Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - Israeli forces have completed the destruction of Hamas's military capabilities in the northern Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press briefing on Saturday night, three months into Israel's war with the terrorist group. "We have completed the dismantling of Hamas' frameworks in the north of the Gaza Strip, and we will continue to deepen the achievement and strengthen the barrier and the defense elements at the border," Hagari said. He added...
“A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting” Documentary Screening On Jan. 21, 2024, at 2 p.m. at Shalom Orlando, 851 N Maitland Ave, Maitland, the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center will present its Continuing Discussion Series: Crucial Conversations for a Unified Florida. The film “A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting” delves deep into the lives of survivors, victims, and their families, offering poignant firsthand accounts of a shattered community’s resilience. This documentary sheds light on societal...
Palestinians captured by the IDF in the Gaza Strip are angry about the way Hamas used civilians to protect themselves and would prefer Israeli rule as the soldiers have treated them better, according to recordings of interrogations released by the IDF. “I felt that we are human shields,” said Muhammad Darwish Amara, a terrorist from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization. “Why would we protect them? We also want to be saved.” The man, who looked to be in his 20s, said that Hamas forces had forced him and others to go with them instead...
Hearing the inspiring story of Saul Dreier, a Holocaust survivor who worked in Schindler’s Factory and survived three concentration camps, on Jan. 24, 7 p.m., at Chabad Lubavitch of North Orlando, 1701 Markham Woods Rd., Longwood. Also enjoy the melodies of the Holocaust Survivor Band, which Dreier founded. The cost is $25, early bird is $20 by Jan. 16. Space is limited For more information and to RSVP, call 407-636-5994 or visit www.jewishnorthorlando.com/band....
(JTA) – A federal judge in Iowa has blocked much of a state law forbidding school libraries from stocking books depicting “sex acts,” in part because he said it was keeping a classic Holocaust memoir off shelves. U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher granted a preliminary injunction against the law, Iowa Senate File 496, on Friday, just before a Jan. 1 deadline for schools to begin enforcing it. The “staggeringly broad” law, he wrote in his opinion, would prevent public schools from stocking “non-fiction history books about the Holocaust....
(JNS) — Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked the government’s “recusal law“—an amendment to Israel’s Basic Law: The Government—from taking effect until after new elections are held. In its 6-5 ruling, the Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, argued the law was “clearly a personal amendment” meant to shield Netanyahu from the consequences of violating a 2020 conflict of interest agreement, and therefore constituted an illegitimate abuse of the Knesset’s power to pass Basic Laws. The delay was supported by former c...
(JNS) — U.S. spy agencies verified Israeli claims that Hamas and another Palestinian terrorist group used Shifa Hospital in Gaza City as a command center and to hold hostages, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. In late November, the Israel Defense Forces released extensive video evidence of terror tunnels under Shifa Hospital—the Gaza Strip’s largest medical facility—saying it “unequivocally” proves the modus operandi of Hamas, “which systematically operates from hospitals.” The terrorist group held at least three of the estimated 240 h...
(JNS) — At least 100 Iranians were killed and scores of others were wounded on Wednesday in two reported explosions at a commemoration ceremony for slain Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in the city of Kerman, some 600 miles southeast of Tehran, emergency services said. Local media cited officials as claiming the blasts were the result of “terrorist attacks.” Several gas canisters exploded at the entrance to the cemetery, according to Nournews, a news outlet with close ties to the regime. The explosions took place 10 minutes apart, accor...
(JNS) - Hamas terrorists murdered about 100 members of Kibbutz Be'eri and visitors on Oct. 7. Of the 30 who were kidnapped from their homes, 19 have been released and the body of Judith Weiss was recovered. As of this moment, 10 kibbutz members are still being held hostage in the Gaza Strip. Members of Be'eri who returned from Hamas captivity, returned to the devastated kibbutz this week to pay their respects to their neighbors and friends who were murdered or are still being held hostage. Oren...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration condemned calls by two Israeli government ministers for Palestinians to be removed from the Gaza Strip. Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, also condemned the call. The criticism comes as gaps remain between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over who will govern Gaza on the day after Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas, the terror group that controlled the territory prior to its Oct. 7 invasion of Israel. While Biden has pushed for the Wes...
(JNS) — Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Wednesday reiterated his support for the voluntary resettlement of Gazans, a day after being condemned by the U.S. for taking this stance. “More than 70 percent of the Israeli public today supports a humanitarian solution of encouraging the voluntary immigration of Gaza Arabs and their absorption in other countries, understanding that a small country like ours cannot afford a reality where four minutes away from our communities there is a hotbed of hatred and terrorism where two milli...
Soldiers serving in Gaza are experiencing unusual infections, including severe foot fungus, Yedioth Ahronoth has reported. Long campaigns with soldiers standing sometimes for hours at a time, and the compromised hygiene in Gaza have increased the risk of serious foot and leg conditions. Medical staff report many reservists are suffering from painful lesions on the feet and legs. Soldiers may not take off their shoes or change their socks for many days which also raises the risks of infections. In addition, many soldiers in Gaza complain of...
(JTA) – Harvard University President Claudine Gay has resigned in the wake of plagiarism allegations and months-long criticism of her response to allegations of antisemitism at the school. Gay is the second Ivy League university president to step down following congressional testimony on campus antisemitism last month that drew intense criticism. University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned her post on Dec. 9. Gay had also faced criticism over the school's initial statement on Hamas'...
(JNS) — Israel accused the United Nations on Wednesday of not doing enough to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Defense Ministry agency responsible for civilian affairs in the territories, responded to a tweet by United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini blaming Jerusalem for subjecting Gazans to “collective punishment with too little humanitarian aid allowed in.” The agency tweeted...
(JNS) - The Israel Defense Forces are investigating a possible terrorist tunnel that soldiers discovered near Jewish communities in the Hebron Hills in Judea. In a viral video shared to social media earlier this week, an IDF reservist claims that "after a long period in which residents of Telem and Adora in the West Hebron Hills heard digging noises," troops were sent to inspect Palestinian structures in the area of Khirbet Tayibe. "To our surprise, in addition to illegal construction, we found...
Rock star Alanis Morissette uncovers her family’s Holocaust history on PBS’ ‘Finding Your Roots’ By Jacob Gurvis (JTA) — Seven-time Grammy Award winner Alanis Morissette explores her family’s Jewish past, which she said was kept a secret from her for most of her life, on Tuesday night’s season premiere of the PBS celebrity genealogy series “Finding Your Roots.” “I think I found out that I was Jewish in my late 20s. I didn’t know,” Morissette tells host and Harvard University history professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. in the episode, a snippet...
By Eliyahu Freedman TEL AVIV (JTA) — Daniel Ozeri found himself returning to the worst moments of his life on a recent Sunday — not inside his own mind, but inside a Tel Aviv convention center. Ozeri was in Expo Tel Aviv, a sprawling complex in the city’s north where the Nova music festival — which ended when Hamas attacked on Oct. 7 — has been recreated in exacting detail. At least 364 party-goers were murdered and 40 taken hostage at the festival on Kibbutz Re’im, which quickly became a powerful symbol of Israel’s loss. Ozeri, like so many ot...
(JNS) — Arabs vandalized an archaeological site in Israel’s biblical heartland that millions of Jews and Christians revere as the location where Joshua built an altar, an Israeli NGO said on Thursday. The reports of renewed damage to the site on Mount Ebal known as Joshua’s Altar, which is under joint control with the Palestinian Authority, highlights anew the need for the preservation, upkeep and safeguarding of Israeli archaeological sites in P.A.-controlled areas after decades of neglect. Isr...
(JNS) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops in the northern Gaza Strip, during which he said that the war against Hamas is not nearly finished. "We are not stopping; we are continuing to battle. We will be intensifying the fighting in the coming days, as this will be a long war. It is not close to over," Netanyahu told soldiers. "We are proud of you and trust you. We see the determination and the desire to continue until the end," he added. Netanyahu was joined by Israel...
DENVER - Orlando community members recently joined 2,500 Zionists in Denver, Colorado, for Jewish National Fund-USA's Global Conference for Israel. Emotions ran high as attendees embraced the dozens of Israelis in attendance who experienced the horror and aftermath of the attacks. These same Israelis have been working around the clock with Jewish National Fund-USA to address the immediate needs of those affected while also planning for the region's future. "After so much tragedy, it was...
(JNS) - Two Israeli reserve soldiers recently discovered a small, well-preserved Byzantine-era oil lamp at a military staging area in southern Israel near the Gaza border, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday. The find, by Nathaniel Melchior and Alon Segev, part of the 404th Battalion within the Israel Defense Forces' 282nd Fire Brigade, sparked a chain of events that led to the 1,500-year-old artifact's safe handover to the IAA. "During one of our wanderings in the field, I...
Dillard's Department Store in Altamonte Springs is proud to announce its role as the host venue for the upcoming Jewish Pavilion Annual Fashion Show on Feb. 15, 2024, starting at 9:30 a.m., according to Nancy Nguyen, the store manager. Dillard's encourages the community to extend financial support to The Jewish Pavilion, recognizing its remarkable contributions to the community. This year's fashion show will specifically honor Lisa Eichenblatt, acknowledging her unwavering commitment, board...
The program directors, staff, and volunteers working with The Jewish Pavilion have earned a well-deserved rest after filling and distributing approximately 450+ holiday bags and conducting an average of 26 programs in Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Care and Long-Term Health facilities throughout Central Florida. In an effort to make the celebrations special, each year I look around for unique foods that enhance the holidays. Latkes, the favorite treat for Chanukah, are prepared and...
Jan. 9 — Kabbalah One Class This 10-week course will be held in the Senior Lounge from 6 p.m. — 7:30 p.m. The course is free. Information, please email Michael Slone, mslone@slonebrothers.com Jan. 16 — Annual Appreciation Event for Legacy Donors & Community Members Learn about charitable giving, gift and estate planning, market, economic and philanthropic trends. Keynote speakers are Michael Murdoch, vice president of Goldman Sachs, Investment Strategy Group; and Laura Stegossi, vice president of Goldman Sachs, Family Office. Event begin...
(JNS) — South American and African countries have already expressed interest in taking in Palestinian Arab refugees from the Gaza Strip in return for monetary compensation, Likud Knesset member Danny Danon said on Monday. Israel’s former ambassador to the United Nations, who has floated the idea of the transfer of Gazans as part of his five-point plan for the post-war period, told Israeli broadcaster Kan Reshet Bet that Israel should “make it easier” on those Palestinians who wish to leave the Strip for other countries. Danon noted that Ca...
