Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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A new study by the Jerusalem-based watchdog group IMPACT-se shows that school textbooks in Turkey are becoming more Islamicized and now refer to Jews and Christians as “infidels,” JTA reported Thursday. Researchers at the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) found a change in Turkish school textbooks that previously referred to Jews and Christians as “People of the Book.” New textbooks, however, such as “Fundamental Religious Knowledge,” a publication released after 2017 that is part of the mand...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Some five years after being snubbed for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Merrick Garland is the new U.S. attorney general. In a 70-30 vote Wednesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Garland as the country's top law enforcer. He becomes the fifth Jewish member of President Joe Biden's Cabinet. Twenty Republicans joined the Democrats in backing Garland, reflecting consensus support for the federal judge. In 2016, when former President Barack Obama tapped Garland for the Supreme...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With collaboration continuing to play a critical role in delivering impact across synergistic organizations, BBYO and Moishe House are partnering to learn from and leverage their similar operating models to better reach and inspire young Jews. The critical decades of a young person’s life following the bar/bat mitzvah age are defined by many transitions, explorations, and relationships. Research has shown that one of the defining threads throughout these years are meaningful connections between peers and mentors as they sha...
CTeen of North Orlando recently completed its first CTeen University course, marking a milestone in continued quality Jewish learning for youth in the area. For 14 weeks, teens met with Rabbi Yanky Majesky every Sunday morning to study Torah and Judaism on a whole new level. "Sadly, for most, Jewish learning ends at bar/bas mitzvah and that only allows one to have a child's perspective on Judaism, it has been an honor and privilege to delve deeper into Jewish learning with this special group of...
On March 23, Israel will hold its fourth national election in two years. This is a result of political stalemate and politicking that's placed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against most other parties, with his Likud party showing one of its lowest polling projections in the past three elections. It is not the first election since the pandemic, but the pandemic will play a more significant role than the previous election a year ago. In addition to the pandemic, there are several other issues...
Biden civil rights nominee, under fire from the right, gets some Jewish backing By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) — Vanita Gupta, President Joe Biden’s nominee for a top civil rights enforcement job, has been targeted in recent weeks as an extremist by a number of conservative groups and the conservative media. A couple of Jewish groups, the Anti-Defamation League and the National Council of Jewish Women, are expressing their support. Gupta, who was tapped for the post of associate attorney general, the No. 3 job at the Justice Department, fac...
The Kinneret Council on Aging held its annual "8 Over 80" #SaluteOurSeniors event online this past week and raised more money and had a larger turnout than any previous fundraiser in the organization's five-decade history. With Alan Ginsburg as the ever-festive, always funny emcee for the evening, several hundred community members joined Zoom and/or the YouTube link for an exciting, entertaining and fun event honoring eight individuals who have made a lasting impact on our community here in Cent...
In recognition of their community involvement and their dedicated support of The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center and the vision for the new Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity, the Center looks forward to presenting the Harvey and Carol Massey and their family with the Tess Wise White Rose Award on April 28 at the new White Rose Tribute Event. Harvey and Carol Massey of Winter Park have three children and 10 grandchildren. The Massey's philanthropic interests in education, arts...
"When you clean out your closet, think of us "said Nancy Ludin, CEO of the Jewish Pavilion. Special thanks to Larry Kahn, Alan Perlman, Roz Murray and many other generous people who have recently donated Judaica to the Jewish Pavilion. All of the gifts received are used as presents for seniors to go in their welcome bags. The Jewish Pavilion always welcomes gifts such as Jewish holiday paper goods, Chanukah wrapping paper, ritual objects, etc. Shown here is Joe Aronson of Westminster Towers...
You can’t go to Neverland, but you can go and see “Peter Pan” at Orlando Ballet with your friends from Temple Israel. Tickets for the 2 p.m. show on Sunday, April 18, can be reserved at https://tickets.drphillipscenter.org/booking/production/bestavailable/11788 by using promo code GROUP10. This full-length production choreographed by Jorden Morris features favorite characters from Tinkerbell to Captain Hook and lots of humor and energy. The show will be performed at the Walt Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts....
Many people in the Jewish community have asked where did Robby Etzkin, former executive director of The Roth Family JCC, go? He is in Sarasota and according to The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Etzkin has accepted a position as senior director of Camp Marci Lynn at the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee. The camp will open on the Federation's Larry & Mary Greenspon Family Campus for Jewish Life in June 2022, but Etzkin has already started and is excited about his new role. "I am most excited...
(JTA) — Purim is perhaps the happiest Jewish holiday of the year. It can also be distressing, as adults and young people use the spirit of relative abandon to indulge in binge drinking and other irresponsible behaviors. Make no mistake: Substance use and binge drinking are of great concern to yeshiva high school administrators. We have acknowledged that substance use exists in our community and must be addressed. But without solid data, we’ve been left to guess about our students’ behavior and the challenges they face. Some of that data is no...
(JTA) — Israel must grant citizenship to Jews who converted to Judaism in Israel under non-Orthodox auspices, its Supreme Court ruled Monday, possibly igniting another round in the long-running government battle over who the state should recognize as Jewish. The decision, written by Chief Justice Esther Hayut, comes less than a month before national elections. Israel’s Law of Return offers automatic citizenship to anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent. The state also generally recognizes those who converted to Judaism under Orthodox sta...
(JTA) — Jewish groups are criticizing NBC for airing an offensive portrayal of an Orthodox Jew on one of its medical dramas. The objectionable storyline occurred on an episode of “Nurses,” a Canadian hour-long drama following a group of nurses in a Toronto hospital. In the episode, a young Hasidic patient is told he will need a bone graft to heal his broken leg, leading his devout father to recoil at the possibility of a “dead goyim leg from anyone. An Arab, a woman.” The incident occurs in the series’ eighth episode, “Achilles Heel,” which...
(JTA) — About 200 academics from the United Kingdom and the United States have signed a petition defending a British university lecturer who had called Jewish students on his campus “pawns” of Israel, “a violent, racist, foreign regime engaged in ethnic cleansing.” Jewish groups and organizations have protested the remarks by David Miller, a professor of political sociology at the University of Bristol, made during an online videoconference Feb. 13. Some have called for his ouster. The signatories of the letter published Friday supporting Mille...
Kudos to Sherry Bilsky McCann a new volunteer for the Jewish Pavilion. McCann called the Jewish Pavilion during the pandemic to inquire about grief support services. She offered to help with volunteer work and became a weekly volunteer. McCann writes beautiful cards to seniors living in elder-care facilities. She writes more than a dozen cards at a time and mails a package every week to the Jewish Pavilion office. Pictured is one of her lovely cards that was distributed to seniors at Harbor...
(JTA) - When Ed Stafman was designing the signs he hoped his supporters would plant on their lawns, he debated between two: "Elect Rabbi Ed" or "Elect Ed Stafman." He settled on the version with his last name. After all, he said, "Everyone knows me as Rabbi Ed." Until the election in November, "everyone" meant the people in and around Bozeman, Montana, the thriving college town where Stafman led Congregation Beth Shalom for a decade and remains active in interfaith and social justice...
(JTA) — The Israeli government approved a plan Monday to provide compensation of up to $60,000 to some of the families of children who went missing while in state care in the 1950s. But advocacy groups and several of the families have already rejected the plan, calling it a cynical move designed to silence their larger demands for accountability. They are demanding an official apology, an expansion of the eligibility criteria, and further access to state records that might shed light on the fate of their relatives. The compensation plan — amo...
Rep. Lee Zeldin considering run for New York governor By Ron Kampeas (JTA) — Rep. Lee Zeldin, one of two Jewish Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, is considering a run for New York governor in light of scandals engulfing incumbent Andrew Cuomo. “After a lot of people reached out to me in recent days and weeks, and after discussing it at length with my wife and daughters, I am now actively exploring a run for governor of New York against Andrew Cuomo in 2022,” Zeldin told Newsday on Tuesday. The newspaper quoted a number of Repub...
RAANANA, Israel (JTA) — Rio de Janeiro and Raanana are now sister cities, a longtime aspiration of Brazilian immigrants who have turned the upscale Tel Aviv suburb into their new home. “It’s the result of the great relationship between Israel and Brazil and the fact that Raanana is home to the largest population of Brazilian immigrants in our country,” the mayor of Raanana, Chaim Broyde, wrote on social media on Monday. “I intend to exploit the connections, promote economic, commercial and cultural issues between our cities.” The sister citi...
(JNS) — While Israelis are getting vaccinated against COVID-19, the stones of the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City are receiving their own injections, with syringes surprisingly similar to those used in the medical world. Every six months, before Passover and the High Holidays, engineers from Western Wall Heritage Foundation and conservators from the Israel Antiquities Authority inspect each stone at the prayer plaza to ensure visitor safety and the preservation of the stones themselves, which are continually subjected to natural weathering...
Through Dec. 31, 2020, the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando held a Human Services Relief Matching campaign, sponsored by the Jewish Federations of North America. The Federation raised $62K, which JFNA matched with $31K (50 percent matching gift), equaling a total of $93K for our community. JFNA saw the need to create the Human Services Relief Matching Fund because of the economic crises - approximately 1.2 million Jewish adults felt the financial crunch that affected housing costs, and food...
The UCF Commencements, Convocations and Recognitions Committee and the president of the University of Central Florida, Alexander N. Cartwright, have bestowed upon Dr. Moshe Pelli the status as Professor Emeritus for his distinguished performance, outstanding contributions and exceptional service to the UCF community. In a congratulatory letter to Dr. Pelli, Cartwright wrote, "Your many contributions as a faculty member in the Department of History will have a lasting impact for which we will...
The Jewish Academy of Orlando has announced that Amy Polacek will be the new principal of the school beginning June 1, 2021. Polacek, the current director of Academics at JAO, joined the faculty in 2007 as a kindergarten teacher. After teaching at all grade levels, in 2018, she took on the additional role of Admissions coordinator, where she built relationships with prospective parents and shared her love of JAO. In 2019, Amy stepped away from the classroom and became the school's director of...
In an "unveiling" of their newly published monograph, Judaism and Jesus, Dr. Zev Garber, emeritus professor and chairman of Jewish Studies and Philosophy at Los Angeles Valley College and Dr. Ken Hanson, associate professor and coordinator of the UCF Judaic Studies Program, relate their "hands-on" experience in approaching the Jewish Jesus and the controversial subject of Messianic Judaism in a webinar on Thursday, March 11 at 3:30 p.m. There is no cost for this webinar. To register for this...
