Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — Dramatic evidence was produced this week to illustrate the hijacking of the Western media by Hamas in its attempt to turn Israel into the pariah of the world and accelerate the destruction of the Jewish state. The German publications Bild and Süddeutsche Zeitung revealed that Western media outlets had been publishing images purporting to be of starving Gazans but which were in fact staged and manipulated by Hamas as part of its propaganda offensive to blacken Israel’s name. Bild show...
Teens entering grades 9-12 are encouraged to join their local Orlando chapter of HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir, conducted by Eric Levine, for a rewarding combination of music, culture, leadership and friendship. Rehearsals for the 2025-2026 season begin in late August, culminating in a gala performance at the new David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in NYC next spring with hundreds of HaZamir singers from across the U.S. and Israel. For more information contact...
Heritage Florida Jewish News writers Stan Roberts, Ed Borowsky and Marilyn Shapiro were winners this year in the Florida Press Association’s annual Weekly Newspaper Contest. Marilyn Shapiro took the First-Place award in the Humorous column category for her delightful story “The saga of the Looney Tunes glasses,” July 5, 2024. With her lighthearted wit, Shapiro shared about her “dowry” — you know, “those assets of the wife which she of her own free will entrusts to her husband’s responsibility,...
Eric M. Robbins is Shalom Orlando's new temporary CEO. Robbins has more than 30 years of executive leadership experience and more than $200 million of proven fundraising success for JCCs, Federations, and other Jewish agencies. Robbins took his position on Aug. 11. Robbins comes to Orlando from Atlanta, where he served as president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. He was named a Most Admired CEO by the Atlanta Business Chronicle multiple times and was the 2019 Georgia State...
In today’s fast-paced world, multitasking is often seen as a skill, but it can reduce productivity and cause mental fatigue. At Jewish Pavilion Senior Services, we encourage seniors to embrace monotasking — focusing on one task at a time for better results. What Is monotasking? Monotasking is the opposite of multitasking. It involves giving your full attention to one activity, which helps the brain function more efficiently. Switching between tasks can cause mental fatigue and mistakes due to “cognitive switching,” where the brain needs time to...
During the last school year, the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center reached thousands of students and educators. Thousands of students visited the museum on field trips, with many calling the experience “moving,” eye-opening,” and “essential.” The Upstanders program reached over 3,200 middle schoolers, inspiring them to stand up against bullying and injustice in their daily lives. Nearly 250 students participated in the White Rose Essay Contest, digging deep into the stories of women during the Holocaust and sharing their reflectio...
On Sunday, Sept. 14, Temple Israel will present Osteostrong, an interactive in-person program designed to help improve bone strength, balance and overall health in a safe and simple way. Guest speaker Cheree Burgess, a small business owner, will introduce attendees to Osteostrong, a membership-based wellness center that focuses on musculoskeletal strengthening through a program called osteogenic loading. Attendees will learn about the special machines that use gentle, controlled movements to naturally trigger your body to build stronger bones...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Sunday that Israel does not seek to stay in Gaza, but to replace the Hamas regime with an expanded mialitary operation, and insisted that was the best way to bring the war to a speedy conclusion. “Our goal is not to occupy Gaza but to free Gaza,” Netanyahu said at a press conference for foreign media. “But no one is going to go in there unless we finish the job and finish Hamas.” He noted that Hamas still has thousands of armed terrorists after nearly two years of war in about a q...
(JNS) — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) urged Israel to achieve decisive victory over Hamas, saying the Jewish state should “annihilate” the terrorist group and rebuild Gaza like the United States did in the aftermath of World War II with Germany and Japan. “I can’t believe we’re having a discussion about how to fight a war against people who want to destroy you as a people, the Israeli people,” Graham told CBS News’ “Meet the Press” when asked who should run the Gaza Strip if Israel gains complete military control there. “So [Israel] will t...
(JNS) — In a world first, Israeli researchers have grown human kidney organoids — a synthetic 3D organ culture — from tissue stem cells in the laboratory mirroring human fetal kidney development, Tel Aviv University announced on Wednesday. The breakthrough allowing researchers to see the development of the organ in real time, isolate genes that lead to birth defects, develop new treatments in the field of regenerative medicine, and test the toxicity of drugs during pregnancy on fetal kidneys. The synthetic kidney grew and developed over six m...
(JNS) — Jewish sages in Late Antiquity were actively involved in the robust wine culture of the Roman-Byzantine world, according to an Israeli study released on Wednesday. The University of Haifa research reveals rabbinic familiarity with vine cultivation, and the integration of Jewish law into the broader agricultural traditions of the time. “The sages’ rulings were not detached from the realities in which they lived,” said Haifa University’s Shulamit Miller, a co-author of the study. “On the contrary, they reflect an intimate familiarity...
My mother used to tell a story about how when she was in college, she believed that she had a professor who liked her so much that her papers were never checked but just given an “A” automatically. Of course, that’s a better problem than a teacher automatically failing a student without looking at their work, but it bothered her all the same. To prove it, one day she submitted a paper having inserted a full type-written page from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” in the middle. The teacher didn’t look, and my mother got an A. I learned from...
Recently, Hamas released horrific videos depicting two Israeli hostages, Evytar David and Rom Braslavski, who have now been held in captivity in inhuman conditions for more than 670 days. One particularly harrowing video shows David, visibly emaciated, being forced to dig what appears to be his own grave in a Hamas tunnel beneath Gaza. These images evoke painful historical parallels to the Holocaust and the brutal conditions of Nazi concentration camps. Jews were rounded up throughout Europe and forced to dig their own graves before they were...
(JNS) — As reports grow more harrowing of Israeli hostages starved, emaciated and forced to dig their own graves, the painful truth must be confronted: The “Bring Them Home Now” campaign has not only failed to free our people; it has served to entrench their suffering. What began as a unifying cry of anguish transformed into a moral and strategic disaster. The campaign’s well-intentioned, emotionally driven message quickly lost sight of the enemy — Hamas — and turned its fury inward, at the Israeli government. By doing so, it handed Hama...
(JNS) — Following the decision in late May 2024, when Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognized a Palestinian state in “an attempt to refocus attention on efforts to find a political solution to the war in the Middle East,” more countries have recently joined the bandwagon. French President Emmanuel Macron has declared so, but he is waiting for the U.N. Security Council in September. France will be “true to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.” Likewise, Britain’s Prime Minister, Keith Starmer, co...
(JNS) — Let’s be honest: Benjamin Netanyahu is not everyone’s favorite politician. That’s fair. Debate over policy, leadership and politics is healthy in any democracy, including Israel’s. But there comes a point in times of war when internal disagreements must be set aside. Because this war is not about Bibi. It is about Israel’s survival. And the Jewish people, especially American Jews, must not let personality distract from principle. Since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has faced a military, moral and psychologic...
MORNING 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 of Orlando — Monday – Friday, 7:45 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Temple Israel — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-647-3...
(JNS) — Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, stated on Aug. 1 that the Jewish state is guilty of the “mass starvation of innocent civilians” and of inflicting “heartbreaking and inexcusable” trauma on children and families. The word “Hamas” appeared nowhere in her LinkedIn post, titled “Thoughts and updates: standing in solidarity with Palestine.” “As you all know, Teach for Palestine, our network partner operating in the West Bank, is continuing its vital work despite escalating violence, severe restrictions on fundamental freedom...
Berger Family gift to Chabad: The Torah that escaped destruction twice By Stan Roberts When Jacquelyn Berger, Ph.D., along with her son Jeffrey and his family and daughter Marni Stahlman and her family, expressed a desire to acquire a Torah with a history of Jewish survival for Chabad of Greater Orlando, little did they dream their search would uncover a Torah buried by a rabbi to prevent its inevitable destruction by Nazis in the darkest days of the Holocaust. Dr. Berger feels that donating...
Part 3 of a series In recognition of 20 years since the Gaza pullout, JNS is featuring a five-part series of articles reflecting Israel's disengagement, speaking with an array of former Gush Katif residents to find out how they perceive the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Trump plan for the Gaza Strip and the prospect of returning. Bryna Hilburg, a symbol of the bereaved families of Gush Katif, talked to JNS about the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and...
Mix by hand. 3 cups old fashioned oats, not quick or steel oats, 1 cup flour, 3/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. baking soda 4 T. butter melted and slightly browned watch carefully. This add a caramel flavor to the cookie. 1/4 cup oil 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 3/4 cup dark brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1 egg 1 yolk 1 tsp. vanilla This makes a stiff dough. Mix all of the above. 1/2 cup raisins and 1 cup chopped nuts are optional. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Mound 3 T. per cookie. Flatten cookies with...
(JNS) - A night of speeches ended in dance. By design, nearly 2,000 teenage Jewish athletes at the JCC Maccabi Campus Games fulfilled the promise of former hostage Mia Schem, who, upon release from Hamas captivity, declared: "We will dance again." Those words, which Schem inked on her arm with the date Oct. 7, 2023, were referenced by social-media influencer Montana Tucker during her address to attendees of the Opening Ceremonies of the JCC Maccabi Campus Games. "From the Maccabees who fought...
Over 130 years after he stood trial for espionage, Jewish Captain Alfred Dreyfus made headlines last month when French President Emmanuel Macron declared July 12 the date the country would remember him and the antisemitism that led to his imprisonment. This presidential declaration follows on the unanimous vote of France’s National Assembly that agreed to raise his rank to brigadier general. These long overdue acts should also spur Americans to reflect on what happens when Jews become the b...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t want Israel to govern Gaza permanently, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) told JNS, amid reports that Netanyahu is considering a wider military operation in the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave. Gottheimer, who was part of a bipartisan congressional delegation to the Jewish state that met with Netanyahu on Wednesday, said that Israel is focused on defeating the terrorist group. “We talked about it as the ultimate goal of ensuring that we crush Hamas, and we can’t have leadership and governa...
