Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - A traditional eight-branched candelabrum was installed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday ahead of the Chanukah festival, which begins on the evening of Dec. 14, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said. The bronze menorah, or chanukiyah, which measures some 6.5 by 6.5 feet, will be lit every evening during the eight-day holiday, which runs until Dec. 22, the foundation said in a statement. This year, the Chanukah festivities at Judaism's second-holiest site will be...
Dr. Michael Lozman's dream of a permanent Holocaust Memorial in the Capital Region of New York became a reality on Dec. 1, 2025, when Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation establishing a New York State memorial to honor Holocaust victims and survivors. "With the first ever state-sponsored Holocaust Memorial, we are honoring the victims and survivors of the Holocaust while ensuring that all visitors have a place to remember and reflect on what the Jewish community has endured," Governor...
(JNS) — Construction work on Israel’s eastern security barrier along the border with Jordan has begun, the Israeli Ministry of Defense announced on Monday. The initial stage will focus on the Beit She’an, Jezreel and Jordan Valleys, constructing the first two sections of the new barrier that will span roughly 50 miles, the ministry said. Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, “The new barrier will strengthen the communities along the border, significantly reduce weapons smuggling to terrorists in Judea and Samaria, and deal a heavy...
(JNS) — A section of Jerusalem’s city wall dating from the Hasmonean period more than two thousand years ago has been unearthed in the city’s Tower of David Museum, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday. The wall was discovered during an excavation on the grounds of the museum, located just inside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, adjacent to the citadel, within the historic complex known as the Kishle, the state-run archaeological body said. The newly uncovered section of the wall known in ancient historical sourc...
(JNS) — Israeli authorities on Thursday morning confirmed that the remains recovered from Hamas in the Gaza Strip the previous evening belong to murdered Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, whose body had been held captive since the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. Authorities informed Suthdisak’s family that arrangements for returning his body to Thailand for burial will be made in coordination with the Thai Embassy in Israel. “The Israeli government shares the deep sorrow of the Rinthalak family, the Thai people and all the families of the slain abduc...
(JNS) — The popular TV series “Dancing With the Stars” ushered in Chanukah a little early as part of an inaugural show, “Dancing With the Holidays,” which aired on Dec. 2. Alan Bersten, a Jewish dancer and choreographer, led the several-minute-long routine that featured themes of the Jewish holiday. “Growing up Jewish, you don’t really see a lot of Chanukah representation, so tonight we’re doing a special performance to celebrate,” Bersten said on the Tuesday-night show. “Hopefully, Jewish kids are watching this, and they feel seen and they... Full story
President Donald Trump said on Dec. 6 that his decision on that day in 2017 to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to begin the process of moving the U.S. embassy there was “a transformative step forward in the pursuit of peace in the Middle East.” “Today, eight years later, my administration renews its commitment to ushering in a new era of peace, prosperity and stability in the region and all around the world,” he stated. “Since the establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948, Jerusalem has served as its cultural and religio...
(JNS) — Guinness World Records is no longer accepting submissions from Israel or the Palestinian territories, Jerusalem-based NGO “Matnat Chaim” said on Wednesday. The NGO, whose name means “Gift of Life” in Hebrew, helps people make voluntary kidney donations. It had contacted Guinness World Records regarding an event it is planning next month, which will bring together 2,000 Israeli kidney donors in the hope of having the gathering entered into the next Guinness Book of World Records. However, the British body informed the Israeli group two...
(JNS) - The largest influencer delegation in Israel's history arrived in the country on Tuesday. The group includes 1,000 church leaders and influencers from the United States, initiated by Friends of Zion and at the invitation of the Israeli Foreign Ministry as part of its broader "battle for consciousness," led by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar. The ministry aims to bolster pro-Israel sentiment among sympathetic American audiences. Officials acknowledged that some evangelical support has eroded...
(JNS) — Fraudulent programs that claimed to feed needy children and to support kids with autism in Minnesota stole billions of dollars in recent years, with some of the funding going overseas to Somalia and helping fund the Al-Shabaab Islamist terror group, according to a new report from City Journal, a Manhattan Institute publication. According to the report, a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future received $250 million in state funding. “Using fake meal counts, doctored attendance records and fabricated invoices, the perpetrators of the fra...
(JNS) — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Wednesday urged more than a thousand visiting American pastors and Christian leaders to “light the pulpits of America” with the truth about Israel, and to quash criticism of the Jewish state from both the left and the right with the facts and the Bible. “We need the pulpits of America to be on fire with the truth,” Huckabee said in a fiery address. “I pray that you don’t just go back home and say, ‘Oh, I had wonderful trip. I took some good pictures. I saw some wonderful sites.’ I hope...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Seven hundred and ninety days after the deadliest massacre in Israel’s history, which led to the abduction of hundreds of civilians, Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili is now the last hostage still held in the Gaza Strip. Gvili, a 24-year-old Israel Police Special Patrol Unit (Yasam) volunteer from Meitar, fought with extraordinary courage on Oct. 7, 2023. When the massacre began, he left his house, put on his uniform and headed out to fight. About 10 days before he had broken his shoulder, and was waiting for surgery, yet he sti...
(JNS) — Israel returned from the 2025 WAKO World Kickboxing Championships in Abu Dhabi at the end of November with seven medals—one gold, two silver and four bronze—following a standout showing at one of the largest global events in the sport. The championship, held from Nov. 21–30 at the ADNEC Arena, featured more than 2,000 athletes from over 85 countries, making Israel’s medal haul particularly significant in an intensely competitive field. Gold medalist Yulia Sachkov, 26, credited Israel’s success to mental toughness and discipline....
(JNS) — For years, the Palestinian Authority has rewarded terrorism through its “pay-to-slay” stipends—monthly salaries for Palestinians who murder Jews and for the families of “martyrs,” including suicide bombers. Some of the killers recently freed in Israel’s hostage exchanges have even become millionaires. That morally bankrupt model is now being replicated inside the United States. Hamas’s supporters here have created their own incentive system—this time to reward anti-Israel activism on American campuses. The California chapter of the Co...
(JNS) — Robert Kraft, the Jewish owner of the New England Patriots, has been named a contributor finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026, the Hall announced on Wednesday. Kraft, who has owned the Patriots since 1994, led the franchise to six Super Bowl victories and 10 Super Bowl appearances, in both cases more than any other owner in NFL history. He purchased the team for a then-record $172 million to prevent its relocation to St. Louis and privately financed construction of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The 2026 c...
(JNS) — A group of middle school parents in the Binyamin community of Beit El in southern Samaria kept their children home from school on Sunday, as the school and its outdoor sports courts are located near a construction site where approximately 50 Palestinian Authority workers arrive each day. They sent a message of protest to municipal and school officials that changes are needed before they can confidently allow their children to attend classes. Some parents have indicated that they may keep their children home again if security at the s... Full story
(JNS) — Calling U.S. President Donald Trump’s defense of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson “disgusting,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced on the Senate floor on Thursday that he would introduce a resolution condemning antisemitism and white supremacy. The highest-ranking Jewish official in Congress, the senator said that his resolution also would call out Carlson for giving a platform to Holocaust denier and white supremacist Nick Fuentes. He called on his Republican colleagues to “take a clear stand against hatred and...
(JNS) — Denmark’s government on Tuesday unveiled a five-year plan for fighting antisemitism, with a budget of $18 million and which includes the establishment of a new research institute focused on hate crimes and headed by a former leader of Danish Jews. The new national plan, which extends and expands Denmark’s first national plan for fighting antisemitism from 2022, is needed because, “Following Hamas’s terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza, there has been a flare-up in antisemitism in Denmark,...
(JNS) - U.S. President Donald Trump warmly welcomed a delegation of former hostages and family members to the White House on Thursday. In a message shared by the White House, he told them: "You're not a hostage anymore ... today you're heroes." The delegation consisted of 26 former hostages, including 17 of the 20 living captives who were released in the Gaza ceasefire deal that Trump brokered in October. Trump handed each member of the delegation a special presidential coin. In his remarks to a...
(JTA) - A silver Tiffany & Co. menorah from the year 2000. A bronze, 23-inch tall Statue of Liberty menorah made in 1986 in New Jersey by German-born artist Manfred Anson. A silver Chanukah lamp, inlaid with carnelian stones, that was made in the early 20th century at the Bezalel school in Jerusalem. These are just a few of the 35 unique and historic menorahs that famed auction house Christie's is selling ahead of the Jewish holiday of Chanukah, which this year begins on Dec. 14. The menorahs,...
(JNS) — Saad Almadi, 75, a dual U.S.-Saudi citizen detained in Saudi Arabia since 2021, is on his way back to Florida, coinciding with U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Almadi, a naturalized U.S. citizen who moved to the United States in 1976, had traveled to Saudi Arabia to visit family and manage personal property. Upon arriving in Riyadh, he was detained and questioned about social media posts he had made from his home in Boca Raton that were critical of the Saudi government. One...
(JNS) — Alfred Dreyfus, the French Jewish military officer who was falsely accused of treason in 1894 in France, has been posthumously promoted to the rank of brigadier general, AFP reported on Tuesday. French President Emmanuel Macron and French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu signed the promotion into law on Monday, and it was published in the Journal Officiel de La République Française, the government gazette of the French Republic, the next day. The law is seen as an act of reparation for the notorious case that highlighted the ramp...
(JNS) — Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Leo Terrell, chair of the U.S. Justice Department task force to combat Jew-hatred, were among the honorees awarded for speaking out on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people at a ceremony in Washington on Wednesday. Speaking at the Endowment for Middle East Truth’s annual “Rays of Light in the Darkness” gala, Fetterman said that the more people “back away from Israel,” the more he would “lean in stronger.” “What Hamas has started was a full-on war against civilization and trying to destroy Israel,...
Shalom Orlando must raise $97,000 to keep the Live Secure grants that fund security throughout the Central Forida Jewish community. Thanks to the Live Secure grants, Shalom Orlando is now the Regional Security Advisor for Jewish institutions across Central Florida. They provide: • Threat assessments for synagogues, schools and agencies • Active threat and emergency training for staff and volunteers • STOP-THE-BLEED certification and response readiness • Real-time intelligence sharing with the FBI, DHS, and local law enforcement • Advocacy...
(JNS) — Dora Pekec, press secretary for Zohran Mamdani, told Jewish Insider on Thursday that the New York City mayor-elect “has discouraged” the language that protesters used outside Park East Synagogue in Manhattan the prior night “and will continue to do so.” She added that her boss “believes every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation, and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law.” The 200 protesters who reportedly shouted calls for violence agai...
