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  • JAO's Greatest Moment to Learn Gala

    Feb 24, 2023

    Jewish Academy of Orlando’s Greatest Moment to Learn Gala: Celebrating 46 years of Jewish Education in Central Florida takes place on Sunday, March 5, at 5:30 p.m., at the Winter Park Event Center, 1052 W. Morse Blvd., Winter Park, FL 32789. The Academy will be honoring two amazing showmen: the past president of JAO, Rob Gebaide, and JAO music director, “Mr. Eric” Levine. There will be an ambiance of whimsical “Big Top” flare and fun to be had by all. Celebrating 46 years of academic excellence and Jewish pride, JAO’s gala will spotlight t...

  • Have fun while making an impact in this club

    Feb 24, 2023

    Chabad of Altamonte Springs started a new program. It's called the Family Mitzvah Club. The first program, "Impactful Packing," was held Sunday, Feb. 19. Spearheaded by Jennifer Estar Mesika and Sarah Jean-Baptiste in memory of their mother, Beth Mesika, the group put together packages and delivered them to a local homeless shelter, and learned about the work that they do. And they all had a great time packing and delivering the items. "What a special morning filled with generosity and...

  • 'Mind your own business,' Israel's Diaspora minister tells US ambassador about judicial reform urging

    Philissa Cramer|Feb 24, 2023

    (JTA) — The Israeli minister responsible for relations with Jews in the Diaspora has a message for the government of the country where most of them live: “Mind your own business.” Amichai Chikli made the comment Sunday in a radio interview in Israel, where he was asked to address recent comments by U.S. ambassador Tom Nides, who said he was urging Israeli leaders to “pump the brakes” on their controversial effort to change the country’s judiciary. Nides was echoing sentiments expressed by U.S. President Joe Biden about the judicial reform prop...

  • AJC head working with 'Israeli friends' to prevent changes to Law of Return

    Feb 24, 2023

    (JNS) — American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch said he is working with his Israeli friends to prevent the government in Jerusalem from changing the Law of Return. Under the current law, an individual with a single Jewish grandparent is eligible for automatic Israeli citizenship. “We want the Israeli government and our friends to understand that we will act to prevent anything from happening to cause rifts within Diaspora Jewry,” Deutch said. “We don’t want anything to happen that could stop people from seeing Israel as their place of refuge...

  • Amid opposition talk of civil war, Herzog calls to 'lower the flames'

    Feb 24, 2023

    (JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday appealed to politicians and the general public to tone down the rhetoric amid threats that the government’s judicial reform proposal will ignite a “civil war.” “The values of the [1948] Declaration of Independence are the compass of our country—I will not let anyone harm them. This is a sensitive and explosive time in the public sphere. I am aware of the voices from both sides, of all the pain, worries and anxieties. I do not ignore this and it is on my mind constantly,” Herzog wrote in a le...

  • In the Netherlands, a majority do not know the Holocaust affected their country

    David I. Klein|Feb 24, 2023

    (JTA) — A recent study of the Dutch population conducted by the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany showed an alarming lack of education around the Holocaust in the Netherlands. For one, a majority of Dutch respondents, across all age groups, did not cite their own country as a place where the Holocaust took place, despite the fact that the Netherlands was the setting of the world’s most widely-read Holocaust memoir — Anne Frank’s “The Diary of a Young Girl,” which has been translated into over 70 languages. About 75 percent...

  • Summer Camp J at the Rosen JCC

    Feb 24, 2023

    Summer will be here before you know it. Now is the best time to make plans for your kids. The Rosen JCC offers Camp J from May 30 through Aug. 4. There is something here for every child. It offers General Camp, which gives kids the chance to experience a mix of fun activities. If your kids want to focus on sports then try the Sports or Basketball Camp. These let them learn the game or improve their skills. Your budding artist can let their creativity flow while creating amazing works of art in our Art Camp. Our Dance Camp gives your child the c...

  • Israel's dual crises, explained

    Ben Sales|Feb 24, 2023

    If it feels like there’s an overload of news out of Israel — a sea of flags at a Jerusalem protest, police sirens outside of a synagogue — that’s because there is. Israel has been consumed by two escalating crises that both appear to be crescendoing at the same time. And even though they feel separate, they’re intertwined in at least one big way. Allow us to explain: Israel is simultaneously contending with two things: a wave of Palestinian terror attacks and Israeli military raids in the West Bank, and massive protests of a government plan to...

  • Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who claimed Jewish heritage, instead reportedly had a grandfather who fought for the Nazis

    Andrew Lapin|Feb 24, 2023

    (JTA) — Florida Republican Anna Paulina Luna beat a Jewish Democrat to represent her district in Congress last fall, but she had Jewish ancestry, too — or so she claimed at the time. The freshman representative told Jewish Insider during her campaign that she was “a small fraction Ashkenazi,” in addition to having been “raised as a Messianic Jew by my father.” While mainstream Judaism does not consider Messianic Jews, who believe in the divinity of Jesus, to be Jewish, Luna’s additional claim of...

  • Bill repealing Disengagement Law passes first reading

    Feb 24, 2023

    (JNS) - The Knesset approved on Wednesday in first reading a bill to abolish the Disengagement Law by a vote of 62-36. The Disengagement Law led to the destruction and evacuation of four Jewish communities in northern Samaria-Sa-Nur, Homesh, Ganim and Kadim-and 21 in the Gaza Strip. The law would restore freedom of movement to Israelis in the four Samaria communities. Knesset member Yuli Edelstein and National Missions Minister Orit Strook sponsored the measure at the request of Samaria...

  • Weekly roundup of world briefs

    Feb 24, 2023

    Australians make ‘YEmulkes’ of unwanted Kanye West merch (JNS) — The Talmud recommends taking the evil inclination into the Jewish study hall. Two Australians have found a different way to sanctify the destructive. Antoinette Barbouttis, of Sydney, wanted nothing more to do with her collection of clothing featuring one of the most prominent antisemites, Kanye West. So, she and her friend John Safran, a Jewish-Australian filmmaker and writer, brainstormed how to make kosher lemonade out of hateful lemons. Safran’s unique idea? Turn the several...

  • Fox News gives Orthodox Jews the voice that The New York Times denies them

    Feb 17, 2023

    (JNS) - One interpretation of a mishnah in Chapters of the Fathers is that Jews must prepare answers with which to respond to those who hate Torah scholars. Hating those who cherish the Torah is one sense many readers may get from recent reporting in The New York Times on Orthodox schools. A new, 6-and-a-half-minute Fox News documentary - which Kassy Dillon, a former JNS news editor, reported - turns the camera on Orthodox leaders and scholars. "We resent that the Times are engaged in what...

  • Rescue team evacuated from Turkey

    Philissa Cramer|Feb 17, 2023

    (JTA) — One of the Israeli teams dispatched to Turkey to assist after the devastating earthquakes there has headed home after being informed about a “concrete and immediate threat” against them. United Hatzalah told its team of roughly two dozen personnel in Turkey to end their rescue mission and leave the country, the emergency services organization announced early Sunday. Because of a shortage of available planes to evacuate them, the philanthropist Miriam Adelson donated her private jet to facilitate the evacuation, the group said. “We k...

  • JCRC's thoughts on antisemitism

    Feb 17, 2023

    In a recently released survey, the Anti-Defamation League confirmed empirically what many have observed anecdotally: antisemitism is on the rise in the United States. The survey found that belief in antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories has doubled since 2019, and now stands at the highest level in decades. Anti-Israel sentiments were also found to be far more prevalent, going far beyond mere criticism of policy to a level that, as ADL CEO Johnathan Greenblatt described, is simply “antisemitism in another form.” We have seen examples of...

  • Support for Jewish students in face of hate group

    Christine DeSouza|Feb 17, 2023

    The University of Central Florida has been relatively antisemitism-free for many years. Under the leadership of Aaron Weil, Central Florida Hillel had kept any antisemitic groups from making much of a roar on campus. Under the current leadership at Hillel, much is the same – even when on Monday, Feb. 6, members of the #YeIsRight movement set up a table on Memory Mall as part of an antsemitic provocation tour. This group, which mouths the hate talk of Kanye West, has made several previous stops at other Florida universities, including Florida S...

  • Saturday Night Out at the Rosen JCC

    Feb 17, 2023

    The Rosen JCC is offering a limited time offer. Its Saturday Night Out is only $20 per child on Saturday, Feb. 25, 6-11 p.m. Saturday Night Out let’s parents take a night for themselves. Take time to visit friends, go to dinner or see a movie. While you plan your fun, your kids will enjoy their own fun. Kids get games & art, playground time and movie & pizza. This month’s theme is Presidents Day. This is a Limited Time Special Offer of $20 per child for JCC and non JCC members. Don’t miss out! The last day to register is Feb. 23 and no same...

  • In speech to EU parliament, Israel's president says questioning Israel's existence is not OK

    David I. Klein|Feb 17, 2023

    (JTA) — In a speech to the European Union parliament tied to commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that criticism of his country, which has drawn renewed international scrutiny over its new right-wing government, is legitimate. Questioning Israel’s right to exist, he added, is “antisemitism in the full sense of the word.” “It is, of course, OK to criticize the state that I head. It is OK to criticize us, and it is OK to disagree with us, just as it is OK to criticize you and your states,...

  • Adam Schiff declares Senate bid

    Ron Kampeas|Feb 17, 2023

    WASHINGTON (JTA) — One Jewish Democrat wants to replace a fellow Jewish Democrat as California senator. Rep. Adam Schiff, who rose to prominence during Donald Trump’s presidency as one of the top critics of the former president, announced a Senate run on Thursday. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is 89 and was first elected to the seat in 1992, has yet to announce she is retiring, but insiders say it is increasingly difficult for her to handle the job. Schiff, a solid pro-Israel Democrat who gets consistent backing from mainstream pro-Israel pol...

  • Otzma Yehudit MK: Lapid, Gantz are committing 'treason against the state

    Feb 17, 2023

    (JNS) — Oztma Yehudit lawmaker Zvika Fogel on Tuesday accused opposition leader Yair Lapid and three others of “treason” for what he views as fomenting a civil war. In an interview with the Kan public broadcaster, Fogel defined Lapid, National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and former Deputy Economy Minister Yair Golan as the “most dangerous” people in Israel. “These four are talking about war. If they were calling to protest I’d give them every right to protest. But they’re talking in terms of me being...

  • Fired professor settles with an Oregon university for $1M

    Andrew Lapin|Feb 17, 2023

    (JTA) – A university in Oregon that fired a Jewish professor after he reported several incidents, including purported antisemitic remarks made by its president, has settled with the professor. Linfield University, a private school in McMinnville, will pay $1 million to English professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner for his wrongful termination in 2021. Pollack-Pelzner had accused the school’s president, Miles K. Davis, of making antisemitic remarks in front of him, including jokes about gas chambers and comments on the size of Jewish noses. He was...

  • PA is a 'neo-Nazi entity'

    Feb 17, 2023

    (JNS) — Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli described on Sunday the Palestinian Authority as a “neo-Nazi entity” and an enemy of the Jewish state. “I see the Palestinian Authority as a neo-Nazi entity in its essence and outlook,” Chikli told Ynet. “We still do not have any peace agreement with it. It is an enemy that is antisemitic to its core, and we need to examine alternatives.” The Palestinian leadership said on Saturday that it holds the “Israeli occupation government fully responsible for the dangerous escalation,” fo...

  • If you build it, they will come

    Judith Segaloff|Feb 17, 2023

    (JNS )- Marc and Sharon Rosenbluth explored neighborhoods all over the country, but when they made aliyah, they chose to live in Karnei Shomron, a well-appointed village about 20 minutes away from Rosh HaAyin and Kfar Saba, beyond the Green Line. "I was coming from a suburban life outside of Baltimore and I wanted my children to have a yard to play in, a basketball hoop-a similar existence," said Sharon. "Even though we used to laugh at flocks of goats on the side of the road when visiting my...

  • Israel scrambles to improve earthquake preparedness

    Shimon Sherman|Feb 17, 2023

    (JNS) - The Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee has called for an emergency meeting to review the country's earthquake preparedness in light of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria on Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi to "update and reiterate the steps we need to take." Comptroller's Warning State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman on Monday urged the government not to delay. The deadly earthquakes in...

  • Emhoff calls on UN to fight Jew hatred

    Mike Wagenheim|Feb 17, 2023

    (JNS) - In his first visit to the United Nations, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff called on U.N. leaders to globalize the fight against antisemitism. He told the body on Thursday that it cannot normalize spiking rates of Jew-hatred. Emhoff, the Jewish husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, addressed ambassadors and members of civil society at a special, high-level side event. The U.N. missions of the U.S., Israel, Argentina, Canada, Morocco and the United Kingdom hosted the event. U.S....

  • Welcome to Hanun: Israel to establish new community along Gaza border

    Feb 17, 2023

    (JNS) - Israel's Cabinet voted on Sunday to establish a new community along the border with the Gaza Strip. The future town, to be named Hanun, will be located in the Sdot Negev Region and eventually be inhabited by some 500 families. "The establishment of the community is further evidence of the resilience of the [citizens living in the] 'Gaza envelope' and the power of the State of Israel. We're proud to build up the Land of Israel and we're proud to strengthen settlement in all parts of our l...

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