Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday was preparing for a "week of fighting" against Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, as terrorists in the enclave fired over 1000 rockets at the Jewish state within 48 hours. The IDF said that the Iron Dome missile defense system had successfully intercepted 95 percent of the projectiles fired by PIJ that were headed for populated regions. One projectile struck a family home in Sderot, whose inhabitants had secured themselves in a shelter and were...
(JTA) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ratcheted up the fight over the state's new 15-week abortion ban Thursday when he suspended a Tampa-area state attorney who had vowed not to prosecute violations. The move also vaulted yet another Jewish figure into the fight's foreground. Andrew Warren, the state attorney for Hillsborough County, had joined more than 90 other attorneys nationwide in pledging not to prosecute individuals who seek or provide abortions in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's...
Congregation Ohev Shalom is extremely excited to announce the arrival of its new spiritual leader, Rabbi Geoffrey Spector. Rabbi Geoffrey Spector from Livingston, N.J., where he was the senior rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston for 17 years. Prior to that, he served as the spiritual leader of Shir Chadash Conservative Congregation in Metairie, Louisiana. Rabbi Spector is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in Jewish Studies. He received his rabbinical ordination...
Terrorists in the Gaza Strip on Sunday night fired heavy barrages of rockets at southern and central Israel, including at Tel Aviv, ahead of an Egypt-mediated ceasefire between the sides that was slated to come into effect at 11:30 p.m. local time. Just eight minutes after the ceasefire took effect, Islamic Jihad terrorists fired more rockets at southern Israeli communities. Since then, the ceasefire seems to be holding as Israelis are experiencing much needed quiet. According to several media reports, the Israeli government had agreed to an...
Summer weather can pose special health risks to older adults and people with chronic medical conditions. Hyperthermia is caused by a failure of the heat-regulating mechanisms of the body. Heat fatigue, heat syncope (sudden dizziness after prolonged exposure to the heat), heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke are forms of hyperthermia. Older adults are at risk for these conditions, and this risk can increase with the combination of higher temperature, individual lifestyle and general health. Lifestyle Risks: Seniors seldom drink enough...
Try putting down the phone and turning off the TV during mealtimes. Not only will it help you enjoy your meal more and engage fully with your friends and loved ones, but it will also give you the room to focus on the sensory experience of eating. Listen to your body. Notice when you start to feel full and how certain foods make you feel, whether they add or subtract from your overall wellness. Caring for your wellness and health can take many forms. We can help. From counseling to our food...
Founder and Director Loren London and Director of Employment and Education Rachel Slavkin have been busy during these summer months promoting RAISE (Recognizing Abilities and Inclusion of Special Employees). They are actively expanding to South Orlando this year and look forward to having a RAISE presence there soon. The expansion is not only to South Orlando. They are continuing to launch ‘RAISE on the Road’ in order to replicate the RAISE program model in other Jewish communities. London and Slavkin have met with leaders in interested cit...
(JTA) — The chair of a county Democratic Party in Michigan apologized after the group made a social media post reading “Zionists have no place in office,” apparently meant to support a member of Congress, Rep. Andy Levin, who identifies as a Zionist. Washtenaw County Democratic Party chair Chris Savage issued an apology Saturday for the TikTok post, which was sent Friday by the @WashtenawDems account and referenced the millions of dollars’ worth of pro-Israel money that has flowed into Michigan’s 11th District primary. The race, a redistric...
(JNS) — Despite repeated refrains by Biden administration officials that negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal cannot go on indefinitely, which the U.S. president himself reiterated during the Israel leg of his Middle East trip in mid-July, Washington has refused to set a deadline for ending talks even though they appear to be on life support and are possibly unsalvagable given Tehran’s recent claims that it could easily build a bomb. Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Dem...
(JNS) — Attempts at mediation in the lawsuit filed by the board of ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry’s against its parent company Unilever for transferring the rights to produce its ice-cream in Israel to an Israeli distributor have failed. According to the New York Post, an attorney from Ben & Jerry’s wrote a letter to U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter asking to restore the company’s request for a preliminary injunction, as no agreement could be reached between the two sides to settle the case out of court. Another letter, from attorneys represe...
I can’t count the number of pastors who had confided in me about issues relating to modesty in their churches. Many will tell me how distraught they are when they see their members out at the mall or in some other setting, dressed in ways that would never correspond to the religious values they espouse. Some of them even tell me that this is an uphill battle in their own churches. Most confide in me as a friend, and as an Orthodox Jew aware that Jewish tradition places a high value on modesty. I am also “safe” to have these conversations with...
After too much time reading the news, I recently felt the need for a pick-me-up. But little did I dream that it would come in the form of an extensively researched 10,000-word article in the very left-wing outlet The Intercept. After Democrats won the trifecta — the presidency, House, and Senate — reports Ryan Grim, the advocacy organizations that form the party’s ideological infrastructure ceased to function. That’s the good news. The reason for that paralysis is enough to make one fall on the floor laughing: No one can work with the young ...
Making friends is an important part of human development, human experience and ultimately human happiness. It begins in very early childhood. Some children are born with personalities that are naturally gregarious, and other children suffer shyness from a very early age. In most cases children outgrow their shyness, but sometimes it lingers into adolescence and even into a lifelong impediment to making friends. New parents and grandparents, who joyfully cannot keep their eyes off the new arrival, search for hints of personality. They do so...
(JNS) — The free world is at risk from the unsanctioned development of nuclear weapons by a rogue state. Nuclear missiles in the hands of an unstable regime with deep ties to terrorist groups present a supreme danger to the civilian public back home, so there is no choice but to respond. One of the world’s most legendary air forces must turn to its experienced flyers to train its rising generation of top pilots and personnel for a high-risk mission, requiring all of their skill and from which they might not return: a bombing run on the rog...
(JNS) — It’s summertime! For most children, that means campfires, nature hikes and outdoor games like “Capture the Flag.” For kids in the regions governed by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, it means weapons training, skits in which the children pretend to kidnap and murder Jews, and lectures on the importance of destroying Israel. Hillary Clinton once called it “Palestinian child abuse.” One glance at the campers’ daily schedule explains why. The Central Hebron branch of Fatah, the major faction of the P.A., has posted on its website d...
(JNS) — As Iran’s nuclear program continues apace, the debate in Israel and abroad has focused almost exclusively on the likelihood of an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Little if anything has been said, at least in public, regarding the possibility that Iran might preempt a potential Israeli offensive. The absence of this scenario in the public discourse is apparently related to a tacit assumption that Iran has no incentive to launch such an attack as long as its nuclear progress remains on track and uninterrupted. Moreo...
MORNING MINYANS 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. Congregation Ohev Shalom — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-298-4650. GOBOR Community Minyan at Jewish Academy...
(JTA) – AIPAC marked its second major defeat of the Democratic primary cycle this week, as one of the two Democratic House candidates in the Detroit area that it backed failed to win his Tuesday primary. Michigan state Sen. Adam Hollier had more than $4 million spent on his behalf by AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, before narrowly losing his primary battle for Michigan’s 13th district to state Rep. Shri Thanedar. With about 68 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, Thanedar was leading Hollier by five percentage point...
PONTIAC, Michigan (JTA) — A Jewish political dynasty’s four-decade run in Congress has come to an end after Rep. Andy Levin conceded to Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s 11th congressional district Tuesday. Stevens’ decisive win concluded a bank-busting primary that attracted more than $4 million in pro-Israel outside spending to a face-off between two incumbents in the Detroit suburbs. “She ran a strong campaign,” Levin told his supporters. “My hat’s off to her.” He pledged to support Stevens in the general election. In his concession speech...
Eichmann claimed he was bureaucrat following orders. Recently released transcripts of conversations he had with a Nazi journalist show Eichmann boasting of his significant role in executing the Final Solution. These are the bone chilling words of Adolf Eichmann, the driving force behind the Nazis' "Final Solution to the Jewish Question," and architect of the murder of millions of Jews: "Every fiber in me resists that we did something wrong. I must tell you honestly, had we killed 10.3 million...
On Aug. 3 Jewish Funeral Group launched OrlandoJewishFunerals.com in partnership with Allen J. Harden Funeral Home, a StoneMor, Inc. property. The interactive resource provides comprehensive support, education, and information for those planning or searching for funeral services to understand and choose traditions and rituals appropriate for them. With a Jewish population of more than 50,000 in the Greater Orlando area, OrlandoJewishFunerals.com is the go-to resource for families in need of funeral and burial planning services and information....
I'm not funny looking! (Or maybe I am!) ... There are and were so many famous comedians in the Jewish community. (I am aware there were and still are many Jew-haters.) I repeat... "Laughter is the best medicine!" When life is rough, laughter gets us through. (And life was always rough.) Maybe that's why I try to think funny...and act funny...and look funny! And speaking of funny ... Mendel Berlinger comes to mind. You knew him as Milton Berle, of course. His career as an entertainer spanned over...
(JNS) — It was extraordinary to be among the more than 10,000 competitors overall, and one of more than 1,200 members of the U.S. team, at the Maccabiah games that just ended in Israel. Maccabiah divides competitors into age groups. I made the team for tennis players 55 and older (age groups begin at 35+ and are in five-year increments up to 80 and above). I was world ranked 736 in 1986 in singles, after playing Division One college tennis, but that was more than 35 years ago. Making the team and marching into the stadium with all the other a...
(JNS) - British Jewish actor David Warner died on Sunday at the age of 80 from "a cancer-related illness," his family confirmed to the BBC. During his long-spanning acting career, Warner-whose father was Russian and Jewish-often took on villainous roles, including in the 1978 film "The Thirty-Nine Steps" and "Time Bandits" in 1981. He played the villainous Spicer Lovejoy in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster "Titanic" and starred in several "Star Trek" movies, "The Omen" and "Tron." He most...
(JNS) — The White House’s liaison to the Jewish community Chanan Weissman announced on Wednesday that he was stepping down from the role. In a news release from the White House, Weissman wrote that he was transitioning to a new role in the U.S. State Department and said farewell as point person for the last year. “I am honored beyond words to have served in this capacity on behalf of an administration I so deeply admire and as a link to a community with whom I so deeply identify,” he wrote. “As I wrap up my time, I’m excited to hand over the ba...
