Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) — The morning after Russian bombs fell at the site of a 1941 massacre of Ukrainian Jews, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the world’s Jews to speak out about what is happening in his country. Russia’s attack adjacent to Babyn Yar, the Kyiv site where Nazis and local collaborators executed tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, along with its bombing several days ago of Uman, the Ukrainian city where hundreds of thousands of Jewish pilgrims visit each year, repre...
A special briefing on the situation in Ukraine was held on Tuesday featuring experts from Joint Distribution Committee, Jewish Agency for Israel and National Coalition Supporting Eurasion Jewry. The webinar was presented by United Jewish Appeal Federation New York and the Jewish Federations of North America. Mark Levin, executive vice chairman and CEO of NCSEJ, shared letters from President Zelensky’s office and the mayor of Kiev both of which expressed a need for more weapons and that the political landscape is changing “minute by min...
Ginsburg Family Foundation announced grants totaling $40 million to three local organizations focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion in the Central Florida community. The social impact grants were awarded to Nemours Children’s Health, Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity and the University of Central Florida. “Our family loves the Central Florida community and we are proud to support these organizations which not only celebrate our diversity, but also improve the quality of life for our community,” said Alan H. Ginsburg, prominent Centr...
(JTA) - Four years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky was an actor on the humorous Ukrainian TV show "Servant of the People," starring as an unlikely president of the Eastern European country. Now, he is at the center of the continent's most significant conflict since World War II, framing himself as a possible martyr on the world stage. "This might be the last time you see me alive," he reportedly told European Union leaders on a call about steps the bloc was considering to try to stop Russia's advances t...
The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center will honor Dr. Rita Bornstein with the Tess Wise White Rose Award at its annual event on April 13, from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., at the Rollins Museum of Art, Back Lawn. The White Rose Award commemorates the actions of a group of courageous students in Germany during World War II. Calling for non-violent resistance against Hitler and the Nazis, the group consisted of five students in their early 20s led by Hans and Sophie Scholl. They worked day...
Long a trusted resource for Jewish families in more than 35 countries around the world who receive their free books each month, PJ Library offers fresh reading, audio stories, and tasty treats for families celebrating Passover this year, April 15 to 23. In the United States alone, more than 280,000 children are receiving new books this month, each providing a carefully curated selection of age-appropriate reading related to Passover. New this year, families will also receive a colorful illustrated “Matzah Mania” fold-out which includes rec...
Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando has been selected as a beneficiary of the Winn-Dixie Bloomin’ 4 Good Program for the month of March. JFS Orlando’s Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry will receive a $1 donation for every $12.99 Bloomin’ 4 Good Bouquet (marked with a red circle sticker) purchased at the Fern Park Winn-Dixie located at 7800 South Highway 17-92 during March. “We are very grateful to have been chosen for the Winn-Dixie Bloomin’ 4 Good Program,” said Philip Flynn, executive director of JFS Orlando. “Whether you’re purcha...
Lisa Eichenblatt is very excited to partner with the Jewish Pavilion. She has lived in the Central Florida community for over 40 years and has established herself as a recognized success in real estate. Paying special attention to senior's real estate needs, Eichenblatt is participating in the Seniors Real Estate Institute and has completed her certification as a Senior Housing Professional. CSHP's are specialists who understand the distinct late-life transition needs, wants and goals of mature...
(JNS) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognition on Feb. 21 of two “breakaway” states in eastern Ukraine and his subsequent dispatch of “peacekeepers” there — considered by Western nations to be an official invasion of the country — has left its citizens and particularly the Jewish communities on edge. Throughout Ukraine, Jewish leaders are watching closely, and many have made contingency plans in the event the situation worsens. Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi Yaakov Bleich told JNS that the Jews “are part of the general community. What’s g...
(JTA) — In launching Russia’s war on Ukraine last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin cited a purported need for “denazification” of Ukraine, a country whose president is Jewish. “Its goal is to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide … for the last eight years. And for this we will strive for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine,” Putin said in his speech, which was broadcast on state television. Putin was referring to a claim that he has long made, starting as a justification for his 2014 invasion...
(JTA) — Ukraine’s embassy in Israel tried to recruit Israelis to join the Ukrainian fight against Russia in a Facebook post Saturday. “The Embassy has begun the formation of lists of volunteers who wish to participate in combat actions against the Russian aggressor,” the embassy wrote in a Facebook post that was later taken down, according to The Times of Israel. The post asked volunteers to tell coordinators about any “military specialty” they have, something Israelis, most of whom complete mandatory army service after high school, wil...
Dan Green, CEO and director general of World ORT, wrote the following news release about the five schools and regional office in Kiev: World ORT has learned with dismay and great concern about the escalation overnight of the security situation in Ukraine. We are in constant contact with our regional office in Kiev and with our five schools and two affiliated schools in Ukraine — Zaporozhe and Odessa in the eastern and southern regions; and Chernivtsi, Kyiv, and Belaya Tserkov in the north and west — and are co-operating fully with our par...
(JTA) — Israel began allowing unvaccinated tourists to enter the country on March 1 as the county’s COVID case numbers continue to decline, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announced. Tourists will still need to produce negative PCR tests before and after their flights, while Israelis will only need to take a test upon landing. The more lax rules mean that children under the age of five who are ineligible to be vaccinated can now enter the country. Only fully vaccinated tourists have been allowed in since Jan...
(JTA) — Jared Armstong has an emotional story to tell, and he told it in an oped I edited last week for our opinion section (Heritage ran it last week as an article). Armstrong made headlines recently when the Israeli government refused his application for citizenship. Armstrong, a recent college graduate from Philadelphia, says he grew up Jewish, as did his mother. His grandmother, he said, embraced Judaism as an adult. For all those reasons he was shocked when Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected his initial application for aliyah, but he agr...
(JNS) — A New York congressman has withdrawn his support for a pro-Israel bill, saying that J Street, which labels itself as the “home of pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans” convinced him to change his position. This development reveals a great deal about the reasons for the ongoing tension between American Jewish critics of Israel and the rest of the Jewish community. The congressman in question is Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a first-term Democrat who represents a district that covers part of New York City (the north Bronx) and much of Westchester Count...
(JNS) — Let’s face it: The raging debate about Jews having white privilege is a bit absurd. Jews are basically a historical Rorschach depiction of a people. In other words, we take the form; we are regarded through the eyes of those who perceive us. For most of the past two millennia, Jews were certainly not regarded as being like other people. In Europe, we were first the Christ-rejectors/killers who per Augustine, were being kept around in order to bear witness to our own degradation and supersession by the Church. Not too much privilege ther...
(JNS) — On Feb. 24, 2020, former Indian Supreme Court justice Deepak Gupta delivered a lecture to the Bar arguing that “the right to dissent is the most important right granted by the Constitution.” Gupta took the ancient idea of challenging authority and gave it dignity: “To question, to challenge, to verify, to ask for accountability from the government is the right of every citizen under the constitution,” he said. “These rights should never be taken away otherwise we will become an unquestioning moribund society, which will not be able to...
(JTA) — If I have learned anything over the past month, it is that racist tropes are not harmless words. They must be actively and consistently challenged. You know them and so do I. The racist tropes peddled about Jewish people are plentiful. What you may not know is that antisemitic tropes caused my friends and me to be held hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. Our Shabbat morning service on Jan. 15 began normally. I had just sat down after the morning Amidah. Within a few seconds, I heard that unmistakable sound of a...
Dear Editor: It is interesting, though nauseating, to read about the “spiritual leader” (Presbyterian) who hates Jews and Israel (accusing the Jewish State of slavery); Amnesty International who finds no country other than the Jewish State needing their concern; and the Anti-Defamation League who hires an outspoken antisemite for “outreach purposes.” The first two are well-funded and known enemies of the Jewish people. The third is an organization that merely tabulates anti-Jewish activities but initiates nothing that would signifi...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, some minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) Chabad of North Orlando and Chabad of Altamonte Springs are holding in-person minyans. Chabad of South Orlando — Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. and 10 minutes before sunset; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 8:15 a.m., 407-354-3660. Congregation Ahavas Yisrael — Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-644-2500. Congregation Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Daytona — Monday, 8 a.m.; Thursday, 8 a.m., 904-672-9300. Congr...
(JTA) — Prayers for peace are an integral part of Jewish worship. Now, they are also a central part of the communal Jewish response as fighting is underway in Ukraine where Russian troops invaded Thursday morning. Here are excerpts from the responses we’ve seen so far from Jewish groups. Know of something we’ve missed? Please send it our way. The Conservative/Masorti movement of Judaism and its affiliated organizations hosted a global prayer gathering over Zoom Thursday “for the well-being and safety of our brothers and sisters and all those i...
NBC's "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" (Season 23, Episode 10, "Silent Night, Hateful Night,") began 2022 with a troubling episode about religious hate crimes. But just as troubling as the hate crimes catalogued here was the very existence of the episode itself. Principal series writers/producers Julie Martin, Kathy Dobie and Warren Leight concocted this discombobulated fare about a wave of anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh attacks on houses of worship and businesses, all on Christmas...
(JNS) - The Ohio House Higher Education Committee heard testimony on Feb. 15 on a bill that would require colleges and universities in the state to provide accommodation for students when there are conflicts between class assignments, exams and religious observances. A number of Jewish organizations, including dozens of Hillels, Chabad Houses, historically Jewish fraternities, Jewish Federations and Jewish Community Relations Councils, are supporting the legislation. The bipartisan bill was...
(JNS) - "Everyone is just talking about the war," said Yana Koblenko from Ukraine, who arrived in Israel on Sunday with a plane of 74 other new immigrants. "Until the last minute, I was worried the flight would be canceled." The Koblenko family-Yana, her husband Yevgeny and their young daughter-had been longing to come to Israel for some time. The rest of Yana's family, including her parents, had made aliyah just before the pandemic. "It's scary in Ukraine right now," Yana said as she arrived...
Whether you're a caregiver to your family members or a professional caregiver such as a health provider, teacher, or clergy, recognize that burnout or neglecting your health will impact your ability to care for others. Try taking micro-breaks to recharge, a few moments to step away and stay connected with the world outside of your role as a caregiver. Find a community or group for your interests and hobbies or simply call a friend to talk about something besides caregiving. JFS Orlando is here...
