Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh submitted the collective resignation of his entire government on Monday, the P.A.’s official Wafa news agency reported, amid talk of a unity deal with the Hamas terrorist organization. During a Cabinet meeting in Ramallah, Shtayyeh explained that “this decision comes in light of the political, security and economic developments related to the aggression against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and the unprecedented escalation in the West Bank, including the city of Jerus...
Jewish joy is blooming at Temple Israel, and so are the vegetables in the Gan Chesed: Garden of Kindness. Officially installed in October of last year through the generosity of the Magness Family Children's Play Area Fund and the hard work of the garden committee led by Temple Israel member Lauren Brown, the community garden has been growing beautiful winter produce. Some of that produce has even been served at TI Supper Club Shabbat dinners. February's Supper Club included baba ganoush made...
On Feb. 15, the isles of Dillard's Altamonte Mall were transformed into a runway of compassion and style as over 200 attendees gathered for the annual Jewish Pavilion Fashion Show. This glittering event served a dual purpose: to raise funds for the Jewish Pavilion and to pay homage to Lisa Eichenblatt, an esteemed board member, sponsor, realtor specializing in seniors, and community leader. With the support of sponsors from the Jewish Pavilion, attendees were treated to a breakfast buffet....
The Rosen JCC will be hosting an open house for our Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC). Choosing a preschool for your child is the first step in their education. The Open House will be March 6th 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. or 6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. and March 7th 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Your child deserves a high-quality, evidence based early childhood education in a caring and nurturing environment. The program offers an expanded STEAM education focused on lessons based on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. Come learn how our award...
(JNS) — The Knesset plenum on Wednesday voted 99-11 to back the government’s decision to reject any unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood, amid reports the Biden administration is considering such a move. All coalition lawmakers and most members of the opposition Yesh Atid, National Unity and Yisrael Beiteinu parties voted in favor of supporting Sunday’s Cabinet statement against “international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.” The Labor Party boycotted the vote and its members were not in attendanc...
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces in the coming days will start an internal investigation into the military’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led massacre and the period preceding the cross-border invasion. Army commanders will be leading the probe, including from the Gaza Division; Unit 8200, the Military Intelligence Directorate’s main information-gathering unit; the Southern Command; and the Operations Directorate, responsible for preparing the IDF for war. The investigation is expected to conclude towards May, after which external inves...
(JNS) — Sixty-three percent of Israeli Jews oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, and most believe terrorism will either stay the same (27.5 percent) or increase (44 percent) should one be created, according to the Israel Democracy Institute’s eleventh War in Gaza survey, published on Wednesday. The survey puts the majority of Israeli Jews at odds with the Biden administration, the European Union and other international players pushing Palestinian statehood in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre. It also underscores the diffe...
(JTA) — At least one Israeli was killed in an early morning shooting attack on the highway leading from the Israeli West Bank settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim to Jerusalem. Eleven others were wounded in the terror attack Thursday morning, one seriously. The three gunmen were killed at the scene by security forces. The attack occurred amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and amid an accompanying rise in violence in the West Bank. Hours earlier, a house in northern Israel was hit by a missile fired from Lebanon. Another missile shot by the Houth...
(JTA) - Last summer, Jared Armstrong traveled from his adopted home of Israel back to the United States to confront a problem - running basketball clinics across the country in a bid to improve Black-Jewish relations. Now, following Hamas' Oct. 7 invasion of Israel, the professional basketball player is bringing his clinics to the southern coastal city of Ashkelon, where he lives, aiming to provide kids with a diversion and a chance to have fun as the war continues to rage just miles away in...
(JNS) — France confirmed that 45 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have received urgent medications that entered the enclave over a month ago in a deal brokered by Paris and Doha. The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ deputy spokesperson expressed this to local media, and the government ministry also contacted the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing the families of those captured by Hamas on Oct. 7, which confirmed the exchange in a statement. “We wish to personally thank President Emmanuel Macron of Franc...
What started as an idea in 2023 for a Temple Israel Men’s Club camping weekend turned into a full Shabbaton held Feb. 2-4, 2024, at Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont. The cabins were comfortable and well-stocked two-bedroom houses with screened-in porches overlooking Dixie Lake. The 10 participants enjoyed kosher food and reading Torah against the backdrop of a natural Florida environment. “Many of us have had experience at Jewish summer camp growing up so we decided to re-create the best par...
(JNS) - A rare multi-compartment stone container dating back around 2,000 years has been revealed to the public for the first time at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The box, carved from soft limestone, measures 30 x 30 cm (about 12 x 12 inches) and and is divided into nine equal-sized interior compartments. The box was discovered in a destruction layer inside an ancient store dated to the end of the Second Temple period that once stood alongside the Pilgrimage Road in the City of David. The...
(JTA) - A bronze statue of the late Jewish singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse was defaced when a sticker with the Palestinian flag was placed over the statue's Star of David necklace. The management of Camden Market, where the statue is located, said the sticker was removed and that the incident had been reported to police, who are investigating. "Camden Market remains first and foremost, a place of diversity - a global destination that welcomes everyone," said the statement, which was posted to...
(JTA) — A campaign to protest President Joe Biden’s support of Israel by voting “Uncommitted” in the Michigan Democratic presidential primary declared victory on Tuesday night, as returns showed the movement garnering more than 10 percent of the vote. Biden still won the primary overwhelmingly. But the Uncommitted movement, also called Listen to Michigan, had set a goal of drawing 10,000 votes — the margin by which Donald Trump won the state in the 2016 presidential election. By early Wednesday, with most votes counted, more than 100,000 p...
(JTA) — On his first day of his visit to Israel, Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, told Israeli authorities that his country would move its embassy to Jerusalem. Milei had vowed during his campaign to move the embassy from its current home in Herzliya, in a sign that Argentina recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. If carried out, the embassy move would make Argentina the sixth country, and only the second major country, to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem. Since then-President Donald Trump moved the U.S. embassy in 2017, fulfi...
(JNS) — Israeli forces seized cash and financial documents from an underground compound in Khan Yunis showing direct Iranian financial support for Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces disclosed on Tuesday night. “We found official documents from 2020 detailing the funds transferred by Iran to Hamas between the years 2014 and 2020 and to [Hamas leader in Gaza Yahyah] Sinwar. More than $150 million were transferred from Iran to Hamas,” said IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. The intelligence indicated a “direct connection from Iran to Hamas—a...
‘Fauda’ star posts photo of injuries sustained in Gaza (JNS) — Israeli actor Idan Amedi posted on social media a photo taken soon after he was wounded while fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Amedi, 35, known for his role in the Netflix hit show “Fauda,” was released from the hospital last month after an explosion left him unconscious for days, with shrapnel in his eye sockets, jaw and neck. At the time of the blast, he had been serving in a reserve combat engineering unit. “Every now and then, I have some understanding of the miracle th...
(FLAME via JNS) — If members of the Ku Klux Klan vote overwhelmingly Republican, should Republican politicians adopt policies that curry favor with white supremacists? Certainly not. It would not only be wrong, it would also offend the vast majority of American voters, who are not white supremacists. Similarly, if voters who support terrorists vote overwhelmingly Democrat, should Democrats craft policies to attract them? Definitely not. It would be immoral and unethical—and would alienate the overwhelming majority of Americans, who oppose ter...
(JNS) — Israel is evaluating the credibility of Hamas’s confirmation to Qatar that the terrorist group in Gaza received a shipment of medical supplies in a deal brokered by Qatar and France and has started delivering them to hostages in Gaza. Doha made the announcement on Tuesday evening, over one month after the badly needed medicines entered the coastal enclave. “The Qatari announcement is the direct result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on receiving proof that the medicines have reached our hostaAes,” the Prime Minister...
(JTA) — When the Biden administration announced new sanctions meant to stop the flow of U.S. donations to extremist Israelis, many watchdogs assumed that one charity would be especially concerned. But the Central Fund of Israel says it is unfazed by the new sanctions, which were announced amid a push by the White House to rein in violence in the West Bank. The sanctions came alongside a warning against funneling money to nonprofits that promote violence. The Central Fund is a New York-registered charity that distributes tens of millions of d...
Last November, circumstance connected the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Orlando and Central Florida Hillel. On Feb. 9, 2024, that connection was solidified in the traditional Jewish manner — over Shabbat dinner. The connection was, in fact, prompted by shared outrage. In November, local U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost, to the surprise and dismay of the local Jewish community, voted against a congressional resolution condemning the rise of antisemitism on college campuses in t...
The attitude about antisemitic groups in Central Florida used to be “if you ignore them, they will go away.” Not anymore. Now people hold to “if you see something, say something.” On Saturday, Feb. 17, a group of neo-Nazi demonstrators stood on the corner of Lee Road and Orlando Avenue waving a Nazi flag and a Confederate Flag, while holding signs that read “Jews love genocide,” “The ADL protects pedophiles” and “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” The protesters drew the attention of Sen. Rick Scott,...
The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society will host Dr. Isaac Amon, director of Academic Research at Jewish Heritage Alliance, at its meeting Feb. 29 to begin at 2 p.m. The one-hour presentation in which Dr. Amon describes "An Extraordinary Odyssey: The 3,000 Year Story of Sefarad," will take place at the Main Library, 1960 North Ponce De Leon Boulevard in St. The Jewish Heritage Alliance is an educational organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of Sefarad, Jews of the...
(JNS) — The National Library of Israel has embarked on a massive project to collect and archive all published materials about the Oct. 7 massacre, both the good and the bad. While scholars and the curious public explore the new library building in Jerusalem and its Israel, Judaica, Humanities, Islam and Gershom Scholem collections, Chaim Neria is quietly gathering more recent—and sometimes painful—printed and digital items associated with the murder by Hamas of some 1,200 people. “The significance of this project to Israel and the Jewish...
(JNS) — During his call on Sunday with U.S. President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the U.S. administration’s move to sanction four residents of Judea and Samaria over purported “settler violence,” Axios reported. Netanyahu’s protest signaled his belief that the sanctions, allowing the imposition of penalties on Israeli officials directly or indirectly involved in vaguely defined “settler violence,” could have implications for the entire country, including the political and defense establishment...
