Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2805 - 2829 of 10919
The Rosen JCC is excited to launch its J University after-school program. The Rosen JCC understood there was a need in the community to help parents find activities for their children after school. This program starts by offering convenient pick-up from Bay Meadows, Dr. Phillips and Sand Lake Elementary schools. Once they arrive at the Rosen JCC there are a variety of options. Children will receive a snack and then move on to other fun activities. The program provides homework help which gives them the opportunity to do their homework with...
(JTA) — The passage of a milestone climate bill in Congress on Friday means major progress on a policy issue that American Jews rank above all others in recent surveys of voter priorities. While climate change is not often pegged as a Jewish issue, a set of poll results suggest concern about it is nearly a consensus in the community. Already eight years ago, a survey from the nonpartisan group Public Religion Research Institute found that a far larger percentage of American Jews believed that climate change was a concern than Americans as a w...
(JTA) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of committing “Holocausts” at a press conference after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, and Scholz’s muted initial response is spurring criticism. Abbas used the term in response on Tuesday to a reporter who asked if the Palestinian leader would apologize for the murder 50 years ago of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics. An arm of the Palestine Liberation Organization carried out the attack, and the PLO and the Palestinian Authori...
(JNS) — A bipartisan group of Senators introduced a bill that would make energy sanctions placed against Iran in 1996 permanent. The co-sponsors of the Solidify Iran Sanctions Act (SISA) wrote in a news release that the bill was necessitated by Iran’s continued pursuit of a nuclear weapon and malign activities in the Middle East being a danger to Israel, America’s Arab partners and American military personnel in the region. Drafted and introduced on Aug. 2 by Sen Tim Scott (R-S.C.), its original co-sponsors included Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N....
(New York Jewish Week) — Polio has been detected in New York City wastewater, three weeks after a Jewish man in Rockland County was diagnosed with the first polio case in the U.S. in 10 years. The announcement suggests that the potentially deadly virus is circulating in the city, officials say. New York City and State health officials made the joint announcement on Friday. Traces of polio had previously been found in wastewater samples from Rockland and Orange Counties, north of the city. “The risk to New Yorkers is real but the defense is so...
On Sunday, Aug. 14th, the The JFS Orlando Pantry Van made a special appearance at the Congregation of Reform Judaism's Welcome Back Block Party. "Our congregation appreciates the JFS Pantry Van pop-up for literally bringing the mitzvah of tzedakah onto our campus," said Rabbi Steve Engel. "Meeting people where they are and building partnerships like the one between JFS and CRJ is what our community needs more of." Members filled the van with generously donated items most needed by JFS clients,...
Following the dedication service of the new Moldau Hebrew School, children and adults enjoyed pony rides, food and games...
(JNS) — In a report on antisemitism in entertainment and sports, as well as on digital-media platforms, Creative Community for Peace calls the extent of the antisemitism problem “glaring.” The 20-page report, “Fomenting Hate: How the Entertainment and Sports Industries Can Address the Growing Threat of Antisemitism,” documents hundreds of examples of incidents over the past year-and-a-half involving film and television studios, celebrities, influencers, sports figures and social-media platforms. CCFP, an organization comprised of entertain...
(JTA) – A school district in suburban Fort Worth, Texas, has ordered its librarians to remove an illustrated adaptation of “The Diary of Anne Frank” from their shelves and digital libraries, along with the Bible and dozens of other books that were challenged by parents last year. The book purge at the Keller Independent School District in Keller, Texas, was requested Tuesday by a district executive in an email, a copy of which was obtained by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. A copy of the email also circulated on social media. “By the end of...
(JTA) — The superintendent of the Texas school district that this week ordered the removal of “Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation” from its school’s shelves said Thursday that he expected the book, along with the Bible and other books that were removed following parental challenges, “will be on shelves very soon.” In a statement, Westfall also said that more than 50 copies of the original version of the diary remain in circulation in the Keller Independent School District outside Fort Worth. “Keller ISD is not banning the Bible or th...
New York police search for attacker who tried to choke Jewish woman at subway (JNS) — The New York Police Department’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating an antisemitic attack on a Jewish woman that took place at a subway station on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, reported the New York Post. The 44-year-old victim, whose identity was not revealed, was choked by an unidentified male suspect, who made antisemitic remarks while she waited on the subway platform of the No. 6 train at around 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday, according to police. The attac...
Eight people were injured, among them U.S. citizens after a Palestinian gunman open fired on civilians at a bus and a parking lot near Jerusalem's Old City. Following an intensive manhunt by Israel's security forces and several arrests, the suspected terrorist identified as east Jerusalem resident Amir Sidawi turned himself in to the Israeli police. "This was a lone assailant, a resident of the city with a criminal background," Prime Minister Yair Lapid stated. "Whoever harms Israeli citizens ha...
(JNS) — The pro-Israel nonprofit StandWithUs kickstarted its second national letter campaign last week, writing to roughly 3,000 universities across the United States about major issues Jewish students face on campus. “If your administration and [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] offices prioritize social-justice issues, then combating anti-Semitism on campus should be a major focus,” said the Aug. 4 letter signed by StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein, StandWithUs Legal Department director Yael Lerman and Center for Combating Antisemitism direc...
Heritage Florida News award-winning columnist and Central Florida attorney Mel Pearlman was recently recognized by the Florida Bar Association at its Annual Convention for 50 years of distinctive service to the citizens of Florida as a member of the Florida Bar. Within the same time frame, Pearlman took second-place in the Louis Rapoport Award for Excellence in Commentary category from the American Jewish Press Association for his article in the Heritage titled "Mr. Biden's folly," (May 14,...
(New York Jewish Week) — Leaders of mostly left-wing Jewish groups and progressive New York Jewish politicians demanded an apology from the head of the Anti-Defamation League, saying he had maligned the progressive group Jews for Racial & Economic Justice. In a letter circulated by JFREJ, the signatories condemned “smear campaigns that seemed designed to isolate and divide progressive Jews from the rest of the Jewish community.” The letter is signed by City Comptroller Brad Lander, City Council member Lincoln Restler, former Manhattan Borou...
Lori Slutsky delivered a beautiful Shabbat service at the Cascade Heights community in Longwood. It was Erev Tishah B’Av so the service had an extra special feeling to it. All attendees were engaged and learned about the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem (the Bais Hamikdash). Blessings were made over wine and challah. All enjoyed and participated....
The Jewish Chamber met at Toojays on Colonial on Tuesday, Aug. 9, for networking and conversation. Many nice friendships were reunited or forged. The next Jewish Chamber event is Sept. 12 from 5-7 p.m. at the Roth Family JCC. Samantha Tayor, from J Life and Lake Mary Magazine, will be leading a session on speed networking. Visit https://jewish-chamber.com. Shown here Joshua Mizrachi (l) greets Scott Goldberg at the Jewish Chamber meet and greet....
(JTA) — A state senator who says the story of her grandfather’s murder during the Holocaust galvanizes her will be the Democratic candidate for Vermont’s single seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Becca Balint, who has been a state senator since 2015, won Vermont’s Democratic primary on Tuesday, easily fending off her main competitor, Molly Gray, the state’s lieutenant governor. With Vermont a reliably blue state, Balint is all but certain to become the state’s first woman representative in Congress. Balint was endorsed by Vermont’s prog...
(JNS) — The United States, United Kingdom, France and the European Union have called for “restraint” following the launch by Israel on Friday of “Operation Breaking Dawn” against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group in the Gaza Strip. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency, closed-door meeting on Monday to discuss the matter. U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also issued a statement on Saturday expressing her country’s support for Israel and its right to self-defense, while condemning the terrorists. She called for...
(JTA) — One of Israel’s strongest critics in Congress narrowly survived a tough Democratic primary, as Rep. Ilhan Omar eked out a victory Tuesday in Minnesota’s 5th congressional district. Omar, a two-term member of Congress who supports the movement to boycott Israel and once grouped Israel and the United States with Hamas and the Taliban in a statement about human rights abuses, faced a challenge from Don Samuels, a former Minneapolis city councilman who courted pro-Israel and suburban support. He drew 48.2 percent of the vote in the distr...
(JNS) — Hamas issued and then withdrew sweeping restrictions on foreign journalists working in the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of this week’s conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to the Associated Press. The restrictions included a ban on coverage about PIJ rockets falling short in Gaza and causing injuries and deaths, as well as a general rule requiring that Jerusalem be blamed for the latest escalation, according to the report. The Foreign Press Association, which represents international media in Israel, ann...
(JTA) - Negotiating the bomb-scarred roads of eastern Ukraine is the easy part of Ilya Pulin's day as he delivers food and medicine across eastern Ukraine as a volunteer. The difficult part, he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, is finding and paying for fuel in the war-torn country. Since Russia invaded in February, "fuel prices have doubled. There are hour-long lines at petrol stations. And until a few days ago there was a five-gallon ration per person," said Pulin, a 38-year-old Jewish...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - A 16-dunam (four-acre) noncontiguous parcel of land on a green hilltop in eastern Jerusalem, which lies between the security barrier and the eastern border of the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood, could soon become the most volatile in the city. The Israeli Justice Ministry has completed the process, conducted secretly, of transferring ownership of the land to the state, on a temporary basis. Civil researchers hired by the ministry's Custodian of Absentee Properties...
(JNS) British Foreign Secretary of State and Parliament member Liz Truss promised to consider moving the British embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if she is elected Tory leader and becomes prime minister in September. The Conservative Party leadership candidate-one of two; she is vying against fellow Parliament member Rishi Sunak-made the promise in a letter written to members of Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI). She also participated in a CFI event on Monday night in which she...
(JTA) - A century ago, German philosopher Franz Rosenzweig spearheaded the revival of intellectual Jewish life in the city of Frankfurt am Main with the "Freies Jüdisches Lehrhaus" - the Jewish House of Free Study. As many as 1,100 adult students would attend lectures tailored to secular Jews and aimed at democratizing the kind of Jewish learning that was typically restricted to the beit midrash, or formal house of Jewish study. Now, a Lehrhaus in the spirit of 1920s Frankfurt is coming to the...
