Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - KRAKOW, Poland-Scores of elderly Holocaust survivors from around the world, including a dozen from war-ravaged Israel, are in Poland this week for the annual March of the Living Holocaust memorial event, even as the war against Iran forced the cancellation of the official Israeli delegation. The annual event, expected to draw some 7,000 participants in one of the world's largest Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations, takes place on Tuesday amid a surge in global antisemitism...
(JNS) - Israel's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused European countries of standing on the sidelines during the war with Iran while benefiting from the weakening of the Islamic Republic's military capabilities. In an X post, the ministry shared a CNN segment with NATO chief Mark Rutte, who praised U.S. President Donald Trump for degrading Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, which he said was "really very important for your and my safety, here in the U.S., in Europe, in the...
(JNS) — Thousands of individuals across the United States, Canada, Israel and around the world will unite at private residences, synagogues and community centers on April 24 for “Shabbat for Israel,” a coordinated series of intimate Shabbat dinners hosted in honor of Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. Spearheaded by Jewish National Fund-USA and chaired by philanthropists Sara Cannon, David Peskin and Alyssa Russo, what began in 2025 as a nationwide effort to unite Zionists through a...
(JNS) - Israel is home to some 111,000 Holocaust survivors and victims of antisemitic persecution, according to new government estimates released ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day 2026. Women make up about 63 percent of survivors, most of whom are in their 80s and 90s. Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday that the global Jewish population stood at 15.8 million at the start of 2025, including 7.2 million Jews in Israel, or roughly 45 percent of the total, and 6.3 million in the...
Celebrate Israel’s Independence Day with an unforgettable, family-friendly experience. Travel Israel North to South — from the Golan Heights and Galilee to Tzfat to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Negev and Eilat — all at the Rosen JCC. The adventure is from 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. on April 26 and is free to attend, but RSVP is required. Presented by The Pargh Foundation, this cultural journey will explore six immersive stations, each highlighting a unique region of the country. Discover the richness and diversity of Israel through interactive activit...
Rabbi Shai of Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation presents Sacred Cycles — Women, the Moon & the Wisdom of Jewish Time, with Na’amah, Mama Mazel. This course is offered online on Mondays, April 20, April 27 and May 4 at 8 p.m. on Zoom. Register at cognitoforms.com/SOJC1 Discover the spiritual power of Rosh Chodesh. Explore mazal and self-understanding through a Jewish lens. Learn how to align with your natural emotional and spiritual rhythms....
(JNS) — To mark his first 100 days in office, Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, talked about how many potholes he has filled. He should be focusing on mending his relationship with New York City’s Jews, according to Jewish leaders. “Unfortunately, in his first 100 days, Mayor Mamdani has done nothing to allay the concerns I expressed before the election regarding his stance on Israel and the safety of Jewish New Yorkers,” Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, who leads Park Avenue Synagogue, a Conservative congregation on Manhattan’s Upper East Side...
By Joshua Marks U.S. Central Command said on Sunday that its forces will begin blockading all maritime traffic entering or leaving Iranian ports on Monday, in line with a presidential directive. “The United States to Blockade Ships Entering or Exiting Iranian Ports on April 13 at 10:00 A.M. ET. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT,” U.S. President Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social platform on Monday, reaffirming CENTCOM’s earlier X post and his announcement on Sunday that the U.S. Navy would immediately begin block...
(JNS) — American military forces, ships and aircraft will remain deployed “in, and around, Iran” until a “real agreement” is fully implemented, U.S. President Donald Trump said on April 8. The U.S. military is “loading up and resting,” and its next action would be “bigger, better and stronger than anyone has ever seen before” if the deal is not complied with, Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform. He added that the agreement prohibits Iranian nuclear weapons and ensures the Strait of Hormuz “will be open and safe.” A two-week c...
(JNS) — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has reinstated a $655.5 million judgement against the Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority for supporting terrorist attacks and making payments to the perpetrators. In a March 30 decision, the three-judge panel reversed its previous decision to throw out the case following a 2025 Supreme Court decision in a similar suit and the passage of a 2019 federal law designed to enable the victims of terrorism to pursue civil court cases against the perpetrators. The plaintif...
(JNS) — A recently-launched E.U.-backed digital archive documenting the history of Greek Jews is offering free public access to more than 212,000 documents and over two million digital records, the European Jewish Congress said this week. The Iossipos (“Josephus”) project, named after the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, has been implemented by the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki with roughly €4 million ($4.3 million) in funding from Brussels’ National Strategic Reference Framework 2021–2027 program. Described by its developers...
(JNS, Israel Hayom) — Imagine you are a fighter in an elite unit of the Israel Defense Forces. In two days, a critical mission in Lebanon awaits. Before the operation, you are taken for a final drill at one of the military’s training grounds to sharpen your combat edge and make sure every shot you fire hits the enemy’s kill zone. You enter the training compound according to procedure. Everything is advancing smoothly. Then, in the very last room, a split second before the finish line, a corpo...
(JNS) — At the Orchid Hotel in Tel Aviv, the bomb shelter on level minus one is filled largely with foreign voices, with little Hebrew heard. The space is occupied by tourists who arrived for short visits, but now find themselves stranded in Israel, with no clear departure date. Jacqueline Sanders, a headhunter from the Netherlands, arrived on Feb. 23 for what was meant to be a two-week Purim visit with a close friend and her 23-year-old son. “We are from the Jewish community in Holland and we come to Israel regularly. I knew it could pos...
Israeli troops have taken operational control of a destroyed stadium in southeastern Lebanon where slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah once threatened the Jewish state, the military said on Monday, confirming a major raid in the Bint Jbeil area. “Bint Jbeil in the year 2000. Someone stood here, in this field, and claimed that Israel is a cobweb filled with spiders that must be exterminated. Today, that man is gone, the compound is gone, and his words are worth nothing,” Brig. Gen. Guy Levy, commander of the 98th Paratroopers Division, said...
JPMorgan Chase CEO warns of New York corporate ‘exodus’ over high taxes (JNS) — Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., is warning of an “exodus of people and jobs” from New York City due to high city and state corporate taxes, and individual income and state taxes. In his annual letter to shareholders released on Monday, Dimon, 70, wrote that JPMorgan Chase, which was formed in December 2000 with roots traced back to the Manhattan Company founded in 1799, has “shrunk our headcount in the city, from 30,000 a decade ago to 24,000 today, and...
(JNS) — “The impacts in central Haifa are very close to the hospital. It feels like Russian roulette,” said Ahuva Tal, head nurse at Clalit Health Services’ Carmel Medical Center in Haifa, in an interview with JNS on Monday, a day before a two-week ceasefire paused 40 days of war against Iran. Carmel Medical Center, which has a capacity of 500 beds, began evacuating some patients on Feb. 28, when Israel and the United States launched a joint attack against Iran. Some patients were transfe...
(JNS) - Fred Schoenfeld told an audience of several hundred at Temple Emanu-El on New York City's Upper East Side that he stood before them both as a Holocaust survivor and as "someone who carries the memory of many who are no longer here to speak." "I speak because memory matters," he told the audience on Sunday. "Now that responsibility is shared with you." Schoenfeld was one of several speakers at the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust's annual remembrance event...
(JNS) - The Israel Defense Forces' "Operation Roaring Lion" against the Islamic Republic will continue "with full force, on all fronts," until all objectives are achieved, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. The premier in his statement commented on the elimination of Brig. Gen. Majid Khademi, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' intelligence chief, and Asghar Bakri, who commanded Unit 840 of the IRGC's Quds Force. "Another central arm of the Iranian terror regime has been severe...
Fourteen years ago, Loren London envisioned creating a program that would empower adults with disabilities to find and maintain employment. That vision became RAISE, Recognizing Abilities and Inclusion of Special Employees. What began as a program to help prepare adults with disabilities for the workforce has evolved into much more than London, founder and director of Strategy & Development and Rachel Slavkin, RAISE Inclusion director, could ever have imagined. On April 7, 2014, the RAISE...
(JNS) - Eighteen-year-old S. lies in an underground hospital bed at Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. An Arab citizen of Israel, he was in a car accident a week ago and brought here. Because of the frequent Hezbollah rocket attacks, virtually the entire hospital has moved underground. The wards are crowded, with beds separated only by curtains. There's a bit of a traffic jam as patients are moved to and from the wards. "It's a little hard being underground, but the doctors are great," S....
(JNS) - An Israeli university announced that archaeologists have uncovered the earliest known clay ornaments in Southwest Asia, dating back 15,000 years in modern-day Israel. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem said that 142 beads and pendants were created by Natufian hunter-gatherers. These ancient people lived by gathering wild food and hunting, rather than through agriculture or farming. The ornaments were found at four Natufian sites: el-Wad, Nahal Oren, Hayonim and Eynan-Mallaha, spanning mo...
Get a glimpse of what it’s like living in the biblical Heartland during the victorious Operation Roaring Lion (Israel) as Yonaton Behar, a resident of Har Bracha in the community on Mt. Gerizim, brings news and his personal insights to Fellowship Church in Winter Springs on Sunday, April 26 at 7 p.m. Behar is a rabbinic scholar and public relations director for Yeshivat Har Bracha, an Orthodox Hezder Yeshiva (one whose curriculum includes military service). He works closely with Eliezer Melamed, the Rosh Yeshiva (Head of the Yeshiva), t...
Comedy For Peace Arts at the J presents Comedy For Peace on Thursday, April 23, 7:30 p.m. Comedy for Peace is a live comedy experience on one stage to do what comedy does best, make us laugh, connect, and see each other differently. This is comedy that disarms, unites, and reminds us of our shared humanity. The show is joyful, accessible, and meaningful—bringing diverse and interfaith audiences together through the universal language of laughter. In a world full of tension and noise, Comedy For Peace offers a much-needed release, paired with a...
Yom HaShoah Commemoration On Sunday, April 19, the community is invited to the Yom HaShoah Commemoration at the Roth Family JCC, 2 p.m. This will be a powerful afternoon of remembrance and reflection as the community commemorates Yom HaShoah – Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and the Heroism. Visit hmrec.org to learn more and reserve tickets. A Night at the Catskills variety show Wednesday, April 29, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Back by popular demand The Holocaust Center presents “A Night at the Catskills,” a nostalgic, retro-themed variety show...
The Jewish pavilion is hosting its annual charity golf tournament on April 27. The cost for a foursome is $700, individual, $175. Registration and range is a 8 a.m., shotgun start is at 9 a.m. Call 407-678-9363 for more information and to register....
