Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Nonpartisan watchdog nonprofit StopAntisemitism has teamed up with the Christian advocacy organization Philos Project to fight rampant Jew-hatred with a billboard campaign across Florida. Troubled by the amount of antisemitism coming from white supremacist groups based in Florida, the Philos Project wants to ensure Jewish Floridians know that groups such as the Goyim Defense League and NatSoc do not represent Christian values. For support, Philos turned to StopAntisemitism, which has been at the forefront of condemning these hate groups....
While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Israel, he signed a bill to strengthen Florida's ability to combat antisemitism. The bill HB 269, titled "Public Nuisances," was co-sponsored by Republican Representatives Mike Caruso and Randy Fine and makes it a felony to harass people for their religion or ethnicity. It also penalizes leaving flyers with hateful images, messages or any other 'credible threat" on a person's private property. "We are doing what we can do in Florida to enhance the ability...
(JNS) — In a reflection of growing ties, Florida will soon be the only U.S. state where El Al will service two major cities, Gov Ron DeSantis said Thursday. Israel’s national carrier, which recently relocated its U.S. headquarters from New York to Margate, Florida, will offer direct service to Tel Aviv from both Miami and Fort Lauderdale starting this fall. The two Florida airports are about 30 miles apart. The move comes after American Airlines ended its nonstop service from Miami to Tel Aviv in March after nearly two years. The governor attri...
(JNS) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis emphasized that there has never been a Palestinian state in the Land of Israel or elsewhere. The Republican politician was in Israel, where he keynoted the Celebrate the Faces of Israel event, a project of the Jerusalem Post and the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem. “When your focus is only on one Jewish state, and you hold it up to a different standard than any other country in the world, that is antisemitism,” said DeSantis. “We are doing what we can do in Florida to enhance the ability to hold people account...
(JTA) — Nikki Fried, who chairs Florida’s Democratic Party, was arrested at a protest for abortion rights in the state capital, along with 10 other demonstrators. The protest on April 3, which took place outside Tallahassee City Hall, was in opposition to a proposed six-week abortion ban in Florida that the state senate passed Monday evening. The bill must pass the state House of Representatives before heading to the desk of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Fried, who is Jewish, previously served as Florida’s commissioner of agriculture, a rare De...
(JNS) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Monday to establish a statewide voucher program in which every child will be eligible to receive nearly $8,000 toward schooling, tutoring or other educational-related expenses. "The State of Florida is No. 1 when it comes to education freedom and education choice, and today's signing cements us into that No. 1 position," said DeSantis. He called the new law "the largest expansion of education choice not only in the history of this state but in...
(JTA) — The University of Florida has more Jewish students than any other public college in the United States — and last week, one of them reached out to a professor, fearing that it would no longer be possible to study Jewish topics there. Citing a graphic that had been making the rounds on social media, the student asked if it was true that a new bill working its way through the state legislature would remove all “Jewish Studies courses, majors and minors” in the state. The graphic was shared by several people with large online followi...
(JTA) – Responding to a recent rise in neo-Nazi activity in his state, a Jewish lawmaker in Florida is trying to outlaw displays of “religious or ethnic animus” on private property in his state. H.B. 269 takes aim at a variety of activities that neo-Nazi groups in the state have undertaken, from distributing flyers with hate speech to broadcasting intimidating messages in public places. Those groups’ activities have been rising in Florida for several years, according to a 2022 report by the Anti-Defamation League titled “Hate in the Sunshine St...
(JTA) – A Holocaust-themed novel by bestselling author Jodi Picoult was among dozens of books removed from a South Florida school district library’s circulation last month, in the latest example of books with Jewish themes getting swept up amid a larger conservative-led effort to police potentially inappropriate material in classrooms. “The Storyteller” was removed from the library last month at a high school in Martin County, a southeast Florida district, owing to a parental complaint. According to a list of removed books published by local me...
(JNS) — As Southeast Florida’s Jewish population continues to grow, El Al Airlines announced that it will increase flights to and from the region, including new operations at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, the state’s second-largest county after Miami-Dade. The move comes less than a year after the Israeli company relocated its headquarters from New York to the Sunshine State. More than 100,000 people flew El Al’s Miami to Tel Aviv route in 2022, which highlighted a need for more flights in Florida, stated...
(JTA) — In 1923 in New York, a Yiddish play that featured the first lesbian scene on a Broadway stage was censored for being indecent. In 2023 in Florida, a play about the first play has been canceled for the same reason. For many involved in the new play, including its Pulitzer Prize-winning Jewish playwright and the Florida high schooler cast in a lead role, the déjà vu is alarming. “The 100-year anniversary of Sholem Asch’s ‘God of Vengeance’ being shut down on Broadway is the same week that our production of ‘Indecent’ would have open...
The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society will mark its tenth anniversary with a luncheon, at noon, Jan. 30, at Taco Libre#3, 2600 North Ponce de Leon Boulevard/Route U.S. 1, St. Augustine 32084. The program will include a brief review of the highlights of the t 10-year history of SAJHS. All are welcome to attend this event. Please RSVP on the Society’s website at www.sajhs.com or by email to sajhs1565@gmail.com. Call 904-679-4230 for best directions. For further information see www.sajhs.com or email at sajhs1565@gmail.com or call 8...
The Holocaust Center now and forever condemns all forms of antisemitism. We will continue to speak out against hate speech — such as this past weekend’s public display of antisemitic hate in Jacksonville — because it has no place in Florida or anywhere. During such times, we must stand united against hatred and call upon organizations, elected and community leaders, and community members to speak out against these damaging acts. Over the past week, Jacksonville became an epicenter of hate, first with signs surfacing on an I-10 overpass in we...
PALM BEACH, FL – JEXIT, Inc. has become the world’s first Jewish organization to present a U.S. president with the American Defender of Zion Award. President Donald John Trump accepted the award in Mar-a-Lago’s White and Gold Ballroom before an audience of over 120 people. JEXIT honored President Trump with this first-of-a-kind award acknowledging that President Trump has done more than any other U.S. president for Israel and the Jewish people. During his time as president, he moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israeli sover...
The 104th anniversary of the Armistice ending World War I will be observed by the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. at 11 a.m. at the St. Augustine National Cemetery, 104 Marine Street, St. Augustine, 32084. A short and informal discussion of St. Augustine’s role in the Spanish American War and the Jews who were involved in those efforts, will be a part of the brief commemoration. The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society is a non-religious, non-sectarian organization. The Nov. 11 event is open t...
It's unbelievable to see what happened to my city, my friends, my community. Hurricane Ian decimated Fort Myers Beach, along with homes, businesses, roads and vehicles, and left much of the area unrecognizable. It has been described as an apocalyptic scene. The death toll is currently at 109 deaths in the United States, the vast majority in Florida. Two Holocaust survivors in their 90s are among the many Southwest Floridians displaced by Hurricane Ian last week. The couple lived in a mobile...
(JTA) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ratcheted up the fight over the state's new 15-week abortion ban Thursday when he suspended a Tampa-area state attorney who had vowed not to prosecute violations. The move also vaulted yet another Jewish figure into the fight's foreground. Andrew Warren, the state attorney for Hillsborough County, had joined more than 90 other attorneys nationwide in pledging not to prosecute individuals who seek or provide abortions in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's...
(JNS) — Antisemitic fliers claiming that Jews control the media were found outside homes in Minnesota, Georgia, New York and Florida in recent days, and are being attributed to the same group that marched with swastika flags in Tampa, Fla., on July 23. “Six Jewish media corporations own 96 percent of the media,” read the fliers, which were contained in plastic bags weighed down with corn kernels and included photos of several Jewish media insiders with a Magen David, or Star of David, on their forehead. It included the web address for the a...
Dr. Gunther Jikeli, director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism at Indiana University will address the question of “Anti-Antisemitism: Online, Offline and What To Do About It” in the Virginia Room on the second floor of the Ringhaver Student Center at Flagler College, 50 Sevilla Street, St. Augustine, Florida 32084 at 4 pm. Thursday, Aug. 25. This event, sponsored by Flagler College and Dr. Larry Kanter, is open to the public. All are welcome. No prior arrangements are necessary. There is no charge for this event. For...
(New York Jewish Week) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke about the success of the Jewish community in the Sunshine State and the need to fight "wokeness" in an address to a conservative Jewish group in New York City. "They can't cancel me," the Republican governor began his speech, delivered before an audience of approximately 700 at the Tikvah Fund's Jewish Leadership Conference, held at Chelsea Piers. "I'm gonna speak my mind. When the left is having a spasm, that just tells you that in...
SARASOTA, Fla. (JTA) — A synagogue in Florida filed a lawsuit this week to challenge the state over a new law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks. Under current law, Florida allows abortions up to 24 weeks. Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor of Boynton Beach claims the new law, which has been signed by Republican Governor Ron De Santis and is set to take effect on July 1, violates the religious freedom rights of Jews. The lawsuit, which was filed Friday in Leon County Circuit Court, claims that the act “prohibits Jewish women from practicing their...
(JNS) - A fire ripped through Chabad-Lubavitch of the Panhandle, in Tallahassee, Fla., gutting the newly renovated building and consuming the Torah scrolls. The Tallahassee Fire Department confirmed that firefighters were dispatched to the Chabad center at 3:21 a.m. on Sunday. "Crews found fire showing and heavy smoke coming from the eaves," the fire department wrote in a statement. The cause of the fire, which ravaged the 11,000-square-foot building, is under investigation. No injuries were...
(JTA) - In a purge following accusations that textbook publishers were trying to "indoctrinate" students in allegedly liberal concepts, Florida rejected dozens of math books from being used in the state's schools. One of them contained a string of Jewish jokes - including one that a conservative activist flagged as antisemitic: "Why do Jewish divorces cost so much? Because they're worth it." The joke is attributed to Henny Youngman, the late Jewish comedian, and was included in the book...
The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society will explore the history of Temple Bet Yam in the synagogue’s facility at 2055 Wildwood Drive, St. Augustine, Florida 32086, on Wednesday, May 11, at 2 p.m. Founded in 1993, the establishment of Bet Yam is a local expression of a seismic shift within the world of American Jewry toward a more liberal understanding and interpretation of Jewish Heritage. The program will include presentations by Temple Bet Yam founders Shelly and Marty Cohen, Carol Gladstone, Joan Guglielmo, and Donna and Elliott P...
(JTA) — A woman was killed at the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center in Florida’s Miami-Dade County on Sunday in what police are calling an act of domestic violence. Police said the woman was killed by her husband while she attended her daughter’s swimming lesson. In a statement, the community center said police believed there to be “no known threat to the Jewish community.” That weekend a number of the Greater Orlando Federation and The Roth Family JCC staff members were at the Michael Ann Russell JCC for the Florida JCC Professional...
