Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - At the 2023 Palestine Book Awards ceremony, the winner of the "Counter Current Award" category was the volume "Imagining Palestine," which concerns itself with a topic referred to as "cultures of exile and national identity." Oddly enough, it has a very Jewish ring to it. The book highlights that "all national identities are somewhat fluid, held together by collective beliefs and practices as much as official territory and borders" and that "the articulation and 'imagination' of...
Argentina’s President Milei to receive $1m Genesis Prize in Israel By JNS Staff (JNS) — Argentina’s President Javier Milei will be awarded the $1 million Genesis Prize during his visit to Israel next month. The staunchly pro-Israel leader is to receive the prize during his June 11 speech at Israel’s parliament. The award was announced in January in recognition of his unequivocal support for the Jewish state. Organizers say Milei will donate the prize money to launch an initiative aimed at improving diplomatic relations between Israel and Lat...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — On Sunday afternoon, what began as a peaceful rally in downtown Boulder, Colorado, part of the global “Run for Their Lives” campaign calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas, descended into violence. A terrorist armed with fire bombs had been waiting for the marchers, and hurled a flaming bottle that hit one of the participants directly and wounded several others. “I had just gathered the group and started speaking when the terrorist threw the Molotov cocktail,” said Shahar, who resides in Boulder and has b...
(JNS) — In the nearly 20 months since some 6,000 Hamas-led Gazan terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Jewish state has facilitated the delivery of close to 1.8 million tons of aid to the Strip, including 1.3 million tons of food, Israel said this weekend. The figures were released amid warnings of “imminent famine” in the Strip by international aid agencies led by the U.N., alongside criticism of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that was launched a week ago to distribute aid in Gaza that circumvents Hamas. The 1.8 milli...
The morning after a shooter killed two Israeli embassy aides at a Jewish event in Washington, D.C., incendiary rapper Ye took to X with an unexpected message: “I am done with antisemitism.” Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has become well known for antisemitic rants and provocations, including a song he debuted earlier this month titled “Heil Hitler.” In February, Ye doubled down on his antisemitic sentiments, declaring in a post on X, “I’m never apologizing for my Jewish comments.” But in a string of posts Thursday morning after the dea...
(JNS) - During her 471 days in Hamas captivity, then-hostage Emily Damari lost two fingers, raised a hand to a terrorist, organized a "lice competition," was genuinely "excited" to be brought down a Hamas tunnel, and was the unquestionable morale-lifter for her captive friends. In an extensive interview with Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 aired on Saturday, Damari, 28, opened up about her captivity in the Gaza Strip. "I was nicknamed 'Shejaiya,'" Damari said in reference to her captors. "Which means heroes [in Arabic]. ..., then they called me...
(JNS) KFAR ADUMIM, Israel - It was four decades ago that three childhood friends from New Jersey who had immigrated to Israel heard of a young Jerusalem rabbinical student who was looking for scuba divers who could help him find snails off the Mediterranean coast. The three young men knew nothing about snails or the centuries-old search for the biblical blue known as tekhelet, but it was an adventure that would change their lives. "It became a hobby that became an obsession that tuned into a...
Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed on Wednesday evening outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. The male victim was identified as Yaron Lischinsky. His final post on social media was a repost of a message condemning the United Nations' false claim that 14,000 infants in Gaza were facing imminent starvation, labeling it a modern-day blood libel. According to Israeli Ambassador to Berlin Ron Prosor, who taught him as a master student, Lischinsky was a Germany-born...
After a gunman murdered two people outside a Jewish museum, a wide range of major Jewish groups has asked the federal government to sharply increase its funding for religious institutions’ security to $1 billion. The request is one of several made by the coalition in the wake of the attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday, when a shooter killed two employees of the Israeli embassy. In the wake of the shooting, Jewish security analysts are assessing what went wrong, and how such attacks can be prevented in the future. One piece o...
(JNS) - A 2,300-year-old ring set has been discovered in Jerusalem's ancient City of David. It is the second such find at the same site within the last year, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday. The small size of the ring, gold and set with a red gemstone, indicates that it belonged to a youngster living in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period more than two millennia ago, the state-run archaeological body said. The member of the excavation team who found the previous...
On Sunday, June 8, 2025, at 7 p.m., Nate's Shul will host an engaging talk by Joel Haber, an accomplished researcher, writer, and licensed culinary tour guide based in Jerusalem. In his presentation, titled "They Tried to Kill Us, We Won, Let's Eat: How Jewish Food Conquers Antisemitism," Haber will explore the profound connection between Jewish history and cuisine, and how food has served as both a reflection of cultural identity and a powerful response to adversity. Jewish cuisine is often...
The exhibit “Margret Rey and the Making of Curious George” will be on display from June 5 through Aug. 22 at the Center. This exhibit uncovers the incredible story of Rey, a Jewish woman who, with her husband, escaped Nazi-occupied France on handmade bikes, carrying manuscripts of Curious George. The exhibit highlights Rey’s resilience and creativity, offering a unique look into the origins of a beloved children’s classic....
(JNS) — Auburn University men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl didn’t mince words talking about his Jewish identity and love for the United States and Israel during a Jewish American Heritage Month breakfast in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. “I’m a Jewish-American basketball coach, who coaches basketball in Auburn, Ala.,” he told attendees. “Don’t tell me this isn’t the greatest country in the world.” About 100 people attended the event, which included speeches from more than half a dozen members of Congress, including Sens. Jim Banks (R-Ind.)...
Elias Rodriguez, the Chicago man charged with killing two Israeli embassy employees outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, shot his victims multiple times, including firing at one repeatedly as she attempted to crawl away, according to an FBI agent’s account of the incident. The account was filed as the Justice Department charged Rodriguez with multiple crimes on Thursday, some that carry a potential death sentence if convicted. He is being charged with the murder of foreign officials, first-degree murder and o...
WASHINGTON — Following Wednesday, May 21, evening’s horrific terror attack on an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum, the leadership of Christians United for Israel expressed their heartbreak and outrage over the cold-blooded murders of Yaron Lischinsky, Sarah Milgrim and the wounding of four others: “May the God of all hope comfort those who mourn as we weep for Yaron and Sarah. We pray for their loved ones and continue to stand resolutely with Israel and the Jewish people against this unmitigated evil....
(JNS) — Five United Nations trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including baby food, entered the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom Crossing on Monday, the Israeli military confirmed. The transfer followed the recommendation of Israel Defense Forces officials and was carried out under the directive of the political echelon. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (emphasized that all aid was subjected to “a thorough security inspection” by the Defense Ministry’s Crossing Points Authority. The IDF reiterated that it “will continue...
(JNS) - American Jewish leaders, who attended Pope Leo XIV's inaugural Mass in Rome on Sunday and met with the pontiff at the Vatican the following day, are optimistic about the future of Jewish-Catholic relations. But they told JNS that they remain clear-eyed about what they think is likely to be a continuation of the Church's approach of holding Israel uniquely responsible for the war that Hamas started on Oct. 7, 2023. "There is a feeling that there is a desire for a renewed moment, but...
(JNS) — Jordanian textbooks justify the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre and promote antisemitism and violent jihad, marking a troubling decline in the Hashemite Kingdom’s educational standards, an international think tank reported Monday. A study by the London-based watchdog IMPACT-se found that nearly 300 textbooks used in the 2023–2025 curriculum “promote antisemitism, glorify violent jihad, and express strong hostility toward homosexuality.” At the same time, and somewhat contradictorily, the materials also “generally advocate concepts of r...
(JNS) — Yarden Bibas, who was a Hamas hostage for 484 days and whose wife and children were murdered by the terror group in captivity, spoke with Israeli media about his best friend, David Cunio, who remains in captivity. Yarden, who didn’t want to speak about himself, told Israel’s Channel 12 News in the interview that he and David had been friends since first grade. “When they were introducing the students, something about his name, about his appearance, caught my eye,” he said. “During the first break I went and actually offered him friends...
(JNS) — In a speech to Congress on Tuesday, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, objected to a proposal by Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) seeking to end the war against Hamas and the blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying the resolution doesn’t focus on who is to blame for the conflict in the first place. “We have no disagreement about the suffering that’s going on in Gaza,” he said, regarding the Palestinian population there. “The problem we have here is, as we heard from both of these speakers, not one word was sa...
(JNS) — In a speech to Congress on Tuesday, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, objected to a proposal by Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) seeking to end the war against Hamas and the blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying the resolution doesn’t focus on who is to blame for the conflict in the first place. “We have no disagreement about the suffering that’s going on in Gaza,” he said, regarding the Palestinian population there. “The problem we have here is, as we heard from both of these speakers, not one word was sa...
On Wednesday night, three armed security officers stood guard as the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington held its annual meeting in the nation’s capital. On the agenda: discussions about the various ways antisemitic rhetoric can lead to violence. Hours later, JCRC CEO Ron Halber said he found out about the deadly shooting of two Israeli embassy staff at the Capital Jewish Museum. It was a nightmare come to life. “It’s just godawful. There’s no other way to describe it. It was a horrific, antisemitic, anti-Israel, violent...
(JNS) — Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday advanced a bill to designate Qatar as a “terror-supporting state,” clearing the way for the coalition proposal to be put to a preliminary vote in the Knesset. The bill, initiated by Likud lawmakers Moshe Saada and Dan Illouz, Otzma Yehudit’s Yitzhak Kroizer and Michal Woldiger of the Religious Zionism Party, advances as the Israeli negotiating team continues to pursue a hostage agreement with Hamas in Doha, where senior leadership of the terrorist organization has long been host...
Thousands expected at Western Wall for Jerusalem Day 5785 (JNS) — The Western Wall Heritage Foundation is preparing to host tens of thousands of visitors for Jerusalem Day 5785, marking 58 years since the reunification of the city during the Six-Day War. Festivities begin Sunday evening with a public prayer service and the unfurling of a giant Israeli flag at the Western Wall Plaza, attended by senior religious and public officials. This year’s flag ceremony is dedicated to the memory of Eyal Chaimovsky, the late director of the Jerusalem Devel...
The Hamas terror organization launched its deadly invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in order to foil a possible peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, May 17, citing internal Hamas documents recovered by the Israeli military. According to Saturday’s report, the IDF discovered records from a high-level meeting of Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 2, 2023, during which Yahya Sinwar, the late chief of Hamas forces in Gaza, warned that Riyadh and Jerusalem were nearing a normalization a...
