Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1927 - 1951 of 10919
(JNS) — In a television program this past July, Palestinian cleric Mahmoud al-Habbash asserted that Jews follow Satanism and “have left the path of humanity.” Indeed, he claimed, Jews are Satan himself. In an earlier broadcast, Habbash had called Jews “creatures that Allah created in the form of humans. They are cursed descendants of apes and pigs.” These gems and more have been documented by Palestinian Media Watch. Habbash also denies that Jews have any historical connection to the Land of Israel. He maintains, “There was no First Templ...
(JNS) — U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is facing criticism following his testimony for a Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 20 titled “Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” during which he was visibly emotional on several occasions. The committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), sought in the hearing to examine how the U.S. Justice Department “has become politicized and weaponized under the leadership of Attorney General Merrick Garland.” Garland noted his Jewish ancestry in his opening statement. “My family fled religi...
(JTA) - Germany has banned a neo-Nazi group after raiding the homes of its leaders across the country, in a move the government said "sends a clear signal against racism and antisemitism." The Hammerskins, a local spinoff of a group founded in the United States in the late 1980s, are accused of promoting criminal activities and of opposing the German constitution. According to a recent report from Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the group was the only the only re...
By Jackie Hajdenberg (JTA) — More than 80 years after one of Germany’s most prominent synagogues was destroyed on Kristallnacht, the Jewish community of Hamburg has taken ownership of the building’s site and is set to begin rebuilding it. The site of the Bornplatz Synagogue, a neo-Romanesque building dedicated in 1906 that had a 1,200-seat sanctuary and was once the largest synagogue in northern Germany, was officially handed over to leaders of the city’s Jewish community on Wednesday. At the ceremony marking that restitution, officia...
(JNS) - A 2,300-year-old tomb of a courtesan, including among other things a well-preserved bronze mirror, has been uncovered on a major Jerusalem thoroughfare, offering rare evidence of the Hellenistic period in the city, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday. The burial cave, which was discovered on a rocky slope aside Hebron Road and near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, included the cremated remains of a young woman alongside a box mirror in a perfect state of preservation, the...
This story will be updated. (Oct. 9, 2023, JTA) — A massive military operation is underway to place Gaza under a “complete siege,” Israel’s defense minister said on Monday, 48 hours after a surprise attack by Hamas left 800 Israelis dead, thousands wounded and more than 100 captive in Gaza. “We are going to change the Middle East,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, according to Israeli media. Meanwhile, a second front in the war has threatened to open up. On Monday, a number of gunmen entered Israel’s north from Le... Full story
(JNS) - The world's largest sukkah is set to open to the public in Jerusalem, with plans for a series of free events, including workshops, plays, musical performances and virtual reality activities, for all ages and sectors. The "Mayor of Jerusalem's Sukkah" will be erected in Safra Square and be open during the intermediate days of the Sukkot holiday (Oct. 1-5) from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. It will also be open on Sept. 30 for a few hours after 9 p.m. and on Oct. 6 in the early morning. The...
In recognition of the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, Jewish National Fund-USA partnered with the Jewish Academy of Orlando to honor first responders and security personnel who keep the communities safe. In a moving ceremony, the school community gathered to honor Chief Security Officer Jake Silverman and Mr. Mike, school security. Head of School Chana Ben- Abraham said "For those of you that were in this room, you know there aren't words to describe the feeling surging through the seats as we paid...
Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation is taking a stand on protecting the Jewish community from rising antisemitism. While this commitment to our community and to Jews around the world is not new, members of the congregation and its board were recently inspired by the "Stand Up to Jewish Hate" campaign, launched by the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. "I first saw commercials for Stand up to Jewish Hate on television," said Jeff Fischer, a founding member of SOJC. "I was amazed at the...
When actor and director David Schwimmer stood up last November to talk about his experience with hate and the importance of building alliances to combat racism and antisemitism, the “Friends” star emphasized the importance of speaking up. “One of the biggest problems is silence. As I’ve said, silence is complicity, and so I try to urge people to speak out,” Schwimmer said at the annual ADL summit on antisemitism and hate, called Never Is Now. “I think it’s my responsibility. I don’t do enou...
The Rosen JCC is offering the opportunity to get certified in First Aid and CPR. Classes will be offered Oct. 19 and 24 at the Rosen JCC from 6 p.m. — 8 p.m. The training includes adult and child CPR. It includes First Aid and AED Training. For personalized training the classes are limited to 20 people. The cost is $50 per person. Register at www.rosenjcc.org/cpr....
(JTA) — After months of icy relations, President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met face to face for the first time since Netanyahu’s return to office late last year — with both appearing eager to convey that the U.S.-Israel alliance remains on solid footing despite their disagreements. The two leaders have been at odds for the better part of a year over a range of issues, from Netanyahu’s effort to weaken the Israeli court system to his far-right governing partners to the Biden administration’s attempts to reenter a...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his country’s leading nuclear and security specialists to work with U.S. negotiators to find a compromise that lets Saudi Arabia enrich uranium, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Israeli officials are “quietly working” with the White House to develop a “U.S.-run, uranium-enrichment operation” in Saudi Arabia for a civilian nuclear program, a key condition of the kingdom for accepting a normalization agreement with Israel, officials from both countries told the Journal. Ma...
(JTA) — A middle school teacher in a district outside Houston, Texas, has been fired reportedly for reading a sexual passage from Anne Frank’s diary out loud to eighth-grade students, the district told local news. The passage came from a 2018 graphic version of the diary by the world-famous Jewish Holocaust victim that restored some portions of the initial book that had been cut from the most well-known editions. “Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation” has also been at the center of several other recent book-related controver...
(JNS) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Saudi-Israeli relations with George Stephanopoulos in New York on Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “When it comes to possible normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, this would be a transformative event,” Blinken said. “We’ve had decades of turmoil, decades of conflict in the Middle East. To bring these two countries together in particular would have a powerful effect in stabilizing the region, in integrating the region, in bringing people together, not having them at...
(JTA) – Days after a synagogue in St. Petersburg, Florida, was forced to evacuate services following a bomb threat, the local city council met to discuss a resolution about antisemitism. The resolution was about whether to endorse a definition of antisemitism that its authors and local advocates both say can be a useful first step in fighting hatred of Jews. Notably refusing to cast a vote: A controversial council member and member of the Nation of Islam who voiced multiple objections to the definition, questioned Jewish community leaders a...
(JNS) — Nearly every notable U.S. State Department official is on pilgrimage to New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly’s annual general debate. Barbara Leaf, the Biden administration’s top diplomat for the Middle East, and Dan Shapiro, senior adviser for regional integration and former U.S. ambassador to Israel, have been spotted in the Big Apple, as has Amos Hochstein, the Israeli-American U.S. energy envoy, who brokered an Israeli-Lebanese maritime border agreement. Deborah Lipstadt, U.S. special envoy for monit...
GPS interference leads to change in landing route for Tel Aviv-bound planes (JNS) — Passenger planes headed to Ben-Gurion Airport have recently had to take alternative routes due to a severe attack on Israel that prevents it from navigating aircraft using GPS. The alternate route—over Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria—is longer than the one that allows for landing over Tel Aviv directly at Ben-Gurion Airport. In recent months, Israel has been the target of incessant attacks by unknown elements, apparently from abroad, that inter...
(J. Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — Two months after proclaiming that July would henceforth be known locally as “American Christian Heritage Month,” the board of supervisors in El Dorado County, California has reversed course. The county’s elected governing body unanimously rescinded the proclamation Tuesday following backlash from local Jews, the American Civil Liberties Union and others who said it inappropriately advanced the idea that the United States is a Christian nation. “I commend the board for reflecting on and revis...
(JTA) – Stan Polovets, an oil industry executive who used his wealth and connections to help establish one of the most prestigious awards in the Jewish world, has been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman he took out on a date. The woman, identified only as Jane Doe 1, made the allegations in a civil lawsuit filed against Polovets, the CEO of the Genesis Prize Foundation, in Manhattan last week. She is demanding financial compensation whose amount would be determined in court. S...
(JTA) - The way things stand now, Mexico is headed to elect its first woman president next year. The two leading candidates in the polls for the 2024 election are Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City's former mayor, and Xóchitl Gálvez, a senator representing the center-right opposition bloc. The polls point to another first: Sheinbaum, currently the frontrunner, could become the country's first Jewish president, too. Earlier this month, Sheinbaum, 61, was announced as the candidate for the l...
StandWithUs, a 22-year-old international non-partisan education organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism is pleased to announce that Mikayla Rosenwasser of Boone High School and Allie Bielski of UCF are participating in the 2023-24 Kenneth Leventhal High School Internship and the Emerson Fellowship. Mikayla Rosenwasser of Boone High School is the StandWithUs High School Kenneth Leventhal High School Intern. Recognizing that education needs to begin before students enter...
JFS Orlando’s annual Hope Challenge is underway. Running Sept. 12 through Oct. 15, every dollar donated to Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando will be generously matched by Lauren and Scott Zimmerman and the Zimmerman Foundation, with a total match of up to $25,000. With your help, JFS Orlando’s FAMILY of services can continue to bring hope to those in need during the High Holidays and beyond. For the cost of just eight cups of coffee, you feed a family for a week through their Pearlman Food Pantry; two theme park passes you support a f...
(JNS) — U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York this week, according to Axios. It will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two men since Netanyahu returned to power nearly nine months ago. Three U.S. officials confirmed to the news site that the two leaders will not meet at the White House and that an internal debate occurred in Biden’s political circle regarding whether they should meet at the Oval Office or at U.N. headquarters, wit...
On Wednesday, Sept. 6, 40 Jewish Pavilion sponsors attended a special breakfast at Allegro Winter Park hosted by the Jewish Pavilion. Courtesy of Allegro's catering team, the breakfast included raisin challah, apples and honey, lox, fresh fruits, eggs with a medley of vegetables, and an assortment of desserts, including black and white cookies. One of the highlights of the morning was the opportunity for sponsors to introduce themselves and share their personal connections to the Jewish...
