Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 40
(JTA)-Seven survivors of the Parkland school shooting were among thousands of Jewish high school students who attended the annual conference of the Chabad movement's youth group. Responding to the Feb. 14 shooting became an impromptu theme of the conference, which was hosted in New York City by CTeen, the teen arm of the Hasidic outreach movement. CTeen, which has 100,000 members worldwide, has eight chapters in the South Florida area surrounding Parkland. The shooting, which killed 17 students... Full story
The 24th annual presentation of Choices on March 26 is subtitled "Women Transforming Lives," and that theme rings true, right down to the venue chosen for the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando's largest fundraiser of the year. Choices 2018 will be held in the gymnasium-yes, the gymnasium-of The Roth Family JCC in Maitland. The idea of selecting such a unique venue evolved from several brainstorming sessions by Federation staff and the volunteer Choices co-chairs, Judy Kahan Davis and Shira... Full story
In response to feedback from previous attendees, Choices 2018 will place a greater emphasis on socializing than in years past, allowing women ample time to connect and celebrate. The highlight of the brief formal program this year will be the "Lights of Empowerment" ceremony, during which all of the community's women in 13 categories will be honored in a candle-lighting ceremony. The categories, and the women scheduled to represent them during the event, are: • The Arts, represented by H... Full story
(JNS)-The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States soared in 2017, according to the annual report by the Anti-Defamation League. There were 1,986 acts classified as anti-Semitic in 2017, up 57 percent from 2016 at 1,267 and more than double the 2,015 total of 941. That makes 2017 the second-most anti-Semitic year since the ADL began tracking the incidents almost 40 years ago, and the highest-ever single-year spike. "It had been trending in the right direction for a long time," Jonat... Full story
Jewish National Fund (JNF-USA) will host the annual Tree of Life™ Award Gala at Congregation Ohev Shalom on Tuesday, March 20, to honor Deborah Dorsky Meitin, Marc Reicher, James Riola, and Rabbi Aaron Rubinger with Tree of Life™ awards for their dedication to the Orlando community, JNF, and Israel. Guests will hear from Rabbi Leor Sinai, co-CEO of Alexander Muss High School in Israel, and Ariel Kotler, JNF's Israel operations development officer, who will speak about "Israel and the next gen... Full story
This small congregation located in Minneola, Fla., has been serving the Jewish community of Central Florida since 2003. After providing successful community service for the past 15 years, they have just received an unexpected lease non-renewal notice, with no reason given, from Cactus Management. Under the spiritual leadership of Joe and Lynn Goldovitz, the congregation provides a spiritual environment for observance of Jewish traditions and celebration of member’s lifecycle events. Congregation Sinai’s membership ranges from age 6 to 96, and... Full story
Congregation Beth Sholom, “The Synagogue that Feels Like Family,” invites the community to attend a second night Passover Seder with Rabbi Karen Allen at Pennbrooke Fairways, 501 State Road 44, in Leesburg, at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 31. A traditional Kosher Seder dinner will be catered by Deanna’s Catering, LLC. The meal will include gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, carrot tzimmes, grilled vegetables, oven roasted potatoes, and a choice of four entrees: beef brisket, chicken, salmon, or Vegan. Dessert, coffee, hot tea, and iced tea are a... Full story
It’s a time for the men to get together and watch the opening games of the NCAA tournament or play poker and blackjack at the Rosen JCC’s Men’s Night Out, March 15 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. There will be lots of food, fun and friendship. The event, held at Audi South Orlando, located at 4725 Vineland Rd., Orlando, is free for JCC members. However, RSVP’s are a must. Email joelb@rosenjcc.org by March 12 and you are in.... Full story
From March 1 until April 15 JFS Orlando will be collecting non-perishable food items and cash donations to restock their pantry shelves. This year the Weiner family and the Winter Park Wealth Group will match 50 cents for every dollar and one pound of food donated, up to $10,000. For more information or to register as a Restock Challenge Food Drive partner, email heather.betts@jfsorlando.org.... Full story
(JNS)-After years of bloody warfare, Syria has become a "Shi'a colony of Iran," a Syrian professor who lives in Germany told an Israeli conference in recent days. Addressing the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Bassam Tibi, professor emeritus of international relations at Georg-August University of Gottingen, said: "They have killed our clans. They have killed our family. The Alawites of the Assad regime have killed our Sunni identity of Damascus." Tibi, a... Full story
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs via JNS The battle for the succession of Mahmoud Abbas in the Palestinian Authority is heating up. This was apparent from Fatah Secretary-General Jibril Rajoub's recent attack on Egypt, which supports the candidacy of Palestinian politician Muhammad Dahlan for the position of next PA chairman. The Israeli security forces are concerned about a possible bloodbath in the West Bank as soon as Mahmoud Abbas leaves office. The "bombshell" that Jibril Rajoub, secreta... Full story
(JNS)-The granddaughter of former longtime U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman has immigrated to Israel. Nesya Lieberman, 20, made aliyah on Tuesday through the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization, in partnership with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency of Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and the Jewish National Fund-USA. Nesya, formerly of Atlanta, will join an ulpan, learning Hebrew at Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu before beginning a year of national service work. "I've wanted to make aliyah ever... Full story
(JNS)—Maybe it wasn’t such a big deal after all. Instead of waiting until 2019 or 2020, the U.S. embassy to Israel will move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May. On Friday, the Trump administration said the ceremony converting a Jerusalem consulate into the embassy would coincide with Israel’s 70th birthday celebrations. Unlike Trump’s initial announcement recognizing the holy city as Israel’s capital, the reaction to this latest one turned out to be substantially low-key. The Arab world and Muslim populations didn’t take to the streets to... Full story
Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS via JNS President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec. 6 was not a political move, but rather the fulfillment of a true intention. The same goes for his decision on Friday to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem on May 14, as part of the celebrations marking 70 years since the founding of Israel. The American announcement proves to the world that Trump doesn’t just make promises, he takes action. Remember his remarks two weeks ago in a special interview to Israel Hayom—that recog... Full story
Last week we observed the holiday of Purim with the reading in synagogues around the world of the Megillat Esther, partying with strong drink and masquerades, eating Hamantashen (named after the notorious Haman), and exchanging Shalach Monot (gifts of food and sweets). Purim commemorates a theme which occurs too frequently in Jewish history: our struggle for survival against those who “in every generation would rise up to destroy us”. Of course, the outcome happily is always the same: with the help of G-d, we prevail over our enemies. Ear... Full story
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was forced last week to deny being a Holocaust revisionist, after suggesting that Jews were complicit in their own genocide. Referring to a new Polish law making it illegal to say the country has responsibility for the Holocaust, an Israeli journalist and son of Polish survivors asked Morawiecki if he could face prison for recounting how his mother was betrayed by her Polish neighbors. The prime minister replied: “Of course it’s not going to be punishable... to say that there were Polish per... Full story
(JNS)—It has become a platitude repeated ad nauseam by former Israeli security officials: The Palestinian Authority must not be weakened because this might imperil Israel. The reasoning is that even though the PA is bad, at least it cooperates, to a greater or lesser degree, with their Israeli counterparts, whereas Israel does not know what kind of potentially radical monster would take over after a collapsed PA. This Sunday, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill that would deduct salaries given by the PA to convicted t... Full story
As our government continues to debate the gun law issues and what to do concerning protecting our schools, Israel has the problem very much under control. Since 1974 there have only been about one-half dozen terrorist attacks on Israeli schools. What is their secret? CBS News foreign correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti asked, “Does everyone have a gun in Israel?” No, said gun instructor Sharon Gat. “Gun laws in America are much more loose than gun laws in Israel.” What are the requirements to have a gun? • It takes up to three months to get a gun... Full story
The Orlando Ballet School, on behalf of the Jewish Pavilion and under the direction of Dierdre Miles Burger, gave a special performance for residents of Westminster Winter Park on Feb. 27. Attendees learned about the daily life of a ballet student, and were then treated to a performance featuring the works of three different composers. After the show, Purim was celebrated with a play and the serving of Hamantaschen.... Full story
Although "The Moldau" (Czech Vltava), is immediately recognized by most lovers of classical music as the work of composer Bedrich Smetana evoking the flow of the Vltava River from the forests of Bohemia through the Czech countryside to the city of Prague, it holds out a special appeal for many Jews and especially Israelis who hear in its opening bars a melody quite similar to the Israeli national anthem and Zionist hymn "HaTikvah" (The Hope). This seems to symbolize the long tradition of... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—When candidate Donald Trump spoke at AIPAC’s Policy Conference in 2016 and said Barack Obama may be the worst thing that ever happened to Israel, many cheered, many choked and the organization apologized. The fallout from that event will haunt the proceedings when 18,000 activists, including 3,500 students, attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference here this week. Navigating an increasingly polarized political landscape is the new reality for the lobby, which remains pre-eminent among pro-Israel groups and... Full story
Jewish National Fund is celebrating Women’s Month in March and highlighting the remarkable women who have taken on leadership roles within the organization. JNF Women’s Month coincides with National Women’s History Month, as well as International Women’s Day, which has been observed since the early 1900s. Throughout the month of March, JNF is hosting over 30 events across the country to bring women together to share their personal stories and highlight the important work that Jewish National Fund accomplishes through the women who give their ti... Full story
Kathryn "Katie" Rose Botwinik, the daughter of Steven and Nikki Botwinik, will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on Saturday, March 17, 2018, at Congregation Beth Am in Longwood. Katie has been homeschooled since kindergarten, and is in seventh grade. She is an avid reader and aspiring writer. She wrote an original musical called "The Bad Apple," which she then produced, directed, and performed with her friends. At the moment she is editing her first book, a fantasy story for middle... Full story
Our people have been there... I read this in a letter from the American Jewish World Service: As this column is read, "we have just celebrated Purim, a celebratory holiday filled full of treats and costumes. Purim has deep lessons to teach us about fighting intolerance and acting on our shared values to pursue justice. Just as Queen Esther courageously stood up to the evil Haman and saved the Jewish community of ancient Persia, we too can stand up for those who face persecution today. In Burma... Full story
Privately and off the record, US Ambassador David Friedman gave a pessimistic assessment of issues surrounding a possible peace deal with the Palestinians to a group of officials from the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations, according to a Channel 10 News report Monday. "We do not want to raise expectations about the chances of reaching a peace agreement too much. We are realistic. We want a peace agreement, but we know that this would not destroy Hezbollah or ISIS,"... Full story
