Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) - Benjamin Netanyahu will no longer be Israel's prime minister, as his political opponents announced Wednesday night that they have formed a coalition that will replace him, pending a vote in Israel's parliament. The new coalition, dubbed the "change bloc," is an ideologically broad alliance that spans the Israeli political right, center and left. For the first time in Israeli history, it will include an Arab-Israeli party, not as an external supporter of the government, but as a full memb...
(JTA) - In the days before Benjamin Netanyahu's rival lawmakers announced that they had formed a government to replace the longtime prime minister, one fled her home with her partner and baby after receiving what she called "severe threats" against their safety. The threats to Tamar Zandberg of the left-wing Meretz party included a fake notice of her death that circulated on social media. Zandberg wasn't the only Netanyahu opponent to receive death threats. So did Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali...
JERUSALEM - Isaac Herzog, former minister, chairman of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition, was elected by the Knesset (parliament) to serve as Israel's 11th president. Herzog currently serves as the chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel. Herzog was elected with the support of 87 out of the 120 Members of Knesset and his tenure will begin on July 9. President-elect Herzog noted: "For over two decades I have fulfilled the mission of my life, to serve my people and...
The Jewish Community Relations Council recently learned that some of Central Florida’s elected officials have received calls from anti-Israel advocates. The Council has asked, via social media, the community to make phone calls to these officials listed below, beginning with your personal representatives in your district, and send a counterbalancing message. “The objective is to advocate on behalf of Israel and share that our community supports Israel and condemns Hamas as a recognized terrorist organization. It must be emphasized that our mes...
After a successful career in the world of finance, Boynton Beach, Florida, resident Jerry Klinger has become a "professional rememberer." Klinger, 73, started this endeavor as a result of trying to locate the first Jewish house of worship in New Mexico, Temple Montefiore, Las Vegas, N.M., established 1884. Instead, he found a Catholic church. At that location, he established the first of many markers, plaques and monuments he has placed across the United States. The list includes the first...
(JNS) — Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa’s documentary film “Babi Yar. Context” has been selected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in July. The 120-minutes long film is based entirely on archival footage uncovered by Loznitsa, which depicts the events leading up to and the aftermath of the Babi Yar massacre in September 1941. In a period of two days, from Sept. 29-30, 33,771 Jewish victims were shot to death by the Nazis and left in a ravine. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Roma, t...
In the past few weeks, the Israeli American Council has witnessed a disturbing rise in antisemitism across the United States. Israeli American and Jewish American students have experienced more and more cases of bias, harassment, and discrimination in their schools. IAC calls on students, parents, or educators that have experienced antisemitism or encountered antisemitic or anti-Zionist content in schools to file a complaint through the SchoolWatch platform. The IAC will bring these complaints to the attention of the school or district to...
(JNS) — Qatar prides itself on its high level of education and yet its own textbooks clearly do not meet accepted international standards, according to a new report by IMPACT-se, a research institute that analyzes schoolbooks and curricula within the prism of UNESCO-defined standards on peace and tolerance. Its updated report evaluates the current Qatari curriculum in conjunction with the London-based think tank the Henry Jackson Society. Some of the key findings show that hatred towards Jews and clear anti-Semitism remain central themes of t...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A Biden administration official said the U.S. government supports restocking Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system after it was depleted by last month’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Dozens of House members from both parties have said they would push Congress to appropriate funds to replenish the system should Israel make the request. Israel’s defense minister, Benny Gantz, was here on Thursday reportedly seeking $1 billion for Iron Dome. In addition to Iron Dome funding, the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Ea...
(JNS) — The Susi Bradfield Women’s Institute for Halakhic Leadership of the Ohr Torah Stone network commemorated the graduation of its 2021 class, attended by hundreds of family and friends. Three women—Rabbanit Dr. Hannah Hashkes, Rabbanit Shira Marili Mirvis and Rabbanit Chamutal Shoval—successfully completed the intensive five-year course. The curriculum spans a range of topics on Jewish law, including Shabbat and festivals, kashrut, mourning, family purity, and Jewish marriage and divorce. Upon graduating from the institute, women are certi...
(JNS) — The teachers’ union for the San Francisco school district voted in favor of a resolution on May 19 to boycott Israel The United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), which is affiliated with the largest federation of unions in the United States, the AFL-CIO, is the first K-12 union of public-school teachers in America to officially back BDS. This is also the first time since 2016 that any American union has officially supported the BDS movement, according to The Jewish News of Northern California. The resolution’s last sentence calls...
Unlike many Israelis, I am not spiking the ball or dancing in the end zone today. (Forgive the exclusive American cultural reference for those who don’t follow U.S. football.) Prime Minister Netanyahu, Bibi, is not public enemy No.1. But his time to step down has passed, and that’s why this week Israel announced a new “unity” government, after four elections in two years. It gives me no sense of pride that we’ve come to this point, particularly how this has transpired. As prime minister, there’s no question that Bibi deserves enormous cr...
(JNS) — Whenever I get asked about Israeli politics on the radio, the first thing I do is point out that Israeli politics isn’t American, it’s European. Israel was controlled by the British. More of its founders were European than American. That means the same messy coalition parliamentary politics without even the benefit of regional representation and direct elections. It’s a terrible system that serves all the wrong people. The last few years have been a grinding disaster of repeat elections because: 1. A huge chunk of Israel’s political...
Next Sunday, June 20, is Father’s Day. In the more than 30 years I have been writing this column I have never devoted an entire column to my dad. I have often thought about it, but my feelings of loss for him have always overwhelmed my ability to write about him. This year in November will be half a century since his passing when I was 27 years old. He had not quite reached his 61st birthday when cancer took him from me. He was the oldest of six sons of an immigrant father and mother. Himself an immigrant arriving in the U.S. at 16 years of a...
(JTA) — The cease-fire agreement announced last week between Israel and Hamas conjures up the wisdom often, if dubiously, attributed to Albert Einstein: “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” Unfortunately, ever since the Israeli government withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 with the naive expectation that it would achieve peace and quiet, the broad brush strokes of the smoldering conflict became all too familiar. Hamas launches large-scale rocket barrages targeting Israeli cities. Since Hamas embeds...
(JNS) — There is little point at this stage of the game in mentioning the depths of moral depravity and treachery into which Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked have descended. Now, as the two self-proclaimed “leaders” of the ideological right defect from the nationalist camp and form a leftist government supported by pro-Hamas Arab parties, the time has come to discuss the strategic and national consequences of their actions. The place to begin the discussion is by noting that ministers that support the Biden administration’s Middle East po...
(JTA) — “Rabbi Adar, is it dangerous to wear my Jewish star?” In 12 years of teaching “Introduction to the Jewish Experience” through HaMaqom | The Place in the San Francisco Bay Area, no student ever asked me that question in those words. This year three students have asked it of me. The first student who asked it was a young woman, a conversion candidate, and she made an appointment to talk to me outside of class. I answered with a question: “Why are you asking this right now?” She talked about reading about attacks on Jews in New York City...
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...
This article originally appeared on Kveller. Fully virtual bar and bat mitzvahs are, happily, no longer a necessity in many places. Whether you are including a few people in an IRL event, or even hosting a small crowd in, say, your backyard, most families are still likely to have guests who are only able to attend — or are only comfortable attending — a bar or bat mitzvah via a virtual platform like Zoom. Does this scenario have your head spinning? Fear not! You don’t need to plan two separate events. But you do want to include your on-sc...
(JNS) — If body language is any indicator, then last week’s meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not go as well as they intended during their joint press conference. While they openly discussed issues pertaining to Gaza and the Palestinians, it is without a doubt that in their earlier private meeting, they discussed the issue of Iran as well. Blinken’s remarks signal that the scolding and finger-wagging of the Obama administration is back after a four-year hiatus during the Tru...
Like many American Jews, Michael Fineberg, Ph.D.'s paternal grandparents emigrated from Lithuania and Russia, his maternal grandparents from Romania and Austria, arriving by boat to the United States in the early 1900s. His parents were first generation American Jews who assimilated and worked hard to build a life for themselves and their children. His father didn't graduate from high school as a result of World War II. Returning after the war, he worked at the Food Fair Grocery Store chain,...
My social media has been full of proud parents posting pictures of their high school, college, and graduate school graduates which no doubt comes with extra meaning on the heels of a pandemic that’s interrupted so many of our lives. As happy as I am for my friends and their children, I can’t help but look at each of these pictures through a prism of current events in Israel. I am proud of my daughter and son-in-law who are also graduating this year. However, in Israel, ceremonies marking their accomplishments are more toned down than they oth...
What a brilliant and talented people we are ... If you watch the TV show "Shark Tank," you will be familiar with MARK CUBAN, a brilliant billionaire, among other brilliant billionaires. Mark is Jewish with Russian ancestry. He was born in Pittsburgh. Also brilliant (as comic actors), GEORGE BURNS, and also MOREY AMSTERDAM. There will never be comics like the Jewish comics of my time. They were the best. (DON'T ask my age!) Birthright Israel Foundation ... I received a letter from Israel (Izzy)...
(JNS) — The National Geographic Society named University of Haifa professor Dr. Aviad Scheinin as one of its “Emerging Explorers” in 2021—one of 15 individuals it described as changing the world “one idea at a time.” In an announcement last week, it said its cohort of storytellers, researchers and conservationists “are conducting innovative work focused on a range of topics such as inventing space technologies, ocean exploration, understanding the past through archaeology and anthropology, species conservation, storytelling and elevating you...
Not long ago, there were ominous reports about the fate of Jewish delis. Lovers of pastrami and chopped liver wrung their hands. While it's undeniable that there are far fewer Jewish delis today than there were a generation ago - David Sax, author of "Save the Deli," calls them "a dying breed" - a revival is underway, in many cases led by women. That wasn't always the case in a male-dominated industry. But in the past five years, several delis owned and run by women have joined the Jewish food...
