Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Articles written by Jackie Hajdenberg


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  • To fight hate, Brooklyn nonprofit professionals wrote a comic book

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Nov 29, 2024

    (New York Jewish Week) - In the new comic book, "We Are Brooklyn: Stories of Hope," Francil Tejada shares her story about the Dominican Republic, where she was born, and the death of her grandmother, which inspired her to change how she connects with people and shows love. It's a personal story, a Brooklyn story and an American story - one of six being told through an anti-hate project initiated by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. Others tell stories about an imam's trip to Au...

  • Netflix's 'Kissufim,' a story about Israeli life on the Gaza border, gains new resonance after Oct. 7

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Oct 18, 2024

    (JTA) - The latest Israeli film on Netflix has a setting and theme that, one year after Oct. 7, could not be more current: It centers on soldiers ending their service by volunteering at a kibbutz on the Gaza border. "Kissufim" paints a portrait of Israeli life as it oscillates through phases of trauma and hope - including a near-death scene as someone dances. It was filmed in August 2021, more than two years before Hamas unleashed an attack on southern Israeli communities, including the real-lif...

  • Police and FBI investigating second antisemitic assault

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Oct 11, 2024

    (JTA) — A Jewish student at the University of Pittsburgh was assaulted off campus early Friday morning by a group of six to eight men who used antisemitic and anti-Israel language during the attack, according to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. A police report posted on Friday said the student told police that the group saw his Star of David necklace and then began making derogatory comments about Israel. The men and the student then began arguing, the report says, at which point at least three of the men “began punching and kicking him, causin...

  • Thousands of non-Jews order mezuzahs after a Christian puts one on her door

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Oct 11, 2024

    (JTA) - A Jewish nonprofit that distributes mezuzahs has been deluged with thousands of requests after a Catholic sitcom actress launched a campaign encouraging people to put up the ritual object in support of the Jewish community. Patricia Heaton, known for her starring roles in "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "The Middle," announced the campaign Monday as part of her nonprofit, The October 7 Coalition, a Christian group founded after the Hamas attack in Israel last year to support the Jewish...

  • New archaeological research shows siege on Masada lasted just weeks, not years

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Sep 20, 2024

    (JTA) — The legend of Masada is etched into Jewish lore: For years, the story goes, ancient Jews held out in a desert fortress against their Roman foes. Now, researchers from Tel Aviv University have determined that the first-century siege on Masada in southern Israel lasted just weeks, upending a long-held narrative about Jewish perseverance against steep odds. The main account of the siege comes from the Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who described extended anticipation as the Romans prepared to attack, then a drawn-out resistance b...

  • First wrongful death lawsuit in Boar's Head listeria outbreak

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Sep 13, 2024

    (JTA) — The family of an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor in Virginia has sued Boar’s Head, claiming that listeria from the meat company’s products is responsible for his death. The filing is the first wrongful death lawsuit to stem from the Boar’s Head listeria outbreak. So far, more than 50 people have fallen ill in connection with the outbreak and nine have died, including Günter “Garshon” Morgenstein, who survived the Holocaust as a child. “We’re all still in shock, for all of the things you know that he’s seen and been through in his lif...

  • US government spends $454 million to secure religious institutions

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Sep 6, 2024

    (JTA) — The federal government will spend nearly $150 million more this year than it did in 2023 to secure religious organizations, a jump aimed at addressing a rise in antisemitism since Oct. 7. The Department of Homeland Security announced last week that it had allocated $454.5 million this fiscal year toward the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which funds security enhancements at houses of worship and religious organizations. It is the largest sum ever allocated toward the program, and a significant increase from last year’s figure of $305...

  • A film about the destruction of the Second Temple that premiered in 2021 now gives new relevance to Oct. 7

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Aug 23, 2024

    (JTA) - As the resident film impresario at Manhattan's JCC, Isaac Zablocki specializes in screening movies that challenge, provoke and enlighten audiences. When he first heard of the Israeli feature "Legend of Destruction," before it had even hit theaters in 2021, he knew he needed to screen it. While many of the films Zablocki screens revolve around current events - including a steady diet of offerings on Israel's myriad challenges - "Legend" was different: It retold one of the most well-worn...

  • Tim Walz says he has no personal relationship with imam who shared pro-Hitler video

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Aug 23, 2024

    (JTA) — For days, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz has been dogged by criticism — including from the Republican Jewish Coalition — about his ties to a Minnesota imam who praised Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and once shared a link to a pro-Hitler documentary. Now, the Harris-Walz campaign has responded, saying that Walz has no “personal relationship” with Imam Asad Zaman, the executive director of the Muslim American Society Minnesota, a network of seven mosques, despite appearing together in public events on several occasions....

  • Murder case dismissed against man charged with killing Samantha Woll

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Aug 23, 2024

    (JTA) — A man charged with multiple counts in the killing of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll has had a murder charge dismissed by the judge in the case. Woll, a 40-year-old Democratic and interfaith activist and president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, was found stabbed to death outside of her home on Oct. 21, 2023. Her killing came just two weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, alarming Jews in Detroit and beyond who feared that she had been the victim of an antisemitic attack. But law enforcement was quick to say tha...

  • Minnesota's Jews celebrate as their 'mensch' Gov. Tim Walz enters the national spotlight

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Aug 16, 2024

    (JTA) — On Oct. 9, as the toll of Hamas’ attack on Israel was still being tallied, Tim Walz stood before a room of Jewish Minnesotans and condemned the invasion of two days earlier. “If you did not find moral clarity on Saturday morning, and you find yourself waiting to think about what you needed to say, you need to reevaluate where you’re at,” the governor said at the event, which was co-hosted by the local Jewish Community Relations Council. Those words resonated with Steve Hunegs, the JCRC’s executive director. He also said they tracke...

  • Evan Gershkovich, American Jewish journalist jailed in Russia, is freed in prisoner exchange

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Aug 9, 2024

    (JTA) — Evan Gerhskovich, the American Jewish Wall Street Journal reporter who has been held in Russian prison for more than a year, is now free, the White House announced Thursday. Gershkovich, 32, was freed as part of a massive, 26-person prisoner exchange that included several prominent people jailed by Russia. The list of those released includes Russian-British activist and journalist Kara-Murza, who is also Jewish, as well as former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan. The secretive swap occurred in Ankara, Turkey, between Russia and the United S...

  • Espionage trial of American Jewish journalist Gershkovich

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Jul 5, 2024

    (JTA) — The closed-door trial of American Jewish reporter Evan Gershkovich began in Russia on Wednesday, 15 months after his arrest there on espionage charges widely regarded as spurious. The trial is being held in Yekaterinburg, the city where Gershkovich, now 32, was arrested while on assignment as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in March 2023. He was held in Moscow before being moved prior to the trial, and appeared in court with his head shaven, as is customary in Russia. Jewish activists and organizations have mobilized to support G...

  • A new movie about fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg explores legacy of her mother's Holocaust experience

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Jun 21, 2024

    (JTA) — Diane von Furstenberg’s design business was stagnating in the 1980s when she got a call that her mother had had a nervous breakdown in Europe. The breakdown, her mother’s companion said, may have been triggered by hearing German men speaking loudly. Her mother was cowering under a hotel concierge’s desk. Von Furstenberg, newly divorced and worrying about the future of her dress label, immediately headed to Europe with her children. She knew that her mother had survived the Holocaust, but...

  • Influencer Montana Tucker featured a freed Israeli hostage in a skincare promo

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Jun 7, 2024

    (JTA) — Since Oct. 7, Montana Tucker has encapsulated the growing role of social media influencers in the sprawling effort to advocate for Israel. Tucker, who has more than 3 million followers on Instagram (in addition to 9 million on TikTok), has uploaded videos and photos from the communities devastated by Hamas’ attack and from Auschwitz. She’s posted speeches at rallies and tried to interview people at campus protests. At the Grammys in February, she wore a large yellow ribbon over her dress displaying the words “Bring them home....

  • 'The Commandant's Shadow' tells the true Holocaust story behind 'The Zone of Interest'

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Jun 7, 2024

    (JTA) - In "The Zone of Interest," the Oscar-winning drama about life adjacent to Auschwitz, the children of Rudolf Höss, the Nazi concentration camp's commandant, are only dimly aware of the horrors unfolding on the other side of the fence. Now, a new documentary exploring what those real-life children knew, and when, is hitting theaters - and unlike "The Zone of Interest," it includes voices of Jews imprisoned at Auschwitz. "The Commandant's Shadow," directed by Daniela Volker and distributed...

  • Meet Jill Hausman, the real rabbi who grimaced through jokes about Jews on SNL's 'Weekend Update'

    Jackie Hajdenberg|May 31, 2024

    (JTA) - For Rabbi Jill Hausman, spiritual leader of the Actors' Temple in Manhattan's Theater District, working with celebrities comes with the job description. So when she saw an email on Thursday from "Saturday Night Live," asking her to be on that week's show, she knew she had to accept. "If opportunities come along, it's such great fun for me to be in something with other people," she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. "If people come to me with an opportunity, as long as I can, I'll try...

  • Brooklyn day school principal taught 'Sesame Street' how to celebrate Shabbat

    Jackie Hajdenberg|May 31, 2024

    (JTA) - Amanda Pogany works as the director of a Jewish day school in Brooklyn. But recently, she added another bullet point to her resume: consultant for "Sesame Street." Pogany weighed in on three new episodes of the educational children's TV show, all of which feature human characters explaining Jewish traditions to the show's iconic puppets. (Two aired this spring, while a third will air next year.) In one, Elmo and Big Bird learn to make challah for Shabbat. In another, a child writes a...

  • Unrest on American campuses: Jewish students at Columbia feel discomfort and isolation following unrest

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Apr 26, 2024

    (JTA) - Yakira Galler, a first-year student at Barnard College, has had trouble sleeping. Galler has an apartment that looks out onto Broadway, which divides Columbia University's campus from Barnard, its women's college. Each night this week, she has heard crowds of protesters banging pots and pans, chanting "Intifada, revolution" and calling for the Ivy League university to divest from Israel. The street protests accompanied a much larger on-campus demonstration that devolved into unrest on...

  • Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Alex Edelman among Jews on Time's 2024 'Most Influential' list

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Apr 26, 2024

    (JTA) — The mother of 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, is one of nearly a dozen Jews on Time Magazine’s 100 “Most Influential” list, couched among comedians, writers, music producers, athletes, business executives, and politicians. Since Oct. 7, Rachel Goldberg-Polin has become one of the most prominent and indefatigable voices advocating for the release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza. She has attended an audience with Pope Francis, Zoomed with President Joe Biden and spo...

  • London police open investigation after Amy Winehouse statue is defaced with pro-Palestinian sticker

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Mar 1, 2024

    (JTA) - A bronze statue of the late Jewish singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse was defaced when a sticker with the Palestinian flag was placed over the statue's Star of David necklace. The management of Camden Market, where the statue is located, said the sticker was removed and that the incident had been reported to police, who are investigating. "Camden Market remains first and foremost, a place of diversity - a global destination that welcomes everyone," said the statement, which was posted to...

  • Michael Solomonov's famous Zahav hummus now available at Whole Foods - with kosher certification

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Jan 26, 2024

    (JTA) - Israeli-American celebrity chef Michael Solomonov's renowned hummus has only been available in his Philadelphia and New York City restaurants - until now. Hummus using the recipe from Zahav, Solomonov's flagship Philadelphia restaurant, is now available at over 150 Whole Foods stores. The packaged hummus, like that at Zahav, doesn't use oil - just a lot of tahini. Unlike the hummus at Zahav, however, it is certified kosher, bringing the recipe to a new cohort of customers. The Whole...

  • A murder victim was anonymous for 13 years - Jewish genealogists found her name

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Jan 19, 2024

    (JTA) — On March 29, 2011, the body of a decapitated woman was discovered in a vineyard in Arvin, a town just over the Los Angeles county line. Earlier this month, nearly 13 years later, the victim was identified as Ada Beth Kaplan, a Jewish woman who was 64 at the time of her death. The tortuous journey to cracking the mystery of Kaplan’s name involved a “long and hard” multiyear effort by a DNA-focused nonprofit, eight generations of family records and the work of two Jewish genealogists who understood just how thorny it can be, sometim...

  • The real story behind the movie 'One Life'

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Jan 12, 2024

    (JTA) — In a 1988 episode of the British television show “That’s Life,” British stockbroker Nicholas Winton was invited to sit in the audience as host Esther Rantzen dramatically revealed to him that the entire crowd was composed of the Jewish children — now adults — he had saved during the Holocaust. That tear-jerking clip periodically goes viral on social media, but now, Winton’s story is coming to bigger screens — in a dramatic film, “One Life,” where he is portrayed by two-time Academy Award-winning actor Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins wa...

  • Jewish groups ask Pope Francis to clarify Israel 'terrorism' comments

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Dec 8, 2023

    (JTA) — Jewish groups are criticizing Pope Francis for appearing to accuse both Israel and Hamas of “terrorism” in their ongoing war that started Oct. 7. “This is what wars do,” the pope said at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday. “But here we have gone beyond wars. This is not war. This is terrorism.” Francis’ comments followed separate meetings with Jewish relatives of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians with family in Gaza on Wednesday. His remarks come a month after he called on Hamas to free the hostages being he...

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