Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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NEW YORK-Days before Super Bowl XLVIII in northern New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, a New York City room filled with players, coaches, and supporters of the Israel Football League (IFL)-a group spanning several generations of Israeli sportsmen-looked forward to an upcoming signature event for American-style football in the Jewish state. The Jan. 29 event marked the announcement that Jerusalem will host the 2014 International Federation of American Football Flag Football World Championships from Aug...
Iconic Israeli costume jeweler Michal Negrin, who for more than 25 years has been bringing romantic and vintage-inspired designs to the global fashion scene, is expanding her brand to a new level in the U.S. this summer. Negrin plans to open more than two-dozen U.S. boutique locations over the next few years. June 21 marked the opening of a location at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, N.J., and Negrin’s New York City flagship shop, in the fashion-focused SoHo area, launched Aug. 15....
For 90 years, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life has provided what many call a “tent” welcoming students of every Jewish background and denomination on campus. But as Hillel prepares to nominate its next president and CEO, questions persist over how open that tent should be when it comes to opinions about Israel. Hillel was created in 1923 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and was adopted by B’nai B’rith International in 1924 until the 1990s. The organization has grown to more than 500 campuses across North America. In...
NEW MILFORD, NJ—When Yitayish “Titi” Ayenew, the first black Miss Israel, was a young orphan who moved from Ethiopia to Israel, it was learning the Hebrew language that turned around her fortunes. “Then, I was a scared child,” Ayenew, 22, told students at Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County, N.J., last month. “I did not know what would be my future, or that I would do the things I am doing today. For me, an inner change occurred when I overcame the obstacle of learning Hebrew. I a...
ELEM vans go where the children are in Israel—venturing into dark and dangerous streets. The vans, and the volunteers on them, go to places where already-troubled children—some involved with vagrancy, drugs, homelessness, sexual exploitation, or other criminal or anti-social behavior—can encounter greater peril. At the forefront of these efforts to get troubled youths off the street is the ex-wife of former Israeli prime minister and defense minister Ehud Barak. “Kids know the van means safety,...
NEW YORK—More than three years after the discovery of fraudulent activity at the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (“Claims Conference”) that continued for about a decade-and-a-half and allegedly deprived Holocaust survivors of more than $57 million, the trial of 31 accused of participating in the fraud is under way. During the course of a prolonged investigation that began in 2009, 31 people—including 11 employees of the Claims Conference—were criminally charged and arrested in the conspiracy. Twenty-eight defendant...
The foreign policy positions of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), which have already generated some concern in the Jewish community, might remain a topic of debate among Jews for another several years after poll results indicating that he will be a significant factor in the 2016 presidential race. Rand Paul—the son of 2012 presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)—in mid-March won a presidential straw poll of 3,000 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) participants, edging U.S. Sen. M...
NEW YORK—Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai recently came to New York City to talk about his city of sun, sand, skyscrapers, and start-ups. With “just two minutes” on a winter afternoon to introduce the city and its entrepreneurs, he began his presentation with a weather report. Noting the damp, cold conditions, Huldai teased, “I’ve left behind the wonderful weather of Tel Aviv to talk about the start-up culture that began on the day the city was born.” During this event organized by the Consulate G...
WASHINGTON, D.C.—For U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), closing remarks at the recent American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference publicly marked the start of a new phase in his relationship with the Jewish community. Menendez, the new chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, follows current Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden in that post. “There will never be any daylight between the United States and Israel on my watch,” he told the AIPAC crowd...
