Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Abigail Cable, one of AIPAC's 11 lobbyists on Capitol Hill, spoke about the Iran nuclear deal, which she characterized as "the fight of a generation," with a group of about 20 local Jewish leaders on Aug. 5 at the Jewish Community Campus in Maitland. Those in attendance included members of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando's Board of Directors, the Jewish Community Resource Center and The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The special briefing was held to encourage a...
Before this review could be written, news about The Pantry Café at Northview had already traveled to New York. The prestigious Jewish newspaper, The Forward, ran a short blurb by contributing writer Michael Kaminer in its Weekly Dish column, titled "A Muslim, a Jew and a Vegan walk into a restaurant..." which is the perfect introduction to this very new (it opened only a month ago) and very avante garde restaurant located in Northview, UCF's off-campus apartment building, located at 3925...
According to a CNN news release, Sen. Chuck Schumer, an influential Jewish Democrat who's poised to assume leadership of his party in the Senate, will oppose President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. "After deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval," Schumer wrote in a 1,600-word post on the website Medium that posted during the first Republican presidential debate. "I will vote to...
NEW YORK (JTA)—The Iran nuclear deal will pave the path to Iranian nuclear weapons whether or not Iran keeps its end of the agreement, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Iran could get to the bomb by keeping the deal, or Iran could get to the bomb by violating the deal,” Netanyahu said in an address to more than 16,000 viewers Aug. 4 during a Federation webcast on the Iran agreement, co-sponsored by Jewish Federations across North America and the member organizations of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewis...
On Aug. 4, Sen. Bill Nelson (Dem., Fla.) announced his decision on the Iranian nuclear agreement. The following are excerpt from his speech. "Unless there is an unexpected change in conditions and facts before the vote is called in September, I will support the nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (U.S., France, U.K., Russia, China, Germany) because I am convinced it will stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon for at least the next 10 to 15 years. No other available alternative...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Three top Jewish Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives came out in opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. Reps. Nita Lowey and Steve Israel, both of New York, and Ted Deutch of Florida announced their opposition on Tuesday afternoon. Lowey is the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee; Deutch is the top Democrat on the House Middle East subcommittee; and Israel until last year led the House Democratic reelection effort. They are the first leading Democrats...
(JTA)-Got questions about the Iran nuclear deal? Too bad, if you were an AIPAC activist at a briefing this week with top Obama administration officials. At the briefing Wednesday, Howard Kohr, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's director, stopped the proceedings before his activists could ask questions. Why? And what does the leak of the story mean? Did the Obama administration bigfoot AIPAC and muscle into the pro-Israel group's lobbying session only to disingenuously complain when a...
The 2015 Annual Meeting for the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando (JFGO) “will boldly go where no Annual Meeting has gone before.” The Aug. 19 event will have a “Star Trek” theme, with Jeannie Leavitt and Yeosh Bendayan commanding the starship for the evening’s festivities. What, you may ask, does a campy 1960s TV show and its countless spinoffs have to do with Judaism? Quite a bit, it turns out. From Mr. Spock’s famous “live long and prosper” Vulcan Salute (which actor Leonard Nimoy based on the Hebrew shin) to messages dealing with sacrifi...
Orlando magician, Kostya Kimlat, will appear on the Monday, Aug. 17 episode of "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" on the CW at 8 p.m. "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" is a one-hour competition series celebrating magic and featuring the legendary duo Penn & Teller. On each episode, aspiring magicians are invited to perform their best trick to try and fool one of magic's most famous pairs. A resident of Orlando, Kimlat founded See Magic Live, which trains and books magicians for events across the country. His...
The RAISE program for young adults with special needs is now accepting online applications. There will be a limited number of positions available. RAISE is also looking for volunteers willing to become Job Coaches. RAISE is a 6- to 12-month work and social skills training program offered through the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando that provides paid employment at our partnering Jewish agencies for adults with special needs. In addition, RAISE assists its employees in the transition to finding employment in the community. If you know of a...
When it comes to the deal agreed to a fortnight ago in Vienna over Iran’s nuclear program, there’s a pattern evolving that should be worrying the Obama administration: the more you know about it, the less you like it. A new opinion poll conducted by the organization I work for, The Israel Project, reveals that an increasing number of Americans are anxious about national security—after the economy, it’s the issue voters take most seriously—and that the Iran deal has exacerbated their concerns. More than 75 percent of Americans say they have...
On the surface lies and jokes may appear harmless. Many of the lies about Jews are so absurd it’s hard to imagine that anyone would believe them. But they do. Anti-Semitism and hatred for Jews are fanned by lies and jokes dating back centuries. In the 14th century, a sickening lie “Blood Libel” made the claim that Jews kill Christian children for their blood to make matzo (unleavened bread). To this day it is still circulated. Also in the 14th century Jews were blamed for poisoning wells across Europe causing the Black Plague. The Proto...
Commentators have long noted that Israel is a western outpost in the Muslim Middle East, and suffers accordingly. This note accepts such a designation, but begins with a slightly different perspective, and seeks to learn what is relevant for the here and now. The Middle East is not only Muslim, or nearly entirely Muslim. It is also the Third World. This designation has its social, economic, and political elements, irrespective of religion. Traits of Mexico are similar to those of Palestinian areas of the West Bank, Gaza, and just about...
“Rockets will fall on Tel Aviv,” President Obama warned on Aug. 4, claiming that if his Iran deal is rejected, military conflict will inevitably ensue. Mr. Obama seems to be betting that the rest of us have forgotten that Iranian rockets already fell on Tel Aviv last year. If rockets fell when there was no agreement in 2014, why should Israelis be frightened by warnings that rockets will fall if there is no agreement in 2015? There was a time, not so long ago, when Tel Aviv seemed immune from the dangers brewing in Gaza. Sure, border towns suc...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—This past month, as our attention was focused on watching the developing Iran deal, the situation in Israel has taken a deeply troubling turn. First, a woman wearing a kippah was detained by the police for attempting to worship at the Western Wall. Then David Azoulay, the haredi Orthodox minister of religious affairs from the Shas political party, called the largest movement in Judaism, Reform Judaism, “a disaster for the State of Israel.” He then followed up with an even more disturbing diatribe, saying he couldn’t even call ad...
Dear Editor: I was not surprised to read the position statement by the JFGO published in the Heritage last week. In my opinion, it basically is said nothing. While it mentioned some concerns about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), there was no definitive statement either in favor of or against the implementation of the action plan. The fear of offending anyone seems to have been the primary objective. After searching what other Federations or Jewish communities stands were, I found the JFGO’s stand to be a namby-pamby, neither h...
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 I...
By Jacob Kaplan (Jewniverse via JTA)—Jews from Denmark first arrived on the white beaches of what is now St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands—a tiny speck off the coast of Puerto Rico—in the mid-17th century. These were descendants of a Jewish population that had fled Spain for other parts of Europe during the Inquisition. St. Thomas afforded them a certain religious autonomy that wasn’t always available on the mainland. In the ensuing centuries, a Jewish community flourished in the capital city of Charlotte Amalie, which now boasts the St. Thomas...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Congress has until mid- to late September to consider whether to reject the nuclear restrictions for the sanctions rollback deal reached by Iran and six major powers on July 14. Some of the debate is over the meaning of certain provisions in the accord. Here's a breakdown of differences in how the sides interpret parts of the deal. The 24 days All sides agree that the deal has a rigorous inspections regime for Iran's known sites: "24/7" scrutiny, as President Barack Obama has...
NEW YORK (JTA)-It may be America's most iconic kosher brand, famous for its hot dogs that in the words of its unforgettable ad slogan, "answer to a higher authority." So consumers might be confused to find videos on Hebrew National's homepage suggesting they grill up their kosher franks with some bacon or halloumi cheese. Hebrew National's "Simple Summer Skewers" video serves up several unusual kebab combos, including Sweet & Spicy Halloumi (halloumi cheese, Hebrew National franks, pineapple,...
(JTA)-The Los Angeles Dodgers may never achieve the lore of their brethren in Brooklyn, but now at least they've brought a bit of Brooklyn to the West Coast-in the form of hot dogs. Earlier this week, Dodger Stadium opened its first kosher hot dog stand, Jeff's Gourmet Sausage Factory. The stand, which is open for the season's remaining home games-except for those on the Jewish Sabbath and holidays-is serving up three versions of its titular tube steak: regular and jalapeno, both $9, and sweet...
Simply outrageous... I received this update from the Simon Wiesenthal Center recently... and it literally made me feel sick. Read on: "You may not have heard about the outrageous sermon delivered at Al-Aqsa Mosque just a few weeks ago by Sheik KHALAD AL-MUGHRABI. Now Al-Mughrabi is no ordinary preacher, but a preacher at one of the holiest sites in Islam, just a stones's throw away from the Western Wall. And his sermon was so outrageous, so full of hate, that it should have made the front pages...
(JTA)—An Albuquerque, New Mexico, man who made anti-Semitic threats against the Jewish owner of a local Jewish deli pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor hate crime. John Ng, 58, pleaded guilty Aug. 6 and was sentenced to four years probation, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico. The FBI arrested Ng in March 2014 for posting threatening, anti-Semitic notes on the door of the Nosh Jewish Delicatessen and Bakery on two occasions in 2014, on Jan. 22 and Feb. 8. He was charged with “in...
For those who try to get in better touch with their Ashkenazi Jewish heritage by studying Yiddish at the college level, there are challenges-but those can be outweighed by the nakhes (pride or pleasure) of rediscovering the nearly lost language. "The most exciting thing about learning Yiddish is that it opens the door to the fascinating world of Yiddish culture that has flourished for over a thousand years and awaits explorers, researchers, translators and educators," Agi Legutko-director of...
Did jailed Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard’s actions provoke anti-Semitism in the United States? In the days leading up to the July 28 revelation that the U.S. has granted Pollard parole and that he will be released from federal prison on Nov. 20, that charge was made by former State Department counsel Abraham Sofaer. Commenting on then-unconfirmed reports that Pollard would be paroled, Sofaer—who was part of the U.S. team that investigated the Pollard affair in the 1980s—claimed Pollard “created a terrible situation for American Jews who then ob...
