Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Ice hockey Team USA won the gold medal in a 2-1 overtime victory against Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics over the weekend. The winning goal, scored in overtime, was made by Orlando-born, Jewish-American Jack Hughes, who plays center for the New Jersey Devils. This was the first Olympic gold for men's hockey since 1980. Making the winning goal made up for a tooth he lost in the third period when Florida Panthers and Team Canada forward Sam Bennett high-sticked him in the face, also...
(JNS) - Rev. Jesse Jackson, the American civil-rights leader, former aide to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and a two-time Democratic Party presidential candidate, whose relationship with American Jews was marked by both cooperation and controversy, died on Feb. 17. He was 84 years old. Jackson rose to national prominence as a protégé of King during the civil-rights movement and later founded Operation PUSH in 1971 and the Rainbow Coalition during his first presidential campaign in 1984. The n...
On a recent evening in Southwest Orlando, hundreds gathered for what Rabbi Naftali Kassorla described as “a celebration of belonging — not just of learning.” The Orlando Community Kollel’s annual “MY Kollel” event drew a record crowd this year. The name itself, Kassorla explained, captures the shift in how Orlando’s Jewish community sees the kollel. “We wanted people to feel that this isn’t the kollel, or our kollel — it’s my kollel,” he said. “It belongs to everyone who walks through our doors.” For many, the word kollel may evoke images of...
(JNS) — The largest political party in the German federal legislature is calling for an end to financial support of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, the global body’s Palestinian aid organization, according to Jüdische Allgemeine, the country’s national Jewish weekly newspaper. The Christian Democratic Union, led by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, unanimously approved a motion on Feb. 21 calling for stricter criteria for aid payments to the Palestinians, and an end to German and European donations to UNRWA. The social services agency has com...
(JNS) — An Israeli high school this year began using an AI-powered robot to help teachers in one of the country’s first classroom applications of the technology, the school has said. The robot, known as “Buddy,” is used at the ISTS Kiryat Bialik school near Haifa, where it supports technology classes and special needs students, the Israel Sci-Tech Schools network, to which the Kiryat Bialik institution belongs, announced last week. The device is not meant to replace teachers but assist them, school administrators said. “When we first set out t...
(JNS) — A senior Cabinet minister in Germany who was the main government representative at the Berlin International Film Festival, aka the Berlinale, on Sunday, left the event in protest after a director accused Israel of perpetrating genocide. Carsten Schneider, the federal minister for the environment, nature conservation, climate protection and nuclear safety, represents the center-left Social Democratic Party. He left the Berlinale gala event during a speech by Syrian filmmaker Abdallah Alkhatib, who identifies as a Palestinian, the dpa n...
(JNS) — The population of Israeli villages along the southern border has grown by 3,000 residents since Oct. 7, 2023, even as five communities are still waiting to return home, a Knesset committee was told on Monday. Aviad Friedman, head of the Tekuma Authority that is responsible for rebuilding the Gaza border towns destroyed in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, described the population growth as “an exciting Zionist event” during a hearing at the Knesset State Control Committee. “The number of residents in the region has grown from some 62,000...
(JNS) — Senior diplomatic and defense officials from the Small Group of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS/Daesh met in Riyadh on Feb. 8 to discuss counterterrorism coordination in Syria and Iraq. In a joint statement, the United States and Saudi Arabia said participants welcomed what they described as a comprehensive agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, citing provisions for a permanent ceasefire and the civil and military integration of northeast Syria. Participants noted Syria’s “stated intention to as...
(JNS) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump has “a lot tools” to ensure that the Iranian regime doesn’t acquire nuclear weapons amid indirect talks between Washington and Tehran and an American military buildup in the Middle East. The vice president spoke to Fox News on the day that a second round of U.S.-Iran negotiations in Geneva took place, with the Iranians signaling progress. Vance said that Washington has set red lines in nuclear negotiations with Iran and that Trump retains military options if dipl...
Compiled by Christine DeSouza Early in January, International Space Station's Crew-11 were medically evacuated from the space station. Crew-12, comprised of a team of four, arrived on Feb. 14 to continue the months-long research mission. One of those Crew-12 members is Jewish American astronaut Jessica Meir, who serves as the crew's commander of Expedition 74/75. Meir and her crewmates - American Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev - blasted off...
Central Florida lost a vital scholarly influence in the world of Judaic studies when Dr. Moshe Peltz Pelli passed away in Winter Park, Florida on Jan. 7, 2026. He lived a full life devoted to his beloved family and his academic scholarship. Dr. Pelli was born in Haifa, Israel May 19, 1936 (then known as British-administered Mandatory Palestine, before the 1948 establishment of the State of Israel) to Shmuel Zanvil and Golda (Zahava) Peltz. After completing his distinguished military service in Israel, Dr. Pelli forged a unique path by pursuing...
(JNS) — Over 1,400 bereaved families gathered last week to plant trees in memory of their loved ones at the newly established Iron Swords Forest, which spans 367 dunams (approximately 90 acres). Established last October by Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund at Khirbet Mador, near the Re’im Recreation Area, the forest is Israel’s largest memorial dedicated to those murdered and the fallen in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and the ensuing war. Among the participants was Vered Libstein of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, who lost four family...
(JNS) — The Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced Feb. 9 that it was officially terminating its operations in light of the return from Gaza of the last deceased hostage, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili. The body of the 24-year-old volunteer in the elite Israel Police Yasam Special Patrol Unit was held in the Strip for 843 days before it was brought back for burial in Israel, closing the chapter on the 251 individuals abducted into Gaza during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, and four others taken before the war. The Israeli NGO said it had ...
Over 200 guests gathered on Feb. 10 for a spectacular morning of style and celebration at the annual fashion show benefiting Jewish Pavilion Senior Services. Hosted by Dillard's at the Altamonte Mall, the event brought together supporters, sponsors, and community members for an uplifting program filled with food, fashion, and friendship. The energy throughout the morning was vibrant and inspiring, reflecting the strong community spirit that continues to sustain the organization's mission of serv...
(JNS) — Israel is allocating tens of millions of shekels to a newly-created “Hills Administration” that will seek to combat anti-Arab violence in Judea and Samaria by some 300 Jewish rioters, Ynet reported on Sunday. The initiative, which is being promoted by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and was first reported in November, calls for the creation of a new unit within the Israeli Defense Ministry to coordinate a response for at-risk youth. Under the plan, the Defense Ministry would receive two million shekels (about $500,000) annua...
(JNS) — The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved a series of measures aimed at deepening Jerusalem’s hold on Judea and Samaria and expanding Jewish communities in the region, according to Hebrew-language media. The decisions promoted by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are reportedly expected to bring about far-reaching changes to land acquisition rules in Judea and Samaria. The approved measures include lifting confidentiality from land registry records; canceling historic restrictions on land sales to non...
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) apprehended more than 20 Palestinian terrorists and wanted individuals overnight Sunday in counter-terrorism operations across Judea and Samaria. The IDF Samaria Brigade arrested a terrorist involved in the purchase and possession of weapons, as well as in planning to harm Israeli soldiers and civilians, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said. Four more suspects were detained during the operation in the area. In a separate operation, IDF troops and Border Police fighters app...
(JNS) — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged his nation to unify as the United States has been boosting its military presence in the Gulf region. “The enemy must be driven to despair. The enemy’s despair comes through [our] unity, strength of thought and determination, and steadfastness in confronting the enemy’s temptations. These are what build national power,” Khamenei tweeted. AFP cited the Iranian leader as calling on his citizens to show resolve ahead of the 47th anniversary this week of the Islamic Revolution that brough...
(JNS) - Moshe Davis learned that he was out of a job on Feb. 4 from a public social media post that Phylisa Wisdom was succeeding him as director of the New York City Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism. Close to an hour later, his supervisor made it official. He wasn't surprised but was disappointed, he told JNS. Mayor Zohran Mamdani "signaled that they would be taking a different approach that didn't align with mine," Davis said. "I was hoping they wanted to make this office something that...
(JNS) - Before Oct. 7, 2023, Israel knew that digging was taking place in Gaza, and on a massive scale. But for a long time, warning signs were ignored, and there was a refusal to believe that one day we would discover a dark, brutal world beneath the ground. Today, after more than two years of fighting, tunnel experts are warning against falling asleep on watch again. "Before the war, we said, 'It's there, we're here, we'll make sure no tunnels are crossing the fence,'" says Lt. Col. R., 37, co...
(JNS) — Iran’s foreign minister vowed on Sunday that Tehran will never abandon uranium enrichment, even if it means facing war with the United States, sharpening a tense standoff over its nuclear program. The Islamic Republic “has paid a very heavy price for its peaceful nuclear program and for uranium enrichment,” Abbas Araghchi claimed during a forum in the capital, according to AFP. “Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up even if a war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behavior,...
(JNS) — When the 20 national teams gather next month for the World Baseball Classic, every team but one will be accompanied by two Major League Baseball security agents. Team Israel will have four. “This is just stuff that other teams do not have to deal with,” Nate Fish, manager of the Israeli national team and CEO of Israel Baseball Americas, told JNS. “But it’s stuff that we’re used to dealing with.” “We don’t talk about it that much,” he said. It’s been nine years since Team Israel, then ranked 49th, shocked the world by reaching the secon...
El Al to fly to Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines By Etgar Lefkovits (JNS) — Israel’s flag carrier, El Al, announced on Sunday that it will launch nonstop service to Hanoi, Seoul and Manila from Tel Aviv, marking a major expansion of its service to Asia. The thrice-weekly flights to each city will bring to a record 60 the number of destinations serviced by El Al. The flights to Vietnam—which is already serviced by rival Israeli airline Arkia—will begin in October with economy fares starting at $899 round-trip, while service to South Korea will...
(JNS) — A new House caucus focused on opposing Sharia law in the United States has expanded to 36 members from 18 states, according to Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), one of its co-founders. The Sharia Free America Caucus was founded by Self and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) following a conversation with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) at the White House Christmas Party, according to Self. He told JNS that the caucus has three primary goals. “We think our missions and our goals are to, one, alert our colleagues in Congress to the dangers of the exp...
(JNS) — Anti-Israel groups and left-wing Jewish organizations are rallying to stop Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York City Council from forwarding proposals that would create buffer zones around houses of worship and educational facilities. While Jewish advocacy groups have come together to back the legislation, PAL-Awda of New York and New Jersey called for “urgent action” on Feb. 8. “Tell your state senator and assemblymember to reject anti-free speech buffer zones.” The group wrote that “Hochul is trying to sneak this through the state budge...
