Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

(JNS) — Many Americans are anticipating a return to normalcy now that the votes have been counted and the presidential election determined. For some, that just means an end to the constant bombardment of election ads on television, the Internet and e...

(JNS) — He did it again. When presented at the first presidential debate of 2020 with another opportunity to make a straightforward condemnation of white supremacists, he refused. Or at least that’s what many headlines screamed the next morning aft...

(JNS) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18, the eve of Rosh Hashanah, at the age of 87 was a symbol of female empowerment, as well as a renowned scholar and jurist. Though not religious, she was a proud Jew, and her...

(JNS) — A year ago, Jews looked back on 5779 and wondered, after the Pittsburgh and Poway synagogue shootings and a resurgence of anti-Semitism on the right as well as the left, how things in the United States could get any worse. As I do every year,...

(JNS) — To read the statement signed by more than 600 Jewish groups, in which they identified their denominations, synagogues and organizations with the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s clear that they believe they are on the right side of his...

(JNS) — Three years later we’re still quoting, discussing and debating it. If there is a defining moment of the presidency of Donald Trump, it took place at a press conference on Aug. 15, 2017, when he allegedly called the neo-Nazis who conducted a f...

(JNS) — Heading into the 2020 presidential campaign, centrist Democrats as well as those who are supporters of Israel had good reason to be worried about the future of their party. After Hillary Clinton’s defeat in 2016, Bernie Sanders’s wing of th...

(JNS) — Maybe everything would be better if we could all go for walks in the woods with people who say or tweet hateful and deeply offensive things. Then again, maybe the Jewish community would be better off if those who represent it weren’t qui...

(JNS) — In the view of those cheering on the efforts of the Black Lives Matter movement, this July 4 was one less of celebration than of soul-searching and reassessment. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the normal festivities were always going t...

(JNS) — It turns out The New York Times has lower standards when it comes to those who spread anti-Semitic canards than even Britain’s controversial Labour Party. Tweeting an anti-Semitic blood libel about Israel being responsible for teaching Ame...

(JNS) — Angry mobs of activists are roaming American streets pulling down or defacing statues of historical figures. In some cases, governments and private institutions are joining their efforts by agreeing to take down examples of public art that re...

(JNS) — In the weeks since the brutal and unjustified killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, America has been undergoing what The New York Times approvingly called a “reckoning” that marks a fundamental shift in attitudes about...

(JNS) — Americans are united in their outrage about the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who was wrongfully killed by a Minneapolis policeman. However, a commendable desire to oppose hate has quickly morphed into something beyond advoca...

(JNS) — Former Vice President Joe Biden apologizes. President Donald Trump doesn’t ever apologize. While both said things that can easily be construed as offensive, the thinking behind their talk about being entitled to votes from particular groups w...

JNS) — If you think you’ve seen this movie before, you’re right. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has declared that he is abrogating all agreements with Israel so many times it’s a wonder that he could do so again with a straight face. Inde...

(JNS)—Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg thinks he’s found a way to avoid further skewering at the hands of those looking for a whipping boy for the failings of the Internet. Actor Sacha Baron Cohen scorched him last fall for running what he...

(JNS)—In today’s hyperpartisan world, nobody escapes the watchful eye of the thought police. Not even a pop superstar like Taylor Swift. The 30-year-old singer has sold tens of millions of recordings in her career that span the genres of country and...

(JNS)—Outside of Israel, it was the alternative ceremony that got the most coverage. The official commemoration of Yom Hazikaron—the country’s Memorial Day that occurs the day before celebrating the Jewish state’s Independence Day—began with a on...

(JNS)—Israel’s yearlong government standoff is finally over, and the only real winner is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Although there were moments when it seemed as if there was no way he could hold onto office for long, Netanyahu again pro...

(JNS)—The coronavirus pandemic is not the first deadly contagion to ravage the globe, but it is clearly the first that modern nations have sought to combat by essentially shutting down public life and much of their economies. While most of us may hav...

By Jonathan S. Tobin (JNS)—It seems like a devastating argument. If Israeli Jews are willing to accept life-saving treatment from Arab doctors, why won’t they give their representatives in the Knesset a seat in the country’s government? That...

(JNS)—It’s time to take the threat from the coronavirus seriously. That’s as true for local Jewish communities as it is for governments. But just like some of our leaders have been slow to comprehend the peril from the spread of the disease, the s...

(JNS) There are a lot of people who are relieved that Michael Bloomberg has dropped out of the Democratic primary race, and not all of them are named Biden. The withdrawal of the former mayor of New York City gives a boost to former Vice President Jo...

(JNS)—Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg both want to be the nation’s first Jewish president. But they couldn’t possibly be more different. Sanders is a Socialist who is hoping to lead America on a lurch to the left that many of his more enthusiast...

(JNS)—There’s no escaping controversy any time that Israel or the Palestinians are mentioned. That’s a lesson the producers, writers and star of the long-running “Jeopardy!” television game show learned to their detriment when a clue involving...