Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

(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 ass...

(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 student...

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 n...

(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 lec...

(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. A...

(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...

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...

(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 bee...

(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, a...

(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 C...

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. a...

(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...

(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...

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 ver...

(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 dis...

(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 K...

(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 f...

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 s...

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...

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 o...