Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Biden administration floats Iran agreement that would ease some sanctions (JNS) — Move over JCPOA. There could be a new Iran nuclear deal in town. Biden administration officials have been floating a proposed agreement with Tehran among European and Israeli partners. The terms “would include some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran freezing parts of its nuclear program,” Axios reported. An Israeli official and a Western diplomat told Axios that Iran has rejected the proposal. The Republican Jewish Coalition also rejected it. “The Biden a...
(JNS) — With the release of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s 25th annual Digital Terrorism and Hate Report on Monday, a key Jewish New York City leader says that the hate filtering out onto the streets has its origins on social media. “What we know to exist—that hate is on the rise—and the high-profile cases on the news are often the endpoint of hate,” Eric Dinowitz, New York City Council member and chair of the council’s Jewish Caucus, told JNS. “We see the assaults in Hell’s Kitchen and Times Square. We see mass murders at synagogues and su...
(JNS) — Some 60,000 tourists are expected to arrive in Israel during the Passover and Easter holidays, injecting nearly $100 million into the economy. Passover begins on Wednesday at sundown and runs seven days in the Jewish state and eight days in the Diaspora. Easter is marked on April 9, and the monthlong Muslim festival of Ramadan began on March 22. Last month, 352,000 tourist entries were recorded and, overall, 916,000 tourists have visited Israel since the beginning of the year. “The positive trend in incoming tourism, along with the inc...
(JNS) — “Ancient Judaism Recognized a Range of Genders. It’s Time We Did, Too.” So reads the headline of a March 18 New York Times guest essay by Elliot Kukla, whose website states that he provides “radical spiritual care” and was “the first openly transgender rabbi to be ordained by a mainstream denomination,” the Reform movement’s Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. The uniform resource locator that the Times uses for the article contains the publication date and “trans-teen-suicide-judaism....
(JNS) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Monday to establish a statewide voucher program in which every child will be eligible to receive nearly $8,000 toward schooling, tutoring or other educational-related expenses. "The State of Florida is No. 1 when it comes to education freedom and education choice, and today's signing cements us into that No. 1 position," said DeSantis. He called the new law "the largest expansion of education choice not only in the history of this state but in...
Yom HaZikaron laShoah, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, is most often referred to as Yom HaShoah. It is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, and for the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the largest act of resistance to Nazi aggression during the Holocaust. The first official commemorations took place in 1951, and the observance of the day was anchored in a law passed by the Knesset in 1959. It is held on the 27th o...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday in a national address that he was putting a hold on the government’s judicial reform efforts in order to “provide a real opportunity for real dialogue.” “We are on the path toward a dangerous collision in Israeli society. We are in the midst of a crisis that endangers the basic unity between us. Such a crisis requires us all to act responsibly,” he said. “Yesterday, I read [National Unity Party Chairman] Benny Gantz’s letter in which he undertakes to enter in good faith into...
Beginning in May, Chabads in Orlando are going to offer Judaism’s most satisfying answers on dreams, astrology, demons, and ghosts in a four-week course titled Jewpernatural. Paranormal beliefs are rising fast. In 2016, 46 percent of Americans reported believing in ghosts, according to Chapman University. That figure has reached 57 percent, and since the pandemic, one in five Americans say they’ve personally met a ghost. And it’s not just ghosts. Topics like astrology, dream interpretation, and psychic abilities are rapidly becoming mains...
On Tuesday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m., Chabad of North Orlando will be hosting Leon Melamed for a lecture and book signing at Nate's Shul,1701 Markham Woods Rd. in Longwood. "We survived. At last, I speak" is the title of the book written by Mr. Leon Melmad. It is the true story of Leon's and his sister Rachel's escape from the Holocaust in Occupied France. In 1942 gendarmes arrested Leon's parents as Jews, and two French neighbors generously offered to watch the children "until they returned."...
On Sunday, May 7, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., there will be a giant plant, book and jewelry sale at Temple Beth Shalom, 40 Wellington Drive, Palm Coast. There will be annuals, perennials, herbs, orchids and home-grown Heritage tomatoes in the plant section. Late edition hard cover and soft books, all categories. Vintage and costume jewelry collected from Estate Sales. For further information, call Marylynne at 954-401-1144....
Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations for the 2023 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando this summer. “For more than 30 years, individuals who have made major, voluntary contributions of their talent, time, energy and effort to the Central Florida community have been honored with the selection and presentation of this award,” said Jeff Gaeser, editor and publisher of the Heritage. Last year’s recipient was Dr. Edward Zissman. Former recip...
(JTA) — The University of Florida has more Jewish students than any other public college in the United States — and last week, one of them reached out to a professor, fearing that it would no longer be possible to study Jewish topics there. Citing a graphic that had been making the rounds on social media, the student asked if it was true that a new bill working its way through the state legislature would remove all “Jewish Studies courses, majors and minors” in the state. The graphic was shared by several people with large online followi...
(JTA) — Like hundreds of thousands of her fellow Israelis, Kelly Breakstone Roth’s instinct on Sunday was to take to the streets. The only wrinkle: She and her family have been in Brooklyn for the last two years, part of the diaspora of hundreds of thousands of Israelis living abroad. They couldn’t just walk out the door of their apartment and join the sweeping nationwide protest that ignited after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister, who had called for a pause on proposed changes to Israel’s judiciary. So they bought...
JERUSALEM (JTA) — After three months of demonstrations dominated by detractors of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan, supporters of the proposed reform took to the streets, making their voice heard in Jerusalem and across Israel. Gathered outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, thousands of pro-reform protesters, including settlers bused in from the West Bank, sought to back Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, even as the prime minister announced his intention to temporarily suspend the plan. “We are trying...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A law passed by Israel’s government yesterday has sparked a strong rebuke from the Biden administration, words of caution from some of Israel’s strongest supporters in the Senate — and damage control from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The new law repeals a portion of Israel’s 2005 disengagement, in which it withdrew settlers and troops from the entirety of the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank. While much of Israel and the world focused on the evacuation from Gaza, opponents...
TEL AVIV (JTA) - When Daniel Schleider and his wife, Lior, leave Israel next month, it will be for good - and with a heavy heart. "I have no doubt I will have tears in my eyes the whole flight," said Schleider, who was born in Mexico and lived in Israel for a time as a child before returning on his own at 18. Describing himself as "deeply Zionist," he served in a combat unit in the Israeli army, married an Israeli woman and built a career in an Israeli company. Yet as Prime Minister Benjamin...
(JTA) - Even though he hasn't officially declared his Republican presidential campaign (yet), Ron DeSantis has been pitching his governance of Florida as a model for running the United States - telling Fox News last week, for example, that "we can get America back on track and back on our foundations" by following Florida's example. This week, he repeated the pitch with a twist: His close relations with Israel are a template for the U.S.-Israel relationship, he said - and he's ready to make...
(JNS) — In what the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty calls “a special kind of chutzpah,” California denies Jewish families the opportunity to use special-education funding for children with disabilities at private, religious schools. “It takes a special kind of chutzpah to deny Jewish kids with disabilities equal access to special education benefits,” stated Eric Rassbach, Becket vice president and senior counsel. “California politicians can end this unlawful discrimination the easy way or the hard way,” he added. “Either they change the law...
(JNS) — Harvey Milstein’s introduction to chronic pain, and to opioids, began in 2006 when he attempted to wrestle a shotgun cartridge filled with shot out of the barrel of his gun. The gun accidentally fired, shattering his left kneecap and filling it with shrapnel. At the hospital, Milstein was given OxyContin and Percocet, opioids, to ease the pain. “The first few years they gave me medication whenever I needed it,” he recalls. “In later years they began putting limits on how much I could get.” As his walk became affected by his injured kne...
Agatha Christie novels edited to remove offensive references to Jews By Gabe Friedman (JTA) — HarperCollins has revised multiple novels by the famed British mystery writer Agatha Christie to remove references to Jews and other minorities deemed offensive by sensitivity readers. The edits, which the British Telegraph first reported on Sunday, add Christie to a growing list of authors whose work is getting tweaked for contemporary audiences. Roald Dahl, the children’s book author whose family recently apologized for his antisemitism, also had...
Get ready for the most fun lunch you've had in a long time. Hadassah Orlando Chapter will host its next general meeting on Tuesday, April 18, at 11:30 a.m. with guest speaker Bethanne Weiss, B.S. The event will be held at Congregation Ohev Shalom, 613 Concourse Parkway South Maitland. Weiss - a posture and balance expert, motivational speaker, author and founder of FUNIQ Fitness - will share about her upcoming book and teach the group "Tenish Tiny Tweaks to bring more joy and less Oy into your...
The Jewish Pavilion plays an important community relations role in Central Florida. One of the main roles of the Jewish Paavilion Program Directors is to educate staff in elder care communities regarding Jewish traditions and holidays and the foods associated with the celebrations. Nancy Ludin, CEO, sees the value in educating the general public beyond the senior communities. Every year, her staff, and leadership provide a home cooked breakfast for the Maitland Chamber. Each breakfast is associated with a Jewish holiday. Participants get to...
Chabad of South Orlando presents Akiva & Shwekey live in concert on Sunday April 9. The event will be held at the Walt Disney Theater at The Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts, located at 445 Magnolia Ave., Orlando. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the concert begins at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale via the Dr. Phillips Center. For group tickets, email levi@jewishorlando.com. Known for his emotional and heartfelt music that touches the soul, Israeli singer and songwriter Akiva Turgeman has achieved phenomenal success and rising stardom in Israel...
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement that he had no plans to stop the judicial reform, beginning with the passage of a bill to reform the process of appointing judges. “I’m taking the reins,” Netanyahu said, noting that until now his “hands were tied” over a conflict of interest. “For our people, and for our country I will do everything to reach a solution,” he said. Addressing the protesting IDF soldiers and reservists, the premier said: “There is no place for refusal to answer the call of duty. It endangers our nati...
(JTA) — Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming visit to London, the United Kingdom’s chief rabbi is calling for “Jewish unity” in Israel and around the world in response to dramatic protests against proposed changes to the Israeli judicial system. “I never thought that we would witness a time when citizens of Israel, including respected leaders, are openly speaking about the possibility, God forbid, of civil war,” Ephraim Mirvis wrote in a short op-ed in the Jewish Chronicle, the U.K.’s oldest Jewish newspaper. “At...
