Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 36
(JNS) - Agam Berger was handed a small whiteboard and a marker on the afternoon of Jan. 30, 2025, in the back of an Israeli Air Force helicopter carrying her from Gaza to Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah. Hamas terrorists had held her hostage for 482 days. Her parents sat beside her. She wrote six words in Hebrew, which roughly translate as "I chose the path of faith, and by the path of faith I returned." Beneath them, she thanked the people of Israel and the soldiers who brought her out,...
(JNS) - Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.), whom South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed to replace her late brother, Lindsey Graham, said on Thursday that she is backing measures that continue her brother's longstanding support for the Jewish state. "I stand with Israel," Graham stated. "These bills will help solidify the critical relationship between our two countries." "I truly believe we have a moral and religious duty to stand with the Jewish people and the nation of Israel to guard against...
(JNS) — The Saudi Arabian educational curriculum is now entirely free of antisemitic content, and promotes peace and coexistence, while openly presenting Islamic extremism as a threat, a study released on Monday found. The continued educational reform and unequivocal signs of moderation in the kingdom come amid a push to reach a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel during the remaining years of the Trump administration and reflect the shifting alliances in the Middle East. They stand in sharp contrast with the ongoing antisemitic i...
Submitted by Jewish Pavilion Senior Services Surgery can be challenging at any age, but research shows that older adults face a higher risk of complications both during and after surgical procedures. At the Orlando Senior Help Desk, a free community service of Jewish Pavilion Senior Services, we are committed to helping seniors and their families navigate these medical decisions with confidence and support. According to the Society for the Advancement of Geriatric Anesthesia, older adults are more sensitive to medications and anesthesia. The...
Hadassah Orlando Chapter will host its September Luncheon on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 11:30 a.m. in Maitland. The location will be available after registration. Cathy Swerdlow, Chapter president of Seminole County League of Women’s Voters will address those present on current issues related to the 2026 Election cycle. The presentation will focus on the three proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution, what they are and their implications for Florida. Swerdlow will also discuss important tips for voting, including timelines and protocols. T...
Are you grieving the loss of a spouse, partner, parent, child, sibling or other loved one? The Jewish Pavilion will host the 5-week Grief Support Group from Oct. 8 – Nov. 5, 10:30 a.m. – noon. Led by Jewish Pavilion Assistant Director Vanessa Stein, LCSW, this group explores bereavement and healing through the Jewish lens. The group will meet at Congregation Ohev Shalom, 613 Concourse Pkwy. S, Maitland. Please RSVP to the Jewish Pavilion at VanessaStein@jewishpavilion.org The is no cost for the program....
Rosh Hashanah cookie decorating Join cookie Girl Cass for a hands-on cookie decorating class where you can learn professional tips and tricks, decorating festive cookies and take home the recipe. There are two classes on Sept. 1: 10 a.m. – noon, and 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. The cost is $25 for JCC members and $36 for nonmembers. Jewish Film Festival Once again, the Jewish Film Festival will be here Nov. 7 – 9. Reviews of each film will be in the Heritage before the big event. Mahj & Mingle Come to the JCC for an evening of Mahjong and seeing frien...
S’Firot is hosting a community forum, “From Insight to Impact,” open to all members of the community. This forum is an opportunity for nonprofit leaders, healthcare providers, community organizations, funders, Jewish communal professionals, older adults, caregivers, and community members to come together to learn, connect, and discuss the future of Jewish aging in Greater Orlando. Be among the first to hear the findings from our Jewish older adults Needs Assessment and discover how these insights are informing S’firot Foundation’s grantmaki...
(JNS) — Milwaukee County executive David Crowley won an upset victory over state Assembly member Francesca Hong in the Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary after pre-election polling suggested that Hong, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, held a double-digit lead. Hong, 37, had accused Israel of “genocide” and appeared on podcasts with anti-Israel left-wing influencers, including Hasan Piker. As a state lawmaker, she introduced legislation to repeal Wisconsin’s law opposing the movement to boycott Israel and opposed...
(JNS) — A Jewish-owned Florida venue canceled a Democratic Socialists of America campaign event featuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) after learning the “full scope and nature” of the gathering, according to a statement from the venue. The Venue Fort Lauderdale stated on Thursday that it is “Jewish-owned and operated” and that its “values and commitment to the Jewish community are deeply important to us.” The Venue also cited “increased security concerns” and a review of promotional materials for the event, titled “Chomp the Oligarchy,” whi...
(JNS) — Jewish New Yorkers disapprove of Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, 66 percent to 26 percent, and 75 percent of them don’t agree with the Democratic Socialists of America, compared to 17 percent who approve of it, according to a new Siena University Poll of 811 likely gubernatorial voters in New York. The poll, which was conducted between Aug. 3 and 6, found that 43 percent of likely N.Y. gubernatorial voters, including 67 percent of Democrats, think that the state is on the right track, compared to 47 percent, including 86 per...
(JNS) — A Chabad house in Colombia was damaged in the earthquake that struck the South American country this week. There were no injuries, but the roof and walls of the building in the town of Salento, located nearly 200 miles west of Bogota, were badly damaged by the tremor. “Thank God, we emerged unscathed from the earthquake, and that is the miracle for us,” Chabad Rabbi Shmuel Friedman told JNS Wednesday. “Now we are dealing with the damage and the repairs so that we continue to be an open house to Jewish visitors from around the world....
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump urged Republican senators on Wednesday to approve legislation that would establish permanent daylight-saving time. “People are sick and tired of having to change their clocks twice a year,” Trump stated. “I am asking Republican senators to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, ASAP.” The House passed the measure 308-117 on July 14. The Senate received it the following day and referred it to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Orthodox Jewish organizations warned that later winter sunrises...
Becoming an American citizen 10 years ago was one of the most exciting and proud days in my life. It was not simply because I had fled Iran – the country of my birth – where, after becoming a Christian in 1999 I was arrested and sentenced to death for the “crime” of apostacy. Indeed, the ability to live as a Christian without daily fears of arrest or persecution, much less torture and death was life changing. I was also able to vote in a free and democratic election for the first time in my life. It’s impossible for most Americans to imagine no...
(JNS) — Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who won the Michigan Democratic Senate primary last week, accused Israel of, among other calumnies, the crime of “apartheid.” Like similar anti-Israel libels currently in vogue (e.g., “genocide,” “starvation”), the assertion that Israel is an apartheid state has no factual basis—indeed, the inverse is true. Israel isn’t just the only democracy in the Middle East and North Africa; it’s also the region’s only country that grants equal rights to all its citizens. The fact is, Israeli Arabs enjoy rights and freedoms thei...
(JNS) — “Schumer,” he would tell Jewish audiences, came from shomer, or “guardian.” And as the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in American history, he embraced the description Shomer Yisrael, a guardian of Israel and the Jewish people. It was more than a clever play on words. It became part of Schumer’s political identity. Which is why his decision to embrace Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate from Michigan, deserves more than the usual partisan shouting. JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin recently ex...
(JNS) — It is grating to hear some politicians and podcasters falsely say Israel committed “genocide” because it fought a legal and just defensive war in response to the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. It is a particularly cruel canard in light of the 6 million Jews exterminated by the Nazis in the Holocaust, which prompted the legal codification of the crime of genocide itself. The war of words against Israel began the day after Oct. 7, before Israel began its defensive war against Hamas in Gaza. Immediately, Hamas supporters...
(JNS) — California Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a likely 2028 presidential candidate, appeared on the Coleman Hughes podcast “Conversations with Coleman” on Aug. 10. He was rightly challenged on his antisemitic claim that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. The congressman’s response revealed that when faced with facts contradicting his narrative, he resorts to lies to justify his position. Hughes noted that genocide requires intent, and the facts show that once Israel got all of its hostages back in October 2025, it agreed to a ceasefire and end...
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) — Anecdotal accounts of Jews and Zionists leaving or planning to vacate New York City due to Zohran Mamdani’s anti-Israel policies and rhetoric as mayor and his softness, Jewish groups have said, on rising antisemitism have trickled out. In his first month in office, New York City recorded a 182 percent surge in Jew-hatred, compared to January 2025. Rabbis and Jewish leaders in neighboring and nearby states told JNS that the threat that Mamdani’s policies and statements pose to Jews doesn’t end at official city limits. “It’s increased t...
(JNS) - Culinary culture shock. That describes my initial feeling after relocating to the southeastern Virginia coast in July from years living in the U.S. Midwest-namely, St. Louis. If you want biscuits, this is the place. Ditto, pimento cheese and something called Brunswick stew. It involves chicken but evidently at one time used squirrel meat. My quest was simple. I just wanted a good bagel, so I posed the question to the Jewish Virginia Beach Facebook page. Two shops got consistently high...
(JNS) - For Oklahoma native Hayden Jones, antisemitism and visceral hate struck him head-on when, while walking from the House of Representatives to the Senate at the U.S. Capitol, he was spat on for wearing a yellow ribbon in solidarity with the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. The 22-year-old had grown up in a strongly pro-Israel home and later studied at a private Christian university in Tulsa and so had been largely sheltered from the surge of often violent demonstrations that...
(JNS) — Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is ordering a review of state grants to the operators of major airports in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth in the wake of an abandoned proposal to install Islamic washing machines. Abbott wrote on Friday that the state will look at the possible revocation of grants and denial of future funding to entities operating Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, referring both to the U.S. Department of Transportation for investigation. “Government-owned airports...
(JNS) — Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.), who was named to fill out the unexpired term of her late brother Lindsey Graham, advanced to a runoff in the Republican primary for a full six years in Washington, according to the Associated Press. Graham will face Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) on Aug. 27 in the special primary to choose the Republican Senate nominee, as no candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote. Lindsey Graham, one of Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress, died last month after returning from a visit to Ukraine. At press tim...
