Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Articles written by Judith Segaloff


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  • What makes this Purim different?

    Judith Segaloff|Mar 22, 2024

    (JNS) - Before you dress in a green headband or the Jason the Serial Murderer costume, the Ministry of Education is imploring Israeli citizens to think long and hard about how their choices may affect traumatized members of the community. "Everything has changed," says Einav Luke, senior director of the ministry's Psychological Counseling Service. "While it is so important for everyone to continue their lives, and enjoy routines and holidays, this year we also must take the feelings of others...

  • Foreign sanctions: Are they coming for you?

    Judith Segaloff|Feb 23, 2024

    (JNS) — As word spread about four residents of Judea and Samaria being sanctioned for “settler violence,” some scoffed while others wondered what exactly the four did to deserve the infamy. “I wonder what took them so long,” said Professor Yossi Spiegel of Tel Aviv University’s School of Management, president of the Israeli Economic Association. “The international community considers the settlements illegal, but until now consequences were just a threat. Now they mean business.” However, some are taking action. Marc Zell, an American-Israel...

  • Royal Caribbean navigates the kosher cruise market

    Judith Segaloff|Aug 11, 2023

    (JNS) - Sea travel has always posed formidable challenges-especially for Jews. Keeping kosher, observing Shabbat and venturing into a sea of people who aren't Jewish isn't easy for the strictly observant. The challenges are compounded on cruises, where numerous questions come up. If most of the passengers are Jewish and the staff is not, is it permissible to cruise on Shabbat? If the ship docks on Shabbat, can you disembark? How do you light candles when you are forbidden to light a flame? How...

  • Antisemitism is alive and well in the United States

    Judith Segaloff|Apr 28, 2023

    (JNS) — Antisemitism is on the rise throughout the Western world, particularly targeting haredi Jews and particularly in certain Diaspora urban centers, according to The Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University. The finding is detailed in the center’s 22nd annual Antisemitism Worldwide Report, which was published in collaboration with the American Defamation League. This writer has strong personal recollections of walking to the synagogue in Brooklyn, New York, long before antisemitic incidents were rep...

  • How bad is the opioid crisis in Israel?

    Judith Segaloff|Apr 7, 2023

    (JNS) — Harvey Milstein’s introduction to chronic pain, and to opioids, began in 2006 when he attempted to wrestle a shotgun cartridge filled with shot out of the barrel of his gun. The gun accidentally fired, shattering his left kneecap and filling it with shrapnel. At the hospital, Milstein was given OxyContin and Percocet, opioids, to ease the pain. “The first few years they gave me medication whenever I needed it,” he recalls. “In later years they began putting limits on how much I could get.” As his walk became affected by his injured kne...

  • If you build it, they will come

    Judith Segaloff|Feb 17, 2023

    (JNS )- Marc and Sharon Rosenbluth explored neighborhoods all over the country, but when they made aliyah, they chose to live in Karnei Shomron, a well-appointed village about 20 minutes away from Rosh HaAyin and Kfar Saba, beyond the Green Line. "I was coming from a suburban life outside of Baltimore and I wanted my children to have a yard to play in, a basketball hoop-a similar existence," said Sharon. "Even though we used to laugh at flocks of goats on the side of the road when visiting my...

  • Up and coming wines from Samaria and the Jordan Valley

    Judith Segaloff|Feb 10, 2023

    (JNS) - "It started as a hobby." That's what most of the winemakers said, ranging from the Ben Ami Winery in the Jordan Valley, which sells 3,500 bottles per year and holds tastings in the owner's Ma'aleh Ephraim yard, to Amichai Luria from Shiloh, who produces 300,000 bottles that are exported and enjoyed all over the world. What started as a hobby turned into a passion, a natural one for many who live in the hills of Samaria or Binyamin, where the weather, soil and altitude are just right for...