Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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In neighborhoods across Central Florida, a quiet crisis is unfolding—one that often goes unseen but is deeply felt at kitchen tables every day. Families are being forced to make impossible decisions: rent or groceries, medicine or meals, gas to get to work or food to feed their children. These are not distant realities—they are happening right here, in our own community. At the center of this urgent need is the Pearlman Food Pantry, a cornerstone of compassion operated by Jewish Family Ser...
The Jewish Heritage Festival, taking place April 12, is a phenomena in itself. Who knew it would be so successful from the get-go? What began in 2007 as a suggestion by 80-year-old Murray Steinberg to the Temple Presidents’ Council for Volusia and Flagler counties that Volusia County would become the largest Jewish heritage and cultural event in the state. Held in 2008, it had more than 10,000 visitors! Since its beginning, the event has been held every two years with a consistent attendance o...
(JNS) - The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved on Wednesday the Cabinet's decision to extend the nationwide emergency situation until April 14 amid the ongoing war with Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah. The Israel Defense Forces' Home Front Command guidelines currently restrict educational and work activities, as well as gatherings of more than 50 people outdoors and 100 people indoors. National forests, parks, hiking trails and roadside recreation areas across the country have...
The JOIN Center in College Park was transformed Wednesday evening, March 25, into a vibrant hub of Torah study and connection. In a landmark collaboration, JOIN Orlando and the Orlando Community Kollel joined forces for an event that quite literally bridged the gap between North and South Orlando, bringing together Jews from across the city ahead of the Passover holiday. From the moment participants arrived, the atmosphere was electric. Tables filled quickly with community members eager to...
Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation welcomes women to a special Rosh Chodesh women’s series. This online offering, titled “Sacred Cycles: Women, the Moon, and the Wisdom of Jewish Time,” is open to all women — SOJC members and nonmembers alike. The series will include three sessions, held on Zoom, presented by Na’amah, also known as Mama Mazel. Na’amah is a life coach, educator, and creator of the Mama Mazel framework. Her work focuses on helping women understand their natural rhythms — emotional, energetic, and spiritual — through the len...
Chabad of Orlando is hosting Jewish Heritage Night at the Orlando Magic game for the local Greater Orlando community on Monday, April 6. Watch the Orlando Magic play the Detroit Pistons and enjoy entertainment by Howie Mandel and singer Nissim Black. Throughout Jewish Heritage Night, everyone will experience many Jewish moments throughout the game such as: • At 6:20 p.m. – pre-game show with artist Nissim Black • National Anthem performed by the Jewish Day School • Sponsors of Jewish Heritage Night will present the ball to the players • Comed...
(JNS) — Israel has once again ranked among the world’s happiest countries, placing eighth in the 2026 World Happiness Report, even as the country continues to grapple with war, instability and national trauma. The data, published on March 19, highlight a striking paradox: While Israelis face ongoing emotional strain, trauma and uncertainty, overall life satisfaction remains among the highest globally. One of the most notable findings is the strong showing among young Israelis. Those under 25 rank as the happiest age group within the cou...
Several people were lightly wounded in an Iranian missile barrage on Tuesday morning, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service was cited as saying, as local media reported damage to buildings at impact sites in the Tel Aviv area. MDA said its teams were dispatched to search several locations in the central region following the barrage and that further updates would be issued. Police said Tel Aviv District officers, Border Police and bomb disposal experts were handling “several scenes of falling munitions parts,” and urged the public to fo...
(JNS) — Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister said on Thursday that his country reserves the right to act militarily after Iran launched an attack against a Saudi oil installation. Speaking after a meeting in Riyadh which brought together the foreign ministers of 12 Arab and Muslim countries, Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Iran “doesn’t believe in talking to its neighbors. It tries to pressure its neighbors.” Iran’s tactics won’t work, he said. “The kingdom is not going to succumb to pressure. On the contrary, this pressure will backfire.” The...
(JNS) — At the 14th annual commemoration ceremony on Thursday for the murder of four French Jews at a Jewish school in Toulouse, participants booed representatives of the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, forcing them to leave. The incident occurred at the city’s Capitole square, where hundreds had gathered for speeches and a wreath-laying tribute, Sud Radio reported. When LFI lawmakers François Piquemal and Hadrien Clouet laid their wreath, dozens of people began booing them, calling them “far-left fascists” and “antisemites,” and shouting...
On March 19, 2026, Iran’s regime publicly hanged 19-year-old Saleh Mohammadi, a rising wrestler on Iran’s national team and a bronze medalist at the 2024 Saitiev Cup in Russia. He was accused by Iranian authorities of killing two police officers during the January anti-government protests in Qom. Mohammadi was charged with moharebeh (waging war against God), and executed with two other young men, Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi. Human rights groups say the proceedings were grossly unfair, mar...
Homecomings are always meaningful. Some are ancient, even biblical. It is the theme of modern films and music, depicting the draw we all have and feel towards home. Until this week, I was caught up in my own attempts to come home, stranded in the United States amid the unfolding war against the Islamic Republic of Iran. My trip started surpassing one million miles on United, and ended after six canceled and changed flights, finally arriving home, one of hundreds of thousands doing so amid the wa...
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces should establish the Litani River as the Jewish state’s “new border with the Lebanese state,” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared on Monday. The ongoing campaign against Hezbollah “must end with a radical change” beyond the vanquishing of the Iranian-backed terror group, the senior Cabinet minister told reporters during a faction meeting of his Religious Zionism Party at the Knesset in Jerusalem. “The Litani [River] must be our new border with the Lebanese state, just like the Yellow Line i...
(JNS) — The University of Washington is reviewing and revising its student conduct code amid rising Jew-hatred on campus since Oct. 7, Robert J. Jones, president of the Seattle public university, said at a town hall at an Orthodox synagogue on Sunday. “Our student conduct code was not written for this moment in time,” Jones said at Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath in Seattle. “It just absolutely was not written to deal with the contemporary issues.” “We don’t have to wait for a mandate from the Department of Justice or the Department of...
Sara Netanyahu calls for stronger child protections online at global summit (JNS) — Sara Netanyahu called for stronger safeguards for children navigating the digital world on Tuesday, speaking at Fostering the Future Together, an international summit organized by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump. According to the White House, 45 member nations and tech entities gathered at the U.S. Department of State to “collaborate on practical solutions that expand access to educational tools while strengthening protections for children in digital env...
(JNS) - The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday night struck regime sites in northern Iran for the first time since the start of "Operation Roaring Lion" against the Islamic Republic on Feb. 28, according to the Israeli military. Strikes were carried out by the Israeli Air Force, at the guidance of the Israeli Navy and IDF Military Intelligence Directorate, according to an initial statement, which did not include additional details. The IDF also struck over 200 regime targets in central and...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday wished the “brave people of Iran” a Happy Nowruz, the Persian new year, which falls on the March equinox, the first day of Spring. “To the brave people of Iran, I wish you, as I do every year, a happy holiday season, beginning with the Festival of Lights. It signifies the age old belief of the Iranian people that light will triumph over darkness, that good will triumph over evil,” Netanyahu said, referring to the Festival of Fire, which falls on the Wednesday before the Persian n...
(JNS) — A new report by the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance found that Jewish undergraduate enrollment at Harvard University has dropped to about 7 percent in 2025, its lowest level since before World War II and the lowest among Ivy League schools with reliable data. Titled “Jewish Enrollment at Harvard and Its Peers, 1967–2025: A Narrowing Gate,” the analysis reviewed nearly six decades of figures from Hillel International, historical Harvard Crimson surveys and peer‑institution reporting. It found that the share of Jewish undergradua...
(JNS) — Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) said he plans to introduce legislation to strip citizenship from naturalized citizens who commit acts of terrorism. In response to recent attacks committed by naturalized citizens, including the March 12 truck-ramming at Temple Israel outside of Detroit, Moore stated that “this horrific pattern of naturalized citizens committing acts of terrorism against the American people must end.” “I will introduce a bill to denaturalize and deport any naturalized citizen who commits an act of terrorism, plots to commit...
(JNS) - Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the mother of a hostage murdered in Gaza, was selected to feature in USA Today's "2026 Women of the Year" list, in which she recounted how her personal grief is touching tens of thousands of strangers worldwide. "I'm trying very hard to own and greet the grief that I feel every single day, in a way of actually thinking of it as a privilege. I had this beautiful son. He was and he is a blessing," she wrote. Her son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, was held hostage by...
Israir cancels regularly scheduled flights until Passover By Etgar Lefkovits Israeli airline Israir announced on Thursday that it is canceling its regular scheduled flights planned through the end of March due to airspace restrictions and limited operations amid the war with Iran. Israel’s second-largest carrier will continue outbound and inbound repatriation flights during this time, alongside the country’s other three airlines. “In line with the Transportation Ministry’s outline, which restricts the number of seats on each flight, Israir...
(JNS)- Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, of Dearborn Heights, drove a truck into the largest Reform temple in North America and opened fire on security guards, injuring one, in West Bloomfield, Mich., a suburb some 25 miles northwest of Detroit. The terrorist is confirmed dead, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said. "At some point during the gunfight, Ghazali suffers a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head," said Jennifer Runyan, FBI Detroit's special agent in charge. "He has no previous...
(JNS) — As U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets continue and air-raid sirens send Israelis rushing to shelters, thousands of international students are choosing to remain in Israel to continue their studies, volunteer and adjust to wartime realities. According to the Israel Educational Travel Alliance, an initiative of the Jewish Federations of North America, nearly 5,500 participants, including roughly 3,000 Americans, on Jewish educational programs under the umbrella of Masa Israel Journey remain in the country. Masa said in a March 8...
(JNS) — Israel’s flag carrier, El Al, announced Sunday that it will launch six non-stop flights to New York that started last Monday to help thousands of U.S. citizens who have been stranded in the country since the outbreak of the Iran war to return home. The flights, which are designated exclusively for American citizens as part of an agreement with the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, will operate at full capacity and will not be subject to the current 100-passenger limit per outbound flight. It was not immediately cle...
Thanks to a two-year grant from the S'firot Foundation, Jewish Pavilion Senior Services will dramatically expand its delivery of joy and Jewish culture to more than 400 residents of 40 senior-living communities across Central Florida. The expanded program, A World of Jewish Joy will create a consistent, monthly rhythm of stimulating, culturally grounded experiences that meet the holistic needs of older adults. "The S'firot Foundation's goals perfectly align with our mission to improve the lives...
