Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(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...
(JNS) — Israel’s Knesset on Tuesday voted 31-18 to repeal articles of the 2005 Gaza Disengagement Law banning Israelis from entering and residing in four communities in northern Samaria. The Gaza disengagement led to the destruction and evacuation of the Israeli communities of Sa-Nur, Homesh, Ganim and Kadim in northern Samaria, as well as 21 communities in the Gaza Strip. In addition to rolling back the articles (23-27) banning movement into and out of, and residence in, northern Samaria, the amendment stipulates that Article 28, which can...
(JNS) — Hours after China brokered a surprise deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, a reporter asked U.S. President Joe Biden what he thought about the two countries, which come out of rival Islamic branches that have competed for centuries over guardianship of the faith, re-establishing diplomatic relations. “The better the relations between Israel and their Arab neighbors, the better for everybody,” he said. Critics ridiculed the president’s non sequitur, but Biden’s statement raises the question of what impact the deal—and importantly...
(JNS) — A woman pushed her shopping cart down an aisle filled with Passover foods in a supermarket in northern New Jersey. She lifted a box of kosher-for-Passover soup cracker off the shelf and started to stack it with the rest of her groceries. Then she noticed the price tag. “Five dollars for this?” she murmured aloud as she returned the container to the shelf. “Food costs are high everywhere,” chimed in a fellow shopper nearby. This exchange last week in a supermarket that stocks a good numbe...
Israel ranked fourth happiest country in world (JNS) — Israel is the fourth happiest country in the world, according to a report produced by the U.N.-affiliated Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Based on Gallup World Poll data, the study leverages six key factors to help explain variation in self-reported levels of happiness across the world: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity and absence of corruption. The report was released on Monday to mark the International Day of Happiness, which was established when the U.N. G...
(JNS) — The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor released the 2022 edition of its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Monday. The reports “cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements,” stated Foggy Bottom. “The report embodies the importance of human rights for American diplomacy and for our vision of an open, free, prosperous and secure world,” Antony Blinken, U....
(JNS) - The White House hosted more than 70 community leaders on March 9, marking the Purim holiday with its first-ever Jewish Women's Forum. Attendees hailed the event-part-mixer, part-holiday celebration and part-Jewish affairs state of the state-for its diversity. The event included both practicing and non-practicing Jewish women who came from across the country, and those present were communal leaders, college students and employees of a range of organizations, attendees told JNS. "It...
(JTA) – Responding to a recent rise in neo-Nazi activity in his state, a Jewish lawmaker in Florida is trying to outlaw displays of “religious or ethnic animus” on private property in his state. H.B. 269 takes aim at a variety of activities that neo-Nazi groups in the state have undertaken, from distributing flyers with hate speech to broadcasting intimidating messages in public places. Those groups’ activities have been rising in Florida for several years, according to a 2022 report by the Anti-Defamation League titled “Hate in the Sunshine St...
President Isaac Herzog recently presented his compromise proposal, the so-called “people’s plan,” to counter the government’s plans to reform the judiciary, calling for a “constitutional moment” amid what he said was a “nightmare” with “civil war looming.” “Those who think that a civil war is a border we won’t reach, have no clue,” he said in a live television address, noting that he had spoken to thousands of Israelis in recent weeks. “I’ve heard deep-rooted hatred. I’ve heard people from all sides say that if, God forbid, there’ll be blood i...
The Jewish Chamber of Commerce celebrated Purim with a breakfast at Toojays on Colonial. Hamantashen were provided courtesy of the Jewish Pavilion. The chamber offers monthly networking events. The May event will be a partnership with the Jewish Pavilion with a fun happy hour/cocktail party at Venue on the Lake in Maitland....
The Jewish Pavilion is known for their fabulous fun events throughout the year. Their signature event is their summer networking party that normally attracts an audience of 150 + Individuals of all ages. On Wednesday, May 24, the Jewish Pavilion will hold their annual party at Venue on the Lake/Maitland Civic Center on Lake Lily in Maitland from 5:30-7:30 p.m. This is an ideal indoor/outdoor party locale. For $25, participants will enjoy superb appetizers and desserts along with wine, beer and...
America and the Holocaust: A Series of Colloquies April 16, May 17, June 21, Virtual 4 p.m. -5:30 p.m. In each program, Dr. Michael Berenbaum will explore this complicated debate over America’s response to one of the greatest humanitarian crises of the 20th century to the PBS Documentary: U.S. and the Holocaust. Each session will feature a scholar whose work will shed new light on the topic and challenge us to reframe our understanding of the complex portrait of national inaction. Yom HaShoah April 18, in-person or virtually, 6:30 p.m.-8 p...
(New York Jewish Week) — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a new project, a year and a half after resigning amid a flurry of sexual harassment allegations: a pro-Israel organization targeting Democrats. Cuomo delivered the message via video on Monday evening at an event at Carnegie Hall hosted by the World Values Network, the organization led by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach — an author, television personality and onetime Republican congressional candidate. Boteach organized the event in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Upr...
(JNS) — Black and Jewish Denverites will gather on March 15 for a “Denver Dialogue” intended to draw the two communities together in the face of a common enemy: white nationalism. “While African-Americans and American Jews joined forces to fight for civil rights in the 1960s, our relationship otherwise has been characterized by great connection and great divergence,” per an event announcement. Award-winning poet Theo Wilson and educator Evan Weissman will co-moderate the conversation to take place at George Washington High School’s library. Wi...
(JTA) — A delegation of U.S. Jewish federation leaders is lobbying in Israel against the government’s planned overhaul of the judiciary, a rare step that underscores the degree to which the proposed changes have rattled the U.S. Jewish establishment. The delegation came to Israel for 24 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday, and includes representatives of more than 30 U.S. Jewish communities. The delegation met with lawmakers from the governing coalition as well as the parliamentary opposition. Their main focus was on a proposal that would all...
(JNS) — Teachers and schools of the U.N. agency that runs education and social services for Palestinian Arabs “regularly call for the murder of Jews,” a new report by two Israeli NGOs finds. Teaching materials of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees “glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis and incite antisemitism,” said the report, titled “UNRWA Education: Reform or Regression.” In December 2022, at UNRWA’s Al-Maghazi Middle School for Boys B in t...
(JNS) - Israel's Defense Ministry on Wednesday inaugurated its first-ever national pavilion in Japan, at the Defense and Security Equipment International exhibition taking place in Tokyo between March 15 and 17. SIBAT, the ministry's International Defense Cooperation Directorate, is leading the delegation of 14 Israeli defense industries to the exhibition. The innovations being presented cover many fields, including unmanned aerial systems, land systems, rocket and missile systems,...
(JNS) - When Jeff Schoep, former head of the violently antisemitic National Socialist Movement, spoke at a private Highland Park, Ill., residence on March 14, he intended to cite his life as a cautionary tale for those seeking meaning by joining white supremacist groups. "A common misconception is that someone joins neo-Nazi organizations in order to be evil," Schoep told JNS. "This may be true for a small minority of people who are sociopaths who join. But for most people, it is like joining a...
