Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Eric S. Goldstein, who has served as CEO of UJA-Federation of New York for 11 years, will step down next summer as the head of North America’s largest and most influential Jewish federation. In a statement Tuesday announcing his departure, Goldstein reflected on a tenure marked by several communal crises, bracketed by two wars in Gaza and including the COVID pandemic. “I remember well my plans for that first summer of 2014. I expected to learn the ropes and ease into the job. History, tragically, had other plans. On June 30, 2014, the bod...
As one of the largest Jewish camp operators in the United States, NJY Camps was expecting to host over 100 Israeli counselors this summer. Now, over half of them are stranded in Israel after the surprise onset of a war with Iran has ground air travel to a total halt. “Some of them were supposed to be here today. They will not be here today, and who knows when they will be here,” said Michael Schlank, CEO of the network of day and overnight camps in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. At Jewish camps in the United States, hosting Israelis as cou...
Israel was the first target of retaliatory attacks by Iran after Israel launched a massive military campaign against its nuclear program on Friday. But security officials are warning that Israelis and Jews abroad could also face consequences from the beleaguered regime. Iran has a long track record of sowing violence against Jewish and Israeli targets abroad, including over the last two years as its proxies in the Middle East have battled Israel on the ground. Among the many examples: Swedish teens who tried to attack the Israeli embassy in...
Just minutes after Shabbat began in Israel, sirens sounded, sending Israelis back to their shelters to await the next salvo in their country's new war with Iran. Roughly 100 missiles were on their way from Iran, officials warned, teeing up a repeat of an April 2024 attack that marked the first direct exchange of fire between the two countries. Soon, projectiles fell across the country's center, injuring dozens of people. Less than 24 hours had passed since Israel launched a dramatic and...
The morning after a shooter killed two Israeli embassy aides at a Jewish event in Washington, D.C., incendiary rapper Ye took to X with an unexpected message: “I am done with antisemitism.” Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has become well known for antisemitic rants and provocations, including a song he debuted earlier this month titled “Heil Hitler.” In February, Ye doubled down on his antisemitic sentiments, declaring in a post on X, “I’m never apologizing for my Jewish comments.” But in a string of posts Thursday morning after the dea...
Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, the Jewish National Fund, will be allocating $100,000 to support New York City's Israel parade for the first time. The annual parade, known as Israel Day on Fifth, took place on Sunday, May 18, with the theme "Hatikvah," the name of Israel's national anthem, which means "the hope." KKL-JNF billed it as the "largest global gathering in support of Israel." The allocation by KKL-JNF underscores an effort to strengthen bonds between Israeli and American Jews, the group...
(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...
(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...
(JTA) — An amendment saying that criticism of the Israeli government is not antisemitic was added to the Antisemitism Awareness Act today in a Senate committee hearing. The amendment was proposed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Jewish progressive leader, and approved in a 12-11 vote in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The committee adjourned before voting on the bill itself and another piece of legislation, the Protecting Students on Campus Act, which would require schools to share information about how s...
(JTA) — Jewish stars are condemning Kneecap after the Irish band delivered an anti-Israel performance during its set at Coachella. At least one is calling for the Trump administration to revoke the band’s work visas in advance of its upcoming — and nearly sold-out — U.S. tour. “Their actions included projections of anti-Israel messages and hate speech, and this band openly support terrorist organizations,” wrote Sharon Osbourne on Instagram. “This behavior raises concerns about the appropriateness of their participation in such a festival and...
(JTA) — A Jewish family was killed Saturday when their private plane crashed en route to upstate New York to celebrate Passover. Among those lost in Sunday’s crash were siblings Karenna Groff, 25, and Jared Groff, 26, and their parents, surgeons Michael Groff and Joy Saini. Karenna’s boyfriend James Santoro and Jared’s girlfriend Alexia Couyutas Duarte, 24, were also on board. Both couples planned to get engaged in the coming months, according to the Associated Press. Michael Groff piloted the twin-engine plane which crashed in Copake, New Yor...
(JTA) - Picture a Jew in Miami. Is the person you're thinking of older? Perhaps a retiree from New York - complete with the accent - who lives in a condo on the beach? According to a recent Jewish population study of Miami-Dade County, at least part of that snapshot is becoming outdated. The southeast corner of the Sunshine State is growing - and getting younger. The new document, released Monday and titled "Jewish Miami: A 2024 Community Study," found that the Jewish population of Miami-Dade...
(JTA) — Almost one in four U.S. adults raised Jewish do not identify as religiously Jewish anymore, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center. The study, published March 26, surveyed “religious switching” around the world, and found that significant percentages of people raised in religious homes in the United States and internationally are now religiously unaffiliated. Smaller numbers have converted to another religion. Among Americans raised Jewish, 17 percent now describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated. An addit...
(JTA) — Nearly 80 members of Congress from both parties are calling for the Trump administration to end a freeze on security funding for religious institutions. The halt to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, or NSGP, began recently as part of an overall funding freeze on FEMA, the federal disaster relief agency. Synagogues, schools and Jewish community centers have long relied on the funding, which goes to religious institutions of all kinds, to pay for measures like security cameras or bollards to protect their buildings. “At a time whe...
