Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - If day one of the Christians United for Israel 2021 summit was about honoring Israel, the next day's focus at the organization's annual conference held this year in Dallas was a call to action. The more than 700 invited CUFI leaders and donors at the two-day conference on July 18-19 arrived early in the morning for the start of the marathon conference day that covered every topic from Iran, BDS and antisemitism among others. Rather than the pep rally for Israel last Sunday, Monday...
(JNS) - Iranian defector Saeid Mollaei, who now represents Mongolia, dedicated his silver medal to the State of Israel after the match on Tuesday at the Tokyo Olympics. "This medal is also dedicated to Israel, and I hope Israelis are happy with this achievement," said Mollaei, according to Israel's Kan news. Earlier this year, Mollaei competed in the Tel Aviv Grand Slam, winning a silver medal for Mongolia. He was warmly received by the Israel Judo Association and its president, Moshe Ponte....
(JTA) - It has been a question insiders have posed all week: Could Ben & Jerry's decision to stop selling its ice cream in the West Bank trigger many or all of the laws that U.S. states have passed in recent years to hurt the Israel boycott movement? Well, five states are already looking into it. Officials in Florida, Texas, New York, New Jersey and Illinois are reviewing whether the move will require divestment from Ben & Jerry's parent company Unilever under their various state laws. There...
Algerian judoka quits Olympics to avoid Israeli opponent By Gabe Friedman (JTA) — An Algerian judoka reportedly pulled out of the Olympics on Thursday after seeing his tournament draw, which would have pitted him against an Israeli opponent in the second round. “We were not lucky with the draw. We got an Israeli opponent and that’s why we had to retire. We made the right decision,” Fethi Nourine’s coach told Algerian media. Nourine would have had to face Tohar Butbul in the under 73 kg division. He similarly pulled out of the 2019 World Champio...
(JNS) - It's been three years since Hanna and Shamshy Schlager traded their home in New York for a new one in Modi'in, Israel. It's been a good three years, they'll tell you, a time of growth, not the least of which was adding a third child to their family. But that first year was not without its challenges, including arranging for bank accounts and credit cards, insurance policies - not to mention the paperwork around setting up his private psychology practice. "All of a sudden, you need to...
Forty-nine years after the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, Friday's opening ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics included, for the first time, an official commemoration of those who died in the terror attack. Tributes were paid to those lost during the pandemic and throughout Olympic history. The Israeli delegation that was killed at the Munich Games was specifically mentioned. A moment of silence was offered inside the stadium, alongside a dance performance honoring th...
(ORLANDO, FL) – Investing two years of research and commitment, Laurie Cardoza-Moore, founder and president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, is grateful as both Civics and Holocaust Standards submitted by PJTN were approved late last week for adoption and use in Florida classrooms. She noted on the vote, "Our work in preserving America's Judeo-Christian heritage and values in our children's Civics education amid the national push towards Critical Race Theory will benefit the more than 1.8...
This Saturday, July 31, is Rabbi David Kay Day in Maitland, and especially at Congregation Ohev Shalom. The City of Maitland proclaimed Rabbi David Kay Day in honor of Rabbi Kay's 17 years of dedicated service to COS and the greater community. Maitland Mayor John Lowndes read the official proclamation this week at a breakfast held in Rabbi Kay's honor, on Wednesday, July 28. The proclamation will also be read to the congregation on Saturday, July 31, at Rabbi Kay's final Shabbat as Ohev Shalom's...
(JNS) — Ben & Jerry’s announced on Monday that it will end sales of its ice-cream in Judea and Samaria In a statement posted on the company’s website, the ice-cream brand said that it believes “it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” claiming that “we also hear and recognize the concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners.” “We have a longstanding partnership with our licensee, who manufactures Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream in Israel and distributes it in the regio...
(The Algemeiner) - Alan Kornman is a documentarian who records what takes place at anti-Israel rallies in and around the city of Orlando, Florida. He keeps a low profile, and aside from asking a question every once in a while, he doesn't interfere with protesters and gives everyone their space. But that hasn't stopped one rally organizer, Rasha Mubarak, from interfering with Kornman's ability to report on what goes on at the rallies she promotes. In mid-May, she singled Kornman out at an "Open t...
This past year, in bringing gift bags to all Jewish seniors in facilities, occasionally there were a few bags left over. Director Nancy Ludin requested those bags go to Jewish seniors not in these facilities who might like one. One of these seniors was Helene Markovitz. Program Director Cantor Nina Fine would bring a bag to her each holiday, but each time was unable to reach her through the phone intercom system or at her apartment and would just leave the bag with the office or on her door....
According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, only half of American Jews (52 percent) can read Hebrew. To fill this gap in Jewish education, the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute has developed Read it in Hebrew, an innovative Hebrew reading course that is sweeping the Jewish world. Read it in Hebrew combines timeless learning methods with contemporary psychology for a course guaranteed to be effective in only five sessions. Read it in Hebrew was piloted in just five communities in 2016. Since then, it’s been taught at over 600 locations a...
(JNS) — In a video address to the 2021 summit of Christians United for Israel, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday expressed his appreciation to the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States for their ongoing support — most recently, during and after the 11-day conflict with Hamas in Gaza in May. While its base is American evangelicals, which are largely politically conservative, CUFI as an organization emphasized that it makes its decisions based on the pro-Israel issues it believes in. While evangelicals fervently sup...
Hebrew University of Jerusalem studies published in a pair of medical journals suggest that already-existing drugs can be repurposed to fight Covid, the Hebrew-language news sites reported Monday. The studies give fresh optimism that a solution to the pandemic will be found despite fears of variants. Rather than create a Covid vaccine from scratch, Professor Shai Arkin of Hebrew University’s Biological Chemistry Department wondered if any existing medications could be reprocessed to fight the virus. After screening 3,000 potential drugs, A...
(JNS) - When Belgian professional road and cyclo-cross racer Wout van Aert took the 21st and final stage of the Tour de France and Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar won the overall 2021 Tour de France on Sunday, there weren't many Israeli riders in sight. Even without Israeli riders winning the race, this year's Tour de France was an unprecedented victory for the Jewish state. The famed race, which each year covers 3,413 kilometers (2,121 miles) over 21 stages in 23 days, featured eight riders...
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces shelled targets in Lebanon on Tuesday morning after two rockets were launched from Southern Lebanon at northern Israel on Monday night. Israel’s Iron Dome air-defense system downed one of the rockets, while the second fell in an open area, according to the military. No injuries or damage were reported, and the IDF Home Front Command issued no special guidelines for residents of the north. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned on Tuesday that Israel would not tolerate the current Lebanese crisis spi...
By Ben Sales (JTA) — Recho Omondi, a fashion podcaster who was accused of antisemitism for comments in a recent interview she conducted with a Jewish writer, has posted a lengthy apology to her listeners. “I owe the Jewish community and anyone else who’s offended by my words an apology,” Omondi said in a six-minute segment uploaded Tuesday morning to her podcast channel, The Cutting Room Floor. “I said some really crass and reductive things about Jewish people, painting them with one big, broad stroke, and it really stereotyped and insulted a l...
(JTA) - Public school unions in the U.S. are increasingly becoming a hotbed of Israel discourse, with the largest teachers' union becoming the latest organized body to deliberate measures that censure Israel and support the Palestinian cause. Members of the National Education Association at the group's annual meeting held over the weekend (with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, a longtime educator, in attendance) planned to debate two items on Israel and the Palestinians among the...
Sunday night, July 11, the Jewish Pavilion had its first Summer Soiree fundraiser at Dillards department store. The night was full of wonderful conversation, food, and shopping, and a great way to help Pavilion seniors. As everyone slowly gets back to normal, that also means that program directors and volunteers at the Jewish Pavilion are getting back to normal. Along with being able to be back in the buildings visiting the seniors, the fundraisers are back in swing. The Summer Soiree at...
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (JTA) - Rob Nipe and Nora Rubel hadn't anticipated selling out of pastrami on their opening day. But when you have a vegan butcher shop certified kosher and open up just a few blocks from an Orthodox synagogue, perhaps selling out of pastrami is par for the course. Butcher, of course, is a bit of a misnomer: Everything in Grass Fed - from the sliced "bacon" to the "butter chicken" to the "corned beef" - is made with plant-based ingredients and therefore fairly easy to certify as...
(JNS) — The fallout over the decision by Ben & Jerry’s to no longer sell its products in what the company calls “occupied Palestinian territory,” which includes parts of Jerusalem, immediately rippled throughout the Jewish world, with Israel’s leaders and pro-Israel groups urging action and threatening legal consequences against the ice-cream company and its corporate owner, Unilever. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Unilever CEO Alan Jope on Tuesday, saying that the Jewish state takes the move very seriously. According...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Ben & Jerry’s decision this week to pull out of an agreement that allowed its Israeli franchisee to sell its product in what the company terms “Occupied Palestinian Territory” has angered some Jewish-owned businesses. But the move also could have legal repercussions in the United States. As a result of a campaign since the mid-2010s led by center-right and Christian pro-Israel groups, 33 states have passed laws or issued executive orders targeting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, accordi...
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio told a news briefing Tuesday that he would stop eating Ben & Jerry’s ice cream after the company announced that it was stopping its sales in Judea and Samaria as soon as the Israeli franchise’s license runs out in December 2022. “I can say I will not be eating any more Cherry Garcia for awhile,” de Blasio said in allusion to his favorite flavor, in a video shared on social media. He added that it was “sad to me” that the “good people” who founded the company, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, were making the...
Ben & Jerry’s is trying to appease a global campaign of hate called BDS, by cutting ties with its factory in Israel. Extremists are already celebrating this decision and demanding that the company use its socially conscious brand to harm Israelis even further. Urge Ben & Jerry’s to oppose hate, strengthen its ties with Israel, and support peace. The company says they will find a different way to sell in Israel and suggest their decision is driven by opposition to Israeli policy in the West Bank. However, it’s clear they are responding to press...
In light of Ben & Jerry’s recent announcement to stop selling their ice cream in Judea and Samaria because of pro-Palestinian pressure, Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, spoke with Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY- District 11) who encouraged her constituents to boycott the ice cream maker. Congresswoman Malliotakis stated, “It’s a shame that they’ve decided to target the Jewish people like this. And I think it’s really important that Americans here send a message to Ben and Jerry’s by not buying their ice cream, quite...
