Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Jewish groups in Orlando responded to the mass shooting attack at the Pulse nightclub with messages of sadness and sympathy, and calls to action. "The Jewish community has been impacted many times by terror attacks, and we stand united in denouncing all violence. We are in close touch with local, federal and state authorities, and we have full faith and confidence in our law enforcement," said a statement released by the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando. "At this time we have not been...
It's not really a question of "how" Jason Greenblatt, the real estate transactions lawyer and son of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants who grew up in New York City's Queens borough, became a presidential candidate's adviser on issues related to Israel. For him, it's more a question of "what"-what will he do with the immense opportunity he has been given? Greenblatt-a Teaneck, N.J., resident who in April was named as a primary Israel adviser to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald...
Washington, D.C.—A two-page American Jewish Committee ad in June 6’s Wall Street Journal lists the 508 U.S. and European mayors and municipal leaders who have signed on to its Mayors United Against Anti-Semitism initiative, pledging to combat the rise of anti-Semitism. There were 35 mayors in Florida who signed, including two from Central Florida: Apopka Mayor Joe Kilsheimer, Ocala Mayor Kent Guinn, and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “Bravo to those urban leaders from cities, big and small, across the U.S. and Europe, for their courage, convi...
Omar Mateen had left a long and worrisome trail much before he stunned the world with the mass murder of 49 men and women at an Orlando nightclub For the past nine years, the 29-year-old New York-born resident of Ft. Pierce, Fla., worked as a security officer for the G4S company in the town of Jupiter, during which time, it appears, he managed to spook many of his co-workers, numerous acquaintances and his Internet bride. "When I saw his picture on the news, I thought, 'Of course, he did...
(JTA)-Here a plan, there a plan, everywhere a peace plan. Conditions in Israel and the Palestinian Authority may not exactly seem conducive to peace-Israel just formed what may be its most right-wing government ever, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is aging and becoming less popular. Yet peace plans have been coming at the region from all sides. No less than three Israeli-Palestinian peace proposals have been put forward in recent weeks, spanning a range of countries, leaders...
By Alina Dain Sharon JNS.org After four Israelis were killed on June 8 in a Palestinian terrorist shooting at the Sarona market in Tel Aviv, many international media outlets came under fire for initially reporting misleading information about the attack and in some cases not describing the shooting as terrorism. While many such news headlines and article texts were later amended, the original phrasing has continued to circulate on social media and on the websites of media watchdog...
(JNS.org)-Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is in Israel for a week-long visit to strengthen relations between the two countries. "Throughout my visit with my delegation we wanted to learn about the extraordinary developments which Israel has made, especially in agriculture, which we look at with wonder each time we see it. You have done wonderful things in the field of water. There are a lot of similarities between Liberia and Israel. I wish to thank Israel for its help during our Ebola...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging Germany to increase funding for Holocaust survivors. The nonbinding resolution, which passed by a vote of 363-0 on Tuesday, urges Germany to “ensure that every Holocaust victim receives all of the prescribed medical care, home care, mental health care, and other vital services necessary to live in dignity” and to provide “additional financial resources to address the unique needs of Holocaust victims.” The resolution, initiated earlier this year by R...
Temple Israel members are inviting members, friends and, in fact, the entire Jewish community to join them in enjoying a women's soccer game on Sunday, July 10 at 5 p.m. at the Citrus Bowl. The Orlando City team Pride will play against the Boston Breakers. Temple Israel has a special price for the event. Tickets are $25 for Sideline E or $35 for Midfield. Normally, these same tickets run between $43 and $55. Please purchase tickets by June 22 from office@tifloida.org. Bring your children for a...
In May, Pre-K children from Room 11 at The Roth Family JCC of Greater Orlando's Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center presented nursing students at Florida Hospital with money they raised to buy crayons and coloring books for children in the pediatric ward. The nursing students are a regular fixture at the JCC, where they visit to get experience with young children. On a recent visit, the nursing students answered questions from the preschoolers about hospitals. The children of Room...
Every Iraqi Jew has a tale to tell about the Farhud, the two-day pogrom that befell the Jews of Baghdad 75 years ago in June 1941. In the case of my own family, it was a matter of heeding the advice of a Muslim business colleague of my grandfather, who told him that dark days were looming for the Jews, and that he would be wise to get his family out of the country as quickly as possible—which my grandfather did. But my grandfather was part of a fortunate minority. When the Farhud—which means, in Arabic, “violent dispossessio...
The June 8 terrorist massacre in Tel Aviv exposed all five of the major myths that cloud discussions of Israel and the Palestinians. Myth #1: “The problem is the settlements” This was not a massacre of “settlers.” The attack did not take place in some disputed territory. Nobody can claim that the victims “provoked” the violence by living in some predominantly Arab area. These were people drinking coffee in the heart of Tel Aviv. Myth #2: “It was a reaction to the occupation” The attackers are residents of the village of Yatta. The Israeli occ...
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA)—Normally, to quote the famous song, “I love a parade.” Except when I don’t. This weekend was the celebration of the 49th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War. The anniversary was accompanied by gleeful, one might even say ecstatic, observances throughout the capital of the Jewish world. I celebrated as well, in my own way: I discussed the reunification in my Shabbat sermon and offered a prayer for the peace of Jerusalem. In less than a month, I am about to visit Jerusalem for the 45th ti...
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Long before Emma Lazarus’ quote was mounted on a pedestal plaque for the Statue of Liberty, “Native Americans” were immigrants to what became American soil. There’s really nothing unique in America about an immigrant background. We all have one; just some more recent than others. On my mother’s side, nine generations settled in America before I was born here. On my dad’s side, I’m a first generation. I exist because my Czech Jewish father escaped the Nazis and mad...
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton both harshly condemned the recent bloody terror attack in Tel Aviv. Clinton stated in a statement, “I condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Tel Aviv today. I send my deepest condolences to the families of those killed and I will continue to pray for the wounded.” “I stand in solidarity with the Israeli people in the face of these ongoing threats, and in unwavering support of the country’s right to defend itself,” she stated, adding, ...
“It’s the state of Israel I’m against, not the Jewish people.” A mere justification to continue pushing an irrational narrative. “I’m anti-Zionist, not anti-Semitic.” A clarification to dispel any notion that one can discriminate against an entire group of people. “Make America Great Again.” All expressions that evoke a specific set of emotions. We have become numb to the point of blind acceptance when it comes to these statements when we should be questioning the underlying meanings and intentions of these dangerous assertions. Taking issue wi...
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) 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. Congregation Ohev Shalom—Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-298-4650. GOBOR Community Minyan at Jewish Academy of Orlando—Monday—Friday, 7:45 a.m.—8:30 a.m. Temple Israel...
(JTA)-Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, The Associated Press reported Monday. With more super delegates telling the AP they're committed to her, Clinton now has the votes she needs to win the nomination. But that's not the end for Bernie Sanders, by far the most successful Jewish presidential candidate in American history. The Independent Vermont senator is defiant and says he's taking the fight to the Democratic National Convention. He's said he'll try to flip...
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (JTA)-A nascent Jewish community was officially born in Madagascar last month when 121 men, women and children underwent Orthodox conversions on the remote Indian Ocean island nation better known for lemurs, chameleons, dense rain forests and vanilla. The conversions, which took place over a 10-day period, were the climax of a process that arose organically five to six years ago when followers of various messianic Christian sects became disillusioned with their churches...
Will it NEVER end?... We've all heard and repeated the saying "Never Again" referring to the Holocaust. Correct words... but unfortunately, it will take more than words to stop the rise of anti-Semitism that seems to be repeating itself in Europe and even here and there in this country. The following is just an example of attacks all over Europe in recent months: Manchester, England: While waiting for their train, four young Jews were attacked by four hatemongers, leaving the youngest, just 17 y...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued the first executive order in the country that forces state entities to drop investments linked to boycotts of Israel. The Democratic governor expects state agencies to divest all public funds from any company or individual with ties to the movement known as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). BDS was founded in 2005 to protest Israel's actions toward Palestinians by boycotting Israeli products and companies. Cuomo says New York will boycott anyone who is...
By Hillel Kuttler The "Seeking Kin" column aims to help reunite long-lost friends and relatives. (JTA)-For over six decades, Chaim Schwimmer has thrown a kiddush every Simchat Torah, but it's not only to celebrate the joyful holiday. The food and the schnapps also mark the anniversary of Schwimmer's miraculous rescue in 1944 from certain death at Auschwitz. In October that year, the 14-year-old was pulled from a crowd just a few steps from being murdered in the concentration camp's gas chamber....
ISRAEL21c-YouTube makeup tutorials are extremely popular. New videos are constantly being added to the online library of how-to demos for covering blemishes and attaching false eyelashes. So when a former Los Angeles songwriter-turned-IDF-combat-soldier uploaded her Camo Makeup Tutorial on May 9, her parody could easily have gotten lost in the pile. But Hannah Laskow Defore and her friend Neta Avitan already have more than 250,000 people chuckling along to the utterly fabulous makeup tutorial...
(JTA)—The U.S. government can file a classified statement to the court in the case of Jonathan Pollard’s strict parole limitations, a federal judge has ruled. Pollard’s attorneys, who are trying to have the limitations eased, would not be permitted to see the “ex-parte” court submission. Judge Katherine Forrest of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled Monday that the government could submit the classified statement, but that it must “disclose to Pollard’s attorneys the ‘gist or substance’ of its submission... at a high level of generali...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Say the words "Jewish" and "superhero" together in a sentence, and most people will likely think of Gal Gadot, the dark-haired former Miss Israel who's better known these days as Marvel's Wonder Woman. Milton Maltz wants to change that. The Cleveland, Ohio-based philanthropist and businessman is a longtime friend of Tel Aviv's Beit Hatfutsot-Museum of the Jewish People. And when he got wind of the museum's plans for a massive $100 million upgrade, one particular exhibition piqued...
