Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) - A new super PAC led by "Black and Jewish" leaders has endorsed five Black Democrats who have positions that are friendly to AIPAC, the latest sign that pro-Israel donors are determined to stem erosion of support for Israel among African Americans. In its May 27 launch statement, first reported by Politico, the Urban Empowerment Action PAC does not mention Israel, instead saying that it "will support pragmatic, solutions-oriented congressional candidates dedicated to the educational...
(JTA) — A Pew Research Center survey released Thursday found that American adults are just not paying attention to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. A whopping 84 percent of adults surveyed said they have heard “not much” or “nothing at all” about the movement, which seeks to pressure Israel into changing its policy towards the Palestinians by promoting boycotts and economic sanctions. Only 5 percent of the surveyed adults — who were of diverse religious backgrounds — knew “some” about it, and only 2 percent st...
Eighty-one Democrats from both the House and Senate sent a strongly worded letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, urging him to pressure the Israeli government into stopping potential evictions of Arabs from an IDF firing zone. “We are deeply concerned that this relocation of Palestinian families from homes they have lived in for generations could spark violence, is in direct violation of international humanitarian law, and could further undermine efforts to reach a two-state solution,” wrote the Democratic lawmakers, hea...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration has suspended assistance to Sudan, including assistance related to its normalization deal with Israel, and wants Israel to call out the bloody coup that removed the country’s civilian government last year. “The United States is not moving forward at this time with assistance originally committed to Sudan’s civilian-led transitional government in connection with its efforts to improve Sudan’s bilateral relationship with Israel,” a State Department spokesman said in an email Friday in response to...
(JNS) — Israel has boosted the deployment of its air-defense systems due to concerns that Iran could retaliate for the May 22 assassination of a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer in Tehran, Kan News reported on Monday. The move comes after the National Security Council took the unusual step on Monday of updating a travel advisory to Turkey, citing a tangible threat of Iranian attack on Israeli nationals there. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told a weekly government meeting that “the era of immunity for Ira...
(JNS) — The Jewish presence in the Galilee is shrinking — in part, critics say, because of government policies that effectively discriminate against Jews in favor of Arabs, who constitute the vast majority of the area’s inhabitants. The stakes are high, say those warning of the danger, noting that a large ethnic minority controlling a significant bloc of territory can lead to irredentist movements. “The issue also exists in the Negev with the Bedouin, but the problem in the Galilee is much more serious,” Bentzi Lieberman, chairman of the Shilo...
In a first, Israeli government to pay Orthodox women to advise on Jewish law By Ron Kampeas (JTA) — In a first, Israel will pay 21 women to be advisers on Jewish law in the Orthodox community, a concept that has spread in the United States but that Israel’s Orthodox establishment has resisted. Matan Kahana, the deputy religious services minister, said in a release Thursday he will hire the women for “communities across Israel” this year. Women advisers on halacha, or Jewish law, have flourished in recent years in the United States, where t...
(JNS) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government has resolved to pass legislation that will stop public bodies from adopting anti-Israel boycott resolutions. The proposed legislation was outlined in the Queen’s Speech, an annual ceremonial address on May 10 that opens parliament and which sets out the government’s legislative priorities. The bill’s purpose, according to a government summary, is to stop public bodies in the United Kingdom from engaging in BDS measures and to prevent them “adopting their own approach to...
(JTA) — French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed as prime minister Élisabeth Borne, a former cabinet minister whose father, Joseph Bornstein, was a Polish Holocaust survivor who died by suicide when she was 11. Borne, a 61-year-old former Socialist Party politician who previously had served as labor minister, is the second woman to hold the post and one of several people with Jewish roots, including Laurent Fabius and Leon Blum. Joseph Bornstein and his three brothers, Isaac, Albert and Leon, were born to Polish-Jewish immigrants in Be...
(JTA) – General Mills announced Tuesday it would be fully divesting from a business venture in Israel that had operated in an East Jerusalem settlement, in a move pro-Palestinian activists celebrated as the result of their campaign against the food conglomerate. The Minnesota-based company has operated a Pillsbury frozen-food factory in the Atarot Industrial Zone since 2002, in a joint venture with Israeli investment group Bodan Holdings. In a statement, the company said it would sell its majority stake in the venture back to Bodan as part o...
(JTA) — More than half of bankruptcies in the United States are connected to medical debt. For some families in the Chicago area, however, that debt is being erased in accordance with the Jewish law of shmita, the sabbatical year. The Torah’s shmita laws prescribe that, every seven years, all agricultural activity in the Land of Israel is forbidden, and the land must be left fallow. There are many specific rules, including prohibition against plowing, pruning and planting. But a lesser-known custom in observance of the shmita year is the rel...
As another successful school year comes to an end it's time to celebrate. It's hard to believe that it's been 12 years since the founding of Orlando Torah Academy. This has been an exceptional year of continued growth as enrollment has grown to almost 150 students from preschool through 8th grade. With children from over 60 families attending, OTA has established itself as the premier destination for Jewish education in Orlando. This year OTA will be honoring two very deserving couples at its...
(JTA) - The Palestinian Authority concluded its investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by accusing Israeli soldiers of deliberately shooting her in the back, a claim that Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said could not be true. "Any claim that the IDF intentionally targets journalists or those uninvolved [in terror] is a crude and blatant lie," Gantz said in a statement after the release of the PA report on Thursday. Israel has maintained that it is...
As we come to the end of the current school year, it’s time to start making plans for the new school year. Parents of little ones, who are transitioning from pre-school, need to decide if they want to move to public or private kindergarten. These are choices made based on your family and what educational environment is best for your child. Registration is currently open at the Rosen JCC for their Kindergarten class of 2022-2023. One of the best features of kindergarten at the Rosen JCC is the smaller class ratio of 1:10. This allows for s...
Next time you’re stuck in evening traffic, take a few seconds to enjoy the pinks and purples in the sunset. It might be the most overlooked, but spiritual self-care can help you feel grateful to be here on this earth, and move the focus away from yourself to something bigger. It can be going to a house of worship, saying a prayer or mantra, or it can be as easy as appreciating the everyday wonders and beauty of nature. These simple moments of reflection can help you find peace and t...
Wartime veterans and their surviving spouses, 65 years and older, may be entitled to a tax-free benefit called Aid and Attendance provided by the Department of Veteran Affairs. They must have served some time in active duty. The benefit is designed to provide financial aid to help offset the cost of long-term care for those who need assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, and transferring. The benefits are quite significant. The single veteran may earn approximately $2000 per month. The...
Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations for the 2021 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando this summer. “For more than 30 years, individuals who have made major, voluntary contributions of their talent, time, energy and effort to the Central Florida community have been honored with the selection and presentation of this award,” said Jeff Gaeser, editor and publisher of the Heritage. Last year’s recipient was Hank Katzen. Former recipients have inclu...
(JTA) — Among the many Jews on Russia’s latest list of Americans banned entry are three Chabad rabbis, in possible retaliation for Chabad’s decades-long effort to recover texts and artifacts that the Soviets took from the movement. The list of 963 Americans posted Saturday, first reported by Axios, includes three leaders of Chabad’s umbrella body, Agudas Chassidei Chabad. They are Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, the chairman of the executive of the umbrella body, a founder of the Washington office of the movement; Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, the umbrell...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In an unusual public broadside against dozens of Congress members, Israel’s ambassador to Washington said a letter calling for a U.S. investigation into the killing of a Palestinian American journalist was not a “fair” representation of the event. Michael Herzog was responding to a letter sent Thursday by 57 House Democrats to Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, and Christopher Wray, the FBI director. It called for an investigation into the death last week of Shireen Abu Akleh, a venerated Al Jazeera reporter killed...
(JNS) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared the main criminal case against him “dead,” after state prosecutors were forced to alter the charge sheet, Israeli media reported last week. The state’s witness in the trial, former Communications Ministry Director-General Shlomo Filber, was cross-examined by Netanyahu’s attorneys throughout the week. Prosecutors have charged that Netanyahu entered into “bribery relations” with businessman and former owner of the Bezeq telecoms giant Shaul Elovitch. According to the charges,...
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s participation in an upcoming event at the community of Elkana in Samaria is sparking controversy and generating protests against his participation, with residents telling Bennett “stay away.” Bennett is planning to participate in an event celebrating the town’s 45th anniversary. However, residents say that his visit is “an attempt to cynically exploit the residents of Elkana and make political capital, while Bennett’s government violates the state’s Jewish and Zionist values on a daily basis.” Residents have lau...
(JTA) — The Minnesota Republican Party apologized for screening a video that depicted liberal Jewish billionaire George Soros as a puppet master controlling two Jewish Democrats, saying that those responsible were not aware that the imagery had antisemitic connotations. “We understand that the use of imagery depicting Mr. Soros as a puppet-master at our state convention raised concerns that the imagery perpetuated an antisemitic trope,” state GOP chairman David Hann said Thursday in a statement, noting that the Jewish Community Relations Counc...
(JTA) – An unusual scenario played out in Arizona recently: The son of a Jewish woman who fled the Nazis was asked if he wanted to be executed by the same gas the Nazis once used. Frank Atwood, who was convicted of murdering an 8-year-old girl in 1984, has been on death row for decades. For his method of execution he was given the choice between lethal injection, Arizona’s default method, or a gas chamber — which the state had refurbished last year in preparation for possibly killing Atwood and one other death row inmate. Arizona’s intent...
Israeli-owned eatery in London hit with ‘free Palestine’ graffiti By Cnaan Liphshiz (JTA) — Unidentified individuals spray-painted the words “free Palestine” on the facade of an Israeli-owned cafe in London. The incident, which the owner Michael Levi suspects was an antisemitic hate crime, occurred on May 14 at Michaels Brasserie, the Jewish News of London reported on Tuesday. The graffiti was painted there late at night on a Saturday, the report said. Police arrived at the café and documented the incident and are looking into it, Levi told...
(Israel21c via JNS) - India and Israel seem like a study in contrasts. Some 1.4 billion Indians live in a vast country stretching nearly 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) across at its widest point, while 8.9 million Israelis live in a tiny land no more than 135 kilometers (85 miles) wide. Yet they are bound together by surprising commonalities. For starters, they nearly share a birthday. India gained independence from Great Britain in August 1947 and Israel in May 1948. And each has a proud...
