Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 7 of 7
(JTA)—The 2013 Pew survey “A Portrait of Jewish Americans” shows that Orthodox Judaism, while currently attracting the allegiance of only about 10 percent of all American Jews, is the fastest growing sector of the community. The high birthrate and retention rate confirmed by the survey have led some observers to predict that within a generation, American Jewry will be predominantly Orthodox, culturally if not demographically. Of course we cannot presume that present trends will continue, but it’s surely worth thinking about what such a Jewish...
NEW YORK (JTA)—In the wake of the terrorist sprees in Paris and San Bernardino, world attention has fixated on the danger posed by the Islamic State to the West. While certainly merited, the acronym ISIS is not the only four-letter word to worry about. Iran is another. Iran? Wasn’t that pushed to the back burner by the nuclear deal reached this summer? According to what the White House at the time called a “historic agreement,” Iran was to take a number of specific steps to ensure the world that it was suspending its nuclear program in return...
Does Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas want peace with Israel? Given his posture since peace talks broke down in April, his inflammatory U.N. speech and ongoing rhetoric, and now a new wave of terrorism, one wonders. The horrific attack on a Jerusalem synagogue, killing five and wounding others as they were praying, triggered outrage among some world leaders. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Abbas to end the incitement that led to this latest tragedy. For Abbas, however, the forthrightness of his condemnation of “the at...
All too often, unspeakable crimes are committed that harshly violate moral norms. How a society reacts to such atrocities tells a lot about its ultimate values. Every community has its bigots, racists, and criminals, but in most, the murder of innocents is rejected as beyond the pale. A Frenchman who had fought for the Islamist jihadists in Syria shot to death four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, Belgium, on May 24. The assassin was quickly apprehended, and the authorities pledged to do their utmost to prevent any recurrence....
NEW YORK (JTA)—The hostile intentions of the international boycott, divestment and sanctions movement toward Israel are clear. But some believe it is possible to be pro-Israel while supporting just a little BDS—boycotting Israeli businesses located on the West Bank but not those within pre-1967 Israel. While such a strategy may make people feel good about themselves, it is a distinction without a difference—like being just a little pregnant. More important, by adding to the boycott pressure, it will make resolution of the Israe...
(JTA)—It started as barely a blip on the radar. At its annual conference last April, the Association for Asian American Studies, or AAAS, unanimously approved a resolution calling for an academic boycott of Israeli universities to protest the country’s treatment of Palestinians. While the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement had been active for some time on campuses across the country, it was the first time an American academic organization had signed on. But since the AAAS is a tiny group of barely 800 members, and fewer than 100...
NEW YORK (JTA)—The Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, has a Jewish problem. In a painful affront to the Jewish community, it recently defeated a government initiative to reinstate the legality of kosher slaughter of animals. This prompted Poland’s chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, to threaten resignation and triggered sharp criticism of the Sejm from Jewish communities in Poland and around the world. What happens in Poland regarding Jews has special significance because of the Holocaust. More than 90 percent of the country’s 3.5 m...
