Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Israel advanced 2,300 homes in Judea and Samaria in six weeks (JNS) — Israel has advanced plans to build more than 2,300 housing units in Judea and Samaria since Dec. 1, as part of a push by the Settlement Administration, a unit in the Defense Ministry under the authority of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The Settlement Administration has convened every week since early December to approve construction in the region, approving a total of 2,377 units, whereas the body would previously meet once every three to four months on average, Ynet r...
(JNS) — Relatives of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza on Monday urged right-wing politicians to leave the government if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a deal with the terror group that leaves some abducted Israelis in captivity. “Unless the deal includes all the hostages unconditionally, living and dead, in one go, we call on the Religious Zionist and Otzma Yehudit parties, along with the Likud Knesset lawmakers who have so far only supported a full deal, to immediately announce that they are pulling out of the gov...
(JNS) — A report from the New England branch of the American Jewish Committee details efforts by the Massachusetts Teachers Association to slant classroom instruction against the Jewish state. The AJC says the report, released on Dec. 12, shows the teachers union “waged an aggressive campaign that has encouraged K-12 teachers to become pro-Palestinian activists and bring anti-Israel propaganda into their classrooms.” Examples of the MTA’s bias cited in the report include promoting “multiple one-sided anti-Israel resolutions,” including o...
One million paper clips are piled high on black construction paper on the stage, lit by a spotlight. Above it, the flickering black and white film of Jews walking to their deaths in a Nazi concentration camp is being shown on a theater-sized screen. And standing in front of the stage is the 17-year-old Edgewater High School senior who orchestrated this scene, along with several other exhibits that make a powerful stand against antisemitism and all sorts of hate. The first thing you notice about...
(JTA) - A synagogue with more than 100 years of history in Pasadena, California, burned down overnight as fires swept across parts of Southern California. The fate of a Chabad center about 40 miles away near the coast was unclear as a major fire flared in the Pacific Palisades, one of three different blazes destroying structures and threatening lives in multiple pockets of the greater Los Angeles area. Additional Jewish institutions lay in evacuation zones, while others took preparations in...
Speaking at a fundraising event held at the home of Barry and Donna Render, newly elected State Senator Randy Fine confirmed that he is running for Florida's 6th congressional district U.S. House of Representatives. Governor Ron DeSantis called for this special election to fill the seat vacated by Republican incumbent Michael Waltz, who was chosen by president-elect Donald Trump to be White House national security adviser. Keith Dvorchik, who has known Fine for more than six years and worked with him when he was CEO of the Greater Orlando...
(JTA) — Two blocks away: a school reduced to ruins. Across the street: rubble. Under the door: ashes. And yet at Kehillat Israel, things look much the same as they did at the beginning of the week, before the fires. That’s what the clergy found when they reentered their synagogue’s building on Thursday in the wake of the blaze that devastated Pacific Palisades. A reporter with NBC News who himself grew up at Kehillat Israel accompanied Rabbi Amy Bernstein, Rabbi Daniel Sher and Cantor Chayim Frenkel as they took stock of their synagogue’s remar...
Longwood, FL -Rabbi Yanky and Chanshy Majesky of Chabad North Orlando, in partnership with the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, will be leading a trip to Israel from March 17 to March 24, 2025. This exclusive eight-day experience aims to foster unity and connection, leaving a lasting impact on participants' hearts, minds, and souls. Rediscover Israel in a New Light Show Solidarity: Stand in solidarity with Israel by visiting soldiers on the front lines, former hostages, and communities affected...
(JNS) — Justin Trudeau announced on Jan. 6 that he will resign as Canadian prime minister after his replacement assumes control. “I am a fighter, and I am not someone who backs away from a fight, particularly when a fight is as important as this,” he said outside his Ottawa home. “But I have always been driven by my love for Canada, by my desire to serve Canadians and by what is in the best interests of Canadians—and Canadians deserve a real choice in the next election,” he added, per the New York Post. “It has become obvious to me, with the...
(JNS) — U.S. President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 recipients on Saturday including George Soros and Hillary Clinton. The White House citation for the nation’s highest civilian honor noted Soros’s rise from surviving the Holocaust as a young Hungarian Jew to becoming one of the richest men in the world. “Soros escaped Nazi occupation to build a life of freedom for himself and countless others around the world,” the citation read. “Educated in England, he settled in America as he became an investor and philanthrop...
(JNS) — Absent the violence, controversy and false claims of election fraud of four years ago but amid tighter security, Congress certified the electoral vote count on Jan. 6 that made Donald Trump the 47th president of the United States. This time around, no one in Congress rose to object to the votes, no one claimed the election was stolen, no one filed lawsuits to throw out the ballots, no one planned rallies to demand that the results be overturned and no one claimed the vice president could unilaterally reject state-certified electoral v...
(JNS) — President Isaac Herzog awarded the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor to eight global leaders for their outstanding contributions to Israel and the Jewish people. The medal recipients include Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress; Maurice Lévy, French executive; Malcolm Hoenlein, former executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of American Jewish Organizations; Julie Platt, chair of the Jewish Federations of North America; Sir Frank Lowy, Australian philanthropist and Holocaust survivor; Sir Trevor Ch...
(JNS) — The State of Tennessee adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Jew-hatred in May 2022. On Jan. 2, Mark Pody, a Republican member of the state’s Senate, introduced a resolution that called for that definition of antisemitism to be used when the state makes legal determinations about bias. “We want to go forward to have a safe place for Jews in Tennessee,” Pody told JNS. “There have been things this year that have targeted the Jewish community that are not acceptable in Tennessee,” the non-Jewis...
(JNS) - A 25-pound porcupine has dug a lair under the front porch. Ants have raided the pantry. Rats have infested the neighbor's home, and there's no running water. These were just some of the issues that awaited Ruti Arbel, 78, on Monday during one of her first visits back to her home in Kibbutz Yiftach since she and her husband, Oded, were forced to leave in October 2023 due to the outbreak of war with Hezbollah in nearby Lebanon. "It's nice to be back, but I just look at this place and the...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — The Hind Rajab Foundation filed two legal complaints in Argentina in the past week against Israelis who the organization claims committed war crimes while serving in the Israel Defense Forces. One of the complaints, filed on Jan. 7, targeted a former soldier who fled to Argentina from Brazil following a Brazilian court’s investigation order regarding suspected crimes against humanity. The complaint that triggered the Brazilian legal proceeding was also filed by HRF. Another war crimes complaint, including charges of...
By (New York Jewish Week) - The first sign that things were changing at Schechter Queens came when the school began receiving requests from parents to let students hold an Orthodox prayer service. As the first Jewish day school named for Solomon Schechter, an influential rabbi in Conservative Judaism, Schechter Queens only offered egalitarian prayer, where boys and girls prayed together. But families at the school pressed for students to have the option to choose a non-egalitarian option. That w...
Jews were targeted by the majority of hate crimes in NYC last year By Ben Sales (New York Jewish Week) — Jews were the target of the majority of hate crimes in New York City last year, according to statistics reported Monday by the NYPD. Data compiled by the department showed that there were 345 anti-Jewish hate crimes across the city in 2024, nearly 54% of the 641 total hate crimes tallied. The next-largest category of hate crimes were those related to sexual orientation, at 78. The number of antisemitic hate crimes in 2024 was slightly larger...
(JNS) — Israel’s Security Cabinet met on Friday morning to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas. The accord, whose first phase is to see the phased release of 33 hostage—alive or dead—over a six-week period starting on Sunday, in return for the release of 1,000 terrorists from Israeli prisons, will then be brought to the full Cabinet for a vote on Saturday night. The ceasefire was expected to go in effect at 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, with the first three hostages, women, to be freed around 4 p.m. However, this may be delayed until Monday....
It’s been 458 days since the Oct. 7, 2023, inhuman massacre of 1200 people in Israel by Hamas terrorists, and kidnapping of 251 people, 100 of whom are still being held in captivity in Gaza. 458 days of unimaginable terror, pain, abuse, loss, grief, and suffering, especially for those most directly impacted. But all of Israel has been experiencing trauma since, something that I describe as Present Traumatic Stress Disorder. For most of us, Post Trauma is still far off. Today a step toward that may have been taken. A list of 34 hostages to be r...
The list, obtained by the BBC from a Saudi outlet, includes 10 women, 11 men over the age of 50, 11 young men that Hamas designated as sick and the two Bibas children, Kfir and Ariel – whom Hamas claimed were killed in an IDF airstrike more than a year ago. The names of the hostages on the list are: Romi Gonen, Emily Demari, Arbel Yehud, Doron Steinbrecher, Shiri Bibas, Liri Elbag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy; 11 men over the age of 50: Ohad Ben-Ami, Gadi Moses, Keith Siegel, Ofer Calderon, Eli Sharabi, Yitzhak E...
The Jewish Chamber of Commerce in Orlando, led by Board President Harrison Shames of the Jewish National Fund, continues its mission of fostering community connections and providing networking opportunities to individuals from all backgrounds. Each month, the Chamber hosts a free networking breakfast at One Senior Place in Altamonte Springs, welcoming both members and non-members, regardless of faith or affiliation. Held every first Thursday morning at 8:30 am, the networking breakfast offers a...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Birthright Israel commemorates its quarter-century milestone, with approximately 6,500 young participants scheduled to arrive this winter to support the recovery of Israel’s tourism sector. More than 300 international groups will engage in volunteer programs and diverse internships across Israel. Since November 2023, all tours have incorporated war-related elements, including visits to “Hostage Square,” tours of Gaza border communities, volunteering initiatives, and encounters with Oct. 7 survivors. In addition to the...
(JTA) - Jewish groups are mourning Jimmy Carter, the former president and broker of Israel's peace deal with Egypt who died Sunday at 100. In statements issued following his death, many of the groups are citing the peace deal and other landmark moments in Carter's presidency, which stretched from 1977 to 1981, as examples of Carter's legacy. Several of them are also acknowledging that in his post-presidency, the longest in American history, Carter aggrieved some American Jews by aggressively...
(JNS) - A rare prehistoric ritual complex has been uncovered in the depths of the Manot Cave in the Western Galilee, Israel. The study of this complex, published in the journal PNAS, was led by Dr. Omry Barzilai from the University of Haifa and Israel Antiquities Authority, Prof. Ofer Marder from Ben-Gurion University and Prof. Israel Hershkovitz from Tel Aviv University. "The rare discovery provides a glimpse into the spiritual world of Paleolithic hunter-gatherer groups who lived in our...
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces is carrying out engineering operations aimed at setting conditions for the safe return of the some 60,000 Israeli civilians displaced from their homes in the country’s north, the army said on Monday. “As part of efforts to create the conditions for the return of the northern residents to their homes, the IDF is conducting a wide-ranging operation to restore and clear up communities in northern Israel,” the IDF stated. IDF engineering squads and other units are operating in more than 40 communities to clear o...
