Week of January 30, 2026
Week of January 30, 2026
(JNS) — Eight Muslim countries agreed on Wednesday to join the Board of Peace, which will “play an essential role” in realizing President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Gaza conflict, according to a Jan. 16 White House statement. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates announced in a joint statement that they “welcome the invitation extended to their leaders by the President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, to join the Board of...
(JNS) - Tu B'Shevat, the "Jewish New Year for Trees," gained a new meaning in the early 20th century. The tree-planting tradition that was renewed and adopted by the Zionist movement became a symbol of connection to the Land of Israel. Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) played a central role in embedding this late-winter celebration as a tradition in Israel through mass tree plantings, environmental education and the promotion of nature conservation values. The holiday...
(JNS) — The advancing of bills in U.S. states seeking to require the use of “Judea and Samaria” on official documents instead of the “West Bank” represents a strategic step in defending not only Israel, but the western world, according to Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan. Dagan attended events in both Florida and Georgia last week as part of his “Friends of Samaria in the U.S.” initiative, as legislators pledged to advance bills on the issue in both of those states respectively. “Especially after Oct. 7, we all...
(JNS) — An Israeli-owned restaurant chain closed its final branch in Belgium and declared bankruptcy last week following a campaign of harassment and boycotts, local media reported. Owners Tom Sas and Lori Dardikman declined to provide details on the closure of the Bokertov chain’s final branch in Antwerp, the Made-Innews site reported. The couple did not respond to a request for comment from JNS before publication. However, the couple recently said their business, which marketed itself as an Israeli restaurant, had been financially...
(JNS) — Israel received its 11th university on Tuesday following the Higher Education Council’s decision to upgrade Tel Hai College near Kiryat Shmona in the Upper Galilee, and award it university status thanks to a $181 million grant to meet the relevant requirements. The unanimous decision by the Council for Higher Education in Israel—a supervisory board headed by Education Minister Yoav Kisch—means that beginning with the 5786–87 (2026-27) academic year, the University of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee will have the title for a...
The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida opened Hope & Humanity, a redesigned core exhibition that reimagines how the Holocaust is presented, experienced, and remembered. The exhibition also serves as the first public demonstration of the storytelling methodology under development for the future Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity in downtown Orlando. Hope & Humanity centers the lived experiences of 10 local Holocaust survivors - Suzanne Szmajuk Schneider, Henri...
(JNS) — In a survey of 1,000 people in Ireland published on Wednesday, half of all adults surveyed and 54 percent of those aged 18-29 did not know that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. The survey, conducted between Oct. 15 and Nov. 6 last year for the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, exposed widespread ignorance about the Holocaust, at a time when many Irish Jews believe expressions of antisemitism are rising in their country and elsewhere in Europe. Almost 10 percent of the younger groups of adults...
(JNS) — A Czech cyclist on Sunday night completed a 620-mile journey in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which will be marked on Jan. 27. Identified as Lukáš Klement by Israel’s Government Press Office, the Czech national said that he began his route from the “Gate of Death” at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, where the Nazis in World War II exterminated about 1.1 million inmates, the majority of whom were Jews. Klement’s route spelled out “Never Again” when depicted on a map. With ice on his beard,...
(JNS) - The Israel Defense Forces on Monday confirmed its soldiers recovered the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last remaining hostage, from the Gaza Strip. "Following the completion of the identification process by the National Center of Forensic Medicine in collaboration with the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate, IDF representatives informed the family of the hostage Ran Gvili, of blessed memory, that their loved one has been identified and will be laid to rest," the IDF...
(JNS) — American businessman and investor Jared Kushner unveiled an ambitious economic development plan for a “new Gaza” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, as part of the launch of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace. “We’ve developed ways to redevelop Gaza. Gaza, as President Trump has been saying, has amazing potential, and this is for the people of Gaza. We’ve developed it into zones,” said Trump’s son-in-law and adviser in his first administration. “In the beginning, we were toying with...
A controversy in antebellum New York City that has a parallel to a contemporary issue there has roots in the Torah. The issue: the obligation to offer refuge to an outsider, a slave or a migrant, who is being pursued by government authorities or other people with a claim on that person. First, some 19th-Century history: A man who had come to New York City from another area finds a job as a porter in lower Manhattan. One day, a pair of men deputized by the U.S. government surprise him at his workplace, handcuff him, and take him into custody....
(JNS) — A friend recently asked me: “Why would the left support the mullahs?” As Iranian security forces gun down protesters in the streets the question addresses the most consequential moral failure of our time, one that directly threatens both Iranian freedom fighters and the Jewish people. The answer exposes how an ideology born in Parisian cafes in the 1970s migrated through Western universities into America’s mainstream, poisoning our ability to distinguish between freedom fighters and fascists and ultimately, between those who...
(JNS) — Three-month-old Lia Tzipora Golovnetsitz and six-month-old Aharon (Ari) Katz died on Jan. 19 at a private (pirate) daycare center in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood. Emergency services responded promptly to calls from the women running the unlicensed, unsupervised facility—two or three small apartments in a residential building—reporting that many of the children had become ill. Chaos ensued when EMTs arrived on the premises and discovered that there were more than the 50 kids under the age of three suffering from an unknown...
A certain Jewish skill gets pronounced obsolete—right up until institutions seize up and diplomacy turns rigid. The skill is “shtadlanut,” Jewish intercession: the disciplined ability of a trusted person, operating outside the spotlight, to gain access to decision-makers and quietly shift an outcome before positions calcify and failure becomes inevitable. Shtadlanut depends on one condition: silence. It works only when negotiations are shielded from spectacle, attribution, and public pressure. Once the process is pulled into the open...
(JNS) —The opening of Phase 2 of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan is being described as a case of realism. It risks reviving a dangerous illusion: that Hamas can be reasoned into relinquishing power if offered reconstruction, recognition or the promise of a “better life.” That illusion should have died on Oct. 7. American officials now speak of engaging and coordinating with Hamas on Gaza’s governance, as if the terror organization that planned and carried out mass murder can be separated from the political system it...
Is there a Jewish presence in the remote country of Iceland? For most people, the answer will invariably be that they have no idea and then are surprised to learn that the island nation is in fact home to a small but thriving Jewish community. Located just south of the Arctic Circle and known as the "Land of Fire and Ice" due to the presence of large glaciers and some of the world's most active volcanoes, Iceland's capital of Reykjavík is home to 300 Jews in a country of 354,000 people. The...
Aging gracefully is more than just a saying, it’s a lifestyle. For many older adults, skincare becomes a cornerstone of self-care, confidence, and health. Now, a new theory in natural skincare is blooming in popularity, thanks to an unexpected duo: a mysterious blue flower and simple iodized salt. This theory, currently being explored by holistic dermatologists and botanical researchers, suggests that combining the gentle properties of certain blue flowering plants with the mineral power of iodized salt may help improve skin hydration,...
Susan Livingstone will be honored at the annual luncheon, named for Bunny Rosen. The catered luncheon will be held Sunday, March 22 at an Altamonte Springs hotel (address will be provided upon registration), 11 a.m. Indicate: Fish, Pasta, or Vegetarian, and any food allergy or restriction, as well as seating preference. Fashions by Emz on 5th, Mt. Dora will be shown at the fashion show. The cost is Early Bird until March 3, $58; after March 3, $65; Children, $25. Registration online ends March 17, 2026. Reserve your place at...
“Justice, Justice, Shall You Pursue” — Sherri DeWitt, attorney and professor of Law, will introduce the eight current and former Jewish Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 3, 11:30 a.m., at Congregation Ohev Shalom, 613 Concourse Pkwy, in Maitland. She will discuss who they are, what significant legal edcisions they made, and how their tenure impacted American society. DeWitt currently teaches at Barry University School of Law. Both a parent and Bubbe, she enjoys visiting her grandchildren and global travel with her husband....
The Holocaust Center is presenting “Stories We Were Never Told,” visualizing the Holocaust in Bulgaria and beyond, from Jan. 22 through July 10, 2026. For many years the story of the Holocaust in Bulgaria was overshadowed and manipulated by political and economic interests. A myth arose: There was no Holocaust in Bulgaria! The story of the Jewish people who lived and survived these times has never been told. Stories We Were Never Told bridges the gap between recorded testimony and the limited visual documentation of Holocaust events,...
