Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(ISRAEL21c) - Sitting at the crossroads of the ancient world, Israel is an archeologist's dream. Peeling back the layers of history here is a never-ending pursuit. Excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority with local and international experts are constantly turning up new clues to ancient civilizations. And it's quite common for casual hikers to contact the IAA about valuable antiquities they've stumbled across. Israel has invested heavily in enabling safe access to dozens of archeology...
(JTA) - The University of Cincinnati will remove Marge Schott's name from its baseball stadium because of the late Cincinnati Reds owner's racism and anti-Semitism. The university's Board of Trustees voted Monday to remove Schott's name from the stadium and from a space in the archives library, effective immediately, acting on a recommendation by the university's president, Neville Pinto. "Marge Schott's record of racism and bigotry stands at stark odds with our University's core commitment to...
On Wednesday, July 1, the day Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought to a cabinet vote the extension of Israeli sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria, demonstrations by Pro-Palestinian and BDS groups against the “annexation,” as they call it, were held in Chicago, San Diego, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Among the groups were Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace and American Muslims for Palestine. Another organization, Al-Awda — The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition — accused Israel of “72 years of...
(JNS) — The social-media platform TikTok is a growing hotbed of extreme anti-Semitism, according to a new report. Led by researchers Gabriel Weimann, a professor of communication at the University of Haifa and senior researcher at the Institute for Counter Terrorism, and Natalie Masri, a research assistant and graduate student at ICT, the “Spreading Hate on TikTok” report scanned the platform for far-right contents by applying a systematic content analysis. This scan of TikTok videos, conducted from February through May of 2020, revealed 196 p...
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — The school board in Oakland, California, has unanimously voted to abolish the district’s police force in the wake of the nationwide protests against police brutality — with some urging by teens at a city synagogue. A large contingent of young people from Temple Beth Abraham, a Conservative congregation, was involved in pushing the board to adopt what was called the George Floyd Resolution, named for the Black man whose death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked the demon...
Ally or Accomplice The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center will present two virtual events in July. As part of the Strategies for Action programs, “Ally or Accomplice: Multiple Pathways to Racial Justice” will be held virtually on July 16 at noon. This session will define the terms ally and accomplice, and explore a variety of ways that each of us can make positive changes towards understanding, community building, and justice. Facilitators Rachel Luce-Hitt, HMREC education director, and Anjella Warnshuis, administrative coo...
The Jewish Pavilion is thrilled to plan four special Shabbat services/programs with Cantor Non Fine on Zoom in July, beginning this evening. The following services will be held on the 10th, 17th and 24th. Each service will be at 4 p.m. She will do one as a Jewish Composers concert with her son, Dylan Caio, on piano. Another will be a concert featuring young artists. Another will be a talent show from children in the community, and one will be a Shabbat spiritual service with a contemporary refor...
(JTA) — More than 8,000 students at Florida State University have signed an online petition to remove the student Senate president over social media posts described as anti-Semitic. The Change.org petition against Ahmad Daraldik was launched two weeks ago and garnered over 3,000 signatures in the first three days, FSUNews.com reported. Daraldik survived a vote of no confidence during a Senate Zoom meeting on June 17. He became the Student Government Association’s leader earlier this month when his predecessor was removed over derogatory com...
(JNS) — The Republican Jewish Coalition launched a $50,000 ad buy in battleground states on Sunday, pushing out a video celebrating how the U.S.-Israel relationship has strengthened under U.S. President Donald Trump. The eight-minute documentary, called “Sunrise,” praises Trump for strengthening the U.S.-Israel alliance to “a level never seen before” and for being “the most pro-Israel American president in history.” It touts Trump’s pro-Israel achievements, including moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018; re...
(JTA) — The Chabad-Lubavitch movement estimates that 100,000 people on 45,000 devices gathered in an online Zoom event to honor the late Chabad rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Schneerson, who died in 1994, led the movement’s transition from a small and insular Hasidic sect to an outward-facing global force. Tens of thousands visit his grave in Queens, New York, every year on the anniversary of his death. Things were different this year in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. “Our focus is always to strengthen people’s connect...
(JNS) — Tel Aviv University’s free online cybersecurity course has been ranked the top online cybersecurity course in the world by Class Central, a website which compares reviews of online university training platforms around the world. The “Unlocking Information Security” course, which covers topics such as cryptography, security of identification systems, attacks and defenses on the internet, as well as viruses and other malware, is already in use by students in 150 countries. It was launched by professor Avishai Wool and Dan Gittik in coop...
I don’t know how many times I’ve told my children (or tried to tell them) how their mom and dad met, how we sent each other signals from a distance for months until the opportunity arose for us to introduce ourselves to each other. I was working in the back of the original Border’s Book Store in Ann Arbor and saw her and thought she was really cute, but before I could make my way up to her she was gone, and then all the students left for winter break and I had to wait weeks before another sighti...
By Mike Leven ATLANTA (JTA) — My library has the popular book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century,” in which Yuval Harari — a Jew, an Israeli and an acclaimed author — states that the Jewish people don’t have a reason to exist anymore. They’ve finished what they had come here to do by contributing to a range of fields, from philosophy and ethics to science and the arts. Harari consistently downplays the role that Jews have had in shaping the world. “Jews may be a very interesting people,” he writes, “but when you look at the big picture, you must...
DALLAS (JTA) — Before COVID-19, when my community convened every Shabbat at our synagogue, two men stood at opposite ends of the property wearing Kevlar vests and holding makeshift nylon shields. These shields covered the men’s long automatic rifles so that our community’s children wouldn’t face heavy firearms every time they ambled into services. How should I feel about those police officers standing tall in the Texas heat, and the protection they afford me, when they wear the same badge as the officer who murdered Botham Jean in his apartme...
By Steve Riback Aish Hatorah Resources I will never stand for or justify racism, illegal acts, brutality, or excessive force by police officers. Those who operate in that fashion have no business working as police officers and deserve to be held accountable for their actions. We need to set the record straight. Change can be challenging. I know because it happened to me over 17 years ago. At the time, I was living my passion as a crime-fighting police officer, yet struggling internally to find purpose. One Shabbat, the realization of how...
(JNS) — Angry mobs of activists are roaming American streets pulling down or defacing statues of historical figures. In some cases, governments and private institutions are joining their efforts by agreeing to take down examples of public art that reflect worldviews that are either now considered offensive or long gone out of fashion. Some are doing so because they’ve been intimidated by the 21st-century Jacobins who march under the banner of the Black Lives Matter movement. Others are acting out of genuine conviction that they must join in the...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, all minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) 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...
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — The bad news for Jewish community centers in the wake of the coronavirus crisis continues: One in Palo Alto has laid off about 20 percent of its staff and cut its budget by a third, while one in Foster City, located between Palo Alto and San Francisco, has cut its budget by 45 percent. Sitting on more than 8 acres in Palo Alto, the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life — which includes the Oshman Family JCC and the Moldaw Residences for retirees — has been described as a “modern eco-oas...
This is the third article in a four-part series about the Puerto Rican Jews living in Central Florida and their history. "Grito de Lares," a revolt protesting Spanish rule over Puerto Rico began on Sept. 23, 1868. The revolutionaries also sought religious freedom and the abolition of slavery. The revolt failed, but as a result and with the intent to tamp down trouble, the Spanish government granted more political autonomy to the island two years later in 1870. Today, Puerto Rico has the largest...
American Jewish food is most typically defined as pastrami sandwiches, chocolate babka or bagels and lox. But I am here to argue that the greatest American Jewish food may actually be the humble hot dog. No dish better embodies the totality of the American Jewish experience. What's that you say? You didn't know that hot dogs were a Jewish food? Well, that's part of the story, too. Sausages of many varieties have existed since antiquity. The closest relatives of the hot dog are the frankfurter...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Three of Israel's most stalwart boosters among Democrats in Congress are warning the country against annexing parts of the West Bank. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, and Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland and Robert Menendez of New Jersey released a statement Friday saying they were "compelled to express opposition to the proposed unilateral annexation of territory in the West Bank." The three senators are only the latest Democrats in Congress to warn Israel...
When will it end?... I read this in "Facts and Logic About the Middle East" written by President JAMES SINKINSON, and pass it on to you: "The coronavirus has unleashed a torrent of hate directed at Israel... creating just one more excuse for the anti-Semites to pile on. If it's not the Palestinians and Iran trying to convince the world that Israel invented Covid-19 to murder its enemies... it's misguided politicians telling Israelis they must make peace with terrorists. While we pro-Israel...
(JTA) - Last week, thousands of Jews in Israel and beyond responded to a plea for help in identifying a couple pictured in a yellowing photograph from 1955. "Everyone, I need help. I found this picture on a Tel Aviv street," Ariel Plavnik, a 43-year-old tourism salesperson from Kfar Saba, Israel, wrote in Hebrew and Spanish in a Facebook post with the photograph. "I want to return this old, beautiful photograph. If you share it, maybe we can find the owners! Thanks to all." More than 7,000...
(JNS) - For the last several weeks, habitual critics of Israeli policies, dubious self-described Israel supporters and even some longtime friends have come out against Israeli plans to "annex" parts of the West Bank. Here are their arguments: The Palestinian Authority will collapse; Israel will effectively kill the two-state solution and eventually become a minority within its own bi-national state; the peace treaty with Jordan will be rescinded; normalization with Arab Gulf states will halt;...
(JTA) - A top Justice Department official sent a letter to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio last week that claims the mayor has enforced uneven social distancing rules that "favor certain secular gatherings and disfavor religious gatherings." The letter, which was shared Tuesday by Agudath Israel, an organization representing haredi Orthodox Jews, specifically cited the mayor's focus on dispersing Jewish community gatherings. "During the period in which all gatherings were banned, you...
