Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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The Rosen JCC welcomes Erin Nolan as the Rosen JCC's new Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, where she will oversee our new Arts at the Jprogram at Pargh Event Center. Originally from Wisconsin, Nolan studied at Carthage College in Kenosha before building a career as a graphic designer with more than 20 years of experience. Her style blends minimalist aesthetics with bold, non-traditional influences, showcased in work ranging from corporate branding and print to logo design....
After a successful launch two years ago, Temple Israel's Annual Book Fair and Corned Beef Sandwich Day returns on Sunday, Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Roth Social Hall at 50 S. Moss Road in Winter Springs. There are thousands of donated books to choose from, organized by fiction, nonfiction, and childrens, as well as miscellaneous media such as games, puzzles, CDs, and other make-an-offer items. Hardcover books are priced at two dollars while paperbacks cost one dollar each. This year...
Where has the time gone? The organizing committee is actively planning the Ninth annual Men’s Night Out, to be held at Congregation Ohev Shalom on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2025, starting at 5:30 pm. Organized and presented by Congregation Ohev Shalom, Temple Israel, Congregation of Reform Judaism, Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation, in conjunction with Shalom Orlando, Men’s Night Out is a collaborative outreach program and a “community driven” gathering designed to bring all affiliated and unaffiliated Jewish men in the Orlando community togethe...
The much-anticipated Annual Online Auction to support our local senior community is almost here! Taking place Oct. 19–24, this exciting event raises critical funds for programs that provide connection, care, and dignity to seniors in need — and this year, the Jewish Pavilion Senior Services needs your help to make it the most successful auction yet. Register, Donate, and Win! Auction participation is simple — and potentially rewarding. Register today https://jewishpavilion.org/2025-online-auction/ Your engagement goes a long way in boost...
On Oct. 19, from noon to 1 p.m., the Holocaust Center will host the Junior Reading Club. The book to be discussed is “The Patchwork Torah” by Allison Ofanasky. This event is free and open to families. It is designed for children in grades K-6 and includes discussion followed by hands-on arts and crafts. On Sunday, Oct. 26, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Dismantling Hate Workshop, Part 4: Historical Remembrance and Memorialization will be held. This is the final session of this 4-part series, led by Dr. Adrian Mitter. The workshop Uses the Hol...
(JNS) — The FBI is cutting ties with the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center, Kash Patel, director of the federal U.S. law enforcement agency, stated in a pair of social media posts last week. Patel blamed the ADL partnership on his predecessor, James Comey, who the U.S. Justice Department indicted last month for allegedly making false statements and obstruction of justice. Those allegations relate to Senate testimony he gave about the 2016 investigation into potential links between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia....
(JNS) — In his first interview since announcing earlier in the day the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hamas, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the “world has come together around this deal.” Calling it a “great honor” to participate in the deal that will see all of the hostages both living and dead returned from Gaza in the coming days, Trump thanked members of his administration, including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, senior adviser Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and V...
(JNS) — Families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have sent an urgent letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, calling on the body to award the Nobel Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump for his efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war. “After almost two years of suffering, we have reached a critical turning point,” the families wrote, according to a statement from the Hostage and Missing Families Forum Headquarters. “President Trump’s determination to bring peace made possible what many said was impossible. We strongly urge you to award Pres...
Hours after freeing 20 living hostages to a jubilant Israel, Hamas released the remains of four deceased hostages — far fewer than the 28 it is holding and obligated under the terms of the ceasefire to release. The group had already indicated that it was not prepared to release all of the deceased hostages’ remains immediately, following two years of war in Gaza, and Israel and negotiators had accepted that it could take some time. Still, the small number of bodies released on Monday represented a disappointment for many who had hoped that Mon...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to join world leaders in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to finalize the U.S.-brokered deal aimed at ending the war on Hamas. The Sharm el-Sheikh summit “will soon begin with the participation of 30 countries and international and regional organizations, to celebrate the signing of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip,” a spokesman for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s office told Arabic media. In addition to Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald...
(JNS) — Israel’s Ministry of Religious Services is prepared to receive the remains of “between one and 28” slain hostages as part of the agreement with Hamas in Gaza, director-general Yehudah Avidan said on Sunday. Despite expectations, no one yet knows how many hostages’ bodies will be handed over by the terrorist group before the deadline of 6 a.m. on Monday, Avidan told Kan Reshet Bet radio. A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross will carry out an initial identification process after receiving the bodies, according...
(JNS) — On the 84th anniversary of the notorious Babi Yar massacre, the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center revealed the names of more than 1,000 newly identified victims, announced publicly for the first time at a ceremony at the site on Monday. In Jerusalem, BYHMC and March of the Living hosted a parallel memorial at the National Library of Israel, where the newly discovered names were also read out. Speakers included BYHMC Chairman Natan Sharansky, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk and Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan. “Me...
In one of her last interviews, renowned British primatologist Jane Goodall said that she wanted to send Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with several other world leaders she disliked, on a one-way trip to space. “There are people I don’t like. And I would like to put them on one of [Elon] Musk’s spaceships and send them all off to the planet he’s sure he’s going to discover,” Goodall said on Netflix’s “Famous Last Words: Dr. Jane Goodall,” which was filmed earlier this year and premiered following her death last week at 91....
(JNS) — World leaders from across the globe on Thursday welcomed Israel and Hamas’s agreement to the first phase of Trump’s ceasefire deal, reflecting both intense global relief that the end to the two-year-old war may be in sight and respect for the American president. Among those praising the move were countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Australia, who defied the American administration by recognizing a Palestinian state just last month. United Kingdom “I welcome the news that a deal has been reached on the first stage o...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday marked two years since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, pledging that Israel “will prevail” and reaffirming his commitment to achieving all the war’s objectives — the return of hostages, the elimination of Hamas and ensuring that Gaza will never again pose a threat to the Jewish state. In a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu recalled the immense suffering caused by the attacks, in which some 1,200 people were murdered and 251 were abducted into the terror...
(Israel Hayom/JNS via JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump has dispatched envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Egypt for ongoing talks on ending the war in Gaza, as Hamas presses new demands not part of the original agreement Israel accepted. As technical discussions advance on the initial stages of a ceasefire, including the release of hostages and the entry of aid supplies, the terrorist group has thrown a curveball in the negotiations. Among its demands are the release of senior terrorists Jerusalem has said are red lines, i...
JK Rowling ‘appalled, ashamed’ Jews feel unsafe in United Kingdom (JNS) — J.K. Rowling, who penned the Harry Potter book series, responded on social media to someone who posed the question of how most Brits feel when they learn that Jews don’t feel safe in the United Kingdom. “I don’t know what most Brits feel, but I’m appalled and ashamed,” the best-selling author stated. Five days after Oct. 7, Rowling stated that “we said ‘never again.’ The UK was a safe haven. Now, after the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, British Je...
(JNS) — Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, referred on Monday to convicted Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli prisons, including those with blood on their hands, as “political prisoners” during a press briefing. Leavitt confirmed that Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy for special missions, and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser, are in Egypt to lead technical talks with Israel and Hamas on implementing the peace plan which Trump unveiled last week. Leavitt said that Hamas’s...
(JNS) —A major security breach took place in the Binyamin community of Na’ale late this past Friday night, in the southwestern Samaria Plain, as two masked Arabs managed to infiltrate the hamlet, steal property and escape. Israel’s Channel 12 aired security footage of the intruders wandering freely between homes, apparently looking for soft targets to burglarize. Channel 12 claimed the men went undetected for about three hours. The Binyamin Regional Council could not confirm how long the pair were inside the community, but it told JNS that...
(JNS) — Hundreds of Christians marched through the streets of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in a faith-based show of support for Israel. The event, which commemorated the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on southern Israel, offered a stark contrast with the throng of anti-Israel protests held the same day throughout Europe as well as in Australia. This follows an intensive Israeli outreach to the African continent. The nearly two-mile peaceful “March for Israel,” which was convened by the King Jesus Celebration Churc...
(JNS) — Meeting with European diplomats on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly went as one would expect of representatives of countries that have been recognizing a state of “Palestine,” which the Jewish state and others say rewards Hamas, according to Daniel S. Mariaschin, CEO of B’nai B’rith International. “What we have here on an international level is a ‘don’t confuse me with the facts’ worldview,” Mariaschin told JNS. “All of these arguments, which we feel are well grounded, are clearly not getting through in terms of p...
The 27th annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival will be held Nov. 1-3, and opens at the Orlando Science Center Digital Adventure Theater. This year there are five movies in the lineup but all five are full-length features - two documentaries, one unsettling drama, one comedy, and one animated drama. Without further ado, here is the review. Saturday, Nov. 1 at 7:45 p.m. at the Orlando Science Center Digital Adventure Theater Shari & Lamp Chop Take a step back into your childhood and revisit...
At 9:10 p.m. on Sept. 19, the security footage captured Rabbi Simon Jacobson, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Charlotte County, and cousin of Rabbi Yanky Majesky of Chabad of North Orlando, exiting the synagogue after Shabbat services. Ninety minutes later, Jacobson's phone rang. By the third ring, unease had crept in. Being Shabbat and hearing repeated calls at that late hour Jacobson feared an emergency. He glanced at the screen: Punta Gorda Police Department. The quaint city of Punta Gorda...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a plan to end the war in Gaza, with a 72-hour deadline, which begins when Israel accepts the agreement, for Hamas to return the hostages it holds in Gaza. Speaking at a press conference after the White House released the plan, Trump said that Hamas has not agreed to the proposal but that Arab and Muslim countries are negotiating with the terrorist group. “We’re relying on the countries that I named and others to deal with Hamas, and I’m hearing that Hama...
The Jewish Pavilion Senior Services recently hired Vanessa Stein as the new assistant director. Stein is also on the Board of Directors at Congregation Ohev Shalom. Stein brings both professional expertise and personal experience to her role. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology with minors in gerontology and Jewish Studies from the University of Florida in 2005, followed by a Master of Social Work from the University of Central Florida in 2008. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker,...
