Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1517 - 1541 of 1920
Supporters of National Council of Jewish Women and other Jewish organizations come together on the National Mall for the Women's March on Washington, January 21, 2017. Please check out another article for more on the Women's March.... Full story
(JTA)—President Donald Trump can appoint his Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner as a White House senior adviser, the Justice Department concluded. In a 14-page opinion issued Friday, the department’s Office of Legal Counsel said that a federal anti-nepotism law passed in 1967 “does not bar this appointment because of the President’s special hiring authority.” The opinion, written by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Daniel Koffsky, is based on a 1978 law that allows the president to appoint White House officials, overriding the nepotism law. The... Full story
Being an Orthodox Jew can cost a pretty penny. There are the premium prices for kosher meat, the two sets of dishes, the mikvah fees. There are expensive lifecycle celebrations like brises and bar mitzvahs, and requisite accessories like tefillin ($1,000). The Jewish holidays have expenses all their own: sukkahs, shmura matzah, big holiday meals with lots of guests-to say nothing of the cost of using up vacation days for the Jewish holy days. Then there are the big-ticket items, like real... Full story
(JTA)-Super Bowl LI (51) will feature teams with Jewish owners for the first time since 2012. Robert Kraft will see his New England Patriots, the American Football Conference champions, in the big game for the seventh time since 2000. He bought the club, which will be making its record ninth Super Bowl appearance, in 1994. Arthur Blank will watch his National Football Conference-winning Atlanta Falcons playing in their second Super Bowl-but the first since the Home Depot founder bought the team... Full story
NEW YORK—A wave of bomb threats Wednesday morning caused 27 Jewish community centers in 17 states to quickly engage in security protocols to ensure the safety of their participants and facilities. Many quickly received the all-clear from local law enforcement, with whom they are working closely, and have resumed regular operations. This is the second time this month that multiple JCCs have received bomb threats in a single day. Paul Goldenberg, the director of Secure Community Networks (SCN), said there were bomb threats called in to Jewish c... Full story
(JTA)—Reacting to the inaugural address of President Donald Trump, Jewish groups stuck to their ideological bearings. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations praised the unifying portions of Trump’s speech and called on him to safeguard Israel’s security and other Jewish interests. “We welcome President Trump’s acknowledgement of the need to heal the divisions in our country, to improve the lives of all Americans, to reinforce alliances and to strengthen our security,” the statement said. “We look forward to wo... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Barack Obama got his kishkes back. The president, whose alleged aloofness was the signature flaw cited by his rivals, his critics and at times his friends, ended his presidency with an impassioned appeal for the preservation of democracy-his lower lip trembling, a tear streaking his cheek. For sure, Obama could be emotional, heimishe even-remember his tears while speaking with the parents of the children slain in Newtown, Connecticut, or his singing of "Amazing Grace" during... Full story
(JTA)-A bomb threat is never an inconsequential thing. But 16 in one day is inconceivable-at least it was until Monday, Jan. 9. That's when 16 Jewish community centers in nine states received calls threatening a bomb on site. While the bombs turned out to be hoaxes, the calls themselves were not. They were designed to create a kind of disruptive terror in places that serve as visible community hubs of activity. The JCCs affected stretched from Florida to New Jersey, where the temperature was 11... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—The FBI and Department of Homeland Security will be assisting local Jewish community centers in bolstering security after 16 JCCs received bomb threats on the same day. On Wednesday, officials from the FBI and Homeland Security will conduct a conference call with U.S. Jewish communal leaders to discuss Monday’s incidents, what they stem from and how to craft protocols to handle such incidents in the future. Some communities already receive federal grants to provide for security. The bomb threats, none of which appear cre... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Reps. Ed Royce and Eliot Engel are that Capitol Hill rarity: a Republican and a Democrat who truly have each other's back. And nothing unites Royce, R-Calif., the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, and Engel, D-N.Y., its top Democrat, like support for Israel. Not simply Israel-Royce and Engel take their cues on the issue from the mainstream pro-Israel community, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Right now, that means... Full story
(JTA)—Jewish organizations split along ideological lines in their reactions to Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech criticizing Israeli settlement growth and laying out principles to achieve a two-state solution. Centrist groups were measured in their reactions, criticizing the American decision to abstain last week on a U.N. vote rebuking the settlements while praising Kerry’s commitment to a two-state solution. American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris wrote in an open letter Dec. 28 that he watched the speech “as one who underst... Full story
(JTA)-NORPAC, one of the largest pro-Israel political action committees, praised President-elect Donald Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel for his "lifetime of pro-Israel advocacy." Congratulating David Friedman on his appointment, NORPAC in a statement called him "an accomplished attorney" with "extensive knowledge of Israel and the Middle East." "His lifetime of pro-Israel advocacy has earned him the trust and respect of the Israeli People, a point which will enable him to best... Full story
JCC Association of North America is applauding the staffs of Jewish (Jan. 9) community centers around the country and expressing gratitude for local law enforcement after JCCs in several states received bomb threats today. David Posner, director of strategic performance at JCC Association of North America, who works closely with local JCCs on security, issued the below statement. “JCC Association thanks federal and local law enforcement for their quick and thorough response today, said David Posner, director of strategic performance at JCC A...
(JTA)—President-elect Donald Trump accused the Obama administration of treating Israel with “total disdain” hours after Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech rebuking the country’s settlement policy and offering his plan for Middle East peace. Trump spoke to reporters on the steps of his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on Dec. 28 in what is being reported as his longest media appearance since winning the election last month. He said Israel is being treated “very, very unfairly.” The incoming U.S. leader sidestepped a question about whether Israe... Full story
(JTA)—Responding to Secretary of State John Kerry’s address on making peace between Israel and the Palestinians, many U.S. lawmakers said they were disappointed by the Obama administration’s decision to abstain on the vote in the U.N. Security Council of a resolution criticizing Israel for settlement building. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the incoming Senate minority leader, said in a statement that Kerry “has emboldened extremists on both sides.” “While Secretary Kerry mentioned Gaza in his speech, he seems to have forgotten the history of... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-Rabbi Marvin Hier has known Charles and Seryl Kushner-Jared Kushner's parents and Donald Trump's in-laws-for decades. The Hiers and the Kushners have gone to the same kosher for Passover resort, the Arizona Biltmore, over the years. The Kushner family, prominent real estate developers, have also been generous donors to the Simon Wiesenthal Center founded by Hier, which he now serves as dean. But the Los Angeles-based Hier said he was shocked three weeks ago when a Trump aide... Full story
(JTA)—Jewish organizations split along ideological lines in their reactions to Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech criticizing Israeli settlement growth and laying out principles to achieve a two-state solution. Centrist groups were measured in their reactions, criticizing the American decision to abstain last week on a U.N. vote rebuking the settlements while praising Kerry’s commitment to a two-state solution. American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris wrote in an open letter Wednesday that he watched the speech “as one who underst... Full story
(JTA)-Rachel Freier of Brooklyn officially became the first Hasidic woman to be sworn in as a judge in the State of New York. Freier, a mother of six and former lawyer who practiced commercial and residential estate law, was sworn in Thursday as the Civil Court judge in Kings County's 5th judicial district, CBS reported. Freier won in September the vote in the district, which encompasses the Brooklyn communities of Kensington, Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace, among others. The Hasidic performer... Full story
(JTA)—President-elect Donald Trump said a resolution introduced at the United Nations Security Council against Israeli settlements should be vetoed. “As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations,” Trump said in an official statement issued Thursday morning, hours after the resolution was introduced by Egypt the previous afternoon. “This puts Israel in a very poor negotia... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
