Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 864 - 888 of 1886
(JTA) – The front page of the June 26 issue of Der Yid, one of the most widely circulated Yiddish newspapers among New York's Hasidic Orthodox communities, made the point loud and clear. "And so it was after the plague." Those words, lifted from a verse in the Torah and printed alongside photos of large gatherings of unmasked Hasidic men, had a clear implication: After months of funerals and fear, the modern-day pandemic had passed and the time had come to gather again. That sentiment appears t...
(JNS) - A federal judge expressed concerns on Friday that New York governmental leaders violated the rights of residents when it sought to limit the number of individuals who could gather for prayer services during the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Gary L. Sharpe of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, issued a preliminary injunction against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, preventing them from enforcing any limitations on outside gatherings...
(JTA) — For Orthodox Jewish advocacy groups, the last day of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 session brought a big win. On Tuesday, the high court handed school voucher proponents a victory in ruling that a state-run scholarship program funded by tax-deductible gifts could not exclude religious schools. The court split 5-4 in the Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue case, with Chief Justice John Roberts providing the swing vote by joining the conservative justices. “A State need not subsidize private education,” Roberts wrote. “But on...
When Racheli Friedbauer, now 11, was enrolled four years ago in a Jewish special education program, it changed her life. Due to a rare genetic disorder, Racheli has developmental delays and some medical problems, and she is extremely shy. But she thrived within the program, which is run by Sinai Schools, a network of special educational programs that operates within regular Jewish day school settings. "It was an environment where she finally was comfortable, and she felt very loved and accepted...
(JTA) - The University of Cincinnati will remove Marge Schott's name from its baseball stadium because of the late Cincinnati Reds owner's racism and anti-Semitism. The university's Board of Trustees voted Monday to remove Schott's name from the stadium and from a space in the archives library, effective immediately, acting on a recommendation by the university's president, Neville Pinto. "Marge Schott's record of racism and bigotry stands at stark odds with our University's core commitment to...
On Wednesday, July 1, the day Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought to a cabinet vote the extension of Israeli sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria, demonstrations by Pro-Palestinian and BDS groups against the “annexation,” as they call it, were held in Chicago, San Diego, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Among the groups were Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace and American Muslims for Palestine. Another organization, Al-Awda — The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition — accused Israel of “72 years of...
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — The school board in Oakland, California, has unanimously voted to abolish the district’s police force in the wake of the nationwide protests against police brutality — with some urging by teens at a city synagogue. A large contingent of young people from Temple Beth Abraham, a Conservative congregation, was involved in pushing the board to adopt what was called the George Floyd Resolution, named for the Black man whose death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked the demon...
(JNS) — The Republican Jewish Coalition launched a $50,000 ad buy in battleground states on Sunday, pushing out a video celebrating how the U.S.-Israel relationship has strengthened under U.S. President Donald Trump. The eight-minute documentary, called “Sunrise,” praises Trump for strengthening the U.S.-Israel alliance to “a level never seen before” and for being “the most pro-Israel American president in history.” It touts Trump’s pro-Israel achievements, including moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018; re...
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — The bad news for Jewish community centers in the wake of the coronavirus crisis continues: One in Palo Alto has laid off about 20 percent of its staff and cut its budget by a third, while one in Foster City, located between Palo Alto and San Francisco, has cut its budget by 45 percent. Sitting on more than 8 acres in Palo Alto, the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life — which includes the Oshman Family JCC and the Moldaw Residences for retirees — has been described as a “modern eco-oas...
(JTA) - A top Justice Department official sent a letter to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio last week that claims the mayor has enforced uneven social distancing rules that "favor certain secular gatherings and disfavor religious gatherings." The letter, which was shared Tuesday by Agudath Israel, an organization representing haredi Orthodox Jews, specifically cited the mayor's focus on dispersing Jewish community gatherings. "During the period in which all gatherings were banned, you...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In 2015, the Zionist Organization of America gave John Bolton a standing ovation when he said he wanted to be U.S. president. In 2018, the ZOA gave him its Defender of Israel Award. This week, Bolton is about as far away from the presidency as he’s been in his life, and the ZOA doesn’t appear interested in defending him. Nor does the broader centrist and right-wing pro-Israel community, which lobbied for Bolton just 3 1/2 years ago to be secretary of state. Bolton is dominating headlines this week with his new tell-all book,...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - House Democrats have put together a letter that they hope will unite their entire caucus in warning Israel against annexation of part of the West Bank. The letter, now circulating among the party's House caucus and obtained exclusively by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, warns Israel about the dangers annexation would pose to Israelis and to the region. But it does not hint at any danger to the U.S.-Israel relationship and restates the signers' commitment to the relationship....
(JNS) - The Jewish Democratic Council of America has affirmed that it will not support Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in her upcoming primary, but did not provide a endorsement to her chief primary opponent, progressive Antone Melton-Meaux. Omar is set to face Melton-Meaux, who has been critical of Omar's anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements, in an Aug. 11 primary for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District. When asked by JNS about whether JDCA would be taking on Omar, executive director Halie...
(JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League, along with the NAACP and other civil rights groups, is calling on corporations not to advertise on Facebook in July because of the social media platform’s unwillingness to police hate speech. The campaign, which launches Wednesday with a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times, charges that Facebook has not done enough to combat hate and disinformation on its platform. It points to CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s repeated refusal to moderate posts for misinformation, even as extremists have used the platform to incit...
(JTA) — They protested the mayor’s decision to keep the parks closed on Sunday. By Monday, they vowed to cut the chains of the park gates themselves if Mayor Bill de Blasio didn’t accede to their requests. In a tweet Monday evening, New York State Sen. Simcha Felder said he and two other Orthodox lawmakers, City Councilman Kalman Yeger and state Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, would open the parks themselves if the mayor refused to do so. “We’ve asked nicely and waited patiently. We’ve made every logical argument. The people have spoken and the...
(JNS) — The Republican Jewish Coalition announced on Tuesday that it will not endorse or support a candidate in a safely Republican district in Georgia who is leading in fundraising, as she has trafficked in conspiracy theories and posed for photos with a former neo-Nazi leader. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a businesswoman, has posed for photos with former Ku Klux Klan leader Chester Doles, posted them on social media and shared conspiracy theories about the Rothschild banking family, left-wing billionaire George Soros and factions of Saudi A...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Four Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives — Jan Schakowsky, Ted Deutch, David E. Price, and Bradley S. Schneider — are circulating a letter among their colleagues that would warn Israel of the perils of annexation. The full text is below. Dear Colleague, Recent reports indicate the Israeli government may soon consider annexation in the West Bank. We believe unilateral annexation, and unilateral action by any side, would jeopardize long-standing efforts to achieve a viable two-state solution that addresses the aspira...
A leading Evangelical Christian leader has spoken out publicly against the Black Lives Matter movement’s anti-Semitic manifesto and silence after synagogues and churches were attacked and defaced during their protests last week. “All true American patriots wept bitter tears at the brutal and needless death of George Floyd. Jews, Christians and people of conscience understand the inherent problems within our society that need to be addressed and healed. Racism of any kind does not belong in America and must be relegated to the annals of his...
The Zionist Organization of America reiterates that, as ZOA President Morton Klein previously tweeted, we condemn and deeply mourn the despicable, horrific murder of George Floyd. ZOA moreover reiterates Klein’s call strongly urging that the former police officers involved must be held accountable to the full extent of the law. The killing of George Floyd, shown in an excruciating video, was an intolerable, depraved act. ZOA leadership has a long personal history of anti-racism activism. Klein fought for Black civil and voting rights, i...
(JNS) — A federal judge has denied Bernie Madoff’s request for compassionate release from prison in which the disgraced financier claimed to be terminally ill and likely to die in the next 18 months. Madoff, 82, has served 10 years of a 150-year sentence for running a Ponzi scheme worth almost $65 billion — the largest in history and one that inflicted heavy financial loss upon Jewish investors. Following his request in February to be released early, 520 of his victims wrote to the court with 96 percent of them objecting to such a move. “When...
(JTA) — More than 800 rabbis and cantors, including the leaders of three major denominations, signed a statement in support of peaceful protest against racism and in memory of George Floyd. The statement invoked Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, an iconic Jewish civil rights activist who marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It was written and distributed by the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, a political advocacy organization that has a long history of civil rights activism. “Mr. Floyd was a victim of the nation’s long history...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - As many Jewish organizations across the United States sent out statements decrying racism over the past week, the head of the Zionist Organization of America took a different approach. Black Lives Matter "is a Jew hating, White hating, Israel hating, conservative-Black hating, violence promoting, dangerous Soros-funded extremist group of haters," ZOA President Mort Klein tweeted on Saturday. That tweet, expressing anger as others sought to show solidarity with nationwide...
The Katz School of Science and Health at Yeshiva University has created the Bright Futures Scholarship Initiative for students seeking master’s degrees in science and technology in industries that are redefining the modern economy and high technology in New York and around the world. For a flat rate tuition of $25,000, students admitted for the 2020-2021 academic year can now complete master’s degrees in artificial intelligence, biotechnology management and entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, data analytics and visualization, digital mar...
(JNS) - Amid the rise in anti-Semitism in the United States and abroad, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Never Again Education Act into law as part of Jewish American Heritage Month, one month after the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. The story behind the passage of this landmark legislation is one that transcended the usual partisan politics of Washington, D.C., bringing together Jewish and Christian groups, and liberal and conservative lawmakers in a rare display of bipar...
(JNS) — The annual AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., has been canceled for 2021 due to issues concerning the coronavirus, announced the pro-Israel lobby’s president, Betsy Berns Korn, in a mass email on Sunday. “On behalf of the AIPAC Board of Directors, I’m writing to let you know that given the continued uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and without a predictable avenue to safely bring together thousands of pro-Israel Americans, we have been forced to cancel the 2021 AIPAC Policy Conference,” she wrote. “While we...
