Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

JNS)—As the world’s attention has been focused on combating the spread of the coronavirus for the past two months, presidential primary campaign politics in the United States has been put on the backburner. Former Vice President Joe Biden has all...

Dutch king acknowledges Jews felt ‘abandoned’ by his great-grandmother Wilhelmina By Cnaan Liphshiz AMSTERDAM (JTA)—King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands in a memorial day speech acknowledged his great-grandmother’s perceived indifference to the f...

(JNS)—The Trump administration will not be sending U.S. coronavirus assistance to the Gaza Strip due to concerns that funds could fall into the hands of the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas. “The Trump administration is not supporting ass... Full story

Arthur Stark, Chair, William Daroff, CEO, and Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, issued the following statement: “We commend the German Interior Ministry for taking action against t... Full story

Belgian police charge 3 for commemorating Holocaust in violation of coronavirus rules By Cnaan Liphshiz (JTA)—Three men who placed a wreath at a Holocaust monument in Belgium were charged with violating the country’s emergency measures to stop the... Full story

Danish Bible Society’s translation omits dozens of references to Israel By Cnaan Liphshiz (JTA)—The Danish Bible Society has omitted dozens of references to Israel from translations of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Defending the del... Full story

Senators Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Chris Coons, D-Delaware, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, are launching a bipartisan effort to ween the U.S off of medical reliance on China and replace it, at least partially, with Israel. They... Full story

WASHINGTON (JTA)—The Jewish community’s expression of solidarity with Chinese Americans during the coronavirus pandemic has yielded an unexpected return: scads of personal protective equipment for Jewish organizations. David Bernstein, the president... Full story

Recovered from coronavirus in prison, Harvey Weinstein now faces new charges By Marcy Oster (JTA)—Harvey Weinstein has been charged with a new felony sexual assault count by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office. The charge, filed Friday, acc... Full story

(JTA)—A British lawmaker who has said that he supports Zionism will replace Jeremy Corbyn as the head of Britain’s Labour Party. Keir Starmer, who managed the party’s Brexit approach under Corbyn, won 52 percent of the vote in the Labour leade... Full story

Pop star Pink, having recovered from coronavirus, is donating $1M to fight the disease By Marcy Oster (JTA)—Jewish pop star Pink and her 3-year-old son have recovered from the coronavirus, she announced on Twitter. She and her son Jameson were s... Full story

(MEMRI via JNS)—Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar threatened last week that if Gazans start dying of COVID-19 due to a lack of ventilators, the terrorist group would make “6 million settlers unable to breathe.” Speaking with Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV and Shehab... Full story

Israelis could face random coronavirus tests at supermarkets By Marcy Oster JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel’s Health Ministry and the Weizmann Institute of Science will conduct random sample coronavirus tests in supermarkets to determine where the virus is... Full story

(JTA)—There are about 250,000 Jews in the United Kingdom. They account for only 0.3 percent of its population. But the coronavirus has killed 44 known Jewish victims so far—about 2.5 percent of the total U.K. tally. That means British Jews are ove... Full story

(ISRAEL21c)—The coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally changed our daily lives. The virus has ushered in economic uncertainty, fear of losing loved ones, and the general anxiety of not knowing how long this crisis could last. Each country facing t... Full story

London rabbinical court allowing some products not certified kosher for Passover due to coronavirus By Marcy Oster (JTA)—Why will this Passover be different from all others? This year, the London Beth Din, or religious court, has created a list of p... Full story

(JNS)—Iranian officials have stolen more than $1 billion in European assistance to combat the coronavirus pandemic, instead pocketing the funds for themselves, alleges U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Iran has the sixth-most confirmed coronavirus... Full story

(WASHINGTON, DC & WORLDWIDE)—BBYO has introduced a brand-new, first-of-its-kind virtual experience for Jewish youth, akin to an interactive “Jewish Netflix” for teens to access unique online experiences and programs. As “social distancing” becomes th... Full story

By Simone Somekh NEW YORK (JTA)—The Italian people’s first reaction to the coronavirus was to have a good laugh. Not because they didn’t believe the virus was a real issue, but because that’s just how we like to process big changes in my home country... Full story

By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA)—Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have much in common when it comes to policy and style. They stand together in recommending tough action to contain Iran, and are comfortable dealing with autocracies (Saudi A... Full story

Work to secure Western Wall stones in egalitarian area completed By Marcy Oster JERUSALEM (JTA)—Work to secure stones in the egalitarian section of the Western Wall has been completed. The work came after a 400-pound stone dislodged from R... Full story