Week of May 1, 2026
Week of May 1, 2026
(JNS) — An official, 64-page California state “official voter information guide” for the June 2 primary election includes a statement from a candidate for governor that accused Israel of “countless war crimes,” including being responsible for the September 11 attacks. Don Grundmann, who did not submit a photograph of himself and who has no preference for a “qualified” party, claims in the guide that Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist, was “murdered by shaped-charge bomb Israel used” and that the government—it wasn’t...
Iran says it executed a man accused of spying for Israel By JNS Staff (JNS) — Iran has executed a man convicted of spying for Israel and transmitting sensitive information, the Islamic Republic’s judiciary news outlet Mizan reported on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The Iranian outlet identified the man as Mehdi Farid, saying he held a position in a civil defense unit within what it described as a sensitive organization and used his access to gather intelligence for Israel’s Mossad. According to the report, Iran’s Supreme Court...
(JNS) — The 500 people who gathered on Monday for a Yom Hazikaron, Israeli Memorial Day ceremony in Los Angeles show the “deep connection between the Diaspora and the State of Israel,” Israel Bachar, Israeli consul general to the Pacific Southwest, told JNS on Monday. “I do not believe that you can separate the two. I think we’re interdependent on each other,” the Israeli envoy said. “Israel cannot survive without the Diaspora’s support, and the Diaspora needs Israel for its identity and a safe haven in a time of need.” The...
(JNS) — On Oct. 11, 2023, five days after the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel, Itay Sagi and his unit in the Israeli military went into Gaza to retrieve bodies of Israelis whom the terror organization killed. The unit was ambushed, three soldiers were killed and Sagi was gravely hurt. “My body and my soul were wounded,” Sagi told about 900 people, who filled the Moorish revival sanctuary at Park East Synagogue, an Orthodox congregation in Manhattan, on Monday for a commemoration of Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. “The...
(JNS) — Gaza’s human development has been set back 77 years, with recovery and reconstruction needs totaling $71.4 billion over the next decade, according to an assessment released this week by the European Union, the United Nations and World Bank. The final report, the Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, notes an “unprecedented loss of life and a catastrophic humanitarian crisis” brought on by the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, carried out by unnamed “militant groups,” leading to the Israel-Hamas war....
Winter Park, FL - Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando has received a substantial in-kind donation 21 pallets of bottled water totaling more than 43,000 pounds from a generous local company, bolstering critical resources for Central Florida families as hurricane season approaches. The donation will directly support the Pearlman Food Pantry, one of Orlando's most vital community resources for individuals and families facing food insecurity. Water is consistently one of the pantry's most...
When most people think of Israel, agriculture is not the first thing that comes to mind. Israel is small, much of it is arid, and water has always been scarce. The land in Israel has been farmed for thousands of years. What statehood changed was the scale, the conditions including rapid population growth and limited water, and the methods required to make agriculture work. That meant finding alternatives, moving water across the country, using it more efficiently, and eventually creating new sources through desalination. Out of those...
(JNS) — Israel’s population has reached 10.244 million as the country marks its 78th Independence Day, according to data released on Sunday by the Central Bureau of Statistics. Of the total population, 7.97 million are Jews and others (76 percent), 2.15 million are Arabs (21 percent) and 296,000 are foreign residents (2.9 percent), according to the figures. Israel’s population has grown by 146,000 since its last Independence Day, registering an increase of 1.4 percent, the Bureau noted....
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Friday that he underwent treatment for a very early-stage malignant tumor in his prostate and has fully recovered. “Today, my annual medical report was published,” Netanyahu wrote on X. “I requested to delay its publication by two months so that it would not be released at the height of the war, in order not to allow the Iranian terror regime to spread even more false propaganda against Israel. “I ask to share with you three things,” he continued. “1. Thank God, I am...
(JNS) — Nobody was entirely sure the ceremony would take place. Organizers had quietly filmed a full dress rehearsal days earlier in case renewed fighting with Iran made a live public event impossible. A fragile ceasefire with Iran and Lebanon was holding—barely. Last year’s ceremony was canceled due to wildfires in the Jerusalem hills. This year, thousands arrived from across the country, determined not to miss the event. What followed was one of the most emotionally charged Independence Day ceremonies in recent memory—a sweeping,...
Seniors at the Mayflower Senior Community in Winter Park gathered for a warm and meaningful Shabbat service led by Lori Slutsky. The Passover-themed Shabbat created a spirit of reflection and connection, with residents actively engaging in prayers, songs, and traditions. Participants shared personal stories and memories, enjoying schmurah matzah and wine together, which added to the sense of community and...
The Jewish National Fund-USA invites women to “Your Voice in Israel,” an inspiring evening demonstrating the lasting impact of JNF-USA’s work on May 12, at 6:45 p.m. in Maitland. (The address will be provided prior to the event) The guest speaker will be Adela Cojab, lawyer and Civil Rights activist and a recent Miss Israel USA. As a legal fellow at the National Jewish Advocacy Center, Cojab is widely recognized for fighting antisemitism. She will talk about how she uses her work to...
The Orlando Chapter of Hadassah will hold its May luncheon on Tuesday, May 5, 11:30 a.m. at Congregation Ohev Shalom, 613 Concourse Parkway, Maitland. Barbara Chasnov, local chapter member and Hadassah Keeper of the Gate, will present her 21st visit to Israel through storytelling, videos and slides. Through her discussion, members will experience the profound impact of Hadassah’s work. Registration required. General admission is $25, which includes lunch. Entry is limited to guests who have pre-registered. Reserve your place at...
By Melanie Phillips (JNS) — When U.S. President Donald Trump sent Vice President JD Vance to negotiate with members of the Iranian regime in Islamabad, people initially thought that Vance—reportedly the most outspoken voice in the Trump administration against going to war with Iran—would be a soft touch. When the talks in Pakistan broke down, however, Vance’s position could hardly have been tougher. Having seen the Iranian regime up close, he said, he was absolutely certain that these people must never be allowed to get nuclear...
(JNS) — This headline from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation last week was typical: “Trump announces Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, but major disputes remain.” That framing misses a basic truth: Ceasefires don’t resolve conflicts. Though they can lead to productive negotiations, they are more often used by both sides to prepare for the kinetic battles that lie ahead. Even ones that hold don’t necessarily produce good outcomes. The most obvious example: More than seven decades after the 1953 Korean armistice, the United States remains...
(JNS) — Ze’ev Jabotinsky wrote in 1923 that the Jew is a prince, regardless of circumstances—that Jewish dignity does not depend on the world’s recognition and that Jewish sovereignty does not require the world’s permission. A century later, the State of Israel proves his point. In January 1948, with independence weeks away and war with five Arab armies inevitable, Israeli founding father (and several months later, its first prime minister) David Ben-Gurion sent Golda Meir (who eventually went on to become prime minister herself) to...
(JNS) — Tehran’s strategy is not to win but to last. For decades, it has managed pressure by extending timelines, calibrating escalation and avoiding decisive outcomes. The question now is whether that strategy—strategic delay—has reached its limits. For years, policymakers treated time as neutral, something to be managed, extended or deferred. That assumption is increasingly untenable. Time is not neutral. It is a forcing mechanism, not a refuge. In the biblical tradition, time was never meant to be indefinite. It was a mechanism for...
(JNS) — A Jewish college student sits in a lecture hall while her professor describes Israel as a colonial project. She’s not sure he’s right, but she doesn’t have the knowledge or courage to push back. She stays quiet. After class, she scrolls through Instagram, where the algorithm serves her a steady diet of the same narrative. By winter break, she’s stopped going to Hillel. By spring, she tells her parents she doesn’t feel connected to Israel anymore. She’s not angry. She’s just gone. This is not a hypothetical. This is the...
I have never lived alone. I've never even lived with only my partner, at least not for all that long. We've always had roommates. And that means we've always had roommates' stuff. Honestly, I've loved this. I mean, I've had my issues with individual roommates, ranging from minor nits to major clashes. But generally, I have liked the benefits of living with people, which I'd summarize as: friendship, finances and furniture. This time in my life is drawing to a close soon, however, as my partner...
By Judy Lash Balint (JNS) - In the Eshkol region, tucked between Beersheva and the Gaza-Egypt border, life is measured in seconds - the time it takes to reach a shelter, the pause between sirens and the fragile quiet that never lasts. But since Oct. 7, 2023, alongside the trauma, there is a determined insistence on rebuilding both the physical structures and emotional support that sustain a community. At the center of that effort is the new JNF-USA Eshkol Resilience Center that is expected to...
(JNS) - A week before he was killed in a terrorist attack at the Allenby Crossing with Jordan in September 2025, IDF Sgt. Oran Hershko, 20, was traveling in Greece with his father. He created an AI image of a golden retriever puppy sitting in his room and wrote to his family, "Is it too much to ask for a golden?" A few months after his death, a dog named Goldie, of the exact breed and color he loved, arrived at the family home in Tel Mond in central Israel. "It was like a kind of legacy he...
Last month, The Chaim Society invited several members of Magen David Adom to speak at a small gathering about the work MDA is doing in Israel and around the world. Among the speakers was Andie Temkin Gerszuny, director of Major Gifts for American Friends of Magen David Adom. Guest speaker, Aryeh Myers, senior MDA paramedic, was unable to attend the meeting because he was grounded in Israel while Ben Gurion Airport was shut down. However, he did speak with the group about the ongoing work of...
Harpo Marx’s wife, Susan Fleming, once remarked that, when you got him talking, you couldn’t shut him up. The proof was there for those who chanced to see him on tour with his brothers in the 1930s and ‘40s, performing material they would later commit to film. If a crowd was good, he’d deliver what was known as “Red’s Speech,” a reference to the red wig he wore on stage. The speech grew more verbose with each recitation, with input by Harpo’s friend, the critic Alexander Woollcott, a fount of $5 dollar words. It got so long,...
Back in 2012, while on assignment as the Chicago Tribune’s longtime music critic, I received a phone call from my editor that would change my life. Elie Wiesel had just accepted the newspaper’s annual Literary Prize. Would I be interested in interviewing him for the paper? Would I?! There was only one minor problem: I had never read a word Wiesel had written, not even his revered Holocaust memoir “Night.” Holocaust education was not required in the 1950s and ’60s when I was growing up — not even in Skokie, a nexus of Holocaust...
Of the great debates in film history, a few dominate. How much of Citizen Kane did Orson Welles really write? Is the auteur a film’s true author? And the one that will never be resolved, can we separate the art from the artist? In 1980, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert devoted an episode of their PBS review series “Sneak Previews” to the following question: Who’s funnier, Mel Brooks or Woody Allen? The camps fall out as one might expect. Ebert, the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for the Chicago Sun Times, whose work spoke to the everyman,...
Many women notice something puzzling during menopause and postmenopause: feelings of anxiety or inner restlessness seem to reappear, but without a clear cause. There’s no particular worry to dwell on, no story behind it. Just an uneasy feeling, a sense of urgency, or internal “nervous energy.” It can feel confusing or even discouraging — but it’s important to know that this experience is real, and it’s not a personal failure. What’s really happening in the body Anxiety isn’t always “in the mind.” Sometimes, it begins in...
The holiday which starts the evening of May 4, and ends the evening of May 5, (on the Hebrew calendar it is the 18th of Iyar) celebrates the life of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and celebrates Jewish unity. It is on the 33rd day of the Omer. The holiday marks the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest. Three year-old-boys often get their first haircut on that day. It is celebrated as a break from semi-mourning when people have bonfires, parades, and picnics. Weddings are allowed and picnic foods are often eaten. Hot dogs...
Israel’s Independence Day was April 22 (5 Iyar). Here are 100 facts about Israel. 1. Israel is the only Jewish State in the World. 2. The State of Israel is the youngest on the planet. 3. Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East. 4. Israel is about 290 mile (470 km) in length and 85 miles (135 km) in width. 5. Israel spends more money on security than any other country. 6. Israel is the only country with a net gain in trees upon entering the 21st century. 7. The Dead Sea in Israel is the lowest point on earth. 8. The Sea of...
MORNING MINYANS Chabad of Altamonte Springs — Sunday morning minyan, 8 a.m. Weekday morning minyan 6:30 a.m., 407-720-8111. Chabad of South Orlando — Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. and 10 minutes before sunset; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 8:15 a.m., 407-354-3660. Congregation Ahavas Yisrael — Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-644-2500. Congregation Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Daytona — Monday, 8 a.m.; Thursday, 8 a.m., 904-672-9300. Congregation Ohev Shalom — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-298-4650. GOBOR Community...
