Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — Passover is here, and I will be so presumptuous as to suggest that you may have opened your favorite Haggadah to have a look and start preparing for the big seder night. Seder means “order.” And one of the items in the order of the seder agenda is yachatz. Well, what is yachatz? It’s one of the first things we do on seder night, even before anyone says the “Ma Nishtanah.” We break the middle matzah of the three matzahs on our seder plates. The larger part is put away for the afikomen and the smaller part remains inside the seder plate...
(JNS) — Many in the media have spent the last few days debating the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and activist who led tension-filled campus protests in the past year that targeted Jewish and Zionist students and faculty. Much of the discussion has been on the First Amendment and free-speech rights. Surprisingly, the elephant in the room has been largely ignored. After the December 2023 congressional hearings that saw three university presidents grilled over their inaction to protect Jewish American students and fa...
(JNS) — Harvard University’s decision to “pause” a research partnership with Birzeit University, a Palestinian university near Ramallah, was long overdue. In 2023, Israeli security forces arrested eight students from Birzeit University who were planning what was described as “an imminent terror attack.” That apparently meant that the plan wasn’t just theoretical; it was on the verge of becoming operational. Birzeit should be known as “Terror U” for its students’ active support of Hamas. For instance, a basketball championship game w...
(JNS) — Hundreds of Palestinians rallied last week in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, chanting, among other things: “Out, out, Hamas out!” This is the first time masses of Gazans have openly called for the terrorist group to be removed from power. Protests against Hamas rule have since spread throughout the Gaza Strip. Good news, right? But wait: Why have no pro-Palestinian protesters in the West stepped up to support these brave demonstrators? Why have no mass protests been held echoing Gazans’ demands that Hamas relinquish power? No surpris...
(JNS) — Among my various occupations, I am a tour guide, primarily for Christian groups. On Oct. 7, 2023, I was with a group of Christians from Norway and African countries. It was supposed to be the second-to-last day of their trip. At breakfast in a hotel in Tiberias, I turned on my phone and started seeing WhatsApp videos, mostly of white pickup trucks driving through the streets of Sderot. I knew something unusual was happening, but I still didn’t grasp the magnitude of the event. Slowly, more and more reports started coming in amid the unc...
(JNS) — Among those who forcibly occupied Trump Tower recently to protest the deportation of a violent antisemite, were members of the Jewish Voice for Peace, who, along with other far-left groups like IfNotNow, have been parading support for Hamas since its Oct. 7 attack. The scene was a chilling reminder of the giant rift splitting American Jewry. On one side of this rift are American Jews of all denominations, including secular ones, who love Israel as our ancestral homeland and the United States as the greatest country on earth. On the othe...
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs via JNS) — The exile of terrorist operatives is often perceived as an effective strategic measure: It removes them from familiar territory, disrupts their organizational grip, and serves as a powerful deterrent. In Palestinian culture, the connection to the land is considered sacred — “Take my daughters, take my home, but do not take my land.” Therefore, exile from the homeland is seen as a particularly severe punishment. However, in reality, this approach often turns out to be a double-...
(JNS) — Israel stands on the precipice of a decisive victory over its adversaries. As the military campaign in Gaza resumes, Hamas finds itself with almost no options and even fewer allies. Its infrastructure has been decimated and its argument that the war with Israel was over has been unraveled. Meanwhile, the Houthis are preoccupied with their battles against U.S. forces. Hezbollah finds itself deeply wounded and withdrawn from Southern Lebanon and Syria and unable to help Hamas. Similarly, Iran is in no position to help or support Hamas. I...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likes to cite polls that indicate American support for Israel, but while it might not concern him, the data suggests the bipartisan consensus that has helped sustain the special relationship has completely collapsed. Sympathy for Israel has severely eroded, driven by the cratering of support from the Democratic Party. While political backing in Washington still holds firm, public sentiment is shifting in ways that could have long-term consequences for Israel. For decades, the most consistent m...
(JNS) — Sitting here in Israel, I ask myself if this is the same Middle East it was before Oct. 7, 2023. Yes, the war that was waged on Israel on seven fronts continues into its 17th month, and at least 59 hostages are still not home with many no longer alive. However, something else has changed. Although still a threat, Hezbollah has been severely neutered. The Israeli Air Force sent a squadron of F-151 planes on Sept. 27, dropping more than 80 bombs. The body of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s commander-in-chief, was found lying in the rub...
I always look forward to Passover, and I know I’m not alone. According to conclusions from a 2013 Pew survey, you and I are more likely to attend a Passover seder than to fulfill the solemn mitzvah of fasting on Yom Kippur. The epicurean delights that frequent the seder table (and the mitzvah to drink copious cups of wine, I’m sure), are part of what draws us to the holiday. That, and the sense of renewal we feel from connecting with family and friends. Still, I don’t think that’s the reason the “Festival of Freedom,” as this week-long c...
(JNS) — The Republican Party led by President Donald Trump is launching an unprecedented fight to stamp out the outrageous rise in antisemitism on college campuses. The actions taken by the administration have been significant as they include ending $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University and putting 60 universities on notice that they are not protecting Jewish students and could lose federal funding if they don’t address that concern. The administration’s most recent action was the arrest and planned deportation of Mahmo...
(JNS) — There was quite a buzz in Damascus the other week with the visit of a Jewish delegation that included members of the venerable Hamra family, whose members have served as chief rabbis of Syria. Even more remarkable was that it was openly cheered and welcomed by Syrians from all walks of life. This is not the first time that Syrian Jews have been welcomed back. In 2004 and again in 2021, during the Syrian civil war, then-President Bashar Assad allowed a group of New York Jews of Syrian origin to return publicly. The fall of the B...
(JNS) — Critics of the U.S. plan for rebuilding Gaza say that the idea of residents relocating to other countries is part of a plot by the Israeli right to carry out “ethnic cleansing.” But it turns out that it was the Israeli left, and not the Israeli right, which was the first to organize emigration from Gaza. A leading Israeli daily newspaper, Israel Hayom, recently revealed that between 1968 and 1969, the Israeli government quietly assisted Arabs in the Gaza Strip who wanted to emigrate abroad. Who was in charge of the Israeli gover...
(JNS) — With U.S. President Donald Trump now back in the White House, a Middle East policy shaped by former President Barack Obama and his foreign-policy advisers, who also served under former President Joe Biden, comes to a close. In between these two Democratic leaders, Trump launched of the Abraham Accords peace policy and set a new course that many hope will be the new direction of the Middle East. Throughout his eight years of presidency and later, in the background, hidden behind Biden, Obama sought to exert his influence in the r...
(JNS) — With all of the controversies surrounding President Donald Trump, it’s astonishing that something as trivial as a hyphen in “anti-Semitism” has caused umbrage. Yet some Jewish leaders, including Deborah Lipstadt, former President Joe Biden’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, have found the change in spelling from “antisemitism” concerning. Lipstadt, a leading proponent of removing the hyphen, expressed dismay: “This decision makes no sense. I cannot fathom why there would be this reversal.” For those whose memories do...
(JNS) — As the conflict in Gaza enters yet another critical phase, Israel faces a daunting question: Will this war lead to the release of hostages and a genuine security achievement, or will it be remembered as another cycle of violence with no tangible gains? The Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is at a crossroads where the outcomes of its military operations will shape not only its political future but also the broader regional dynamics involving Iran and its proxies. Israel’s leadership has framed this war as...
(JNS) — With the completion of Phase 1 of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, and a new Israeli offensive into Gaza becoming more imminent, some Arab states have scrambled to put forward a plan for the “day after” as a counterproposal to the Trump plan of resettling Gazans and bringing a potential American presence to Gaza. Arab countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar advocate for Hamas to disarm but retain some governing role in Gaza going forward. As part of Egypt’s vision, Hamas would surrender its missiles and rockets to Egyptia...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump is changing the narrative regarding Gaza. His visionary declaration of turning Gaza “into the Riviera of the Middle East” has people reimagining the entire area. Gaza has been a launching pad for terrorism since 1948. The Arabs of Gaza left their homes of their own free will at the direction and encouragement of their leaders who invaded Israel after it was recognized by the United Nations as a state in 1948. The Arab world kept Gaza as a festering sore to keep international pressure on Israel. The Hamas...
(JNS) — The Trump administration seeks to expand the Abraham Accords, first and foremost with Saudi Arabia, however, the current reality on the ground does not encourage such moves in the near future. Saudi Arabia has declared that it will not establish relations with Israel without significant political progress with the Palestinians—an unacceptable demand from Israel’s perspective. While moderate Arab leaders do recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization, they still harshly condemn Israel for its war in Gaza, portraying it as a war crimi...
(JNS) — For years, I’ve heard the complaint that non-Jews don’t stand up against systemic antisemitism. And I agree. But do you know what’s even more confusing? When Jewish organizations actively oppose measures that combat systemic antisemitism. I’m not naive. People are people. Unity is a utopian fantasy. Apparently, so is expecting universal agreement on a basic legal principle: If you violate the terms of your visa, you can be deported. Actions have consequences. Why is it such a complex concept? I dedicate a significant part of my life to...
(JTA) — Our teens have managed to corner the babysitting market at our local synagogue. So when the WhatsApp message first arrived a week and a half ago from one of the other dads, it seemed pretty routine. “Can one of your kids babysit Saturday night? We’re going to see an Oscar nominated documentary that’s only in town for a week.” I’ve known this couple for many years, having interacted with them in both Jewish professional settings and lay leadership roles. I also know them well enough to recognize that neither of them are cinephiles...
(JNS) — When Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, known as the father of modern Hebrew, worked to revive the language as a spoken one, he believed it would be a tool to rapidly foster a sense of unity among olim, Jewish immigrants to the land of Israel. His success at making it accessible for day-to-day use continues to provide a common thread across Israeli society. For many secular Jewish Israelis, speaking Hebrew (“Ivrit”) and serving in the military are some of the most important cultural aspects of their Jewish identities. Unfortunately, few Diasp...
(JNS) — “Be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief convert to anger. Blunt not the heart, enrage it.” — “Macbeth,” Act 4, Scene 3 The holiday of Purim is the most joyous of Jewish holidays and therefore our sages teach that when the month in which occurs, Adar, begins, joy increases. But given recent events, this year the joy of Adar may feel palpably less than in previous years. Many Israelis kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, are still hostages, continually brutalized and mocked, and the three that became the faces of that day’s treachery — S...
(JNS) — It was interesting to watch the bemused look on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s face during a Washington press conference as President Donald Trump floated his harebrained idea of deporting all Gazans. Yet the man who insists he is “not a vassal” quickly pivoted to praise Trump for an idea “that could change history.” Trump deserves credit for apparently abandoning the two-state solution embedded in his first-term Mideast peace plan. Some praised him for thinking outside the box, but creativity alone doesn’t make an idea...
