Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) - When Michael Smuss died last month at 99, an era of Jewish history came to a close. Smuss was the last known resistance fighter during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, when Jews rose up against their Nazi persecutors in one of the most dramatic episodes of the Holocaust. Smuss was not the only prominent survivor to die in recent weeks. A number of survivors, several centenarians, have died in a wave that underscores the rapid disappearance of anyone alive with robust memories of the...
Shalom Orlando has appointed Marni Mandell as the new CEO of the organization. While already busy engaging with local leaders and other stakeholders in the Jewish community, Mandell will formally begin her role as CEO in early January 2026. Mandell previously spent 12 years leading Jewish nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and Israel, and for the last 15 years, she has founded and led technology startup companies in Tel Aviv. Mandell most recently joined with other Israeli entrepreneurs to...
Kinneret Council on Aging is proud to celebrate 40 years of dedicated service to enhancing the lives of Central Florida's low-income senior residents. Since its founding in 1985, KCOA has remained steadfast in its mission to support independence, dignity, and quality of life for older adults through innovative programs, advocacy, and community partnerships. Over four decades, the Kinneret Council on Aging has become a cornerstone of support for older adults across the region, touching thousands...
The High Holidays are a big deal to George Paul-and he's not even Jewish. This needs explaining. Paul is owner/chef of George's Cafe, the popular eatery and caterer in downtown Winter Park, and, indeed, he's not Jewish. But you'd never know it once you sip a spoonful of his matzoh ball soup or bite into a hot pastrami on rye ... two of the many Jewish-style deli foods that George prepares daily in his kitchen. When we refer to the high holidays, we mean to include all Jewish events and family...
There are a variety of spellings of the game of mahjong. Heritage uses the AP Stylebook format, unless used in a specific name like the National Mah Jongg League. Few games have managed to be both ancient and newly fashionable, but mahjong is one of them. Mahjong is a tile-based game of skill and strategy, played with 152 engraved tiles, racks, dice, and chips. Its roots in China stretch back centuries, but it gained popularity in the United States during the 1920s. It was Jewish women who adopted it early and made it their own, turning the...
Navigating the complex world of veterans’ benefits can be overwhelming for seniors and their families. At Jewish Pavilion Senior Services and the Orlando Senior Help Desk, we understand the unique challenges veterans face as they age, and we are here to connect them with trusted resources that offer free, certified support in filing claims and accessing the benefits they have earned. In Brevard County, the Veterans Services Offices provide no-cost assistance for veterans and their eligible surviving family members. These offices are staffed w...
(JNS) — Assault rifles and other equipment belonging to Hamas terrorists were discovered on Wednesday during reconstruction work at Kibbutz Be’eri, more than two years after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on the community. “Arms and communication devices belonging to Hamas terrorists were found in a kindergarten in Kibbutz Be’eri. Police bomb squad officers neutralized the weapons safely and without incident,” the Israel Police stated. An investigation found the weapons included “loaded and ready-to-fire Kalashnikov rifles, along with communicati...
Quarterback for the Miami Dolphins Tua Tagovailoa told reporters on Sunday he would like to play an NFL International Series game in Jerusalem. The football player was asked after the Dolphins’ 16-13 win over the Washington Commanders in Madrid, Spain, in which international destination he would like to play next. Tagovailoa first mentioned Hawaii, where he is originally from, but then added Jerusalem as his next favored location. “Shoot, it’d be pretty cool to go play in Jerusalem. I don’t know, that’d be sick,” he said. The Dolphins pl...
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 400 to 15 on Monday to pass a bill that aims to stop what its author, Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.), calls the growing terror threat of “vehicle-based attacks.” H.R. 1608 cites the Jan. 1 attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, in which the attacker drove into a crowd and then shot at police officers. The attacker killed 14 people and injured dozens of others. The bill calls on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to submit a classified report to Congress within 180 days assessing “the current and em...
Historically, unflavored beers have been generally assumed to be kosher, but the stout and bitter truth is that craft brewing has introduced recipes that extend beyond water, hops, barley and yeast, per a Nov. 17 letter from the Orthodox Union certification service that spread on social media. There is now a “proliferation of flavored beers, diverse additives and shared equipment that can compromise the kosher status of even seemingly straightforward brews,” per the letter attributed to the OU. (JNS sought comment from the kosher cer...
(JNS) — A strange thing happened in the middle of the night on Monday: the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved one of the most acrobatic, contradictory resolutions in its long history. It envisions an International Stabilization Force marching into Gaza to rebuild “civil order,” control the borders, dismantle Hamas’s military infrastructure and—almost as an afterthought—lay down “a path toward a Palestinian state.” As always, the conditions are buried in diplomatic language. First, Hamas must complete the handover of the...
Here is an amazing set of iconic and ironic events! Israel essentially defeats its Muslim enemies on seven military fronts after the unprovoked barbaric attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. The Israeli Mossad obliterates 90 percent of Hezbollah leadership by distributing pagers to its upper echelon which simultaneously explode in their hands, killing and maiming thousands and humiliating the survivors. The Israeli Air Force decimates Iran’s air defenses and missile launches allowing American B-2 bombers to invade Iranian airspace unhindered to deliver BGU-...
(JNS) — I’ve often wondered what we can learn from the stories of ancient Jewish communities that have for years been besieged by cultural prejudice. How did they survive for centuries, in some cases, for millennia? What can we learn from their resilience? And, most importantly, how did they maintain a sense of community in the face of antisemitism? What customs and traditions helped them build that strength in times of difficulty? This November, one such community, the Beta Israel, will gather at the Armon Hanatziv Promenade above Jer...
Visiting the Collingwood art and street fair in September, my wife and I did not expect to find anti-Israel slogans stenciled into the sidewalks and an anti-Israel Defense Forces message chalked in front of the CWOOD sign in front of City Hall. It felt unnerving and out of place that the pitch of standard slogans rallying against Israel would be underfoot on this sunny day in downtown Collingwood, which calls itself “a progressive community” in Ontario, Canada, with not one person seeming to be bothered enough to question the message’s offen...
(JNS) — Israel’s greatest strength is not only its military resilience or technological success, but its insistence on building a democratic, lawful, moral society in a region where power often substitutes for principle and justice is too often replaced by vengeance. From the first days of its founding, the State of Israel has insisted that Jewish sovereignty must rest on a different foundation — one anchored in due process, accountable government, ethical national defense and a justice system that binds leaders and citizens alike, Jews and n...
(JNS) - A 100-year-old great-grandmother of 15 became the oldest person to immigrate to Israel this year, the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency for Israel said on Thursday. Sara Unterberg moved to Israel from Uruguay last week to be closer to her extended family. "I realized I may not have much time left, and I want to spend it with my many grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Israel," the Lithuanian-born centenarian said. "I believe all Jews should live in Israel. The world is becoming less...
For book lovers, the news that Cambridge University has acquired a previously sealed personal archive of Amy Levy, a Victorian Jewish novelist and poet who won praise from literary notables of her era, is a cause for celebration. Levy's 1888 novel Reuben Sachs is an exasperated, yet affectionate, look at English Jewish middle-class life. Levy, the daughter of a prosperous stockbroker, knew whereof she spoke. At the British Library in London, Levy rubbed elbows with Eleanor Marx, daughter of the...
(JNS) — A new survey by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) finds overwhelming Israeli opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state. The poll, conducted Nov. 16–17 by Dr. Menachem Lazar among 698 Jewish and Arab Israelis (±3.7 percent), finds 70 percent of Israelis oppose creating a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines—the highest level recorded by the Center since the war began. Among Jewish Israelis, opposition stands at 79 percent. Only 8 percent of respondents support a Palestinian state uncond...
Holocaust movies have become such a genre of their own that it is hard for them to find anything new to say. Yet directors keep trying - perhaps out of a sense of duty, or the assumed prestige of the subject matter - to keep the atrocities front of mind. "Nuremberg," a star-studded new film written and directed by James Vanderbilt (the writer of Zodiac and both installations of the Adam Sandler-Jennifer Anniston hit Murder Mystery), focuses on the trial of Hermann Goering, Hitler's second-in-com...
JFS Orlando is seeking a Director of Development. To learn more and apply, please visit: https://jfsorlando.org/about/job-opportunities/director-of-development/...
October 7th. One day. But the repercussions persist two years later. And so many people are suffering. How many more wars will there be? When will people put grievances aside? When will the world see lasting peace throughout the planet? What about human conflicts in daily life and within families? I recall the Six Day War of June 1967. Israel celebrated victory with joy and songs while her neighbors prepared in anticipation of future conflicts. It was such a dramatic time. So much happened that...
(JNS) - Starship Bagel of Dallas won the Best Bagel award at this year's New York BagelFest, a competition that brought bakeries from across the globe to Citi Field in Flushing, N.Y., on Nov. 16. In addition to taking home the top prize in the festival's blind-tasting category, the Dallas bagel shop also earned wins in multiple subcategories, including Best New York Style Bagel and Best Showmanship, as well as placements in Most Creative and Schmear of the Year. New York BagelFest 2025, sponsore...
(JNS) - A painting, which depicts a Jewish woman and which the Nazis stole after annexing Austria, sold for $236.36 million-reportedly a record for Viennese decorative artist Gustav Klimt-at a Sotheby's auction on Tuesday. Dated between 1914 and 1916, the oil painting is titled "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" and portrays the daughter of Klimt's "most important patrons," Serena and August Lederer, and captures "the social prominence and beauty of the sitter," according to Sotheby's. The auction...
