiography, "Living History,"... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-If Hillary Clinton is indeed courting Henry Kissinger, what happens to her relationship with Bernie Sanders? Reports that the Democratic presidential nominee is actively pursuing endorsements from Kissinger, who like her is a former secretary of state, and other former Republican officials have raised alarms on the left. It also has provided an opportunity for Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, who has lumped his Republican critics with Clinton as part of an elite that has... Full story
Several of the country's most prominent pro-Israel groups participated in the first Israel Today Symposium designed to educate the Dallas, Texas, community on understanding the complex issues Israel faces. The event, organized by Dallas's Reform synagogue Temple Shalom, drew more than 300 people to hear speakers including Lillian Pinkus, president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC); Charles Pulman, founder of Why Israel Matters; and Daniel Agranov, deputy consul general of... Full story
NARBERTH, PA—The Kohelet Foundation has announced the inaugural year of its Kohelet Prize. The unrestricted $36,000 prize will be awarded to educators or teams of educators, who currently work in Jewish day schools and whose work skillfully demonstrates a progressive approach to education in the following six categories: Interdisciplinary Integration; Real-World Learning; Learning Environment; Differentiated Instruction; Development of Critical and/or Creative Thinking; Risk Taking and Failure. “We know there are incredible, creative and hig... Full story
(JTA)-There are athletes, and then there are Olympic athletes. And then there are Jewish Olympic athletes. When the 2016 Summer Olympics open Friday, we'll of course be cheering the American athletes-all 555 of them-and we'll be rooting for Israel, too, which this year is sending its largest ever cohort to Rio. But we're saving a special shout-out for some of the Jewish-American Olympians who have given the Tribe extra reasons to be proud this year. (Interestingly, Jews make up about 2 percent... Full story
JERUSALEM-Love him or hate him, Republican candidate for president Donald J. Trump is doing it his way, ignoring what the American professional political world believed was the only way to become a party's nominee and win "the Oval." No issue is more imbued with slogans and adherence to conventional wisdom than is the Middle East. Two-state solution, occupied territories, illegal settlements, incitement and even terrorism-the list is long. Yet, notwithstanding the extreme sensitivities of the... Full story
PHILADELPHIA (JTA)-Amanda Renteria, the national political director for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, was running through the campaign's messages for minorities and women: immigration for Hispanics, land use for Native Americans, various policies for defending children and women. She didn't mention Jews in her briefing Tuesday morning for specialty media, and there's a reason for that: There wasn't a Clinton issue that was unique to the Jews. When I asked her to mention some,... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—It’s never been easy for Jewish Republicans. Jews have broken overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates since Woodrow Wilson. Despite rising American Jewish affluence, usually a harbinger of conservative voting patterns, a plurality self-defines as liberal. Republican Jews have poured millions into upping their share of the Jewish vote in recent elections, portraying the GOP as the pro-Israel party and telling largely affluent Jewish Americans to vote their economic self-interest. The needle has only moved a little, despite tho... Full story
