Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Cairo intends to train 5,000 Palestinian police officers to help restore order in Gaza after the current Hamas-Israel war ends, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Wednesday. In an interview with Egyptian media, Abdelatty noted that the training has already begun and that, at this stage, hundreds of officers are participating. According to the minister, Cairo has received vetted lists of names of those currently training at military camps in Egypt, in coordination with Jordan. The aim, he said, is to ensure the officers have no...
(JNS) — A significant drop in the level of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) was recorded on Sunday following an extreme heatwave that swept through Israel last week, bringing it closer to the lower red line, Hebrew media reported. “The Sea of Galilee has lost several centimeters since the start of the severe heatwave last week,” Kinneret Department Manager at the Water Authority Firas Telhami said, according to Ynet. “The evaporation rate, especially in the last two days of the peak of the heatwav...
(JNS) — Students from 24 U.S. universities toured Israel last week as part of a program which according to its organizers would use firsthand testimonies to help counter misinformation about Israel. The students attend universities including UCLA, Duke, UC Berkeley, and the University of Michigan. On their 10-day visit, the participants of the Hasbara Fellowships and IsraelAmbassadors.com delegation met politicians, visited the grounds of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, met with a former h...
The S’firot Foundation proudly announces the appointment of Wayne Green as its inaugural executive director, signaling the launch of its mission and the beginning of its leadership and vision for the future. With a career spanning Melbourne, New York, London, and Israel, Green brings a rare blend of global philanthropic expertise, strategic acumen, and a track record of driving transformative social impact. Green is a seasoned senior executive whose career has traversed the nonprofit, g...
(JNS) — One morning in July, on a pathway atop Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, eight barefoot men lay spread-eagled, faces pressed to the ground, as four police officers stood by and watched. Just two years ago, this act — part of a mitzvah, a religious commandment known as Hishtachavaya — would have led to immediate ejection. For decades, authorities restricted Jewish prayer at the site, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the remains of the last Jewish Temple, making it one of the most sensitive and contested religious spaces on earth. Often d...
Winter Garden, FL – The WOW Chavurah is growing and thriving! Serving the Orlando southwest area, including Winter Garden, Ocoee, and Windermere. WOW was founded in 2023 by Adam Cohn and Randa Marder. The Chavurah is dedicated to building a welcoming and inclusive Jewish community through informal, lay-led Shabbat and holiday gatherings that feature music, dance, and activities for all ages. WOW offers a variety of groups to engage all members of the community: Keshet – for children aged 4–8...
Before starting your search for home health care, consider the level of assistance you need and how long you’ll require it. There are three main types of caregivers: • Personal Care Aides: These non-licensed caregivers assist with tasks like shopping, cooking, light housekeeping, transportation, and companionship. • Home Health Aides: In addition to personal care tasks, these aides monitor health and assist with daily activities like bathing and dressing. They must undergo state-specific training. • Certified Nursing Assistants: CNAs provide...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized nationwide anti-government demonstrations on Sunday, saying at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting that the results are the opposite of what they claim to want. “Those who today call for ending the war without defeating Hamas are not only hardening Hamas’s position and distancing the release of our hostages, they are also ensuring that the horrors of Oct. 7 will repeat themselves, and that we will be forced to fight a never-ending war,” Netanyahu said. “Therefore, to advance the r...
(JNS) — More than 85,000 passengers were traveling through Ben-Gurion International Airport on 500 international flights on Thursday, the highest single-day figure since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Israel Airports Authority. The numbers highlight both the resurgence of the Israeli aviation sector and the reemergence of Tel Aviv as a travel hub, even before all leading international carriers have resumed flights to Israel. Some 43,700 travelers were departing Israel on Thursday, while o...
The American real estate developer shared a message via Instagram, saying, “A state that produces such violence is one that should not exist.” Some of the comments underneath the post echoed Hadid’s message. “End Zionism and restore world peace!!!” one commenter wrote. “Yes exactly this. From the river to the sea Palestine will be free,” another person said. “I couldn’t agree more! Zioni$m needs to be dismantled for good!” a third wrote. Hadid, 76, has been vocal regarding his anti-Israel views. He was born in Nazareth in 1948, shortly befor...
(JNS) — The U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing the death penalty and hate crime charges against Elias Rodriguez, who it accuses of shooting and killing two Israeli embassy staffers as they left an event at a Jewish museum in Washington in May, CNN reported. “The charges, if approved by a grand jury, would position the case as a centerpiece of the Trump Justice Department’s fervent approaches toward both violent crime and targeted hate against the Jewish community,” per CNN. The news organization said it sought comment from the Justice...
(JNS) — The long-running reality show “Survivor” is built on a simple, but ruthless premise: Outwit. Outlast. Outplay. In the end, the one who adapts, strategizes and executes wins. It’s not about who complains the loudest, writes the nicest letters or manages the most polite meetings, it’s about who has the will and the skill to take the prize. That’s not just a television concept. It’s the formula the Jewish people must embrace right now. We live during a time when antisemitism is not only resurgent but mainstream at a pace we have not seen...
(JNS) — From the “Israel is starving Gazans” hoax to the “settler violence” hoax, Hamas and other terrorist groups are playing Jewish leaders like a fiddle. And the Jewish community is paying for it. The impact of Hamas propaganda is on full display in “A protest letter to PM Netanyahu from world Jewry,” signed by more than 5,000 people, including “leaders of world Jewry from 20 countries.” The letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “facilitated” by the London Initiative Action Group. Signatories include philanthropists such...
Traditionally, international diplomacy was conducted with a semblance of integrity, logic, truthfulness and sincerity. Diplomatic discussions and other interactions between and among nations was conducted in a formal, serious, thoughtful manner. Even when diplomatic treachery was the goal, a facade of adhering to these qualities was attempted. News and other media reporting on the affairs of nations, historically also followed these professional characteristics to a large extent. More often than not, critical-issue diplomacy, such as...
(JNS) — Since its establishment, life in Israel has resembled a grim trade-off. In return for the right to live as Jews in the one and only Jewish state, we have been expected to surrender something far more basic, our right to live in safety. From birth, Israelis enter into an unspoken agreement, one that demands we normalize existential threats. We are told it was our fate. That there is no alternative. That is the cost of living in the Jewish homeland. And so, we become desensitized. A stabbing in a supermarket parking lot no longer s...
(JNS) — Here’s a question that I’ve heard posed on occasion, often from rabbis on Friday evenings: How did our people, displaced from our homeland for two millennia, scattered to the winds, maintain their inherent, recognizable, collective Jewishness? Was it the mamaloshen of Yiddish? Or keeping Shabbat (inevitably, the rabbis’ favorite answer)? Or perhaps even direct influence from Hashem, confirming once again that we are chosen? All of these are worthy options and likely played a role in our survival as a people. And yet, cynic that I am, I...
(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...
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., 407-647-30...
(JNS) — In video footage screened for the first time at a rally in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, Hamas hostage Matan Zangauker appealed to family and friends to increase their efforts to secure his release. “To all my acquaintances, all my friends, go out and make noise as only you know how, and with God’s help we will see each other soon,” he said. Zangauker, who was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, said that he missed his mother, sister and girlfriend, adding that “God willing” they would be re...
"Together We're Stronger!" As the director of the Jewish National Fund-USA in Orlando, and in his role as the president of the growing Orlando Jewish Chamber of Commerce, he has a fervent belief that together we are stronger. With the rise in antisemitism and the tragedy that occurred on Oct. 7th, Shames believes that today, more than ever, we must come together in our Jewish community for this one important common-sense reason. That's why Shames is working diligently to coordinate the...
(JNS) — In a quiet room at Israel’s soon-to-be inaugurated October 7 Museum, Mosab Hassan Yousef—the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef who is known as “The Green Prince”—looked at the evidence of Hamas’s atrocities and spoke the truth that too many still refuse to hear: “Hamas is not just at war with Israel. It is at war with Jews, Christians and the very foundations of civilization itself.” Yousef knows this from the inside. Raised in a home steeped in Hamas ideology, he was taught from childhood that Jews must be killed, Christians...
(JNS) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered Israeli assistance with Iran’s water woes once its people shake off the tyrannical regime in Tehran. “The thirst for water in Iran is only matched by the thirst for freedom,” the premier said in a nearly 5-minute video address to the Iranian people published on Tuesday. Speaking from Jerusalem, he detailed what the Jewish state could bring the “moment” that the regime is toppled and freedom is achieved: “Israel’s top water experts will flood into every Iranian city bringing cutting-edge te...
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. Sitting in his backyard in the crisp nighttime air at Mount Hebron, overlooking the holy city of Hebron, Meir Dana-Picard, 45, feels at home. After...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - Millions of Israelis were expected to participate in a nationwide strike on Sunday for the return of the remaining 50 hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, who have endured 681 days in appalling conditions. Major corporations, institutions, businesses and government authorities have confirmed they will permit employees to participate. During a 7:10 a.m. press conference, hostages' families issued urgent appeals for public participation in street demonstrations and work...
Israel’s security cabinet has endorsed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to expand fighting in Gaza, despite warnings from military leaders and others that doing so would put soldiers and hostages at risk. The plan approved early Friday morning does not specify that Israel will “occupy” Gaza, as Netanyahu said shortly before entering the marathon meeting that he intended to do. Instead, it focuses on Gaza City, the largest area within Gaza where the Israeli army does not already operate on the ground. The IDF says it has conquer...
