Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Losing a loved one can be very challenging and during the pandemic it has been even worse. Families are often unable to bury their loved ones or get together with friends and family for Shiva. While Zoom funerals and memorial services are better than nothing, they are not the same as in-person gatherings. While the rules have relaxed a bit lately, no one knows for certain what the new normal will be. The Jewish Pavilion is announcing their upcoming free grief support group, which will be held...
(JNS) "Israel is your home away from home," Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a message on Sept. 2, ahead of the Jewish New Year. His address was aimed at "the people of Israel and the Jewish people at large," which he referred to as his "extended family." Herzog was previously head of the Jewish Agency for Israel, where, as one of his stated objectives, he worked to provide a platform for all Jewish communities around the world. Today, the Jewish Agency's top position has yet to be...
(JNS) The dramatic escape of six Palestinian terrorists from Gilboa Prison in northern Israel last Monday carries the potential of a broader security escalation, a former defense official has cautioned. Col. (res.) David Hacham, a former Arab-affairs adviser to seven Israeli defense ministers and a senior research associate at the Miryam Institute, told JNS that the breakout could lead to a chain of incidents and an escalation dynamic, although this is not a certainty. He recalled a highly relevant precedent from the 1980s. In May 1987, six...
(JTA) - Rabbi Raziel Cohen doesn't want you to have to draw a gun in synagogue. But if you must, he doesn't want you to waste precious time unbuttoning your kapota, a type of jacket worn by men in the Chabad Hasidic community on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. So Cohen, a firearms instructor who goes by the moniker "The Tactical Rabbi," worked with Shaul Snovsky, who sells kapotas in South Florida, to create the Tactical Kapota. The jacket, which looks like any other kapota, closes with snaps...
JERUSALEM (JTA) - Amit Zakoon's flower business started with a seed - literally - but it quickly grew into one of Jerusalem's premier purveyors of luxury sukkahs. "We work for all the rich and famous," Zakoon, the owner and CEO of Yarok Yarok Events Design, told JTA. Studio Ya Ya, as Zakoon's clients call the business, is known for executing weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and parties for Jerusalem's A-list, including visiting U.S. presidents (from Bush to Obama) to big-time philanthropists like the...
(JNS) Algeria’s decision last week to sever diplomatic ties with its neighbor, Morocco, put the spotlight on the strengthening Israeli-Moroccan relations that were born out of the Abraham Accords. Prof. Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, an expert on North Africa and senior fellow at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, told JNS that Algeria and Morocco have been “geopolitical and ideological rivals for more than a half-century on the morrow of attaining independence.” The future of Spain’s ex-colony, Western S...
(JNS) Arizona moved to divest from Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, over the ice-cream maker’s decision to stop selling its products in the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem, becoming the first state to take such action. Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee announced last Tuesday that the state will pull some $143 million of investments from the multinational firm by Sept. 21. “As Arizona Treasurer, I’ve divested all state funds from Ben & Jerry’s for boycotting Israel,” Yee announced on Twitter. “Israel is and will continue to b...
Birthright trips to resume in October without quarantines for the vaccinated By Gabe Friedman (JTA) — Birthright Israel is resuming its trips after a month of cancellations over Israeli COVID-19 quarantine rules, the organization announced Thursday. Participants who have been fully vaccinated in the past six months will not have to quarantine on arrival for the trips, which will likely resume Oct. 3. However, they will still be subject to PCR and serological tests upon arrival and wait for the PCR results before beginning the trip. That c...
(JTA) — The latest politician to compare government vaccination efforts to Nazi Germany is Josh Mandel, a Jewish Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio. In a video last Thursday protesting President Joe Biden’s upcoming requirement that a large portion of private sector employees either get vaccinated against COVID or get tested weekly, Mandel instructed his social media viewers not to comply with the requirement. In doing so, he compared Biden to the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police force that played a major role in carrying out the Hol...
(JNS) - Acting Consul General of Israel in New York Israel Nitzan and the Port Authority Police Department gathered at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday to mark the Jewish calendar's 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and its victims. "That tragic and devastating day was an attack on the free world, democracy and the values we all hold so dear," said Nitzan at the event. "As terror and suffering continue to grow in this world, Israel and...
The Arava Desert in Israel's south is "abuzz" with activity - and it is all thanks to one important six-legged critter: the humble honeybee. In a world where scientists acknowledge the important role bees play in our ecosystem yet worry about their dwindling numbers, farmers in Israel's Arava Desert are working to grow bee colonies – and they are already achieving some very "sweet" results. You would not expect to find a bee colony in the middle of a desert, yet the bees at Porat Farm in Ein Yah...
(JNS) — Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America has picked a veteran Jewish and nonprofit communal leader as its new CEO. Naomi Adler, most recently the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, will assume her new position on Tuesday. She replaces Janice Weinman, who retired at the end of June. “Hadassah’s ability to assemble and engage a diverse membership is second to none,” said Adler, who also led two different United Way organizations in New York. “Whether it’s advancing Zionism, fighting anti...
Shana Tova! Join Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando (JFS Orlando) in celebrating the Jewish New Year by raising hope through tzedakah (charity). During the Hope Challenge, from September 1st through October 6th, $0.50 of each $1 donated to JFS Orlando will be generously matched by The Pearlman Family, with a total match up to $10,000. Your donation could...provide life-changing counseling to a child, help a family find stability, or drive a senior to a vital medical appointment. On...
(JNS) The Florida State Board of Education adopted new civics and Holocaust-education standards for Florida’s public schools in July, which had been pushed by the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis. The new social-studies standards spell out what students should learn about civics and the Holocaust in their classes from kindergarten to 12th grade. Florida has required that students be taught about the Holocaust since 1994, but there had been no standards detailing what specifically should be covered and in what grade. The new standards aim to provi...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In a Rosh Hashanah call last Thursday with a thousand rabbis across the denominational spectrum, President Joe Biden rededicated his presidency to combating hate and extremism and called on the Senate to swiftly confirm his nominee for antisemitism monitor, Deborah Lipstadt. In the afternoon webinar, Biden was asked how he intended to combat a spike in antisemitic incidents. He noted that the attorney general, Merrick Garland, was hiring staff to coordinate the prosecution of hate crimes and that his administration was t...
(JNS) — The shockwaves from the Taliban’s lightning-quick takeover of Afghanistan are continuing to reverberate throughout the Middle East, and Islamist forces are feeling energized by the U.S. withdrawal. But according to Prof. Eyal Zisser, a lecturer in the Middle East History Department at Tel Aviv University, that boost in morale isn’t translating into rash attacks and warfare. “I think that while the extremist forces are seeking to build on the American withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s victory for morale purposes, they are...
(JTA) — The FBI recorded the largest number of hate crimes last year since 2008, including spikes in the number of anti-Black and anti-Asian hate crimes. Anti-Jewish hate crimes dropped from 953 in 2019 to 676 last year, a decrease of 29 percent. Anti-Jewish crimes again made up the majority of hate crimes based on religion in the annual report, which scholars and officials have cautioned not to view as a comprehensive reflection of the state of hate crimes in America. In total, the FBI announced Monday that it recorded 7,759 hate crimes n...
(JTA) — On a night that brought weather of biblical proportions to the U.S. Open in New York City, Jewish tennis star Diego Schwartzman prevailed over his opponent Kevin Anderson. But that wasn’t the only highlight of his night. Schwartzman’s Round 2 match began on Louis Armstrong Stadium at 7 p.m. — against Anderson, who is about a foot taller than Schwartzman, at 6-foot-8 — but it did not finish until 1:02 am, at the larger Arthur Ashe Stadium. The roof on Armstrong was no match for the storm, an offshoot of Hurricane Ida, that passed through...
(JTA) - Reports of the demise of the Canadian Jewish News have been, not for the first time, greatly exaggerated. On Sept. 1, the publication - the largest Jewish news organization in Canada - will rebrand as a digital-first enterprise after abruptly shutting down operations in April 2020 and then resuming a trickle of content over the last year. It is the second relaunch for the 61-year-old nonprofit, which previously shut its doors in 2013 before garnering enough community support to restart...
(JTA) — Six months after his internet posts attacking Jews came to light, a U.S. Foreign Service officer remains employed by the State Department while at least 70 of his co-workers sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding his dismissal. The letter, sent July 28, argues that Fritz Berggren is a threat to Jewish employees at the State Department, and has violated department rules and ethical standards, Foreign Policy reported after obtaining a copy. “Not only is his propagation of antisemitic ideas highly disturbing and offen...
The following synagogues provided information about their High Holiday services to the Heritage by press time. For information about services at other local synagogues, contact the individual congregations. For tickets or information, contact the individual synagogue. Chabad of Altamonte (Orthodox) Masks will be required at all services. Masks will be removed during Kiddush lunch. RSVPs are required. Rabbi Mendy Bronstein Chabad of Altamonte 195 S Westmonte Drive #1126 Altamonte Springs, Fl 32701 www.jewishaltamonte.com Wed. Sept. 15, Erev Yom...
NEW YORK — This summer, 498 participants took part in Yachad programs across the United States, Canada and Israel. Yachad, a division of the Orthodox Union, is a leading organization for individuals with disabilities in the Jewish community and is one of the only organizations to offer summer programs for Orthodox individuals with disabilities ages 8 to 65 years old. This summer, the group ran its Yachad Integration Program (YIP) for campers in camps Lavi, Morasha and Nesher. The YIP program allows campers to enjoy a separate bunk while j...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called for Israel to return the body of a woman who was killed while she attempted to kill Israeli soldiers. In a Twitter thread on Saturday, Tlaib, one of Israel’s harshest critics in Congress, slammed Israel for its policy of holding onto the bodies of assailants who are killed during an attack. “Meet Mai Afana’s mother, Khuloud, who is fighting to be able to bury her daughter & begin her healing,” wrote Tlaib, a Palestinian American. “Mai was a mother, loving daughter & successful...
Israeli swimmer Mark Malyar wins a second gold and sets another world record at Tokyo Paralympics By Emily Burack (JTA) — Israeli swimmer Mark Malyar continued his historic Paralympics on Sunday, winning another gold medal and breaking his own world record. Malyar won the 400-meter freestyle race in the S7 category, days after winning gold in the men’s 200-meter individual medley in the SM7 category. He set a new world record in that race, too. Malyar, 21, completed Sunday’s race in 4:31.06, two seconds better than his previous record, which he...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - In his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, President Joe Biden said that although he prefers diplomatic means to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, he is not afraid to "turn to other options" on the issue. The pledge captured what both men, who are in varying degrees of political precariousness right now, hoped to extract from the meeting: A bigger focus on what they agree on than what they disagree on, and the start of a new era in relations...
