Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS)-Up and down the state of California, synagogues, Hebrew schools and Jewish residents are dealing with effects of wildfires that have consumed tens of thousands of acres in recent days, from evacuations to school closures to days with no electricity as authorities try to limit the fire damage and danger. In Northern California, the Torah scrolls from Congregation Beth Ami in Santa Rosa were evacuated from the synagogue on Saturday as winds whipped flames from the Kincade Fire in nearby...
(JNS)-Benny Gantz and the Blue and White Party are hard at work trying to find other parties to join his coalition to give him the 61 mandates needed to form a government. Much talk has centered on the possibility that he would form a minority government with the support of the Joint Arab List. Yariv Levin, Likud Tourism Minister and chief negotiator in coalition talks, told JNS that "Blue and White has not ruled out the option of a minority government with the Arab parties." On Sunday, Gantz...
The Holocaust Center was saddened to learn a student allegedly dressed in costume as Adolph Hitler for Halloween and was seen giving other students the Heil-Hitler salute at a local high school. This incident has caused great alarm and the Holocaust Center has been fielding calls from concerned parents asking what actions can be taken. The Holocaust Center has developed a specific program called Prejudice Reduction Education Program. Through this program, we work one-on-one with the student and their parents to provide custom education to help...
(JNS)—The watchdog group Stopantisemitism.org is calling on the U.S. Department of Education and Georgie State University to keep the “terror-affiliated” Council on American-Islamic Relations off U.S. college campuses. “The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an American front group for the terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Muslim Brotherhoods, is infiltrating the U.S. education system,” said the petition, which already has nearly 2,000 signatures. “Their anti-American agenda is infecting school curriculums, poisoning t...
Congregation Ohev Shalom’s Sisterhood hosts their second mahjong tournament on Dec. 15. This year’s event, Winter Mahj will have a festive Chanukah slant—Meet new friends, see “old” friends and have fun. The registration fee is $36 per person, and $45 after Dec. 2. The tournament will include snacks, a delicious lunch, a silent auction with baskets filled with items such as restaurant gift cards, products, services and lots of fun items. The mahj tournament is one of the Sisterhood’s major fundraisers. All monies raised at the Cinco de Ma...
Jewish Academy of Orlando will hold its annual Scholastic Book Fair from Monday, Nov. 18 through Nov. 22, 2019. The Family Learning Night and Author Event, the school's signature event, will be held Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. and will feature five middle grade and children's authors including: Peter Raymundo, author of "I Am Not a Fish"; Sherri Winston, author of "President of the Whole Fifth Grade"; Yvonne David, author of "Out of the Apple Orchard"; Pamela Ruben, author of "Could a Penguin be a...
Recently there has been a great deal of news about the lack of available and affordable mental health services in Central Florida. JFS Orlando has been accepting insurance as well as offering a sliding fee scale throughout its history. Paneled by over 20 major insurance companies along with Medicare and Medicaid, JFS is able to provide broad accessibility to all those who seek life-changing mental health services. More people have some form of coverage now than in the past and “we are seeing increased interest in utilizing those benefits to foc...
(JTA)-Since announcing his presidential run in May, Michael Bennet has been polling between zero and 1 percent. He didn't qualify for the latest Democratic debate and he's a long shot to make the next one. The Colorado senator raised only $2.1 million in the third quarter of 2019, less than a tenth of the total brought in by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. But Bennet isn't ready to give up yet, believing he's got what it takes to beat President Donald Trump in 2020. "I'm unconvinced that...
(JTA)-Most of the news surrounding Houston Astros slugger Alex Bregman on Tuesday night focused on his "bat carry"-how he ostentatiously carried his bat down to first base while watching his first inning home run sail over the left field fence before dropping it. He apologized for the move after the game. But the Jewish third baseman's blast was historic, too: It was his fifth in a World Series, setting the all-time record for most World Series home runs by a third baseman. It was his third...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israeli embassies around the world have increased security and awareness over fears that Iran will attack Israel by targeting a diplomatic mission on foreign soil. The diplomatic missions have been put on high alert and ordered to take certain security measures, according to reports. The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both have warned in recent days that Iran has become more aggressive and apt to respond to Israeli attacks on Iranian targets in Syria and Leb...
(JNS)—The still-crowded 2020 Democratic presidential field proved to be a godsend for the left-wing J Street lobby. It gained attention for its annual conference this week due to the presence of five presidential candidates. But the dynamic of the event didn’t give a boost to its supposed “pro-Israel, pro-peace” agenda. To the contrary, the tenor of the coverage of the event showed that the group had achieved a very different goal. That was to be a magnet for opponents of the Jewish state, as it became clear that the main objective of the vot...
When America entered the Great World War in 1917, it commissioned an artist by the name of James Montgomery Flagg to create a recruitment poster to encourage Americans to enlist in the Army. The poster Mr. Flagg designed pictured a stern Uncle Sam making direct eye contact with and pointing a parental finger at the viewer. The combined image was a very personalized message as to whom it was intended. To remove any ambiguity the caption under the image was, “I Want You for the US Army.” That iconic poster has endured and was used as a recruitmen...
(JNS)—A few years ago, I was paying for some items at a large department store in the Netherlands when I was startled by the sight of a doll behind the cashier’s desk that appeared, at first glance, to be a grotesque racial caricature of a small black child wearing an elfin costume. I peered again, and with my first impression confirmed, gingerly asked the cashier what it was, exactly, that I was staring at. She turned around, looked at the doll and then looked back at me. Zwarte Piet, she said nonchalantly. Zwarte Piet (“Black Pete”), I subse...
(JNS)—Following the killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by U.S. forces, Wikistrat, a crowd sourced geopolitical consultancy, released a multi-perspective analysis on the significance of his death, as well as the future of the Islamic State and the region, by four experts. This special report presents their insights. Adam Hoffman, Head of Middle East Desk, Wikistrat: 1. Al-Baghdadi’s death is a critical symbolic blow against ISIS, but it is unlikely to spell the demise of the group. ISIS has been in the process of transition since mid-2017 aft...
(JNS)—At its three-day board of governors meeting in Jerusalem this week, the Jewish Agency for Israel, which recently turned 90, revealed a new plan of action. Addressing the Jewish leaders who convened in the Israeli capital on Sunday, Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog announced that the organization, which “founded the State of Israel and brought 3 million Jews on aliyah,” is now “refining our strategic mission for the coming decade, based on the challenges Jews are facing today.” Herzog, who kicked off the event with a ceremony to honor...
(JNS)—At the moment of his demise, what passes through the mind of a terrorist who literally views himself as king of the world? “He died like a dog,” said U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday, referring to the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in northern Syria at the hands of U.S. forces. His statement was tough and simple, and drew a clear line between human beings and terrorist murderers. In his announcement of al-Baghdadi’s death, Trump described the ISIS mastermind as neither a leader nor a man, but as a thug and a c...
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) 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 I...
Friday, Nov. 8: Come and join the family-friendly members of Congregation Beth Sholom for a spiritual service beginning the Shabbat. Experience the wonderful atmosphere beginning with the members who greet all guests with open arms, and followed up by a meaningful and education service led by Rabbi Karen Allen. The 7 p.m. service is held at Congregation Beth Sholom in Leesburg located at 315 North 13th Street. The entrance is located on Central Street. Visit the website at http://bethsholomflorida.org/, or call the synagogue at 352-326-3692....
The headlines called it Paradise lost: The northern California town of Paradise, population 27,000, devastated in November 2018 by the so-called Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's recorded history. In addition to 86 people killed and 15 injured, the raging fire destroyed 18,804 structures over 240 square miles and took 17 days to get under control. Paradise residents lost homes, friends, relatives, pets and treasured possessions. It takes many professionals...
StandWithUs Southeast and The Jewish Federation of Volusia & Flagler Counties invite the community to join them for a special Sunday program, Nov. 10 at 10:15 a.m. titled “Combating Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israel Activity on Middle School, High School & College Campuses.” Best Practices for Students to Prepare and Fight Back Against Hate The event chairman is Dr. Howard Pranikoff, and will be held at Temple Beth El, 579 N. Nova Road, Ormond Beach, Florida. There is no charge for the event. Please use the rear “Special Event entrance” and RSV...
A Kurdish refugee toddler-we'll call him Ajwan, for security reasons-is the latest of 44 Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish children who've had emergency medical treatment at Israel's Sheba Medical Center in 2019 alone. Ajwan, three and a half, had lifesaving open-heart surgery that wasn't available in Iraqi Kurdistan, where his family has been living for a few years due to the dangers the community faces in northern Syria. "I was not afraid to come to Israel, even though I was warned I could lose my...
(JNS)—The American NGO Alums for Campus Fairness released a comprehensive report last week that documents what ACF describes as “systemic anti-Semitism and an ingrained delegitimization of Israel” at Columbia University and its sister school, Barnard College. The 33-page dossier documents more than 100 incidents that have made Columbia and Barnard “a hotbed for hate” since the 2016-17 academic year. The catalogue categorized each act into one of these categories: anti-Semitic expressio...
(JTA)—The recently elected Oslo City Council is getting right to work: The Norwegian lawmakers are banning the purchase of goods and services from Israeli Jewish settlements by municipal departments and other local authorities. It is the sixth Norwegian municipality to ban settlement goods and services, as well as one county council, according to the statement. The Oslo an is part of the platform for 2019-23 adopted recently by the City Council, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel announced in a statement on its w...
Let's tell it like it is... DENNIS MILLER is a well-known comedian. He had this to say about the Middle East situation. I don't agree with all he says but I pass it along in part anyway: "A brief overview of the situation is always valuable, so as a service to all Americans who still don't get it, I now offer you the story of the Middle East in just a few paragraphs, which is all you really need. The Palestinians want their own country. There's just one thing about that: There are no Palestinian...
(JTA)—As of Wednesday morning, Israel’s embassies and consulates across the globe are on strike. “No consular services will be provided and no one will be allowed to enter,” one ambassador posted on Twitter. Those services include passport renewal and assistance to Israelis living abroad. Why has Israel’s entire foreign service shut down? In a word: taxes. Israeli diplomats get lump-sum expense stipends meant to cover a range of personal and official expenses. The Finance Ministry now says it wants the diplomats to submit individual receipts...
