Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 18 - 42 of 96
The largest Jewish festival in Central Florida, the 2024 Jewish Heritage Festival, is returning to The Casements in Ormond Beach on Sunday, April 7, 25 Riverside Drive, Ormond Beach, Fla., from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The entire event is free and open to the public. The Festival will feature nationally acclaimed entertainment, as well as Kosher, Mediterranean and deli-style food vendors. Also featured will be a Health and Wellness Fair, Israeli and Judaica artists and vendors, Jewish organization b...
(JNS) - For about a year, officials at the Florida Holocaust Museum in downtown St. Petersburg kept a closely guarded secret that the museum was seeking to become the permanent home of a treasure trove of documents from the late Elie Wiesel. On Feb. 3, at its annual "To Life" fundraising gala, the museum's biggest annual social event, museum board chair Mike Igel let the secret out, telling the audience the Wiesel Foundation had chosen the museum to house and exhibit a collection of Wiesel's...
The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society will host Dr. Isaac Amon, director of Academic Research at Jewish Heritage Alliance, at its meeting Feb. 29 to begin at 2 p.m. The one-hour presentation in which Dr. Amon describes "An Extraordinary Odyssey: The 3,000 Year Story of Sefarad," will take place at the Main Library, 1960 North Ponce De Leon Boulevard in St. The Jewish Heritage Alliance is an educational organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of Sefarad, Jews of the...
(JNS) — A controversial “Muslim civil-rights and advocacy” organization experienced a major blow to its reputation last week after the Florida House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution to denounce the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The rest of the county should follow suit and permanently blacklist this Hamas-linked Islamist group. Introduced by State Rep. Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay), House Resolution 1209 encourages all state and local government agencies in Florida to “suspend contact and outreach activit...
GAINESVILLE, Florida — Amid the record levels of antisemitism on college campuses, student leaders at the University of Florida held the fifth-annual Spread Cream Cheese, Not Hate® Bagel Day program on Jan. 31. Started in 2020 by University of Florida Hillel, Spread Cream Cheese, Not Hate® is a program that seeks to proactively combat antisemitism through education, outreach, awareness, and partnership. In connection with National Bagel Day, UF students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and community members are invited to sign the pledge to...
(JNS) — The Florida Department of Education has distributed $25 million in security funding—of $43 million allocated by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)—to more than 130 Jewish day schools and preschools across the state, the governor’s office announced earlier this week. “During a time of increased antisemitism around the world, Florida will continue to protect the Jewish community,” DeSantis stated on Jan. 30. “Today’s funding will give Florida’s Jewish day schools the tools they need to continue to keep their students safe.” The funding will help s...
Rabbi Isaac Barzak passed away on Nov. 26, 2023. He was 84. According to the city of Ormond Beach and the Ormond Beach Police Department, the altercation that occurred at the gate of the Tymber Creek community where Rabbi Barzak lived, was not motivated by hate or bias. Jarleene Almenas, the managing editor of The Ormond Beach Observer newspaper, sent Heritage the police report which stated that the incident occurred due to a malfunction at the community gate on Nov. 15. The Homeowners’ Association member who is responsible for managing the g...
Rabbi Israel Barzak, a mohel who performed britot for many families in Central Florida, died on Nov. 26, 2023, from injuries sustained after an assault in Ormond Beach. He was 84. According to a family friend, Rabbi Barzak was hit by someone at his gated community’s entrance as he was picking up delivered groceries. He was taken to the hospital where he died. Heritage contacted the Ormond Beach Police Department and learned there is an ongoing investigation into the assault and at this time they cannot release information. Rabbi Barzak’s wif...
(JTA) — A Florida organizer of the right-wing activist group Moms For Liberty who successfully pressed her school district to remove a version of Anne Frank’s diary recently appeared on a livestream banned from YouTube because of its pastor host’s antisemitism. Jennifer Pippin, who chairs the group’s chapter in Indian River County, Florida, appeared in September on the show TruNews, which is hosted by End Times preacher Rick Wiles. Wiles is a conspiracy theorist who has claimed that Jews and Zionists have “attacked Christian culture...
Florida’s state university system, in consultation with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, directed colleges to “deactivate” chapters of the national group Students for Justice in Palestine for defending Hamas following the Palestinian terrorist group’s invasion of Israel and massacre of civilians earlier this month. Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the State University System of Florida, issued the order on Tuesday in a written memo to school presidents within the system. About 1,400 people were killed in Hamas’ terror onslaught against Israel on...
The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society will mark Veterans Day on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, 11 a.m. at the St. Augustine National Cemetery, 104 Marine St, St. Augustine, FL 32084. A brief ceremony discussing the Jews who have been identified in the cemetery will be followed by gravesite visitations to those who are known to be Jews and others who are likely to be Jews including burials from the Spanish-American War era. All are welcome to this event. There is no charge. No advance arrangements...
(JNS) — Rhea Law, president of the University of South Florida in Tampa, received a letter from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) warning about potential chaos prior to an anti-Zionist event on campus at the end of the month. The Tampa Bay BDS Conference is scheduled for Oct. 27, organized by Students for Socialism and Students for Justice in Palestine. It is being billed as an inaugural event. “I was proud to lead an effort as governor to implement Florida’s anti-BDS law, which prohibits public entities from entering into contracts with compa...
Breast cancer awareness is not merely a cause; it’s a movement that brings communities together. On Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc., hosts its 2nd Annual Hadassah Walks for Breast Cancer Awareness. This event will take place throughout Florida, and promises a day filled with purpose, education, and camaraderie. In the Hadassah Florida Central Region, the following chapters are proud to Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness: • Tampa Ameet Chapter, Lylah Pinellas Chapter, and St. Petersburg Chapter are joini...
(JTA) – Days after a synagogue in St. Petersburg, Florida, was forced to evacuate services following a bomb threat, the local city council met to discuss a resolution about antisemitism. The resolution was about whether to endorse a definition of antisemitism that its authors and local advocates both say can be a useful first step in fighting hatred of Jews. Notably refusing to cast a vote: A controversial council member and member of the Nation of Islam who voiced multiple objections to the definition, questioned Jewish community leaders a...
(JNS) - This High Holiday season, Jewish singles will seek soulmates in Miami Beach, Fla., in between shofar blasts and dipping apples in honey. Sam Intrator, a Modern Orthodox rabbi, is planning the latest iteration of his annual High Holiday events, which his organization KavanahLife Singles has hosted in Miami Beach since 2017. Singles will gather for Rosh Hashanah from Sept. 15-17 at the Holiday Inn Miami Beach-Oceanfront. The organization has also hosted singles events in Phoenix and...
Friends of the Main Library St. Augustine and the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society have formed a partnership to celebrate the Jews who landed on Florida’s Coast with Pedro Menendez de Aviles on Sept. 8, 1565. Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, founder and chairman of the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society, will speak about the Jewish presence in St. Augustine at the time of the city’s founding and in the years that followed. The one-hour celebration will take place at the Main Library, 1960 North Ponce De Leon Boulevard in St. Augustine on Sep...
Following the historic JCC Maccabi Games in Israel, the world's largest Jewish youth sports event continued with JCC Association of North America's 41st JCC Maccabi Games® and Access events in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, August 7-11, hosted by the David Posnack JCC. The opening ceremony was held at the FLA Live Arena, with more than three dozen state, county, and local officials as well as prominent Jewish leaders attending. The Games are a dynamic experience of Olympic-style sports and volunt...
(JNS) - The JCC Association of North America's 41st JCC Maccabi Games and Access events, which took place Aug. 6 through Aug. 11, opened at a ceremony on Monday at the FLA Live Arena in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It was hosted by the David Posnack JCC. Nearly 2,000 Jewish teens comprising 64 delegations from the United States, Canada and six other nations around the world have gathered for the week-long events. For the first time, delegations from Argentina, South Africa and Ukraine are...
Friends of the Main Library St. Augustine and the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society have formed a partnership to celebrate the Jews who landed on Florida’s Coast with Pedro Menendez de Aviles. Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, founder and chairman of the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society, will speak about the Jewish presence in St. Augustine at the time of the city’s founding and in the years that followed. The one-hour celebration will take place at the Main Library, 1960 North Ponce De Leon Boulevard in St. Augustine on Friday, Sept. 8 at...
MARGATE, Fla. — EL AL Israel Airlines, which recently relocated its regional headquarters for North America to Margate, Florida, is proud to announce that it is continuing to expand its activity in South Florida. Effective on Sept. 13, 2023, EL AL will begin seasonal service from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Tel Aviv. The new non-stop flights will operate on selected days of the week to accommodate the Jewish High Holidays through October. In addition to this year’s seasonal service, year-round Tel Aviv service to and fro...
(FORT LAUDERDALE) — A recently appointed member of the District Advisory Council for the Broward County Florida School Board, Laurie Cardoza Moore, a nationally recognized pro-Israel advocate, was among the first to commend the Fort Lauderdale based Board for their removal of local educator Naima Khan-Ghany from her recently re-appointed positions on both the county’s School Board Diversity Committee and the Human Relations Committees. Earlier this month, Cardoza Moore was in urgent communication with the office of Dr. Jeff Holness of the Bro...
On June 18, 1964, 16 rabbis and a Reform Jewish administrator, in St. Augustine at the request of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were arrested and held in the St. Johns County Jail. Overnight, they wrote a letter titled “Why We Went to St. Augustine” that will be read by Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline as part of the commemoration. Sikes-Kline has been a steadfast supporter of the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society for many years. She is a native Floridian and has lived in St. Augustine sin...
(JTA) — The city of Miami Beach has agreed to pay $1.3 million to a small Orthodox synagogue that accused it of discrimination by sending inspectors more than once a week on average for two years At the same time, Congregation Bais Yeshaya D’Kerestir agreed to make changes to its parking and noise practices. The agreement brings to a close an extended dispute over whether the congregation, which meets in a single-family home owned by its rabbi, Arie Wohl, was a religious institution or a private gathering. The congregation argued that because i...
The Tenth Annual Commemoration of the largest mass arrest of rabbis in U.S. history will take place outdoors at the Hilton St. Augustine Historic Bayfront, 32 Avenida Menendez, St. Augustine, at noon, Sunday, June 18. This 30-minute event sponsored by the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society, is free and all are welcome. On June 18, 1964, 16 rabbis and a Reform Jewish administrator, in St. Augustine at the request of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were arrested and held in the St. Johns County Jail. Overnight, they wrote a letter...
(JTA) — Florida’s state education department rejected two new Holocaust-focused textbooks for classroom use, while forcing at least one other textbook to alter a passage about the Hebrew Bible in order to meet state approval. The books were rejected as part of a broader review of new K-12 social studies material. According to documents provided by the state, the education department did not approve any new texts on the Holocaust this year. Reached by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a spokesperson at the department’s press office was unabl...
