Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - Acting Consul General of Israel in New York Israel Nitzan and the Port Authority Police Department gathered at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday to mark the Jewish calendar's 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and its victims. "That tragic and devastating day was an attack on the free world, democracy and the values we all hold so dear," said Nitzan at the event. "As terror and suffering continue to grow in this world, Israel and...
The Arava Desert in Israel's south is "abuzz" with activity - and it is all thanks to one important six-legged critter: the humble honeybee. In a world where scientists acknowledge the important role bees play in our ecosystem yet worry about their dwindling numbers, farmers in Israel's Arava Desert are working to grow bee colonies – and they are already achieving some very "sweet" results. You would not expect to find a bee colony in the middle of a desert, yet the bees at Porat Farm in Ein Yah...
(JNS) — Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America has picked a veteran Jewish and nonprofit communal leader as its new CEO. Naomi Adler, most recently the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, will assume her new position on Tuesday. She replaces Janice Weinman, who retired at the end of June. “Hadassah’s ability to assemble and engage a diverse membership is second to none,” said Adler, who also led two different United Way organizations in New York. “Whether it’s advancing Zionism, fighting anti...
Shana Tova! Join Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando (JFS Orlando) in celebrating the Jewish New Year by raising hope through tzedakah (charity). During the Hope Challenge, from September 1st through October 6th, $0.50 of each $1 donated to JFS Orlando will be generously matched by The Pearlman Family, with a total match up to $10,000. Your donation could...provide life-changing counseling to a child, help a family find stability, or drive a senior to a vital medical appointment. On...
(JNS) The Florida State Board of Education adopted new civics and Holocaust-education standards for Florida’s public schools in July, which had been pushed by the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis. The new social-studies standards spell out what students should learn about civics and the Holocaust in their classes from kindergarten to 12th grade. Florida has required that students be taught about the Holocaust since 1994, but there had been no standards detailing what specifically should be covered and in what grade. The new standards aim to provi...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In a Rosh Hashanah call last Thursday with a thousand rabbis across the denominational spectrum, President Joe Biden rededicated his presidency to combating hate and extremism and called on the Senate to swiftly confirm his nominee for antisemitism monitor, Deborah Lipstadt. In the afternoon webinar, Biden was asked how he intended to combat a spike in antisemitic incidents. He noted that the attorney general, Merrick Garland, was hiring staff to coordinate the prosecution of hate crimes and that his administration was t...
(JTA) - At a key moment in the new Netflix film "Worth," Kenneth Feinberg, the real-life architect of the compensation fund for 9/11 victims, is shown overwhelmed by the monumental emotional toil of the job. At a town hall meeting for victims' families Feinberg - whom Michael Keaton until this point has portrayed as an ultracompetent professional arbiter - is assailed by critics of the fund who see its calculations as too impersonal, its salve on their grief too pitiful. One stands up and...
(JNS) — The shockwaves from the Taliban’s lightning-quick takeover of Afghanistan are continuing to reverberate throughout the Middle East, and Islamist forces are feeling energized by the U.S. withdrawal. But according to Prof. Eyal Zisser, a lecturer in the Middle East History Department at Tel Aviv University, that boost in morale isn’t translating into rash attacks and warfare. “I think that while the extremist forces are seeking to build on the American withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s victory for morale purposes, they are...
(JTA) — The FBI recorded the largest number of hate crimes last year since 2008, including spikes in the number of anti-Black and anti-Asian hate crimes. Anti-Jewish hate crimes dropped from 953 in 2019 to 676 last year, a decrease of 29 percent. Anti-Jewish crimes again made up the majority of hate crimes based on religion in the annual report, which scholars and officials have cautioned not to view as a comprehensive reflection of the state of hate crimes in America. In total, the FBI announced Monday that it recorded 7,759 hate crimes n...
(JNS) — The reviews at home were mixed for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s first meeting with President Joe Biden. Many of those who despise Bennett’s right-wing principles thought he did a good job, while most of those who share his views were appalled by his performance. The disconnect is understandable. The drumbeat of personal invective against Bennett from former allies and friends has been constant since he assumed the role of leader of the current coalition in June. For those who think Bennett “betrayed” the right by joining w...
As America licks its wounds and wrings its hands at the debacle of the last several weeks in the humiliating retreat and defeat at the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan, let us pause to remember the brave and courageous men and women of our armed forces who returned to the battlefield in the waning days of our retreat from Kabul. They returned, not to battle a barbaric enemy, but to rescue and save American citizens, Afghan allies and citizens who embraced freedom, modernity and equality. These are the Afghans who rejected the inhumane,...
(JNS) The obvious lesson for Israel from America’s abandonment of Afghanistan to the Taliban is that it can’t count on the U.S. to protect it from the consequences of ceding more territory. This reality, however, is a disaster for those who have been banking on the idea of offering “American security guarantees” to facilitate additional Israeli withdrawals. It explains the recent flurry of statements from the think-tank crowd and Jewish former officials of the State Department trying to undercut the notion that the Afghanistan mess demonst...
(JTA) — We are, once again, in a season of reckoning with sexual abuse in the Jewish community and in the country. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned after a state attorney general investigation found that he sexually harassed at least 11 women, aided by networks of complicity. In the Jewish community, the Reform movement, which represents the largest and most diverse Jewish movement in North America, has initiated three separate investigations — one each for its rabbinical seminary, rabbinical association and synagogue network — to look...
(JTA) — Over the past year, I have led efforts to teach, guide and coach rabbis and other clergy of every Jewish denomination. We have worked with over 500 individual members of the clergy, serving hundreds of thousands of people since the COVID-19 pandemic began. So let me say this to my dear clergy colleagues: As we celebrate another High Holiday season under the shadow of the pandemic, I know that there is nothing you need more than support in making (or when prevented from making) impossible decisions about vaccinations, masks, social d...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, some minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) 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. Congr...
(JTA) — On a night that brought weather of biblical proportions to the U.S. Open in New York City, Jewish tennis star Diego Schwartzman prevailed over his opponent Kevin Anderson. But that wasn’t the only highlight of his night. Schwartzman’s Round 2 match began on Louis Armstrong Stadium at 7 p.m. — against Anderson, who is about a foot taller than Schwartzman, at 6-foot-8 — but it did not finish until 1:02 am, at the larger Arthur Ashe Stadium. The roof on Armstrong was no match for the storm, an offshoot of Hurricane Ida, that passed through...
(JTA) - Reports of the demise of the Canadian Jewish News have been, not for the first time, greatly exaggerated. On Sept. 1, the publication - the largest Jewish news organization in Canada - will rebrand as a digital-first enterprise after abruptly shutting down operations in April 2020 and then resuming a trickle of content over the last year. It is the second relaunch for the 61-year-old nonprofit, which previously shut its doors in 2013 before garnering enough community support to restart...
(JNS) I first went to Israel when I was 21 and returned at least once a year until 2020, so I was thrilled to renew my streak in August. My wife and I were particularly anxious to see our son who we had not seen since he finished his army service. As you can imagine, getting into Israel was not easy and only possible at all because of our son being an Israeli citizen, since tourists were not being permitted to visit. We had to get an entry permit from the Israeli consulate, take a COVID-19 test and submit the result to the Israeli government 24...
I watch this show regularly… And I’m not ashamed to admit it! I’m talking about the Maury Povich show on television. I love watching it although everyone I know says “it’s beneath them.” I also enjoy watching “Hoarders.” Maybe because I’m very sloppy? (Oh shut up!) Anyway, MAURY POVICH has always been a favorite of mine and, of course, he is one of us! I also enjoy watching SNL (Saturday Night Live) on television. I need a laugh now and then and now, now, now! I’ve enjoyed watching particularly when the guest host is SCARLETT JOHANSSON....
(JTA) — Six months after his internet posts attacking Jews came to light, a U.S. Foreign Service officer remains employed by the State Department while at least 70 of his co-workers sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding his dismissal. The letter, sent July 28, argues that Fritz Berggren is a threat to Jewish employees at the State Department, and has violated department rules and ethical standards, Foreign Policy reported after obtaining a copy. “Not only is his propagation of antisemitic ideas highly disturbing and offen...
(JTA) — Two weeks ago, Delta Airlines pilot Alexander Kahn flew hundreds of Afghan refugees from Germany to Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C., as part of a U.S. government partnership with commercial airlines. It had extra special meaning for Kahn, as he told CNN, for a few reasons — first and foremost, his own father was a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the U.S. in similar fashion. “I’m the son of an immigrant in the United States, my father was a Holocaust survivor, he was liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp by Patton’s T...
(JTA) — Al-Qaida had planned to carry out a massive terrorist attack on Israeli dance clubs in 2002 but was thwarted with the help of U.S. intelligence operatives, a former FBI agent said. Ali Soufan, who with other agents had monitored al-Qaida for the FBI both before the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 and afterward, said the information was obtained by the operatives during interrogations of a Palestinian man apprehended in Afghanistan, the Israeli newspaper Yediot Acharonot reported Friday in an article about Soufan. Zayn a...
TEL AVIV (JTA) — On a blistering summer day a few years ago, journalist Joshua Mitnick and his Palestinian translator, Nuha Musleh, were out reporting a story about an East Jerusalem village. The Palestinian residents were protesting the Israeli security barrier that was being built there, cutting them off from the rest of the city. The two marched for several kilometers alongside the villagers. Musleh, refraining from both food and water because it was the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, urged Mitnick to drink water, but he demurred, saying, ...
The following synagogues provided information about their High Holiday services to the Heritage by press time. For information about services at other local synagogues, contact the individual congregations. For tickets or information, contact the individual synagogue. Chabad of Altamonte (Orthodox) Masks will be required at all services. Masks will be removed during Kiddush lunch. RSVPs are required. Rabbi Mendy Bronstein Chabad of Altamonte 195 S Westmonte Drive #1126 Altamonte Springs, Fl 32701 www.jewishaltamonte.com Wed. Sept. 15, Erev Yom...
NEW YORK — This summer, 498 participants took part in Yachad programs across the United States, Canada and Israel. Yachad, a division of the Orthodox Union, is a leading organization for individuals with disabilities in the Jewish community and is one of the only organizations to offer summer programs for Orthodox individuals with disabilities ages 8 to 65 years old. This summer, the group ran its Yachad Integration Program (YIP) for campers in camps Lavi, Morasha and Nesher. The YIP program allows campers to enjoy a separate bunk while j...
