Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) — Amichai Chikli, the Israeli Diaspora minister who has antagonized some liberal segments of American Jewry, called J Street “hostile” to Israel after it retweeted a photo of the minister from New York City’s Celebrate Israel Parade. Chikli was photographed at the June 4 parade making what appeared to many to be an obscene gesture toward a group protesting the Israeli government. He and his staff said he was gesturing to the protesters to smile and did not intend to make the obscene gesture. Either way, the picture, taken last week by...
LONDON (JTA) - London's Jewish Museum is to close indefinitely next month and begin hunting for a new home for its collection of 40,000 objects, one of the largest of its kind in Europe. The rising costs of maintaining its current premises in northwest London and a difficult fundraising environment exacerbated an already precarious financial situation for the museum, its chairman Nick Viner told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The Jewish Museum intends to close its doors at the end of June and be out of its current building on Albert Street by...
(JTA) - Among the many books that conservative parents have recently asked their children's schools to remove is a lushly illustrated version of the most famous Holocaust diary. The graphic adaptation of Anne Frank's diary, published in English in 2018, has found itself at the center of a growing number of controversies involving book removals from school libraries. A small number of passionate activists have pushed for the book to be removed from schools in Florida and Texas, calling it "pornography" and even "antisemitic." Sometimes, they've...
(JNS) - A concerted effort is underway by some mainstream churches to convince evangelical Christians to be less supportive of Israel, the incoming head of an evangelical organization headquartered in Jerusalem says. Rev. Peter Fast, CEO-elect of Bridges for Peace, spoke in an interview with JNS. The remarks come two months after the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem lambasted Israeli restrictions on the number of worshippers allowed into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem for the Holy Fire ceremony over...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration is fully invested in Israel-Saudi normalization, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC on Monday. He also said he does not see a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace happening anytime soon. “The United States has a real national security interest in promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” Blinken said Monday to applause at a policy summit of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He said it was critical not to escalate the Israe...
(JNS) — Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met with European counterparts in Slovakia on Tuesday and called for unity in countering the Iranian threat before it is too late. During the closed-door session in the capital Bratislava, Cohen also discussed strengthening the Abraham Accords and relations with the E.U. bloc. He is the first Israeli foreign minister to address the Slavkov/Austerlitz format—a regional cooperation forum consisting of Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The meeting included Ministers Alexander Schallenberg of Au...
Israeli rights group urges public broadcaster to stop referring to ‘West Bank’ (JNS) — Shai Glick, the CEO of the B’Tslamo rights group, wrote a letter on Wednesday to the Kan Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation urging it to have its journalists stop using the term “West Bank” for Judea and Samaria. In the letter to Kan CEO Golan Yochpaz, Glick noted that the official term in Israel for the territories captured in the Six-Day War is Judea and Samaria. “It is incorrect that the state corporation uses the foreign term ‘West Bank,’ which is le...
(JTA) - Toronto is home to one of the world's largest Jewish communities, nearly half of the 335,000 Jews in Canada. But until last week, the city did not have a dedicated Holocaust museum. The Toronto Holocaust Museum opened its doors on Friday, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by an array of dignitaries and Holocaust survivors. Aimed at young learners who will inherit a post-survivor world, the space centers around 11 kiosks where large-as-life survivors share their testimonies through interactive videos. Its four galleries explore...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - The Biden administration has joined the chorus of American voices criticizing Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli. A photo in which Chikli is making a face at a pro-Israel parade in New York City, and his unapologetic defense of the incident, is evidence that he is out of touch with the U.S. Jewish Diaspora, a senior Biden administration official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. "The fact that a senior Israeli official came to the United States and did not have a single public meeting with the American Jewish...
(JTA) - Conditions didn't seem favorable in early May as Stuart Eizenstat entered annual negotiations with the German government over reparations for the estimated 240,000 remaining Holocaust survivors around the world. Eizenstat had served as the special negotiator for the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany since 2009 and had analyzed the country's economic and political landscape: high inflation, spiraling fuel costs and unprecedented government spending on defense to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. Add to that a Ger...
(JTA) – The financial future of American Jewish University is in flux again after a plan to raise a reported $65 million by selling its 22-acre campus in Los Angeles to a Swiss education company fell through. Nine months after the university announced a deal had been reached to sell the property, the prospective buyer, EF Education First, said it was pulling out and abandoning its plans to establish a language school for international students at the site because of the opposition of residents in the highly affluent neighboring community. "...
(JNS) — Chris Christie, the former, two-term Republican governor of New Jersey who bid unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination in 2016, announced on June 6 that he is running for president in 2024. (See “A Jewish guide to Chris Christie’s presidential campaign” article on page 9A.) Christie, 60, declared his candidacy in a town hall at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. Joined by his wife, Mary Pat, four children and father, Christie spoke about the importance of choosing to go big rather than small and to unify the country. “We have cand...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Until the certification of the electoral vote on Jan. 6, 2021, Mike Pence made sure to stay on the same page as Donald Trump - except, sometimes, when it came to the Jews. Both men delighted the pro-Israel establishment - Trump by fulfilling a long wish list of Israel's right-wing government, Pence by proving himself as a stalwart Christian Zionist through years in elected office. But just weeks after Trump assumed office, the difference in how each man approached Jewish anxieties was already stark. Jews in St. Louis were...
LA PLATA, Argentina (JTA) - The most successful run in Israeli soccer history came to an end on Thursday, as the country's under-20 team lost in the semifinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup to Uruguay. The 1-0 loss means Israel will play the winner of the other semifinal match between Italy and South Korea in a third place game. Local Jews and Israeli visitors made up a large portion of the crowd of over 27,000 at the stadium in La Plata, Argentina, a city about 40 miles outside of Buenos Aires. They chanted in Hebrew and waved Israeli flags...
There are many wonderful ways to volunteer with the Jewish Pavilion and Bethanne Weiss has done almost all of them. She has chaired events, assisted with Orlando Senior Help Desk callers, helped with set up for events, sold raffle tickets, participated in holiday festivities, and much more. One of her favorite volunteer activities is to share her dog, Butch, with the seniors. Weiss brought Butch to Oakmonte Village where the seniors enjoyed all their antics but especially enjoyed watching Weiss brush Butch's teeth while he lay there placidly....
On June 18, 1964, 16 rabbis and a Reform Jewish administrator, in St. Augustine at the request of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were arrested and held in the St. Johns County Jail. Overnight, they wrote a letter titled “Why We Went to St. Augustine” that will be read by Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline as part of the commemoration. Sikes-Kline has been a steadfast supporter of the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society for many years. She is a native Floridian and has lived in St. Augustine since 1984. She received her bachelor’s degree in ge...
June 21 — America and the Holocaust: A Series of Colloquies, virtual, 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. In each program, Dr. Michael Berenbaum will explore this complicated debate over America’s response to the Holocaust. In this final series, Dr. Berenbaum talks with Elliot Resnick on “Representative Sol Bloom: The Moral Conflicts of an American Jewish Congressman during the Holocaust.” Register at holocaustedu.org/events. June 22 — Venerated-Persecuted-Forgotten: Victims of Nazism at FC Bayern Munich An opening wine and cheese reception will be held on Jun...
Rosen JCC offers a STEAM Education The Rosen JCC Early Childhood Learning Center offers a STEAM education. STEAM uses a mix of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics as its foundation. Children learn how these concepts are part of their lives every day. Lessons provide hands on learning opportunities. The skills they learn provide a strong educational foundation and encourage a child’s natural curiosity. Young children develop a lifetime love of learning and understanding of the world around them. The Rosen JCC ECLC is c...
(JTA) — The city of Miami Beach has agreed to pay $1.3 million to a small Orthodox synagogue that accused it of discrimination by sending inspectors more than once a week on average for two years At the same time, Congregation Bais Yeshaya D’Kerestir agreed to make changes to its parking and noise practices. The agreement brings to a close an extended dispute over whether the congregation, which meets in a single-family home owned by its rabbi, Arie Wohl, was a religious institution or a private gathering. The congregation argued that because i...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Speaking before one of the leading architects of the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul, Vice President Kamala Harris stressed the importance of independent courts in a democracy. Harris’s speech on Tuesday came after a week in which opponents of the judicial overhaul — which would significantly weaken the Israeli Supreme Court — protested Israeli right-wing politicians at a series of events in New York City and elsewhere. Simcha Rothman, a far-right lawmaker who is a leading proponent of the judicial overhaul, was in at...
(JNS) — Israel’s foreign minister on Wednesday took issue with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris weighing in on Israel’s judicial reform debate, saying she didn’t know a thing about it. Harris waded into Israel’s domestic political affairs during an event at the Israeli embassy in Washington on Tuesday celebrating the Jewish state’s 75th anniversary. “America will continue to stand for the values that have been the bedrock of the U.S.-Israel relationship, which includes continuing to strengthen our democracies, which as the [Israeli] ambassador...
(New York Jewish Week) — The New York Police Department has reported 100 anti-Jewish hate crimes in the city since the start of the year, a decrease of some 20 percent when compared to the same period last year. Anti-Jewish incidents have comprised nearly 45 percent of the 223 total hate crimes the NYPD has reported this year. Jews are targeted for hate crimes more than any other group in the city and have been the victims of a plurality of hate crimes each month. These incidents include assaults, vandalism such as swastikas being drawn in f...
(JNS) — After a week of testimony from survivors in the Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooting trial, a city police officer offered his perspective on the Shabbat-morning attack in October 2018 that left 11 Jewish worshippers dead. Officer Michael Saldutte testified that he drove faster than 100 miles per hour to reach the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood after he learned about the attack. Upon arrival, Saldutte said he smelled gunpowder and saw bodies in pools of blood, the officer testified. The judge ove...
Over 150 guests supported the Jewish Pavilion by attending "Jewish Pavilion on the Lake," a festive happy hour celebration. Eighteen vendors provided delicious appetizers and desserts along with signature drinks. Carina Borkon and Jason Mendelsohn co-chaired the evening and helped arrange for wonderful raffle prizes. The event was held at Venue on Lake Lily/Maitland Civic Center. Several thousand dollars were raised to benefit seniors in long-term care....
(JTA) - As he has launched his long-shot campaign for the Republican nomination, Chris Christie has taken aim squarely at the man he once enthusiastically endorsed: Donald Trump. But alongside portraying the former president as a danger to democracy, Christie has singled out another person for criticism who is not running for president, and who may not even work on a campaign: Jared Kushner, Trump's Jewish son-in-law and senior adviser. The Christie-Kushner feud goes back two decades, dating back to when Christie prosecuted a case that sent Kus...
