Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Articles written by Rabbi Cary Kozberg


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  • Not just a list of names

    Rabbi Cary Kozberg|May 16, 2025

    (JNS) — Sadly, during this year’s Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, the Jewish state added more names to the list of those who died at the hands of enemies who want Israel destroyed. As was the case last year, not only were the dead remembered, but those who, hopefully, are still alive, being held hostage by our enemies and whose welfare is still of great concern, were also present in people’s minds. Indeed, since that fateful Oct. 7 day, the hostages have been on the mind of every concerned Jew and every non-Jew who is an ohev Yisrael...

  • Will the sound of the 'grogger' ring as loudly this Purim?

    Rabbi Cary Kozberg|Mar 7, 2025

    (JNS) — “Be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief convert to anger. Blunt not the heart, enrage it.” — “Macbeth,” Act 4, Scene 3 The holiday of Purim is the most joyous of Jewish holidays and therefore our sages teach that when the month in which occurs, Adar, begins, joy increases. But given recent events, this year the joy of Adar may feel palpably less than in previous years. Many Israelis kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, are still hostages, continually brutalized and mocked, and the three that became the faces of that day’s treachery — S...

  • It's time for American Jews to toughen up

    Charles Jacobs and Rabbi Cary Kozberg|Feb 9, 2024

    (JNS) — Since the Oct. 7 massacre, American Jews have experienced attacks that are now burned into our souls: On dozens of campuses and nearby streets, Jews have been screamed at, attacked, hectored, threatened and bullied — and did not fight back. These images are humiliating, and all the more so because our historical experience has taught us that not responding with force has consequences: The easier Jews are to bully, the more we are attacked. The bleating of the sheep excites the tiger. Our exclusively non-violent reaction to the current w...