Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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To enhance the lives of seniors of all faiths in eldercare communities and to assist families in obtaining necessary resources through the Orlando Senior, Jewish Pavilion Senior Services will host a Harvest and Post-Sukkot Networking Festival on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, from 4 – 6 p.m. The event will be held at Watercrest, 1501 Glendon Pkwy, Winter Park. Enjoy delicious appetizers, desserts, drinks, raffles and prizes! Donations of $25 per person are accepted in advance ($35 at the door). Register at jewishpavilion.org or call 4...
(JNS) — World leaders reacted swiftly and largely positively to U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement Monday of a comprehensive plan to end the Gaza war and secure the release of the remaining hostages. French President Emmanuel Macron was among the first to respond, posting on X (formerly Twitter): “I welcome President @realDonaldTrump’s commitment to ending the war in Gaza and securing the release of all hostages. I expect Israel to engage resolutely on this basis. Hamas has no choice but to immediately release all hostages and follow...
(JNS) — Washington will defend Qatar from future attacks, including with military force if needed, according to an executive order that U.S. President Donald Trump signed on Monday. “The United States shall regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty or critical infrastructure of the State of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States,” the order states. If the Gulf state is attacked, Washington “shall take all lawful and appropriate measures —including diplomatic, economic and, if necessary, military...
(JNS) — European Jewish Association Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin said on Friday that the deadly terror attack at a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur “proves what we warned of a year ago: Jews in Europe live under constant threat.” “We called for a state of emergency then, and if leaders had acted, lives might have been spared,” Margolin said, adding: “This is not random violence; it is the result of a climate where demonizing Israel has become acceptable, and Jews everywhere pay the price.” Police on Thursday identified the suspect i...
(JNS) — Marco Massari, mayor of the Italian city of Reggio Emilia, was presenting a civic honor to Francesca Albanese, a United Nations special rapporteur for Palestinian rights, on Sunday, when he told an audience of hundreds, “the end of the genocide and the release of the hostages are necessary conditions to start a peace process.” The U.N. adviser, who has a long history of Jew-hatred, reportedly scolded Massari, as the crowd jeered the mayor. “The mayor was wrong and said something that is not true,” Albanese said. “Peace does not need co...
Watching Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian address the United Nations General Assembly was not only nauseating but also infuriating for millions of Iranians. To hear a man with the blood of countless citizens on his hands lecture the world about human rights, equality, and the rights of Gaza’s children is nothing short of grotesque hypocrisy. If the UN were to replace its teleprompters with lie detectors when Iranian envoys speak, the results would shock the world. These representatives of the Islamic Republic do not come to promote peace o...
(JNS) — While it has shown remarkable resilience, the economy has been one area where Israel has clearly suffered significant losses in terms of lost income from the collapse of the tourism industry, the cost of property damage, the cost of war materiel and the cost of rehabilitation. It will take years to recoup the losses, and even then, it is uncertain whether the economy will be as strong as it was before Oct. 7. One indication of the shape of the economy is the downgrading by major ratings services. S&P and Fitch both reduced the c...
(JNS) — When Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany were threatening to take over Europe in the 1930s prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain chose appeasement. On Sept. 30, 1938, the Munich Agreement was signed by Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany, handing over the Sudetenland, a fortified region of Czechoslovakia, to Hitler. The agreement was signed without Czechoslovakia’s participation. Six months later, Germany invaded the rest of the country. The appeasement had failed catastrophically. App...
For over 75 years, the State of Israel has taken pride in protecting worldwide Jewry as well as its own citizens. The current surge in antisemitism, however, reveals a collapse in this dual promise and obligates Diaspora leaders to adopt a new assertiveness toward distracted decision-makers in Jerusalem. The Basic Law of the Jewish state establishes Diaspora well-being as a priority: “The State shall strive to secure the welfare of members of the Jewish People and of its citizens who are in straits and in captivity due to their Jewishness or d...
(JNS) — It seems that each week during the month of Elul, there has been a terrorist attack, all of them a national tragedy. In the quietest moments of heartbreak, when the world feels shattered into a million tiny pieces, I’ve discovered something unexpectedly beautiful: Our broken hearts are actually doorways. Doorways to connection. Doorways to healing. Doorways to something Divine. As we enter the sacred period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, these Ten Days of Awe that feel both eternal and fleeting, I find myself thinking about how...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s new 20-point Mideast peace plan, based in large part on his “Peace to Prosperity” plan issued during his first administration, lays out conditions that on the surface seem like common sense. Palestinians must stop incitement. They must stop raising their children to hate Jews. They must form a vetted police force to maintain order, accept international supervision, rebuild their society and create a moderate self-governing authority. These sound like reasonable benchmarks. But the problem is simple:...
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) — The final performance of “Parade,” a Tony Award-winning musical, was held just days ago at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. It told the story of the 1913 murder of Mary Phagan, a teenage girl in Atlanta, and the flawed trial, conviction, and, ultimately, the vigilante lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish New Yorker transplanted to the American South who managed the factory where the murder took place. The trial was marred by antisemitism, bribery, coerced testimony and mob intimidation. Though the curtain has closed, Frank’s conviction...
(JNS) — Wikipedia, one of the most viewed sites on the internet, has hosted a page on “Gaza genocide” since Dec. 29, 2023. Since Sept. 22, Wikipedia has linked to the “Gaza genocide” article, which accused Israel of war crimes, in an “in the news” section on its main page, which millions of people view daily. The American Jewish Committee told JNS that Wikipedia is “elevating reckless and biased charges of genocide as fact,” and given how many genocide scholars disagree with that statement, the crowd-sourced encyclopedia “showcases how da...
(JNS) - Michelle Rukovicin, the most severely wounded survivor of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacres, married her partner on Tuesday night in a ceremony celebrated as a symbol of resilience. The IDF intelligence systems technician, who was critically injured defending Kissufim base from Hamas terrorists and spent three months in a coma, wed her boyfriend of five years, Rinat Kasimov, the partner who remained at her side throughout her grueling recovery. She was struck by seven bullets, wounde...
These are quick and easy to make for an impressive dessert. Makes 12 mini pastries. 17 oz. Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry 1 recipe Almond Paste from Scratch (See below.) 4 oz. Sliced or slivered almonds 1 egg yolk Defrost pastry about 1 hour. Pastry should be soft enough to work without breaking, but still cold. Line a baking sheet with foil sprayed with cooking spray. For mini pastries, cut each section of defrosted pastry in thirds lengthwise and then cut each length in half. Spread each...
Preheat oven to 425F. In microwave melt 4 T. butter, covered, 45 seconds on high. Set aside. In a 3-quart casserole with a cover, place 1 cup rinsed basmati rice with two cups water. Mix in a packet of low sodium bouillon powder. Place casserole on micro-safe dinner plate to catch drips. Cover and cook in microwave 15 minutes on high. If rice is too dry, add 2 T.-3T. water and cover to allow rice to absorb moisture. If too wet, allow the rice to sit for 5 minutes or reheat in microwave 2...
Senior rehabilitation centers are designed to help those recovering from an injury or serious medical event to reduce pain and improve function. Senior rehab facilities often include services such as physical therapy to help improve mobility, balance, strength, flexibility etc. Senior rehabilitation centers are designed to help those recovering from an injury or serious medical event to reduce pain and improve function. According to the Center for Medicare Advocacy, the average length of stay for inpatient rehab is 12 days. These numbers...
(JNS) — Welcome to the Jewish New Year of 5786! People I know have been stopping me and asking my opinion as to what U.S. President Donald Trump’s new plan means in the context of the Torah and the Jewish state moving forward. After all, they say, we hear so many commentators from across the political spectrum, but what do the greatest rabbis have to say about this new policy development that has been thrust upon Israel? For some reason, the Torah point of view is the only one that we generally don’t hear. We do need more Jewish relig...
On Sukkot, we strengthen our local communities, hosting elaborate meals with relatives and friends and leaving one wall of the sukkah open, symbolizing hospitality. Sukkot also invokes the Jewish community in time. We build temporary structures to commemorate our biblical ancestors wandering through the desert, and we invite ushpizin – symbolic guests. Traditionally, ushpizin have been biblical characters, kabbalistically associated with particular divine attributes. In my community in Los A...
(JNS) - Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage who was freed in May after 584 days in Hamas captivity, was honored with a street named for him in the borough in which he grew up. "To have a road named here in the place I call home is something I never would have imagined," Alexander said during a ceremony before the street sign was unveiled. "Every time I see this road, I will remember not just the struggle but the love and unity that brought me back home." Alexander, who was...
I'm sitting and waiting for my wife in the hotel lobby after a wedding and reception. It's October 2013 in Michigan. A group of men enter from outside and they disperse with only one remaining a few feet away from me. I'm thinking I've seen him before. He's tall, thin at the time, and dark complected. I stand up and say "Excuse me, you look familiar. Aren't you...?" He perceives my hesitation, with grace and a look of sophistication extends a hand and replies "JB Smoove. How are you this...
People often talk about “trading a Palestinian state for peace,” yet few know the history of this land. While Gaza fills headlines, another phrase is hitting the headlines lately: the “Occupied West Bank.” The West Bank is the heartland of ancient Israel and Judah, including Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem. It was seized by Jordan in 1948 and then captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The West Bank has never been a Palestinian state; before 1948 it was part of the British Mandate, and before that it was under Ottoman rule. Biblica...
(JNS) — The New York City mayoral race has narrowed to three candidates following incumbent Eric Adams’s decision to drop out on Sunday, but polling suggests that that will do little to increase the odds for former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa to defeat the Democratic frontrunner, state representative Zohran Mamdani, in the general election in November. Experts told JNS that the political defeat of one of the most philosemitic and pro-Israel mayors in the city’s history at the hands of a self-described socia...
Sara Netanyahu visits gravesites of Lubavitcher rebbe and rebbetzin in Queens, NY By JNS Staff (JNS) — Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the Ohel in Queens, N.Y., late Sunday night under heavy security, reported the COLlive news site. It is the resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson; his wife, the rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson; and his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. There, she prayed for the Jewish people; the defeat of their enemies; and the s...
