Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1763 - 1787 of 1920
The Jewish National Fund (JNF) has launched its new college Campus Fellows program that will help to better promote Israel at a time of growing anti-Semitism and resentment towards Israel witnessed world-wide during the recent war in Gaza. The 20 JNF Campus Fellows are students at America’s best universities and from a wide geographical area. Some are alumni of JNF programs at Alexander Muss High School in Israel, the Taglit-Birthright Israel: Shorashim-JNF Israel Adventure, and Alternative Spring Break (ASB). To qualify for the fellowship e... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—Comedian Sarah Silverman broke out a Jewish joke as she took home a trophy at the 2014 Emmy Awards. Silverman won for Best Writing for a Variety Show for her HBO comedy special “Sarah Silverman: We are Miracles.” Upon being announced as the winner, she dashed onto the stage barefoot and thanked her agents, saying, “Thank you to my Jews at CAA.” Prior to Monday night’s ceremony, Silverman set the Internet abuzz when she announced in an interview on the red carpet that she had brought with her a vaporizer with liquid pot.... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA) – Blocking brothers, a college star seeking success in the pros, a fullback who hasn't had a carry in four seasons and a couple of ace special teamers are among the Jewish players on NFL rosters as the league kicks off this week. A punter may join the group after sitting out the preseason because of a personal issue. Also, Marc Trestman is back for his second season as coach of the Chicago Bears after moving to the NFL following a stellar career on the sidelines in the C... Full story
(JTA)-The streets of North Miami Beach look different since the murder of Rabbi Joseph Raksin. At Northeast 175th Street and 8th Court, in the heavily Orthodox neighborhood where he was killed, a memorial of candles is arranged in a Star of David that the community keeps lit. Police officers have stepped up their patrols, filling the streets at all hours. Raksin, a member of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic sect who was in town from Brooklyn, N.Y., to visit his grandchildren, was shot on the... Full story
President Obama spoke out against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in his remarks addressing the execution of journalist James Foley on Aug. 19, stating that "a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century." He went on to say "There has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so it does not spread. There has to be a clear rejection of this kind of nihilistic ideologies... Friends and allies around the world, we share a common security a set of values opposite of what we saw... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA) – As a former WNBA president who played in what is considered the first U.S. professional basketball league for women, Donna Orender has been eager for a trailblazing female to join the National Basketball Association in a prominent role. So she was plenty pleased last week when the world champion San Antonio Spurs hired Becky Hammon, a point guard with the WNBA's Stars of the Texas city, as a paid assistant coach – a first in NBA history. "Becky's a special woman, a great pla... Full story
BOSTON (JTA) – One recent Tuesday evening, a group of about two dozen Jews in their 20s and 30s huddled around wooden tables poring over the text for the week’s Torah portion. A rabbi prodded them with questions about the petition that Zelophehad’s daughters submitted to Moses to inherit their father’s estate. Why do they petition at this juncture? Why does Moses refer the question to God? Members of the group raised hands, offered theories, debated. The learning session took place not in a synagogue study hall but at a bustling cafe in Harv... Full story
It has been six years since the economy crashed in 2008, and while finding employment has been a challenge, the tide may be taking a turn for the better-particularly in the non-profit sector. But where do Jewish non-profits fall within the current landscape, from the perspective of both job-seekers and employers? Broadly speaking, employment continues to be "a buyer's market," says Linda Wolfe, director of career development and placement at JVS Chicago, an affiliate agency of the International... Full story
NEW YORK—Emotionally charged student government debates over resolutions urging divestment in companies doing business with Israel have become a perennial distraction across the University of California system, and the head of a prominent national security think tank has urged UC President Janet Napolitano to become personally involved. “As a former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, I know you appreciate the serious consequences of an international campaign to undermine the next generation’s support for America’s only ally in... Full story
(JTA)-On the morning of June 30, the children began arriving at Camp Solomon Schechter in Olympia, Wash., ready for a fun-filled summer. But shortly before the first little feet descended the bus steps, the sleepaway camp's Israeli counselors learned from back home about the discovery of the bodies of three teens kidnapped in the Judea-Samaria 18 days earlier. The news about the teens' fate challenged administrators at Jewish camps like the Conservative movement-affiliated Schechter to deal... Full story
NEW YORK—Responding to a proposal made by the Religious Zionists of America, leading members of Congress have introduced a bipartisan bill requiring the U.S. government to offer a $5-million reward for information leading to the capture of the Palestinian terrorists who kidnapped and murdered a 16 year-old American citizen, and two other teenagers, in Israel last month. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and U.S. Representatives Brad Sherman (D-California) and Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado) introduced the Naftali Fraenkel Reward Bill on July 9, f... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA) – As director of professional scouting and baseball development for the Oakland Athletics, Dan Feinstein scouts amateur players, evaluates the organization's talent, is involved in contract negotiations and arbitration cases, ponders trades and analyzes potential free agent signees. His varied portfolio is news to at least one of the team's players. "I don't doubt that he does a lot, and has done a lot, for the organization, but I don't know to what extent," catcher Derek N... Full story
The National Basketball Association's (NBA) Cleveland Cavaliers looked near and far during a five-week stretch for a head coach, and they finally found their man-in Israel. David Blatt, who coached Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Euroleague and Israeli league basketball championships this year, struck a deal to become the 20th coach in the history of the Cavaliers. The selection was immediately celebrated by basketball players Tamir Goodman and Mark Sack, both from the Cleveland area, and one of... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Two decades ago the Jewish community united in support of landmark religious freedom legislation. Now the Supreme Court's application of that law has Jewish groups divided. Leading Jewish advocacy groups denounced the court's 5-4 decision Monday in the Hobby Lobby case granting religious freedoms protections to companies, while Orthodox groups lauded the ruling. In ruling that closely owned corporate firms with religious objections do not have to provide contraceptive coverage... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-Part "God Bless America," part "Shabbat Shalom," the Fourth of July this year falls on a Friday. In this land of religious freedom, how do we plan to observe both? As the sun sets over the "fruited plain," will we be lighting Shabbat candles and fireworks? How will the Sabbath Queen look in red, white and blue? Those who traditionally observe the Sabbath by not kindling fire surely will take a pass on the "rockets' red glare." But for many U.S. Jews and congregations, the day r... Full story
The latest anti-Israel trend to gain momentum on college campuses has been the distribution of mock eviction notices in dormitories by members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Whether or not the notices have specifically targeted Jewish students, experts say the tactic highlights the convergence of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism on campus, creating a hostile environment for Jewish students. Over the last two years, the mock eviction notices have appeared on at least a dozen campuses... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Rep. Eric Cantor, the majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives and the highest-ranking Jew in congressional history, lost his Republican primary in Virginia to a Tea Party challenger in a major upset. Cantor, 51, who rode the Tea Party wave to majority leader after the 2010 elections, was trailing Dave Brat, 56 to 44 percent, with 87 percent of the vote counted on Tuesday evening, June 10. Cantor conceded after 8 p.m. "Obviously we came up short," Cantor told his... Full story
Washington Jewish Week She may not be flashy, a firebrand speechmaker, or even very well known outside of her Queens congressional district, but despite her brief legislative career, freshman U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) has become one of Congress's most steadfast supporters of Israel and Jewish issues. Along the way she has endeared herself to colleagues and supporters on both sides of the aisle and the Jewish community in her district. Meng's demeanor, both in conversation and in Congress,... Full story
Yossi, a 9-year-old boy from Fountain Hills, Arizona, is making the news for a simple act that he did, choosing to fulfill a 'miztvah' (religious commandment), instead of listening to his umpire. Yossi, an avid baseball fan, and valuable team member on the local Little League team, was dropped off by his parents, all dressed up ready to play on his team. As the game was going along, Yossi's chance to bat the ball came up. When Yossi was there the umpire noticed that Yossi was wearing 'Tzitzit'.... Full story
Jews account for a mere 170 of 18,174 athletes who have played in the major leagues (through the 2013 season, according to baseball-reference.com). So it’s not surprising that the new exhibit “Chasing Dreams: Baseball & Becoming American” at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia provides a reason to kvell. While it may not have the grandeur of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in terms of the number of items on display, to paraphrase from a famous line in the 1952 film Pat and Mike, what’s there is choi... Full story
(JTA)—“What is being done to silence this man?” an American rabbi asked in a 1963 letter to the Anti-Defamation League. He was talking about the novelist Philip Roth, whose early novels and short stories cast his fellow American Jews in what some considered a none-too-flattering light. Fast-forward half a century. On Thursday, the writer whose works were once denounced as profane was honored by one of American Jewry’s sacred citadels: The Jewish Theological Seminary, Conservative Judaism’s flagship educational institution, awarded Roth an honor... Full story
South Bend, Indiana-Representatives from Indiana Landmarks, the Northern Indiana Center for History and the City of South Bend will joined dozens of leaders from the local Jewish community on Friday, May 16, for the ceremonial unveiling of a permanent plaque commemorating the National Register of Historic Places status that has been bestowed upon the region's oldest synagogue-a synagogue which happens to reside inside the confines of a professional minor league baseball stadium. The... Full story
After reading on the Internet the article about Dearborn, Michigan, being the first city in the United States to implement Sharia Law, I questioned how this could be possible here, as it is directly against the U.S. Constitution. After a little research, Snopes, “the definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation” as it defines itself, gave me the answer. Claim: Dearborn, Michigan, has become the first U.S. city to implement Sharia law. Question: Is there any validity to this story? Sno... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Can Rand Paul woo his party's Jews? The Kentucky senator and likely candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination is stepping up his Jewish outreach. In recent weeks, Paul chatted with rabbis on a conference call and proposed legislation to cut funding to the Palestinian Authority unless it recognizes Israel as a Jewish state. Making inroads with Jewish Republicans is an uphill battle for Paul, an ardent anti-interventionist and opponent of foreign aid. A few years... Full story
By Uriel Heilman NEW YORK (JTA)-When the 92nd Street Y announced that it had hired a new executive director, Crain's New York Business went with an eye-catching headline: "It's a goy! 92nd St. Y picks first non-Jewish chief." The announcement that Henry Timms would lead the famed Upper East Side cultural center represented the culmination of the Y's effort to move past the scandal-tainted tenure of its previous director, Sol Adler, who was fired last July. Adler's dismissal followed revelations... Full story
