Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - Since 2006, U.S. presidents have issued proclamations in recognition of the contributions Jewish people have made to the growth and success of the United States. Jewish American Heritage Month, celebrated in May, was again acknowledged this year. In his May 4 proclamation, U.S. President Donald Trump included the following tribute: On July 4, which will mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we will pay homage to the brave actions taken by 56 delegates who...
(JNS) - Israel, Lebanon and the United States signed a framework agreement and security annex on Friday aimed at removing the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group from southern Lebanon and laying the groundwork for broader political cooperation between the neighboring countries. "It's the beginning of the beginning. There's a lot of work ahead," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the signing ceremony. In a later statement, he called it "a bold decision" of Israel and Lebanon to...
Dubbed “Hitmaking Titan of the Music Industry” by the NY Times, Clive Jay Davis, died at his home in Manhattan on June 22, 2026, at the age of 94. He had been hospitalized with respiratory problems shortly before his death. Davis was a leader at labels like Columbia, RCA, J, BMG, and Arista, which he founded in 1974. Artists like Aretha Franklin; Barry Manilow; Billy Joel; Carlos Santana; Chicago; Earth, Wind and Fire; Aerosmith; Bruce Springsteen; Whitney Houston; Pink Floyd; Sly and the Fam...
(JNS) - Mosab Hassan Yousef, a former Hamas member known as "the Green Prince" leveled on Tuesday scathing criticism at President Donald Trump's decision to pause the joint Israel-U.S. operation against Iran. "We could have finished the job. You stopped. You don't know what the hell you are doing. Total arrogance. Then when you came to the picture, you dragged us into this rabbit hole. And now you're throwing us under the bus," Yousef, son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, said during a...
I recently watched Ancient Skies, a PBS documentary about ancient Babylonia, and wondered: where did this ancient world of sky-watching, calculation, and record-keeping intersect with the story of the Jews exiled from Jerusalem to Babylonia? More than 2,600 years ago, Babylonia was one of the great centers of astronomy, mathematics, record-keeping, and administration in the ancient world. Its achievements are especially striking because they came before telescopes, clocks, calculators, computers, or printed books. Babylonian scholars watched...
Submitted by the Jewish Pavilion Senior Services At Jewish Pavilion Senior Services, we are seeing something remarkable: older adults, especially those in their 80s, are redefining what it means to age. This stage of life is no longer about slowing down or settling. It is about living with intention, clarity, and a strong sense of what truly matters. Today’s seniors are no longer apologizing for their preferences. They are embracing them. A comfortable chair isn’t a luxury; it’s essential. Time with meaningful friends is prioritized over packe... Full story
(JNS) — Iran has no plans to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit nuclear sites targeted during the recent war, a spokesman for its foreign ministry said on Tuesday, a day after U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Tehran had agreed to do so. “We neither had a meeting with the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, nor do we have any plans for the agency to inspect Iran’s nuclear facilities that were damaged as a result of the military aggression by the United States and the Zionist regime,” spokesp...
(JNS) — More than 700 rabbis from across the United States have signed an open letter urging New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to apologize for referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee as “monsters,” arguing that the rhetoric endangers American Jews. The appeal came as a new poll found that most Jewish New Yorkers believe the normalization of anti-Zionism is fueling antisemitism in the city. Among the signatories are 176 rabbis from New York, 96 from New Jersey, 76 from California and 53 from Florida, along with hundr...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that there is “no room for two states” between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, arguing the war created broad public consensus against creating a Palestinian state. “Before the war, the public was divided: although in my opinion most of the public was against it, a significant portion was in favor. I think that has changed,” Netanyahu told reporters, answering a question at a press conference in Jerusalem on Saturday night. “That is a basis for agreement,...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on June 17 marked the death of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the former leader of the Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty, who died in 1994 at the age of 92. “On the [Hebrew date of] 3rd of Tammuz, I miss the Rebbe of Lubavitch—a towering spiritual leader who saw in every Jew a mission, faith, and infinite strength,” Netanyahu tweeted. “The light in his eyes, his love for the people of Israel, and his call never to despair continue to illuminate our path to this day. I will always remember my moments w...
(JNS) — Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday sharply rebuked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after he accused “Zionism” of threatening Turkey’s survival, calling the Turkish leader a “dictator” who persecutes opponents and backs jihadist groups. In a post on X, the ministry said that Erdoğan, who “persecutes political opponents, imprisons journalists, massacres Kurds, occupies the territory of Cyprus and backs jihadist groups is now attacking the Middle East’s only democracy,” adding that Israel had “extended its hand in peace to Le...
(JNS) — American businessman Ronald S. Lauder stood at The Jerusalem Post conference in New York earlier this month and said what many have been saying for years. Since Oct. 7, Jewish organizations in the United States have spent more than $600 million fighting antisemitism through advertising, media campaigns and public messaging. “Has it helped?” he asked the room. “Has all that money stopped or even slowed down the hatred against us? The answer is no.” He’s right. And he’s not the first person to say it. In the mid-1990s, marketing con...
(JNS) — Extreme socialism is now on the march in America, with the demonization of Israel as the principal weapon in its arsenal. Claire Valdez, Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier, three extremists backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, emerged victorious this week from their Democratic primaries in New York City’s 7th, 10th and 17th congressional districts. Valdez and Chevalier are affiliated with the ultra-left, anti-American Democratic Socialists of America. On social media, Valdez has boasted of having “wiped my hand on the Ameri...
(JNS) — With the approach of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States on July 4, it’s important to reaffirm some basic truths. Mike Huckabee, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, summarized it well in his pithy remark: “Without Israel, without the Jewish foundation, there would not be an America.” This is true in terms of Jewish thought, blood and treasure. Jewish merchants and shippers supplied the Continental Army with sorely needed goods a...
(JNS) — I grew up inside a political machine. My father and friends ran the Brooklyn, N.Y., reformers love to denounce. In 2010, when a group calling itself the New Kings Democrats came to tear that machine down, I was one of the people defending it. I know what a machine looks like from the inside. I know how it rewards loyalty, protects its own and decides races before the voters ever do. The insurgents had a case, and parts of it were true. Machines grow comfortable. They get closed and self-dealing and certain of their own permanence. T...
Dear Editor: The following can be sung to the tune of “Where have all the flowers gone.” Where have all the Jews gone, from a long time ago? No more Jerry Bornsteins, no more Hy Lakes, no more Bill Goodmans. From long time ago … No more Norman Rossmans, no more Dick Weiners or Bob Weinriches From long time ago… No more Dorothy Morrells, no more Marlene Rossmans or Gloria Goodmans From long time ago … No more Lester Mandels or Bob Yarmuths from long time ago … With well over 30,000 Jewish people living in Central Florida — the Greater Orlan...
MORNING MINYANS Chabad of Altamonte Springs — Sunday morning minyan, 8 a.m. Weekday morning minyan 6:30 a.m., 407-720-8111. 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...
(JNS) — Twin earthquakes in Venezuela on Wednesday killed at least 32 people and injured more than 700, prompting a nationwide state of emergency. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said the back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes struck shortly after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24, collapsing buildings and damaging communities across several states. She warned that the death toll is expected to rise as rescuers comb rubble in the hardest-hit coastal state of La Guaira, north of Caracas. Authorities reported extensive damage in the capital, wh...
(JNS) - With antisemitism rising around the world, Israel's Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli called for arming Jewish community guards with firearms during a discussion at the 2026 JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem on Tuesday. The minister stressed the importance of allowing the security forces of Jewish communities in the Diaspora to carry real weapons. "What is the meaning of armed security if they can't prevent horrific incidents?" Chikli...
No Churn Ice Cream for a Fun Summer Project Cooking with your kids, even if they make messes, helps them to feel the satisfaction of creating something and feel success. The ingredients are simple and the process is easy. 2 cups cold heavy cream (It is best to not to buy ultra pasteurized cream.) 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) 1/4 tsp. salt 1 tsp. vanilla Pour cream into a blender or bowl. Add salt and vanilla. Beat or use blender to whip cream to stiff peaks, about...
(JNS) — Five Jewish American soldiers killed in World War I received new headstones bearing Stars of David at France’s Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery on June 2, replacing Latin crosses that had marked their graves for more than a century. The American Battle Monuments Commission made the changes in coordination with Operation Benjamin, a nonprofit that works to identify Jewish U.S. service members buried under incorrect religious markers. The marker replacements of the soldiers—Pvt. Samue...
(JNS) — The nation of France honored historian Marc Bloch on Tuesday with interment in the Panthéon in Paris in a ceremony led by French President Emmanuel Macron. A French Jewish academic, who helped found the Annales school of historiography, Bloch is perhaps best remembered today for his wartime heroism as a member of the French Resistance whom the Nazis captured, tortured and executed in 1944. Caskets for Bloch and his wife containing the historian’s medals and photographs of the couple were buried with military honors in the presence of h...
Submitted by the family This is not an obituary. It’s an instruction manual. Philip Sheldon Brown was born in Brooklyn, New York, in June of 1948. He died June 24, 2026, in Altamonte Springs, Florida surrounded by his loving family. He was an aerospace engineer, but that was just a job. His family strongly suspects that he was a Lamed Vavnik. In Judaism, Lamed Vavniks are the 36 people who are so righteous that the entire world is sustained for their sake. They walk among us and do not know w... Full story
It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Jerry Kurland, a beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend. Jerry lived a life marked by vision, creativity, determination, and a deep devotion to his family. Born in Montreal, Canada, on Oct. 10, 1933, Jerry built a remarkable life defined by both professional accomplishment and personal warmth. He married the love of his life, June, in Ottawa, and together they shared 62 wonderful years of marriage. Their... Full story
