Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - Today, the rise of antisemitism is undeniable, but we must be careful not to lose perspective. We are so close to the phenomenon that we risk overlooking a profound transformation that is quietly underway: a large percentage of Jewish people have experienced a rebirth in their connection to Jewish peoplehood. Our confusion is understandable. Comprehending today's geopolitical and cultural landscape is akin to watching a rapidly flickering screen on which the images pass so rapidly that...
(JNS) - Israeli artist Yaacov Agam, considered to be the father of the Kinetic Movement in modern art, died on Sunday at the age of 98, the Agam Museum announced. Agam, who was awarded the Israel Prize for Visual Arts in April, was known for works that incorporated movement, light, color and viewer interaction. A public memorial ceremony was held on Monday at the Agam Museum in the central city of Rishon Letzion, followed by the funeral, which was scheduled to depart from the plaza of the...
(JNS) - U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged Americans to recognize Israel's biblical heritage as a foundation of the United States, speaking at the opening of an international archaeology conference at the Herodium site in Judea and Samaria. He said it is his job "to represent the importance of Israel to the United States," adding that "without Israel, without the Jewish foundation, there would not be an America. We owe our very existence to what happened in this land." The remarks wer...
(JNS) - Like a modern-day Moses, I led my flock last week through parched terrain that I had never visited before, in search of a piece of land known to me by description only. Granted, this was on a weekend hike with my family, to which we arrived by car with a liter of sunscreen and a stack of beef jerky. Still, there was plenty of Moses-like pioneering spirit on our summertime stay in Nahal Tzalmon, a wadi in the Galilee that leads to the Sea of Galilee. It has a flow in the rainy season, but...
Submitted by Jewish Pavilion Senior Services At Jewish Pavilion Senior Services, we are always looking for meaningful ways to help older adults live healthier, more vibrant lives. Through the Orlando Senior Help Desk, we frequently hear concerns about neuropathy — tingling, numbness, and discomfort in the hands and feet that can affect balance, mobility, and quality of life. While neuropathy has many causes, nutrition can play an important role in managing symptoms and supporting nerve health. One nutrient gaining attention is what some p...
(JNS) — The Islamic Republic of Iran must rein in its terrorist proxies in Lebanon, U.S. President Donald Trump insisted on Sunday, without naming Hezbollah. “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization is a “malignant cancer,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said earlier on Sunday, notin...
(JNS) — Jeb Bush, chairman of United Against Nuclear Iran, and the group’s CEO Mark D. Wallace stated on Thursday that the organization cannot endorse the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding “in its current form.” In a statement released after the Wednesday night signing of the agreement at the Palace of Versailles in France, Bush and Wallace praised U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran, noting that the Islamic Republic is “no longer on the cusp of a nuclear weapon.” “The American and Israeli militaries have neutralized the Irani...
(JNS) — The Islamic Republic won the “2026 Iran War,” according to the Wikipedia page for the conflict. But when the crowd-sourced encyclopedia, which has a documented history of anti-Israel and antisemitic entries, cites news reports in a footnote ostensibly to support the claim that Iran won, it draws reader attention to sources that state that Iran wasn’t decimated or emerged in a better position in some ways. Not that it won. “So, who actually won?” states an Indian Express article, which is the first reference in the Wikipedia footnote. “T...
(JNS) — The Israel Football Association said on Tuesday it would welcome a proposed symbolic match against a Palestinian team, following reports that FIFA is considering the fixture as the opening game of a new under-15 tournament in the United States in September. “The initiative is known to us and is welcomed,” the association said in a statement to JNS, adding that chairman Shino Zoaretz has consistently supported using soccer to promote “reconciliation, normalization and peace.” The association said it would agree to a meeting “at any p...
(JNS) — Keir Starmer on Monday resigned as Britain’s prime minister and leader of the U.K. Labour Party, seven weeks after suffering a defeat in the May 7 local elections. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street on Monday morning, Starmer says he spoke to King Charles III and informed him of his decision to resign, the BBC reported. Starmer said the Labour Party asked him whether he was best placed to lead it into the next general election. He said he “heard the answer” to that question and “accepts that answer with good grace”. The outgoing premier...
A twelfth-century Crusader fortress in southern Lebanon teaches a lesson that Washington keeps refusing to learn: ceasefires are not a strategy, and walking away from the battlefield only guarantees the next generation will have to return to it. Beaufort is a twelfth-century Crusader fortress perched on a commanding height in southern Lebanon. For nearly a thousand years it has been used to control vast stretches of territory and to launch military operations with relative impunity. Its position is not just strategically significant. It is a...
We’ve been hearing for weeks, even months from the White House that Islamic Republic of Iran was about to sign a deal. True or not, for some reason President Trump‘s most recent statements have been taken more seriously. The stock market is up, oil prices are down and some sort of a deal may indeed be announced imminently. As I read the terms of the proposed deal, whether true or not, my heart breaks because the outcome of the deal will be deadly. There are truly no good terms of the deal being reported, but as much as the terms are bad, the...
(JNS) — In the never-ending churning of news cycles, commentators and the public alike are always ready to overreact to each aspect of every story as they roll out. Under these circumstances, historical perspective is rarely part of anyone’s understanding of events. This was amply illustrated by the discussion about the United States signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran. Hysteria about the implications of the deal for Israel, which was cut out of the negotiations over the agreement, is probably unwise. It’s not clear how much of th...
Seventy-five years ago this week, in response to the horrors of the Holocaust, the United Nations convened the1951 Refugee Convention. The United States, along with 25 other nations, signed the international refugee protection agreement, recognizing refugees’ right to seek safety and accepting its obligations to accept refugees. We also mark the anniversary (June 1939) of the tragedy of the MS St Louis ship carrying refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. The United States, Cuba and Canada refused entry to this “ship of the damned”; it was forced to ret...
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 Minyan at...
(JNS) — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Thursday that he would be cutting ties with the office of E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas “until she retracts the blood libel she directed at the world’s only Jewish state.” Kallas “has for some time now been acting obsessively and with blatant unfairness toward the State of Israel,” Sa’ar tweeted, responding to reports that the European official, during a closed-door meeting, likened Jerusalem’s treatment of Palestinians to South Africa u...
(JNS) - When I visited Thailand recently, I couldn't help but notice the abundance of water. The island was lush and green. Palm trees and tropical plants seemed to grow effortlessly, with no visible irrigation systems feeding them. Living in Israel, I have become accustomed to a different landscape. Here, drip irrigation lines snake across parks, shopping centers, train stations and private gardens. This Israeli innovation has helped transform a dry country into a thriving agricultural success...
Part Five of a Six-Part series The 78 percent nobody talks about Here is a mathematical word problem that rarely appears in international discourse but goes to the core of the underlying equation of the problem of the Nakba narrative. "If the British, who controlled Palestine, gave 78 percent of that territory to a new state called Transjordan in 1921, and then the United Nations planned to divide the remaining 22 percent in 1947 between a new Arab state and a Jewish state, on what basis do we a...
(JNS) - National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Friday called for a dramatically intensified Israeli military response against Lebanon following a Hezbollah drone attack that killed four IDF soldiers in Southern Lebanon. "For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn," Ben-Gvir posted on X. The remarks came hours after the military announced that four IDF soldiers, including Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, commander of the 52nd...
Serves 6 During a vacation in Sarasota, I had an incredible meal at Harry's Continental that ended with carrot cake. I couldn't wait to get back to my kitchen to attempt duplicating this delicious gluten free carrot cake. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9" square baking pan with parchment that overlaps the sides of the pan for easy removal. Spray the parchment with cooking spray. 2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional) 2 1/2 cups peeled carrots minced, not shredded, (about 3-4 medium...
Canada's Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg is embroiled in controversy over plans to open a major exhibit titled "Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present" on June 27. The controversy exists on multiple fronts including that the exhibit is not actually historically accurate, does not meet Canada's own standards and yet it is federally funded, that it is one-sided and risks inciting antisemitism, and undermines the museum's own mandate. Rev. Don James is the CEO of Bridges for Peace Canada....
(JNS) - Cape Verde winger Hélio Varela, who plays for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv, scored with his first touch after coming off the bench in a 2-2 World Cup group-stage draw against Uruguay in Miami on Sunday evening local time. Varela, 24, found the net in the 61st minute, moments after entering the match, helping Cape Verde secure a point. Born in Portugal, he represents Cape Verde at the international level. Israel's Foreign Ministry and Maccabi Tel Aviv highlighted the...
Julie Appelbaum Morse, born June 26, 1967, passed away on Saturday, June 13, 2026. Her passing leaves a profound ache in the hearts of all who loved her, and a bright, colorful spirit gone far too soon. Despite never having smoked a day in her life, it was lung cancer that took her from us. Julie is survived by her devoted parents, Dick and Dottie Appelbaum; her twin sister, Jill Small (Jayson); and her older sister, Alison Polejes (Craig). She leaves behind her beloved children, Kaitlyn Brown... Full story
Summers in the 1950s: no homework, no chores, no rules. Nothing but fun and freedom. Summer vacations longer than they are today. School years were about 170 days back then — shorter than the 180-day minimum mandated now. We didn’t break until the second half of June, but classes didn’t resume until after Labor Day. By then it was feeling more like autumn. We had a full taste of summer. Today’s return to classes (as early as Aug. 10th!) robs youngsters of what would still be a summer...
