Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2108 - 2132 of 10919
(JNS) — Ahead of a one-on-one meeting on July 19 at the White House, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a new climate technology partnership, which will draw up to $70 million of U.S. and Israeli investment to support climate-healthy agriculture and use new technologies to protect critical Middle East and Africa water resources. “We are harnessing today the broad infrastructure of our cooperation to introduce a new joint initiative to address a primary challenge of our time,” said Herzog. He said...
(JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday addressed a joint session of Congress, following a meeting the previous day with his U.S. counterpart at the White House. “At this moment in my people’s history, gathering on Capitol Hill to celebrate 75 years of Israeli independence with our greatest partner and friend, the United States of America, my soul is overflowing with pride and joy. The people of Israel are grateful to no end for the ancient promise fulfilled and for the friendship we have formed,” said Herzog. “When the State of...
(JNS) — Seven Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent, opted not to attend Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address to a joint session of Congress on July 19. The House members were Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Cori Bush (Mo.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.), Nydia Velazquez (N.Y.) and Raul Grijalva (Ariz.). “Boycotting Herzog, a former Labor Party standard-bearer who represents the State of Israel—not a political party, faction or policy...
Israel antiquities among items found at Mar-a-Lago By Ron Kampeas (JTA) — The Israel Antiquities Authority believes that a set of ancient ceramic oil lamps missing for more than three years are at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate of former President Donald Trump, according to Haaretz. Haaretz reported that the Antiquities Authority loaned the White House the lamps in 2019 ahead of a Chanukah party where a major donor to the Antiquities Authority, Saul Fox, would be in attendance. The lamps ultimately did not make an appearance at the event. The r...
(JNS) - Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a method to trick cancer cells into self-destructing. The research team, led by professor Dan Peer and PhD student Yasmin Granot Matok, encoded a toxin produced by bacteria into messenger RNA molecules. These mRNA particles were directly delivered to cancer cells, triggering the cells to produce the toxin, which ultimately led to their demise. The findings of their study were recently published in peer-reviewed journal Theranostics....
Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation has a new full-time rabbi. Rabbi Melissa Crespy brings more than 30 years of rabbinical experience to this congregation, along with a lifelong love of music, language, and connecting with her community. Rabbi Crespy's journey began in Freehold, New Jersey, where she was raised by a family she describes as "very Jewishly proud, though not so observant." Her father's side of the family are Sephardic Jews from Greece, while her mother's side helped found the...
Food and fun we're on the agenda when the Jewish chamber partnered with Rosie's Adventures for an afternoon of arts and crafts at Shalom Orlando. Adults and children of all ages gathered to put together care packages and decorations for children fighting cancer. Everyone in attendance brought gifts for the children that will go into gift bags to be distributed by Rosie's Adventures. Nicki Rodriguez founded the charity a year ago after her daughter passed away from childhood cancer. Rosie's...
On Friday, July 28, Chabad of North Orlando will host "Rolene's Shabbos" in loving memory of a special woman. Rolene Hunter was the first to become a member of Chabad Lubavitch of North Orlando's Jewish Legacy Society by remembering the Longwood Chabad in her will and leaving a portion of her estate to help ensure a Jewish tomorrow. "Rolene was taken from us way too soon but she will forever remain in our hearts," Rabbi Yanky Majesky remarked. "Though as an individual we may pass on, the communi...
PITTSBURGH (JTA) — Jurors in the trial of the gunman who killed 11 Jewish worshipers in a Pittsburgh synagogue took less than two hours to find him eligible for the death penalty, setting up a final phase of the historic proceedings in which the gunman may be sentenced to death. On Thursday morning, the seven women and five men on the jury unanimously found that Robert Bowers, who attacked the Tree of Life building on Oct. 27, 2018, met all four thresholds of intent necessary for capital punishment. The jurors also agreed with the g...
Friends of the Main Library St. Augustine and the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society have formed a partnership to celebrate the Jews who landed on Florida’s Coast with Pedro Menendez de Aviles. Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, founder and chairman of the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society, will speak about the Jewish presence in St. Augustine at the time of the city’s founding and in the years that followed. The one-hour celebration will take place at the Main Library, 1960 North Ponce De Leon Boulevard in St. Augustine on Friday, Sept. 8 at...
Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc., is hosting a Game Day on Sunday, Aug. 8 from noon to 4 p.m. The event will be held at One Senior Place, Altamonte Springs. The cost is $20 and includes a light lunch. To register, visit https://events.hadassah.org/OrlandoGameDay23....
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Harvard’s 20th-century antisemitic Jewish quotas were a key part of the Supreme Court’s decision to gut affirmative action on Thursday, as the winning litigant and two conservative justices cited them in the landmark case. The 6-3 decision Thursday, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, bars universities from using race as an explicit factor in considering admissions, but allows race to be cited by applicants in essays describing their life experiences. Students for Fair Admissions, the conservative advocacy group that...
(JNS) — A group of U.S. Republican senators sent a letter on Tuesday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling on the Biden administration to rescind its “discriminatory” guidance halting bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with Israeli entities operating in Judea and Samaria. The administration late last month issued the directive applying to areas Israel captured in its defensive 1967 Six-Day War. “The guidance does something America has never done before: unilaterally impose territorial restrictions on U.S. scienti...
(JNS) — Florida Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on Tuesday denounced U.S. President Joe Biden over his failure to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. “Biden meets with dictators of countries such as Venezuela but snubs the democratically elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This is not how you should treat an ally,” the presidential hopeful noted on Twitter. Biden has been widely criticized for neglecting to invite Netanyahu to Washington. Former U.S. Ambassador to Israe...
(JNS) - During his visit to Israel two months ago, Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, spoke from the Knesset plenum. It was only the second time that a U.S. speaker addressed the full Knesset. McCarthy's speech was dedicated to the strong ties between Israel and the U.S. and the threats faced by both nations. He also sent a message to the Israeli government and the assembled MKs. "While the Chinese Communist Party may disguise itself as promoters of innovation, in...
(JNS) — Palestinian Authority security forces have begun entering Jenin in recent days, following the Israel Defense Forces’ intensive security operation to degrade the terrorist presence in Jenin camp on July 3 and July 4. Israel is watching closely to see whether the P.A. is able to re-establish control in a city where a power vacuum saw Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, localized terror groups and Iranian financing create a terrorist hornet’s nest as well as a budding rocket launch base. The Israeli security establishment appears to be monit...
(JTA) – Jeff Nitz, a social worker and lay leader at his church, sees himself as a trained listener. But beginning in 2020, his congregation — Mosaic Church in the evangelical Christian hub of Lynchburg, Virginia — started becoming riven by fierce COVID-era fights over masking, distancing and vaccinations. Used to bridging divides among his fellow parishioners, Nitz was at a loss. “I’m used to doing active listening, but there were times where it felt like I would much rather just avoid this person than having the deeper conversat...
WASHINGTON (JTA) —A congressional committee approved an increase in funding for the office of Deborah Lipstadt, the State Department’s antisemitism monitor, from $1.5 million to $2.5 million. The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee approved the bill, which pays for State Department and foreign operations, late Wednesday. It now goes to the full House and must be reconciled with parallel Senate legislation. Senators who focus on antisemitism hope to get similar language into the corresponding Senate bill. This week, a bip...
Israel’s men’s soccer team is headed to the Olympics for the first time since 1976 By Gabe Friedman (JTA) — Israel’s national men’s soccer team qualified for the Olympics for the first time in nearly 50 years by making a surprising run at a major under-21 European tournament. Israel lost to England on Wednesday in the semifinals of the UEFA European U-21 Championship, a biennial contest among the continent’s best under-21 teams. But three days earlier, after a win in the playoff round against Georgia, Israel earned a place at the 2024 Paris...
(JNS) — Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York hit Gal Luft, an Israeli professor who has been described as a key “missing” witness in the House Republicans’ investigation of Biden family corruption, with a litany of charges on Monday. Luft, 57, who was arrested in Cyprus on Feb. 17, 2023, and is on the lam after being released on bail to avoid extradition to the United States, is accused of helping recruit a former high-ranking U.S. government official “to publicly support certain policies” favoring China. While the official is...
BERLIN (JTA) - Alongside Munich's river, construction workers made a sensational discovery last week: Stone tablets carved with the Ten Commandments from the city's former main synagogue, which was torn down in the summer of 1938 on Adolf Hitler's orders. The find was announced almost exactly 85 years after the building was destroyed. The object - along with 150 tons of rubble from the synagogue, including parts of columns - had likely lain on the banks of the Isar River since the 1950s, when...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - President Joe Biden blamed increasing tension in Judea and Samaria on the "lost credibility" of the Palestinian Authority as well as on "extreme" ministers in Israel's government. In a televised interview on foreign policy with CNN host Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, Biden also again declined to say when he would invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. Biden has pushed off scheduling that meeting due to friction between the two men regarding...
MARGATE, Fla. — EL AL Israel Airlines, which recently relocated its regional headquarters for North America to Margate, Florida, is proud to announce that it is continuing to expand its activity in South Florida. Effective on Sept. 13, 2023, EL AL will begin seasonal service from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Tel Aviv. The new non-stop flights will operate on selected days of the week to accommodate the Jewish High Holidays through October. In addition to this year’s seasonal service, year-round Tel Aviv service to and fro...
In November 1940, days after the Nazis sealed 450,000 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, a secret band of journalists, scholars, and community leaders decided to fight back. Led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum and known by the code name Oyneg Shabes, this clandestine group vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda not with guns or fists but with pen and paper. They detailed life in the Ghetto from the Jewish perspective. They commissioned diaries, essays, jokes, poems, and songs. They documented Nazi...
On June 21, 2023, a potluck luncheon was held at the home of Jeff and Marci Gaeser in Latitude Margaritaville Daytona Beach. Thirty women, members of the Chavurah of the Chood, a Jewish friends group, attended and brought non-perishable foods for the food bank of the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties. The Federation is headed by Executive Director Rabbi Dr. Robert Lennick and President Marvin Miller. The women enjoyed fellowship and discussed future charitable efforts. All the wo...
