Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 748 - 772 of 1886
(JTA) - Heshy Tischler, the pro-Trump provocateur of Orthodox Brooklyn, wasn't at the U.S. capitol when a mob stormed it Wednesday - but not because he didn't want to be. Tischler was one of a throng of Orthodox Jews who traveled down to D.C. to join mass protests of the election results Wednesday. He had left the city before the protest turned into an insurrection that drove members of Congress and the vice president into hiding, and in which a woman was killed. But that afternoon, unaware...
(New York, NY) — Chairman Arthur Stark, CEO William Daroff and Vice Chair Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, issued the following statement: “Once again, we demand that the Palestinian Authority stop encouraging and incentivizing terror through its reprehensible pay-to-slay policies rewarding acts of terror against Israelis by financially compensating perpetrators and their families with so-called martyr payments. Palestinian leadership is going to extraordinary lengths to continue the...
(JTA) — A federal court of appeals ruled that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s capacity limits on houses of worship in areas with rising COVID-19 cases constituted a violation of religious liberty. The ruling on Monday comes after a Supreme Court injunction last month blocking Cuomo from enforcing the rules until the lower court could reevaluate an earlier ruling that upheld state guidelines limiting synagogue attendance to 10 or 25 people. The case, brought by the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel of America, an advocacy org...
(JTA) - There's no way to tally all those we lost in 2020, a year when we mourned even our ability to carry out time-tested rituals of grief. Among those who died this year were some of the Jewish world's most famous and influential pillars in a range of industries, realms of thought and areas of activism - from the pioneer jurist Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the moral thought leader Rabbi Jonathan Sacks to the Modern Orthodox rabbi Norman Lamm to the influential LGBTQ activist Larry Kramer. But many...
(Jewish Journal via JNS) — The pro-Israel educational organization StandWithUs sent a letter to the University of California Merced on Dec. 24 calling on it to take action against professor Abbas Ghassemi over his use of “anti-Semitic statements and images on social media.” StandWithUs CEO and co-founder Roz Rothstein, Saidoff legal department director Yael Lerman and Center for Combating Antisemitism head Carly Gammill wrote to UC Merced Chancellor Dr. Juan Sanchez Munoz and professor emeritus Dr. Thomas Peterson that Ghassemi has issue...
(JTA) - After an Orthodox-owned health clinic appeared to be administering COVID-19 vaccines to members of the public contrary to state guidelines, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the investigation would be referred to the state attorney general's office and that vaccine-related fraud would come with consequences. "We will not tolerate any fraud in the vaccination process," Cuomo said at a news conference Monday. "Anyone who engages in fraud is going to be held accountable." His comments come...
(JTA) - When David first saw the advertisement on his local Long Island community Whatsapp group inviting people like him and his wife, both over 65, to sign up to get the COVID-19 vaccine, he was skeptical. The ad linked to a nondescript Google form that asked him to answer a few questions and submit insurance information. "At this point I got suspicious. Is this an attempt to steal my identity? A scam?" he said in an email sharing his experience with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. After doing...
(JTA) — Nearly a third of the $900 billion Congress is set to approve in a pandemic relief will go to a new round of payroll protection, and the Jewish Federations of North America is set to reprise the role it played earlier this year and explain how nonprofits can get their share. “We are pulling back together again the team of experts both from within the JFNA and lay leaders who train themselves on the program to offer volunteer support to help fill out forms and connect banks and such,” Eric Fingerhut, the group’s CEO, said in an intervi...
(JNS) — An anti-Semitic cybersecurity attack that took place at a Jewish high school in Long Island, N.Y., on Monday has left students on edge and parents contemplating if they should keep their children at home for the rest of the school year. Anti-Semitic images, threats, slurs and songs were posted on the website of North Shore Hebrew Academy High School in Great Neck. They were also included in emails sent to the school’s parents and students on Monday afternoon. Skyler Askari, 15, a 10th-grader at the private high school, told JNS tha...
(JNS) - Israel's Deni Avdija recently moved from Israel to Washington, found an apartment, met with the media at a Washington Wizards press conference and ate his first meal at Chipotle Mexican Grill. "I really liked the idea of Chipotle. I like to eat healthy. And it was kind of healthy!" Avdija, the 19-year-old Maccabi Tel Aviv phenom, was taken No. 9 overall by the Wizards in the recent NBA Draft. The 6-foot-9 inch, 225-pound forward is excited to play in the NBA and understands what it...
NEW YORK CITY — As the number of Israeli families suffering from financial hardship and related challenges increases dramatically amid the coronavirus pandemic, UJA-Federation of New York announced nearly $3.5 million in new emergency Covid-19 relief grants in Israel. UJA will award grants to several organizations that support the most at-risk Israelis, including children, the newly poor, and struggling small businesses. In addition, the grants will help strengthen Israel’s ability to respond to Covid-related challenges with enhanced lea...
(JNS) - Lisa McClain will join the record-number of Republican women elected this year to the U.S. House of Representatives following her landslide victory over Democrat Kimberly Bizon, 66.3 percent to 33.7 percent, respectively, in Michigan's 10th Congressional District to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Paul Mitchell. "I think America spoke," said McClain in an interview with JNS on Nov. 24, adding that the Republican women elected have "traditional American values." Before being elected to...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to appoint six individuals to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. Those named to the council, which is the governing body of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., include David Marchick, who served as the Deputy U.S. Assistant Secretary of State in the Clinton administration; Republican strategist Jeffrey Miller, founder and CEO of Miller Strategies; U.S. International Development Finance Corporation CEO Adam S. Boehler; Miami Beach investor Jimmy Resnick; former U...
EAST POULTNEY, Vt. (Bennington Banner via JTA) - The autumn leaves crunched underfoot as Netanel Crispe walked uphill toward the northwest corner of the small cemetery. He stopped and examined a toppled headstone. "The last time I was here this was standing up," he said, regarding the weathered, gray stone. "At least it hasn't broken." Crispe brushed away the leaves to reveal a carving at the top of the stone: two raised hands, the gesture used in the delivery of the Birkat Kohanim, Judaism's...
(Jewish Journal via JNS) - Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called on the Trump administration to declassify a report detailing the current number of Palestinian refugees who are receiving aid from the U.N. Works and Relief Agency for Palestinian Refugees. "Very important that the Trump administration declassify the report that provides a current estimate of the number of Palestinian refugees who are receiving support. This goes to the heart of speaking hard truths in...
(JTA) — The Supreme Court blocked government restrictions on houses of worship imposed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a late-night ruling Wednesday. Deciding two cases at once — one brought by Agudath Israel, an umbrella organization representing haredi Orthodox Jews, and one brought by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn — the court ruled that restrictions placed on New York’s “red zones” with high COVID test positivity rates unfairly discriminated against houses of worship. The decision, which split 5-4, was the first in which Justi...
(JTA) - In the more than 30 years that Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel has worked at Agudath Israel, an umbrella organization and advocacy group representing haredi Orthodox Jews, he can't remember a single year where as much of the group's work took place in court. There was the lawsuit challenging New York State for applying different standards on attendance at houses of worship than at businesses. Agudath Israel filed an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs. There was the case in which Orthodox...
(JNS) A minor league baseball stadium in Lakewood, N.J., served as the outdoor meeting ground for some 500 participants in the JBiz 2020 COVID-19 Business Expo and Conference sponsored by the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce. The event held on Nov. 16 was attended by both Jews and non-Jews, and featured a recorded message from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and an address by Mark Zelden, director of the Center for Faith & Opportunity Initiatives, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor. Several local politicians were also in attendance inclu...
When the first wave of coronavirus infections reached the American South, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, knew the religious school's classes at his synagogue would have to move online. But he also knew his institution was ill-equipped to make that change. "We are a small congregation – 170 households – and our religious school is generally run by volunteer teachers," Cytron-Walker said. "We don't have a paid religious school director. When COV...
The U.S. Parole Commission has issued a certificate terminating parole and lifting all parole restrictions on Jonathan J. Pollard, effective Nov. 21, 2020. According to the law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, Pollard is no longer subject to a curfew, is no longer prohibited from working for a company that does not have U.S. government monitoring software on its computer systems, is no longer required to wear a wrist monitor that tracks his whereabouts, and is free to travel anywhere, including Israel, for temporary or permanent...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Veteran CNN anchorwoman Christiane Amanpour apologized during her Monday show for having equated the events of Kristallnacht with U.S. President Donald Trump’s term in office. Her comments caused a storm of controversy, including a demand from Israel to issue a retraction. “I observed the 82nd anniversary of Kristallnacht, as I often do. It is the event that began the horrors of the Holocaust. I also noted President Trump’s attacks on history, facts, knowledge and truth,” Amanpour explained. However, she said, “I...
(JTA) — After several challenges to pandemic-induced restrictions on houses of worship citing religious liberty, an Orthodox Jewish advocacy group is taking its case to the U.S. Supreme Court in the hopes that the new conservative majority will rule in its favor. Agudath Israel, an umbrella organization representing haredi Orthodox Jews, is challenging New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s limitations on houses of worship in “red zones,” areas with especially high COVID test positivity rates. Agudath Israel claims that they were implemented in a way t...
(JTA) — Jewish schools and other private schools in New York City will remain open even as the city shutters its public school buildings starting Thursday amid a rise in new COVID-19 cases in the city. City officials decided this summer to shift all schools to virtual learning if the city’s seven-day test positivity rate reached 3 percent. That happened Thursday, according to the city’s data. But the rules do not affect the city’s private schools. That’s because every public school district and private school in New York state was required...
By Ben Sales (JTA) — Weeks after a federal complaint alleged an anti-Semitic climate at the University of Illinois, the university announced it would work with Jewish groups to improve conditions for Jews and pro-Israel students on campus. The campus in Champaign-Urbana, home to 34,000 undergraduates and some 3,000 Jewish undergraduate students, was recently the subject of a legal complaint asking the U.S. Education Department to investigate a “hostile environment of anti-Semitism.” The complaint cited multiple instances of swastika graff...
(J. the Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — The student government at San Francisco State University has approved a divestment resolution targeting Israel that would have the school pull out of investments in companies that do business in Israeli settlements. Following a lengthy and contentious public comment period, Associated Students passed the measure in a 17-1 vote with two abstentions. Nearly two dozen speakers had offered testimonies on both sides of the resolution. The passage of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions r...
