Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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The following virtual programs will be hosted by the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center. The first on Sunday, June 27 at 3 p.m. is with Holocaust survivor Claire Soria. Hear Soria's story as she remembers vividly, the tanks going down her street as the Nazis invaded Brussels. She recalls the armed soldiers marching into every government building to take down their precious Belgian flags and replacing them with flags with the swastika. Soon after, Jewish children of every age were...
(JNS) - The Jewish United Fund is taking the fight over antisemitism to residents of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs with a major media blitz that included TV ads, billboards, social-media posts and more. The "Stop Antisemitism" media campaign, which launched in late May, is being undertaken because of the rise of attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions across the country and in Western Europe. During Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza in mid-May, anti-Semitic attacks soared worldwide and...
Federation CEO and Executive Director Keith Dvorchik reached out to the Heritage about the Trader Joe’s incident saying that “a lot more happened that wasn’t included [in the article Heritage ran].” After learning of the anti-Israel discourtesy paid the shopper, Dvorchik reached out to Trader Joe’s CEO Dan Bane. Bane assigned the grievance to the regional manager, who failed to address the problem properly. It was then reassigned to their in-house council, who is the head of all Trader Joe’s legal issues and a top executive. Dvorchik contacted...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - Some 5,000 new immigrants from the United States and Canada are scheduled to immigrate to Israel by the end of 2021, according to new data published by the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization in conjunction with Israel's Aliyah and Integration Ministry, the Jewish Agency for Israel and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund USA. Nefesh B'Nefesh has reported a spike in the number of immigration requests and files opened during the COVID pandemic. In 2020, the o...
(Israel21c via JNS) — For the first time in 12 years, Israel’s Likud Party and its head, Benjamin Netanyahu, have moved from the prime minister’s seat to the opposition in the Knesset. The new government, sworn in Sunday night, brings into power a broad coalition of eight political parties, spanning the country’s political spectrum. Heading Israel’s 36th government is Yamina Party leader Naftali Bennett, the 13th Israeli prime minister. Bennett was sworn in along with Yesh Atid Party leader Yair Lapid, who will serve as alternate prime min...
(JNS) — U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday officially announced the nomination of Thomas Nides to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Israel. Nides, 60, has held prominent roles in the private and public sectors. From 2010-2013, he served as the State Department’s Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. As part of the Obama administration, Nides played a key role in the administration’s approval of an extension on loan guarantees worth billions of dollars for Israel. He also led the push against Congress’s efforts to defund the U.N...
(JTA) — Parents in Brazil are protesting a school’s teaching of Anne Frank’s famous Holocaust diary, citing what they say is sexual content inappropriate for seventh graders. In a letter sent to the management of the Sao Paulo branch of Escola Mobile, a network of private schools, more than 90 parents complained about Frank’s descriptions of female genitalia and her attraction to women, according to Revista Oeste magazine. The parents were complaining about passages in the latest edition of the official diary of Anne Frank. Her father, who was...
JTA - Israel's new prime minister is probably the first one who has stuck a wad of chewing gum to his head right before a public event. Naftali Bennett, who took office last week, is the first prime minister in the country's history to regularly wear a kippah, the Jewish ritual head covering (sometimes called a yarmulke or skullcap). Unlike his secular predecessors, he identifies as a religious Zionist and practices Modern Orthodox Judaism, which requires men to cover their heads. He's also...
(JNS) - "Israel, you are not alone. ... We represent 10 million-plus people in America and these people say to you Israel, we have your back." That was the message of Pastor John Hagee, chairman and founder of Christians United for Israel, the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States. Hagee was in Israel on a June 13-14 solidarity mission that included former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. Haley, who served in that role from January 2017 to December 2018, stood...
(JTA) – Pro-Palestinian activists were swarming the social media comments sections of Ben & Jerry's to demand the company boycott Israel. In response, Ben & Jerry's appears to have indeed entered a boycott - of social media itself. The international ice cream brand with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales typically posts to its Twitter, Instagram or Facebook pages daily, including about the many progressive social causes that the company supports. But Ben & Jerry's fell silent on May...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A key Supreme Court decision on religious freedoms earned praise from Orthodox Jewish groups, and has more liberal groups breathing a sigh of relief that its scope was narrow. On Thursday, the court issued a unanimous decision overturning Philadelphia’s policy of refusing to work with a Catholic agency that will not place foster children with same-sex parents. Jewish groups had filed friend-of-the-court briefs on both sides of the case, known as Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. Orthodox groups, driven by concerns about religio...
(JTA) — Organizers of an event celebrating immigrant chefs in Philadelphia removed an Israeli food truck from the lineup, citing “the concerns of community that we love and serve.” But the bid to calm controversy by Eat Up the Borders, the organizer of the event on Sunday, backfired: After announcing the removal, thousands of people replied, with varying levels of vitriol, questioning why the group associated a chef living in Philadelphia to the policies of a country nearly 6,000 miles away. A congressman representing Philadelphia relea...
Israeli and American Jews know little about each other, new study finds By Shira Hanau (JTA) — American and Israeli Jews don’t know much about one another, according to a study released Monday. Still, both groups expressed an affinity for the other in the poll by the American Jewish Committee. Among American Jews, a total of 40 percent said their knowledge of Israelis was either nonexistent or weak, and another 21 percent ranked their knowledge of Israelis as medium, while 37 percent said they received a “strong” education about Israel....
(JTA) - A team of journalists once employed by the flagship Jewish newspaper in Los Angeles is trying to create an alternative news source for America's second-largest Jewish community. SoCal Jewish News announced itself last month with a GoFundMe campaign and a July 19 target launch date. Without mentioning the 35-year-old Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, the new website emphasizes that it will be different from the Jewish news currently on offer in the city. SoCal Jewish News is...
(JNS) - Israel's 36th government passed a vote of confidence at a special Knesset session on Sunday night with Yamina Party leader Naftali Bennett sworn in as the country's 13th prime minister. Bennett has replaced now-former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held the position for the past 12 years and who served another three years prior to that, from 1996 to 1999, making him the longest-serving premier in Israel's history. With the transfer of power, Netanyahu became the head of the...
Tampa, FL — Tuesday afternoon, more than 1,200 people participated in a Town Hall Briefing on antisemitism organized by seven Florida Jewish federations (Orlando, Tampa, Gulf Coast, Sarasota/Manatee, Lee/Charlotte, Greater Naples and AJC West Coast Florida). This was assembled in response to the recent vandalizing of the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg on May 27. St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said, “The Florida Holocaust Museum was vandalized by a person or group on May 27, 2021 with antisemitic /racially biased gra...
Everyone knows the game where people sit in a circle and one person whispers something in the ear of the next person. The message is then passed on around the group. Nine times out of 10, the message ends up completely changed, portions deleted or information exaggerated. Such is what happened at Trader Joe's about a month ago. This is what happened. A woman, who will remain anonymous, but I will call "Carol," was checking out of the Trader Joe's in Dr. Phillips. She was engaged in pleasant smal...
(JNS) - Mansour Abbas, head of the Israel's Ra'am Party, said on Sunday that he would "reclaim the lands that were expropriated from our people." In a mostly-Arabic speech before the Knesset plenum ahead of the swearing-in of Israel's 36 government, Abbas called the reclamation of those lands a "national cause of the first order." Abbas switched to Hebrew toward the end of the speech to criticize remarks made earlier before the plenum by outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who...
On a hot morning in early June, I met with Grandparent Program participants Isa Vogel and Rebekah McNarney, age 9, as Isa was hosting a lovely brunch for her adopted 'granddaughter,' Rebekah and her mother, Lauren. Sitting together at Isa's table was a newly freeing experience after the isolation of COVID and a complete lack of visitors. Delicious homemade food was served by Isa, and the conversation flowed easily. The isolation felt by Isa and many of our seniors was intensified by the death of...
The Orange County Sheriff's Office has designated the Rosen JCC a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community. This designation was earned after the staff completed the required training on how to manage LGBTQ+ individuals who come to the facility feeling they are in danger. The Rosen JCC recognizes many in the LGBTQ+ community struggle with discrimination and acceptance. They want to provide a safe space for those who need a place to go for protection. The Rosen JCC is proud to be a place the...
The Jewish Pavilion is hosting a soiree on July 11 from 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at Dillard’s department store in Altamonte Springs. The store will close early to the public on Sunday to host the first Jewish Pavilion Summer Soiree. “Our partnership for the fashion show was so successful, we wanted to have another great event and open it up to everyone,” said Nancy Ludin, CEO of the Jewish Pavilion. Shoppers will enjoy hors d’oeurves, desserts, signature drink cocktails, wine and craft beers, and entertainment as they shop. There will also be demo...
The RAISE program for adults with special needs is now accepting online applications for a limited number of fall positions. RAISE is a 6- to 12-month work and social skills training program offered through the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando that is open to all faiths and provides paid employment at our partnering Jewish agencies. In addition, RAISE assists our employees in the transition to finding employment in the community. If you know a young adult who may benefit from RAISE or you are interested in volunteering as a Job Coach,...
(JNS) — Pro-Israel America announced 30 congressional endorsements for the 2022 election cycle on Tuesday. The bipartisan PAC endorsed 15 Democrats and 15 Republicans in total, which the group says are “proven leaders on issues related to the U.S.-Israel relationship and who are running for re-election next year.” Pro-Israel America endorsed 12 Senate candidates, including Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mike Crapo (R-Ind.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), John Hoeve...
(JTA) — Bestselling authors Elin Hilderbrand and Casey McQuiston removed references to Anne Frank and Israel from their novels this week following an outcry on social media from small subsets of readers. The moves have ignited a storm of controversy in the literary world. The campaigns against the books have been successful despite appearing to be relatively small in size, and originate from wildly different perspectives on Jews and Israel. One takes the authors to task for a joke perceived as antisemitic, while the other objects to the mere m...
(JNS) — Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Gilad Erdan met with senior leadership of the Associated Press on Monday in New York, where he told the media outlet that Hamas was using the Gaza media tower to jam Iron Dome batteries in Israel. “The unit was developing an electronic jamming system to be used against the Iron Dome defense system,” said Erdan, officially informing for the first time why Hamas operating in that building posed such an imminent threat to Israeli civilians and was prioritized by the Israel...
