Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — The Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) denied a report on Sunday by the British Daily Mail that intelligence gathered by Israel’s internal security service is leading to fears that only 40 hostages out of the 133 still being held by Hamas in Gaza are alive. According to the report from the London-based tabloid, a dwindling number of captives have survived after 253 were kidnapped during the Hamas-led rampage across the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7. The report cites the Shin Bet and anonymous sources to make the claim. “The publi...
(JNS) — The negotiations to forge a deal wherein Hamas would free hostages held in Gaza in return for a ceasefire and the release of terrorists held in Israeli prisons are at a delicate stage, Qatar’s prime minister said on Wednesday. “We are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling, and we are trying as much as possible to address this,” said Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The Gulf nation is mediating the talks, along with Egypt and the U.S. While Israel has shown flexibility in the hopes of arriving at a hostage deal, Hamas h...
(JTA) - Yakira Galler, a first-year student at Barnard College, has had trouble sleeping. Galler has an apartment that looks out onto Broadway, which divides Columbia University's campus from Barnard, its women's college. Each night this week, she has heard crowds of protesters banging pots and pans, chanting "Intifada, revolution" and calling for the Ivy League university to divest from Israel. The street protests accompanied a much larger on-campus demonstration that devolved into unrest on...
(JNS) — A Jewish student at Yale University was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag during an anti-Israel demonstration on Saturday night at the school’s campus in New Haven, Conn. “Tonight at Yale, I was assaulted by a student today at an anti-Israel protest. He stabbed me in the eye with a Palestinian flag. Now I’m in the hospital. This is what happens when visibly Jewish students try to attend and document these rallies,” Sahar Tartak, a sophomore, tweeted after the incident. Tartak, who is studying history and is the editor-in...
Natalie Sopinsky lives in Suissa, Israel, in the southeast Negev. She shares her daily life with Heritage readers, her thoughts, her reality in the land she loves. Welcome to Israel ... where we allow terrorist murderers free reign. They have education, jobs, families, possessions...they are normal citizens. So why do they hate us so much? What pushes a mother to kill? What causes a mother to be a killer, to forfeit her life, to lead a life in jail? Why attempt to kill an Israeli soldier? As we...
(JNS) - "A farmer does not leave his land." Six months after losing his wife, his 15-year-old son and one of his legs in the Oct. 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel, Avida Bachar is back on his land. Walking with a cane and a prosthetic leg after nearly half a year in the hospital, the 50-year-old farmer stares out at the avocado plantation in Kibbutz Be'eri, where he was born and which lies less than a mile from the border with Gaza. On Oct. 7, Bachar's wife and son...
(JNS) - Dor Kapah, 30, stood before a group of students at the University of Florida, recounting a harrowing tale that seemed straight out of a war movie. But it wasn't fiction; it was a gripping account of his escape from Hamas terrorists, relentlessly pursuing him no matter where he fled. His narrative unfolded with descriptions of shooting, bombing and the kidnapping and murder of his friends. The students listened in stunned silence as Kapah detailed the events of Oct. 7, a day etched in...
(JNS) - The mayors of cities in Massachusetts, South Carolina and Oregon returned last week from a four-day visit to Israel, where they met with political officials, business leaders, academics and regional experts. The three U.S. municipal leaders-Jon Mitchell, the mayor of New Bedford, Mass.; Daniel Rickman, mayor of Columbia, S.C.; and Travis Stovall, mayor of Gresham, Ore.-also spoke with released hostages, their families and those working to see the return of the rest of the captives still...
(JNS) — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a dozen pro-Israel and anti-Iran bills and resolutions this week, in the wake of the Islamic Republic’s missile attack against the Jewish state on Saturday. Lawmakers passed two bills on Monday that target Iran’s finances and a third that would deny tax-exempt status to U.S. charities that fund foreign terrorist organizations. The House passed nine bills and resolutions on Tuesday designed to support the Jewish state and combat Iran. Most of the bills passed overwhelmingly, facing oppos...
(JTA) — The mother of 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, is one of nearly a dozen Jews on Time Magazine’s 100 “Most Influential” list, couched among comedians, writers, music producers, athletes, business executives, and politicians. Since Oct. 7, Rachel Goldberg-Polin has become one of the most prominent and indefatigable voices advocating for the release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza. She has attended an audience with Pope Francis, Zoomed with President Joe Biden and spo...
IAF strike in Lebanon kills senior Hezbollah terrorist (JNS) — An Israeli Air Force strike in Southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed a senior Hezbollah terrorist responsible for firing rockets and missiles at the Jewish state, the Israel Defense Forces said. Since the Iranian terrorist proxy joined the war against Israel in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, Ismail Baz, who commanded Hezbollah’s coastal sector, “organized and planned various terrorist plots,” the IDF said. The military added, “Ismail served in several positions as a senior and veteran off...
(JTA) – A Holocaust research center founded by Steven Spielberg has gotten embroiled in a drama over campus Israel speech that is dividing the University of Southern California, where it is housed. The USC Shoah Foundation is downplaying its role in the school’s academics after the university’s valedictorian, a pro-Palestinian student who earned a minor in “resistance to genocide,” touted her ties to the center. After USC announced last week that Asna Tabassum would be the valedictorian, pro-Israel groups mounted a campaign against her, citi...
(JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday urged the international community to confront Iran, as Jerusalem prepares a response to the Islamic Republic’s massive drone and missile attack over the weekend. “The whole world must work decisively and defiantly against the threat posed by the Iranian regime, which is seeking to undermine the stability of the entire region,” Herzog said after meeting the foreign ministers of Britain and Germany in Jerusalem. Herzog reiterated the Jewish state’s “unequivocal” commitment to defending its...
It's rare, if ever, that one sits at home watching news of an impending attack that's already been launched at your country. But that's exactly what I did last night. First the IDF issued instructions to keep Israelis safe, including closing all schools, banning gatherings of more than 1000 people, and what to do in case of an air raid siren. An hour or so later it was announced that Iran had already launched dozens (up to 150-200) armed drones at Israel that would take as long as 9 hours to...
(JNS) — The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews will be supporting over 100,000 people in Israel this Passover, with a specific focus on families directly affected by the ongoing war against Hamas, especially bereaved families, hostages’ relatives and the tens of thousands of evacuees. As part of the 2024 Passover program, IFCJ will be distributing close to 19,000 600 shekel ($162) debit cards for evacuated families to use toward purchasing food items. The cards will also be delivered to families of injured soldiers as well as rel...
(JNS) — Israel’s War Cabinet on Sunday recommended retaliating to the first-ever direct Iranian attack on the Jewish state, although they were divided on the scope and timing of the response, Reuters reported on Monday, citing Israeli officials. However, no final decision was made, per reports, and ministers were to reconvene at 2 p.m. Monday to continue deliberations. The Islamic Republic and its terror proxies launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday night, with Israel and its military allies shooting down most of the...
The RAISE work and social skills training program for adults with special needs is now accepting online applications for RAISE employees as well as opportunities to volunteer as a RAISE job coach. RAISE is a work and social skills training program that provides paid employment at its partnering agencies. If you know someone who may benefit from RAISE, apply online by clicking on “Apply for RAISE employment” at www.jfgo.org/RAISE. If you are interested in volunteering as a job coach, inquire online by clicking “Apply to become a job coach...
Parents get ready to plan a night out for yourself. The Rosen JCC Saturday Night Out will be on April 27, 6 p.m. -11 p.m. This event lets you drop off kids for a night of fun. The theme this month is “An Evening of Magic.” Kids will be able to play games, have playground time, read and watch a movie with pizza. The monthly event gives parents a place for childcare while they plan a night out or a quiet night at home. Register now because space is limited www.rosenjcc.org/sno....
NEW YORK — As costs continue to soar due to inflation, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty has launched an emergency fundraising appeal to ensure the Jewish organization can provide free food to the more than 300,000 Jews who rely on the organization’s free food distributions for Passover across the tri-state area. More than 230 distribution events have been strategically organized across all five boroughs of New York City, as well as in Westchester, Albany, Connecticut, and northern New Jersey. These events serve as crucial access poi...
WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the leadership of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the nation’s largest pro-Israel organization, released the following statements in reaction to reports that President Joe Biden held a tense phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during which the President demanded an immediate cease-fire to the war in Gaza. “President Biden is playing directly into the enemy’s hands by undermining Israel’s effort to defeat Hamas. If the President wishes to help Israelis and Palestinians, he should do...
(JNS) — Pierre Poilievre, a member of the Canadian parliament and the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, recently spoke to members of the Orthodox Beth Israel Beth Aaron Congregation in Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec. His address on March 26 received robust applause and several standing ovations. Poilievre proclaimed the permanence of the Jewish people, saying that “a thousand years from now, whatever is going on, on Fridays, as the sun goes down, there will be a Shabbat in Israel.” He said, “Those songs will be sung. The Jewish people will go...
(JTA) — Rep. Gregory Meeks, the leading Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has said he would not approve a U.S. sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel without “assurances” on what the jets would be used for. “I’m waiting for assurances,” Meeks, who represents a district in New York City, told CNN on Tuesday. “It is enough of the indiscriminate bombing. I don’t want the kinds of weapons that Israel has to be utilized to have more death.” Meeks is one of four lawmakers on Capitol Hill with the power to hold up weapons sales. He has pre...
(JNS) - Orthodox Union leaders delivered 100,000 letters to the White House on Wednesday, urging U.S. President Joe Biden to continue supporting Israel, demanding the release of hostages whom Hamas holds in Gaza and combating antisemitism domestically. The letters were the first batch of more than 180,000 that the OU has collected from synagogues across the country since Thursday, marking 180 days that the hostages have been in captivity. Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the OU,...
(JNS) - The Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition composed of Hamas and other terrorist groups, recently announced price drops for food in the Gaza Strip. Gazan merchants said, "An average family can now buy products for a hearty meal with 100 shekels [$27.15], compared to 200 shekels required for such a meal just a few days ago," Ynet reported. The news is in line with a report issued last week by the Israeli Defense Ministry's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories...
(JNS) — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday accused President Joe Biden of turning against Israel to appease the far-left flank of the Democratic Party. “Democrats are weak on Israel as well, and it’s their support for Israel. It’s rather stunning to us that there’s this dramatic shift. Hamas is holding more than 130 hostages, as you know, including Americans,” the 52-year-old Republican said at a press conference in Washington. “These people are languishing at the hands of barbaric terrorists, and Joe Biden is meanwhile giv...
