Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS)—Archaeologists have discovered an 11th-century moat just outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls—the first hard evidence of a fabled Crusader siege against the city 920 years ago. Attested to in several historical documents, many scholars nonetheless believed the siege was a myth. The groundbreaking find was made as part of the Mount Zion Archaeological Project, a joint international effort led by professor Shimon Gibson and professor James Tabor of the University of North Carolina in Charlotte in cooperation with Rafi Lewis of Ashkelon Acade... Full story
(JNS)—As the United States continues to ratchet up pressure on Iran and as Tehran continues to breach the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the question is whether the increased tensions could trigger a war. France is worried about the escalating situation. “The situation is serious. The rise of tensions could lead to accidents,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters when asked about the risk of a wider Middle East war, Reuters reported on Sunday. “No one wants a war. I... Full story
(JTA)-An estimated 50,000 people have visited the resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, ahead of the 25th anniversary of his passing. The pilgrimage to the burial site in Queens, New York, known as the Ohel has taken place over the past week ahead of the anniversary Saturday, the 3rd of Tamuz on the Hebrew calendar, according to a spokesman for the late rabbi's Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Schneerson headed the movement from 1950 until his passing in 1994-a... Full story
(JNS)—Turn on any cable-news channel and the majority of the focus will be on national leaders like U.S. President Donald Trump or Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. And while politicians on the national level indeed command attention, state and local politics move forward at the same time, often at a quicker pace in terms of legislation and reaction to crises. Citizens often feel a more direct impact from resulting policies: From helping local businesses and revitalizing a city’s downtown to basic trash pickup, mayors and local leaders ser... Full story
Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc. National President Ellen Hershkin and CEO/Executive Director Janice Weinman today released the following statement on the pending introduction of the Never Again Education Act in the United States Senate: “We are thrilled that the Never Again Education Act is moving forward with bipartisan support in the Senate. This has been Hadassah’s top legislative priority for the past year. Hadassah members have been aggressively advocating for its passage and today we are closer than ever to ma... Full story
Driving to the Orlando International Airport the morning of July 9, the Star of David on the tail of an EL AL plane was visible above the building. It was thrilling to see, because this morning at 11:30 history was made as EL AL's inaugural flight from MCO to Tel Aviv took "to the skies," (EL AL literally means that). Prior to the flight, a media event, complete with ribbon and cake cutting ceremonies, was held to announce the new flights. Guest speakers included Gov. Ron DeSantis; Lior Haiat,... Full story
WASHINGTON-Adam Lehman will take the helm of the world's largest campus Jewish organization as interim CEO after serving as the organization's chief operating officer since 2015. Hillel International also announced today that Samuel E. "Skip" Vichness, Ph. D. will begin his term as the chair of the Board of Directors after serving for three years as vice chair. For the past four years, Lehman has managed the day-to-day activities and operations of Hillel International and played a pivotal role... Full story
(JNS)-The second Democratic presidential primary debate on Thursday night barely featured a discussion on Iran, let alone foreign policy. However, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said that, if elected, her "first act will be to engage Iran to stabilize the Middle East and make sure we do not start an unwanted, never-ending war." She also accused U.S. President Donald Trump for being "hell-bent on starting a war with Iran." Whereas Gillibrand said that Iran would be the first country she would... Full story
(JNS)-Suheib Yousef, son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef and younger brother of "Green Prince" Mosab Yousef, deserted his post in Turkey, flew to an undisclosed Asian country and then gave an interview to an Israeli journalist in which he excoriated the terrorist organization's corruption. Mosab Yousef became know as the "Green Prince" during the decade he worked with Israel's Shin Bet security agency to thwart Hamas terrorist attacks. In the interview, which aired Wednesday on... Full story
(JNS)—Despite multiple raids and a detainment made by the Palestinian Authority against participants of the “Peace to Prosperity” economic workshop in Manama, Bahrain, Ashraf Al-Ghanem says that he will remain strong and courageous. Al-Ghanem is the CEO of Al-Ghanem Furniture Company and a participant in last week’s workshop, making him a target of Palestinian Authority arrests. While he told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that he feared for his life, by Tuesday, Al-Ghanem said, “I feel stronger than yesterday.” His home was one of four raided... Full story
(JNS)—U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called on the Trump administration on Tuesday to increase pressure on Iran. “We write to urge you to increase pressure on Iran’s nuclear program, in the aftermath of Iran publicly violating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action by stockpiling more than 300 kg of low-enriched uranium and threatening further violations within weeks,” stated the letter, which was in response to International Atomic Energy Agency announcing on Monday that Iran has exceeded the ura... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Twenty-five years ago, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the 92-year-old Lubavitcher Rebbe, succumbed to his many ailments and died, to the horror of his Hasidim. Since suffering the first of several devastating strokes on March 2, 1992, while visiting the grave of his late father-in-law and predecessor Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the Rebbe had been trapped speechless and physically disabled in a failing body. He was widowed and childless, and his Hasidic aides, who now... Full story
(JNS)-Iran has exceeded the uranium enrichment limit under the 2015 nuclear deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced on Monday. Tzvi Kahn, senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS that Iran's aim is to preserve relations with European allies in the face of the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign against the regime since it withdrew the United States from the agreement in May 2018, reimposing sanctions lifted under it along with enactin... Full story
(JNS)—An exhibition that offers the public a glimpse into the role of faith as a mechanism for survival during the Holocaust opened at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland on Monday. “Through the Lens of Faith” was arranged and organized by the Amud Aish Memorial Museum in New York, which was founded by the Jewish philanthropists and businessman Elly Kleinman, and works to present the experiences of Holocaust victims and survivors, and how faith helped them persevere. World... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Turning Point USA, a conservative student group that is most notable for its vocal advocacy for President Donald Trump, is hosting a conference here for young Jewish leaders that includes an address by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son Yair. Netanyahu, 27, is one of the more youthful speakers at the three-day Young Jewish Leadership Summit taking place through Wednesday. He's known as a strident defender of his father, who is mired in corruption scandals. The son's... Full story
(JNS)—Josh Block, a former Clinton aide, announced on Monday that he is stepping down after seven years as CEO and president of the nonpartisan educational group The Israel Project. Block announced his departure in a post on the blogging site Medium, mentioning that he notified TIP’s board of directors in June. “It has been an honor to head such a dynamic organization, led by a wonderful board and an amazing chairman, full of talented people who didn’t seek credit or the limelight, but do this work because they grasp the vital nature of ensu... Full story
HAIFA-At the Ruach Tova Health Center in this northern Israeli city, three medical students are hard at work trying to keep up with the steady flow of patients. Nicole Kasher, a third-year student from Los Angeles, reviews patient charts. Galilee native Neta Sagi inventories pharmaceuticals. In a nearby exam room, Leonora Narkis of Petach Tikvah takes a woman's blood pressure. This may look like a typical Israeli medical clinic, but it's actually one of a kind: It's the country's only... Full story
Palestinian Authority arrests then releases Hebron businessman who attended Bahrain summit By Marcy Oster JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Palestinian Authority arrested and released the next day a Palestinian businessman from the West Bank city of Hebron who attended the United States-sponsored economic summit in Bahrain. Saleh Abu Mayala was arrested on Friday night upon his return home from Bahrain by Palestinian intelligence forces and released by Saturday night, according to reports. A second Palestinian businessman who attended the conference was near... Full story
By Howard Lovy TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (JTA)—The year was 2000, and Michael Steinhardt had just dropped a bombshell that nearly brought an otherwise dignified conference to blows. “I tend, in my dourest moments, to consider both the Reform and Conservative Jews as historic accidents in the 21st century and suspect, before the end of this century, they will have disappeared,” he said. Steinhardt, along with Edgar Bronfman and Charles Schusterman, was in Chicago at a meeting of STAR: Synagogue Transformation and Renewal, which was ostensibly desig... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Days ahead of a workshop where Jared Kushner sought tens of billions of dollars for his Middle East peace plan, the White House unveiled an outline of its economic portion, including proposals, like a Gaza-West Bank travel corridor, that are sure to rattle Israel’s government. The Peace to Prosperity plan authored by a team led by Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and key adviser, was posted Saturday on the White House website. It does not outline the political portion of the peace plan, which the architects say w... Full story
(JNS)—Despite bringing together a historic number of Arab states and prominent world leaders, the Bahrain economic conference, which seeks to be the first step in the Trump administration’s efforts to bring peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, has been buffeted and vilified, especially by the Palestinians, who called the Trump plan “dead on arrival” and have boycotted the summit. Senior adviser to and son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump Jared Kushner, who spearheaded the initiative, opened the two-day summit on Tuesday by calling... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak announced Wednesday that he is forming a new political party. At an evening news conference, Barak said he rushed to make the announcement to thwart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to cancel the Sept. 17 election. “Netanyahu has reached the end” of his political career,” Barak said. “The Netanyahu regime must be felled.” “Bibi, this is your last chance to go home of your own volition,” he said, using Netanyahu’s nickname. Barak, who did not say what the name of his new party wo... Full story
RAMAT GAN, Israel-Prof. Yitshak Kreiss, director general of Israel's Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, attended the summit in Bahrain, held June 25-26, to discuss economic prospects for the Palestinian people as part of a first step in a potential Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. "I am both privileged and honored to have been personally invited by US. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin to the Peace and Prosperity Workshop in Bahrain," said Prof. Kreiss. Born together with Israel in 1948,... Full story
(JNS)-"Far-right anti-Semitism is on the rise in the United States and Europe, but the response from both Jewish communities and law enforcement agencies has been defensive and case by case, rather than proactive and comprehensive," Yigal Carmon, the president of the Middle East Media Research Institute, told JNS in a recent interview. The threat to freedom in the United States is twofold, said Carmon. On the one hand is the jihadi threat, which manifests in terrorist attacks but is rooted in... Full story
Before the wildfires were extinguished in Israel last month, organizations and communities throughout Israel stepped up to help the more than 3500 people who had been evacuated and displaced from their homes, including residents of Mevo Modiin, a community that was all but completely burned down. Calls to provide clothes and other supplies were responded to so much so that by the next morning, almost as quickly as the fire started and calls were issued to help, people were turned away because... Full story
