Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 20559
(JNS) - At exactly 8 p.m. on April 29, a siren pierced the air across Israel. But this time, it was not a warning of incoming missiles. It marked the beginning of Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror. In cities and towns nationwide, the country and its people paused - hearts heavy with grief and pride - to remember those who gave their lives in defense of the State of Israel. The moment was most poignantly felt at Jerusalem's historic Ammunition...
(JNS) - Massive wildfires erupted on Wednesday morning in the Judean Hills region of central Israel, prompting evacuations and widespread emergency responses amid soaring temperatures and high winds. The most serious blaze began in the Eshtaol Forest near the communities of Mesilat Zion and Neve Shalom, both of which were evacuated as flames rapidly spread through the area. Fire and Rescue Services mobilized dozens of firefighting teams, aircraft and helicopters to contain the inferno, which...
The installation of the sculpture honoring the women of the Israel Defense Forces is now underway. The sculpture - depicting two female soldiers, one from 1948 and one from 2024 - is expected to be completed and delivered by late May, with a dedication ceremony to follow. Standing approximately 12 feet tall atop a hill, the tribute will occupy a prominent site in Petach Tikva, a city known as the "Mother of Settlements." Founded in the late 19th century as the first modern Jewish agricultural co...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that “there will be blows” in response to the Iranian-sponsored Houthi missile assault targeting Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday. “We are acting against them,” Netanyahu said of previous IDF military operations against the Houthis in Yemen. “We have acted in the past and we will act in the future. I cannot detail everything. A ballistic missile fired from Yemen struck near the Jewish state’s main international airport on Sunday morning, lightly to moderately wo...
As the summer months approach, it is important to pay close attention to seniors’ nutritional needs. With warmer temperatures and increased outdoor activities, older adults may face unique challenges in maintaining proper nutrition and hydration. Read below for some strategies to help seniors stay nourished and hydrated during the summer, focusing on promoting overall health and well-being. Understanding the nutritional needs of seniors in summer Summer brings changes in appetite and hydration levels for seniors. The combination of heat and h...
This is the speech from Faye and Paul Jeser's video honoring Dick Appelbaum at the J Soiree, held May 8. Hey, Dick & Dottie – do you miss us yet? We are Faye and Paul Jeser, and we are so pleased to be asked to make this video, Rachel [Greenspan] asked us to speak for about 15 minutes ... but I'll make it much, much shorter than that. Dottie, we know that this evening is in honor of Dick, but truth be told, you were the wife behind the husband telling him what to do ... and should also be h...
May 11, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. — The second workshop in a four-part series titled Dismantling Hate: Tackling Antisemitism Together. Part 2, Combatting Stereotypes and Myths. This session will addres common sterotypes, misconceptions and myths about Jewish people and Judaism. Lef by Director of education Stephen Poynor. For more information and to register, visit hmrec.org. May 18, 1 p.m. — Summer Youth Series, Fighting Spirit: Krava Maga & Jewish History, Session 1, hosted by Shaan Saar Orlando, this series inspires young people to embrace value...
(JNS) — There will be no retreat from territory recaptured from Hamas in Gaza—not even as part of a hostage agreement, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday. “This is a dramatic decision: Once the operation begins, there will be no withdrawal from land we conquer—not for any deal,” Smotrich said at the B’Sheva Jerusalem Conference. “The only way to free the hostages is to defeat Hamas. Any retreat would only invite the next Oct. 7.” The minister spoke after a decision overnight by Israel’s Security Cabinet to significantly exp...
(JTA) — The Irish rap group Kneecap denounced Hamas and Hezbollah after Micheál Martin, the Irish prime minister, called on them to “urgently clarify” their stances. The group is from Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, and U.K. police have also announced that they are investigating the group. Martin’s call and the investigation come after the group ignited criticism and scrutiny with its anti-Israel performance at the U.S. festival Coachella earlier this month. Critics of the performance, which included a projecti...
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, signed legislation on Monday to prohibit the state’s agencies from using the term “West Bank.” The bill, which passed in the Arkansas General Assembly earlier this month, is considered to be the first time that a U.S. state has required its documents to call the area that Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War by the biblical names of Judea and Samaria. “It is the intent of the General Assembly to: (1) Refer to the land controlled by Israel from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump was right to seek the removal of Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chairwoman of House Republican Leadership and a Harvard alumna, told Maria Bartiromo of Fox News. “One hundred percent, President Trump did the right thing. This is an issue that I have been the leader on in the house, and it takes a strong president to deliver zero tolerance when it comes to antisemitism,” Stefanik told Fox News. “The reality is, if you look at the report that Harvard released from its task...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Moti Maman, 73, to 10 years in prison after convicting him of contact with a foreign agent and unlawful entry into an enemy state. Maman admitted that he had twice entered Iran, where he met with Iranian intelligence agents to discuss conducting terrorist activity in Israel. He also spoke with them about the prospect of carrying out assassinations of senior Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israel Security A...
(JNS) — As we celebrate the 77th year of Israel’s independence this Yom Ha’atzmaut, the need for Israel’s existence as the world’s only Jewish state is paramount for the Jewish people’s survival. As we remember the brave men and women who died fighting to make the promised land a reality and celebrate all Israel has become, we must continue to push back against the rise of antisemitism and anti-Zionism that threaten Israel’s survival. To do that, we must not only advocate for a continued strong U.S.-Israel relationship and a secure Israel...
(JNS) — The Jewish people have survived Pharaohs, inquisitions, pogroms and gas chambers. We have endured dispersion, genocide and countless attempts to erase us from history. And yet, with all that resilience in the face of external threats, we too often crumble from within. David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding father and first prime minister, once said that the Jewish people have always had two enemies: “the external enemy that wanted to destroy us and ourselves.” It is the latter enemy that may be the most insidious because it wears the mas...
(JNS) — “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” — Psalms 126:5 After a year of profound heartbreak, Yom Ha’atzmaut arrives as a testament to the indomitable spirit of the Jewish people. Even amid pain, we celebrate the miracle of Israel’s rebirth—the harvest of dreams sown through centuries of sacrifice and hope. Seventy-six years ago, David Ben-Gurion stood in Tel Aviv and proclaimed the birth of the modern-day Jewish state. It fulfilled a 2,000-year-old dream—a miracle shaped through sacrifice, courage and unyielding hope. Today, we...
(JNS) — Borrowing a nifty lyric from the Beastie Boys (those white-hot, hip-hop Jewish sensations): “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Hate Jews!).” Yes, the original rap song focused on an altogether different “Right”: the one to “Party!” — once an eager rallying cry at college. But those were different collegiate days — before social justice and self-importance transformed mirthful campuses into humorless hotbeds of antisemitism. Keggers officially traded for keffiyehs. Faculty and student priorities took an extreme hard-left and Isl...
(JNS) — April 22, 2025, may be remembered as a turning point in the history of Israeli public diplomacy, and rightly so. On that day, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs harnessed the power of social media to expose the Palestinian Authority as the enemy it is. From the official @Israel account on X, a powerful statement was posted: “The Palestinian Authority isn’t educating children, it’s indoctrinating them. Maps without Israel. Teachers praising martyrdom. Textbooks that glorify terror. As long as they teach hate, there’s no hope for...
Dear Editor: Editor’s Note: This article was written and sent to Heritage right after Marcia Hahn read Myrna Ossin’s recipe for a Passover birthday cake (“Birthdays during Passover? No problem when it comes to cake!”, April 4, 2025, issue.) The letter was in a pile with several subscription envelopes and finally made it to the editor’s desk on May 5.) Our apologies. My daughter, Cathy Hahn, was born April 18, 1963. For this story, it’s the year that matters. We grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. in the middle-class Midwood neighborhood. All my children...
MORNING MINYANS 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 Jewish Academy of Orlando — Monday – Friday, 7:45 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Temple Israel — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-647-3...
(JNS) — Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas claimed that in the Quran, the Jewish Temple is described as being in Yemen. “In the Noble Quran, and I believe that also in other divine books, it says that the [First and Second] Temples were in Yemen,” said Abbas on April 23 in a televised speech during the 32nd PLO Central Council meeting in Ramallah. He made the remarks in the context of his claim that Israeli authorities were targeting Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is built on the Temple Mount, where the Jewish Temple used to stand....
(JTA) - David Horowitz, a former '60s radical turned right-wing firebrand who decried what he called the "the efforts of the radical left and its Islamist allies to destroy American values," died Tuesday after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 86. His death was announced by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, the think tank he founded with Peter Collier in 1988. A self-described agnostic Jew who wrote in 2016 that he had never been to Israel, he nonetheless became one of the fiercest critics o...
(JNS) — Sandra Hagee Parker, chairwoman of the Christians United for Israel Action Fund, called on April 28 to prevent U.S. taxpayer-funded contracts going to those supporting boycotts against Israel. “We are not here to try and change the hearts and minds of people who hate Israel,” Hagee Parker, the daughter of CUFI founder Pastor John Hagee, said at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem. “What they are not entitled to do is weaponize taxpayer dollars. Nobody has a right to gain a government contract while hating on our closest...
(JTA) — Cleaning up beaches near Rio de Janeiro and learning about Jewish environmental values. Connecting with Jewish study abroad students in London. Discovering the richness and plurality of Jewish traditions at Israeli cultural centers from Haifa to Sderot. Exploring the intersection of art and Jewish identity in Berlin. And helping Jewish students rebuild, physically and emotionally, after bombings in war-torn Ukraine. What do these experiences have in common? They’re all possible bec...
(JTA) — As the Antisemitism Awareness Act heads to a Senate committee for a crucial vote, 10 progressive Jewish organizations have signed a letter opposing the legislation for representing an endorsement of the Trump administration’s “efforts to weaponize antisemitism.” “Voting in favor of this legislation in this current political climate would represent an endorsement of the Trump Administration’s escalating efforts to weaponize antisemitism as a pretext for undermining civil rights, deporting political dissidents, and attacking the fundame...
