Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

JERUSALEM (JTA)—For much of the past two years, Israel has taken a singular approach to the Syrian civil war: Stay as far away as possible. But with a recent string of victories by forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and the crumbling of the... Full story

The remaining members of the Ethiopian Jewish community will make aliyah by the end of this summer, and the Jewish Agency educational compound in the northern part of the country that has prepared them for their new lives in Israel will be turned ove... Full story

BETHESDA, Md.—Did Pope Pius XII, the leader of the Catholic Church during World War II and the subsequent decade, suppress a landmark Vatican document that his predecessor, Pius XI, had commissioned, a document that would have unambiguously critici... Full story

The Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando’s Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center is embarking on a fundraising campaign to renovate its enclosed courtyard playground, just behind its preschool lobby and outside of the... Full story

EIN PRAT (in the Judean desert between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea)—How do you encourage young Israeli Jews, both secular and observant, to deepen their “Israeli-ness,” exploring their Jewish and national identities in a way that is serious,... Full story

Everything I ever heard about slavery is despicable. The West is familiar with the history of slavery in the New World. However, few people in the West know about Islam and slavery. Muslims were enslaving black Africans long before any slave ships... Full story

When it comes to an even-handed look at Israel, the forthcoming film “The Attack” doesn’t sound very promising. Based on a novel by an Algerian army officer, directed and co-written by a Lebanese Arab and tackling a Tel Aviv cafe bombing from... Full story

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Last Friday’s Iranian presidential election was fraught with fraud and fear—candidates vetted for their loyalty to the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guards, the press muzzled by the imprisonment of independent... Full story

NEW YORK (JTA)—The JTA Op-Ed championing human rights in Iran is very compelling but for two facts: It was co-authored by two of Israel’s greatest advocates, and they published it in JTA, a Jewish media outlet. As a community, we can be willing... Full story

In the children’s magazine Highlights, home to those moral opposites Goofus and Gallant, we can imagine that revenge is for the likes of Goofus, while Gallant waits for judge and jury. Vengeance is unseemly, the province of the unhinged, while... Full story

MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) Chabad of South Orlando—Monday and Thursday, 8 a.m. 407-354-3660. Congregation Ahavas Yisrael—Monday - Friday, 7 a.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m., 407-644-2500. Congregation Chabad Lubavitch of... Full story

A month ago, Rita Margulis and her fiancé Amit (as a career army officer he asked not to use his last name) got married at the Safari in Tel Aviv. There was a Reform rabbi and 450 guests. But according to the state of Israel, the wedding never... Full story

Herbert Miller of Winter Springs died Sunday, June 16, 2013. He was 89 years old. Mr. Miller was born on April 4, 1924, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to the late Harry and Diana Seidler Miller. He was married to the late Janice Miller for 38 years, when she... Full story