Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — Israeli ministers on Saturday night called on the government to annex Judea and Samaria, after the U.N. General Assembly voted to adopt the so-called New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine, which outlines the implementation of a two-state solution and the path towards recognition of a Palestinian state. “The fact that a diplomatic attack on Israel is met with Israeli silence—is unacceptable and cannot continue,” said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also a minister in the Defense...
Behind Kibbutz Nir Oz, on a small rise overlooking the fields toward Gaza, stands a new memorial. At 14 feet tall, the Lion of Judah sits with its mouth agape, teeth bared, eyes dark with anger and pain. One massive paw rests upon a dedicatory stanchion. This Lion is the work of Jerusalem artist Sam Philipe, a fifth-generation Jewish sculptor. The project was conceived and funded by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation in collaboration with the Nir Oz community. Philipe and I...
(JNS) - "We said there will be no Palestinian state - indeed there will be no Palestinian state. This place is ours," declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rousing applause at the festive signing of an "umbrella agreement" between the government and Ma'ale Adumim at the Judean city's Cultural Center on Thursday evening. The umbrella agreement commits the government to finance the construction of two new neighborhoods and the expansion of a third in a city that hasn't seen a new n...
On Thursday, Sept. 11, members of the Mainland Chamber of Commerce came together for a special Coffee Connections Breakfast with a meaningful twist. Hosted by Jewish Pavilion Senior Services, this Pre-Rosh Hashanah celebration blended networking, tradition, and homemade food to create a morning that was as heartwarming as it was delicious. Held at New Hope for Kids in Maitland, the event welcomed close to 50 attendees for an engaging cultural experience just days ahead of the Jewish New Year,...
The Jewish Chamber of Commerce networking breakfasts will be held from 8:30-9:30 a.m. on Sept. 16, Oct. 21, Nov. 18, Dec. 16, Jan. 20, Feb. 17, March 17, April 21, and May 19. The cost is $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers. The location will be provided upon RSVP to The Jewish Chamber will hold (kosher) Lunch & Learn events at the Roth Family JCC from noon – 1:30 p.m. These luncheons will host Amy Kimlat with Business Development of See Magic Live on Nov. 5, a Chanukah party featuring music with Michael Kramer on Dec. 3, and Wayne Green, C...
(JNS) — Ahead of the High Holidays, which start with the Jewish New Year at sundown on Sept. 22, Israel’s National Security Council issued a travel warning to the public on Sunday about possible threats so that it could take preventive measures. The warning, issued through the Prime Minister’s Office, was not a new travel alert but an up-to-date review of the main trends in terrorist activity around the world, the NSC said. “The recent period has been characterized by continued efforts to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli and Jewish...
(JNS) — Elizabeth Tsurkov landed in Israel Wednesday, a day after the Israeli-born graduate student was released from two years of captivity in Iraq. “The head of the Mossad thanks his Cypriot counterpart for the assistance in facilitating Elizabeth’s humanitarian transfer through Cyprus to Israel. The cooperation between the two countries once again proves itself,” read a joint statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Tsurkov, 38, an Isra...
(JNS) — The United States Congress will hold a discussion next month on the application of Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria, according to Yesha Council Chairman Yisrael Ganz. “We are at a rare moment in time with a friendly and supportive U.S. administration. This is the time to move forward with a historic step that will affect the security of the entire State of Israel,” said Ganz, who is currently in the U.S. promoting the sovereignty plan. Referring to last week’s deadly terror attack in Jerusalem, which left six people dead—in...
By JNS Staff (JNS) — Israel’s Defense Ministry has agreed to transfer the cannon that shelled the Altalena, the Irgun cargo ship that the newly created Israel Defense Forces shelled off the Tel Aviv beach in 1948, to the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, Hebrew media reported on Wednesday. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz authorized the transfer after Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu requested that the “holy cannon” be relocated from the IDF’s Glilot military base in Ramat Hasharon to Begin’s national memorial in Jerusalem. The weapon was...
(JNS) - "Seeing so many people express joy over Charlie Kirk's murder shows how deeply we are failing as a society to protect free speech and the right to hold an opinion," pro-Israel advocate and influencer Noa Cochva, told JNS this week. Cochva, a model, who represented Israel at Miss Universe in 2021, said the assassination of U.S. conservative media personality Kirk highlights the rise of violence in society, mentioning the death threats she herself received for expressing her views. "I've...
‘700 days in hell,’ Israeli consulate campaign in Times Square says (JNS) — A weeklong Israeli Consulate in New York digital billboard campaign displayed in Times Square tells of “700 days of hell” for hostages whom Hamas has held hostage in Gaza since Oct. 7. “This attack, that was perpetrated by Hamas, was one of the most heinous acts of evil in human history since the Holocaust,” stated Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York. “No human being with a conscience can remain unmoved in the face of such atrocities that took place that...
(JNS)— It’s literally a rite of passage, or at least, a rite. For the past five years, Chabad of Bedford in Bedford Corners, N.Y., has held Tashlich in Leonard Park in the nearby village of Mount Kisco, N.Y. This year, however, the Jewish center, which has been directed by Rabbi Arik and Sara Wolf for 22 years—they arrived in 2003—has been denied a permit to use the public property for the Rosh Hashanah tradition, scheduled for Sept. 23. The Tashlich ceremony is one where Jews gather to “cast off” their sins, typically throwing pieces of b...
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, Allegro Senior Living in Winter Park was filled with warmth, joy, and the sweet spirit of the Jewish New Year as the Jewish Pavilion hosted a special Rosh Hashanah-themed breakfast. This meaningful event was held in honor of the sponsors of Jewish Pavilion Senior Services as well as the organization's dedicated board members. In the spirit of the holiday, Allegro served the traditional Rosh Hashanah treat of apples and honey, symbolizing hopes for a sweet and prosperous...
The Rosen JCC had the privilege of welcoming State House Representative Rita Harris, State Senator Kristen Arrington, and Frank Santos, CEO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts and president of The Harris Rosen Foundation, to the Rosen JCC for a tour and formal presentation of the State appropriation award they so passionately sponsored and championed on the JCC’s behalf. Thanks to a dollar-for-dollar match from The Harris Rosen Foundation, the total investment now exceeds $1 million. This t...
MAITLAND — With hurricane season nearing its September peak, Central Florida residents gathered at Shalom Orlando on Tuesday for a Lunch & Learn hosted by the Jewish Chamber of Commerce. The featured speaker, WESH 2 News Chief Meteorologist Eric Burris, delivered insight into what drives our storm season, along with projections for the weeks ahead. “Climate always modifies, grows, and adjusts. We just have to figure out how quick and how come,” Burris told the audience, setting the stage for a...
(JNS) — After last year’s public service was canceled over fear of altercations, gender-separated Yom Kippur prayers will be held in a Tel Aviv public space in October. The Tel Aviv Municipality on Thursday issued the Rosh Yehudi NGO a permit to hold prayers in Meir Park, located in the center of the metropolis, Ynet reported on Thursday. Rosh Yehudi (“Jewish Head” in Hebrew) tries to spread Orthodox Judaism in Tel Aviv, an attempt that has been met in the past with antagonism in the predominantly secular city. Prayers in Meir Park will be...
(JNS) — An Israeli security source told Hebrew media on Wednesday that up to 80,000 Palestinians have already left Gaza City in anticipation of the Israel Defense Forces operation to capture the Hamas stronghold. The mass evacuation southwards comes despite the fact that the IDF has yet to announce the start of the operation, the source told Ynet, Israel National News, Haaretz and other outlets. Most evacuated over the past 72 hours, according to the reports. Hamas is using “various measures” to limit movement, the source said, adding that...
(JNS) — The Trump administration has issued broad additional restrictions on visa applications by holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents, The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing four American officials. The measures, said to have been announced in an Aug. 18 cable sent to all U.S. diplomatic missions, would prevent Palestinians from Samaria and Judea from entering America, including for medical treatment, university studies, visits to friends or relatives and business travel. The new policy reportedly goes beyond the s...
On Tuesday, Sept. 16, Interim CEO Eric Robbins, ECLC director Dr. James Larsen and Board chair Stan Rubins will discuss the ‘State of Shalom Orlando.’ Each will share the Shalom Orlando plans for the future as the Central Florida Jewish community continues to grow and thrive. Accompanying the talks will be champagne and desserts. The event will be held in the Roth Family JCC auditorium from 6:30 – 8 p.m. To RSVP, email Carol Feuerman at Carol.Feuerman@shalomorlando.org....
(JNS) - The Palestinian Authority on Monday condemned attempts by Jewish activist groups to sound the shofar on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, calling the ram's horn a "dangerous tool" used by Israel to assert sovereignty. The P.A.'s Jerusalem Governorate warned in a statement that the Jewish tradition of sounding the shofar throughout the Hebrew month of Elul is "no longer a passing religious ritual but has become one of the most dangerous tools of the occupation to impose its alleged sovereignty."...
(JNS)- Six Israelis were murdered and a dozen more wounded in a mass-shooting attack by Palestinian terrorists in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot on Monday morning. The slain victims were identified as Yosef David, 43, from Jerusalem; Sarah Mendelson, 60, from Jerusalem; Israel Mentzer, 28, from Jerusalem; Levi Yitzhak Pash, 57, from Tel Zion; Yaakov Pinto, 25, from Jerusalem; and Mordechai Steintzeg, 79, from Jerusalem. The Magen David Adom emergency medical response group...
At this very moment, young Jews from around the world are making aliyah for a year of service and enlistment in the IDF: On Sept. 9, 2025, a dedication ceremony was held for the new home for lone soldiers at the Hannaton Educational Center in the Galilee. Present were the approximately 30 young men and women from North America, who have made the bold decision to move to Israel via the Garin Tzabar program of the Israeli Scouts Movement and become the first cohort to move into the home. Here lone soldiers will share a campus with their Israeli p...
On the evening of Sept. 2, over 200 joined together in the Nova Festival site to honor the memory of the sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, of the Oct. 7th victims, and bless their memory. It was the latest stage in a national initiative led in cooperation between Hatzalah Yehuda and Shomron and Children of Light - the Organization of Families of the Murdered in the Nova Festival. We did this in a very practical way - by giving an emergency medical kit with their name and photo to a volun...
By (JNS) — Israel is fighting a “fierce war against terrorism on several fronts,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday during a visit to the site of a terrorist attack in Jerusalem that claimed the lives of six people earlier in the day. “I want to extend condolences to the families of the victims and to the wounded,” said Netanyahu. Six people were murdered and a dozen more wounded in a shooting in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot on Monday morning. Two terrorists were killed at the scene by an Israel Defense Forces so...
The following synagogues provided information about their High Holiday services to the Heritage by press time. For information about services at other local synagogues or for tickets or information, contact the individual synagogue. Chabad of Altamonte (Orthodox) Rabbi Mendy Bronstein Chabad of Altamonte 195 S Westmonte Drive #1126 Altamonte Springs, Fl 32701 www.jewishaltamonte.com Mon., Sept. 22, Erev Rosh Hashanah, 6:30 p.m.; candle lighting, 7:04 p.m. Tues., Sept. 23, Rosh Hashanah, morning, Traditional pre-service 9 a.m.; Morning service,...
