Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Compiled by Christine DeSouza Early in January, International Space Station's Crew-11 were medically evacuated from the space station. Crew-12, comprised of a team of four, arrived on Feb. 14 to continue the months-long research mission. One of those Crew-12 members is Jewish American astronaut Jessica Meir, who serves as the crew's commander of Expedition 74/75. Meir and her crewmates - American Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev - blasted off...
Central Florida lost a vital scholarly influence in the world of Judaic studies when Dr. Moshe Peltz Pelli passed away in Winter Park, Florida on Jan. 7, 2026. He lived a full life devoted to his beloved family and his academic scholarship. Dr. Pelli was born in Haifa, Israel May 19, 1936 (then known as British-administered Mandatory Palestine, before the 1948 establishment of the State of Israel) to Shmuel Zanvil and Golda (Zahava) Peltz. After completing his distinguished military service in Israel, Dr. Pelli forged a unique path by pursuing...
(JNS) — Over 1,400 bereaved families gathered last week to plant trees in memory of their loved ones at the newly established Iron Swords Forest, which spans 367 dunams (approximately 90 acres). Established last October by Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund at Khirbet Mador, near the Re’im Recreation Area, the forest is Israel’s largest memorial dedicated to those murdered and the fallen in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and the ensuing war. Among the participants was Vered Libstein of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, who lost four family...
(JNS) — The Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced Feb. 9 that it was officially terminating its operations in light of the return from Gaza of the last deceased hostage, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili. The body of the 24-year-old volunteer in the elite Israel Police Yasam Special Patrol Unit was held in the Strip for 843 days before it was brought back for burial in Israel, closing the chapter on the 251 individuals abducted into Gaza during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, and four others taken before the war. The Israeli NGO said it had ...
Over 200 guests gathered on Feb. 10 for a spectacular morning of style and celebration at the annual fashion show benefiting Jewish Pavilion Senior Services. Hosted by Dillard's at the Altamonte Mall, the event brought together supporters, sponsors, and community members for an uplifting program filled with food, fashion, and friendship. The energy throughout the morning was vibrant and inspiring, reflecting the strong community spirit that continues to sustain the organization's mission of serv...
(JNS) — Israel is allocating tens of millions of shekels to a newly-created “Hills Administration” that will seek to combat anti-Arab violence in Judea and Samaria by some 300 Jewish rioters, Ynet reported on Sunday. The initiative, which is being promoted by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and was first reported in November, calls for the creation of a new unit within the Israeli Defense Ministry to coordinate a response for at-risk youth. Under the plan, the Defense Ministry would receive two million shekels (about $500,000) annua...
(JNS) — The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved a series of measures aimed at deepening Jerusalem’s hold on Judea and Samaria and expanding Jewish communities in the region, according to Hebrew-language media. The decisions promoted by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are reportedly expected to bring about far-reaching changes to land acquisition rules in Judea and Samaria. The approved measures include lifting confidentiality from land registry records; canceling historic restrictions on land sales to non...
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) apprehended more than 20 Palestinian terrorists and wanted individuals overnight Sunday in counter-terrorism operations across Judea and Samaria. The IDF Samaria Brigade arrested a terrorist involved in the purchase and possession of weapons, as well as in planning to harm Israeli soldiers and civilians, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said. Four more suspects were detained during the operation in the area. In a separate operation, IDF troops and Border Police fighters app...
(JNS) — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged his nation to unify as the United States has been boosting its military presence in the Gulf region. “The enemy must be driven to despair. The enemy’s despair comes through [our] unity, strength of thought and determination, and steadfastness in confronting the enemy’s temptations. These are what build national power,” Khamenei tweeted. AFP cited the Iranian leader as calling on his citizens to show resolve ahead of the 47th anniversary this week of the Islamic Revolution that brough...
(JNS) - Moshe Davis learned that he was out of a job on Feb. 4 from a public social media post that Phylisa Wisdom was succeeding him as director of the New York City Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism. Close to an hour later, his supervisor made it official. He wasn't surprised but was disappointed, he told JNS. Mayor Zohran Mamdani "signaled that they would be taking a different approach that didn't align with mine," Davis said. "I was hoping they wanted to make this office something that...
(JNS) - Before Oct. 7, 2023, Israel knew that digging was taking place in Gaza, and on a massive scale. But for a long time, warning signs were ignored, and there was a refusal to believe that one day we would discover a dark, brutal world beneath the ground. Today, after more than two years of fighting, tunnel experts are warning against falling asleep on watch again. "Before the war, we said, 'It's there, we're here, we'll make sure no tunnels are crossing the fence,'" says Lt. Col. R., 37, co...
(JNS) — Iran’s foreign minister vowed on Sunday that Tehran will never abandon uranium enrichment, even if it means facing war with the United States, sharpening a tense standoff over its nuclear program. The Islamic Republic “has paid a very heavy price for its peaceful nuclear program and for uranium enrichment,” Abbas Araghchi claimed during a forum in the capital, according to AFP. “Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up even if a war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behavior,...
(JNS) — Barnabás (Barni) and Noa Szollos, brother and sister and Team Israel’s representatives on the ski slopes for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, have already cemented their place in Israeli winter sports history. Noa, 23, became the youngest Israeli to medal at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland, taking bronze in the super-G (super giant slalom) speed-focused event and silver in combined, an event that features a speed and a technical portion. Part of her motivation was beating her brother’s personal best, she to...
(JNS) — Elaine Grossinger Etess, the third-generation Jewish proprietor of the famed Grossinger’s resort in Liberty, N.Y., in the Catskill Mountains, died on Jan. 27. She was 98 years old. The hotel was part of the famed Borscht Belt, where Jewish residents—many of them from the five boroughs of New York City—would go to unwind with their families amid expansive lawns, swimming pools, exercise and dance classes, day and nighttime activities, and legendary comedy acts, complete with all-you-could-eat kosher food. Etess was the daughter of Harr...
(JNS) — The Israeli currency surged to one of its strongest levels in decades, trading at 3.09 shekels per dollar at noon on Thursday. A similar exchange rate was last recorded in November 2021 and in 1996. The Bank of Israel’s representatives exchange rates set on Wednesday afternoon included 3.0910 per U.S. dollar, 4.2609 per British pound, 2.2798 per Canadian dollar, 2.1657 per Australian dollar and 3.7039 per euro. The shekel’s strengthening is not a momentary outlier, as it has been rising against the nominal effective exchange rate...
Temple Israel brought together ancient heritage and modern innovation last Thursday night with an unusual offering: Into to 3D Pringing with Rabbi Neely. The class, held Jan. 29, invited congregants to explore how new technology can give timeless Jewish traditions a creative twist. Rabbi Neely showcased a table full of colorful 3D-printed objects he'd designed himself, including mezuzahs-the decorative cases that hold a small scroll of sacred text-crafted using sites like Tinkercad. He even...
(JNS) — Lebanon’s prime minister vowed on Tuesday to keep his country out of war after Hezbollah’s leader last week warned that a strike on Iran would be an attack on its Lebanese terror proxy. “We will never allow anyone to drag the country into another adventure,” AFP quoted Nawaf Salam as saying during the World Governments Summit in Dubai, in response to a question about comments made by Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem. Hassan Nasrallah’s replacement said on Jan. 26 that his Lebanese Shi’ite terror army and its main backer in Teh...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Eighty-one years after the Holocaust, in a scenario that once seemed inconceivable, Israel and Germany have become allies. Germans defend Israel in the international arena, and Israel provides military defense for Germany. In an interview marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jan. 27, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, one of Israel’s most prominent friends in the Bundestag, explained why Berlin will continue purchasing weapons from Israel and supporting it in the international arena despite imp...
(JNS) — The Pulitzer Prize Board is facing scrutiny following the election of Vijay Iyer, a composer, pianist and professor at Harvard University with a documented history of anti-Israel bias and activism. A Jan. 25 announcement from the Pulitzer Prize Administrator’s Office, which also included the election of Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor of the Associated Press, stated that Iyer, a tenured professor of the arts at the Ivy League school with joint appointments in music and African and African American studies, and...
(JNS) — Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli lashed out on Sunday at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling him a “dictator,” “Hamas sympathizer” and “promoter of Sharia-based authoritarianism.” Chikli referenced a short video clip posted on social media in which Erdoğan apparently spoke recently in Turkish about the need of the region’s peoples to unite on the “common ground of Islamic brotherhood.” It is unclear whether the Turkish leader was referring to the Muslim Brotherhood group, whos...
(JNS) — A bill increasing government support for bereaved Israel Defense Forces families and victims of terrorism passed its final reading in the Knesset on Monday, following approval by the Labor and Welfare Committee. Among other provisions, the amendments to the Families of Soldiers Who Fell in Battle Law and the Benefits for Casualties of Hostile Acts Law grant orphans aged 21 and up a monthly stipend of 3,500 shekels ($1,120) until age 30 and 2,000 shekels ($640) per month until age 40. The amendments also significantly increase the m...
(JNS) - Professor and Jewish historian Deborah Lipstadt, former U.S. envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism from 2022 to 2025, is set to receive Bar-Ilan University's 2026 Jonathan Sacks Institute Prize for Outstanding Achievement as a Public Intellectual. The award, established by the Gewurz family of Montreal in memory of Samuel Gewurz, honors figures whose work advances the ideas and moral vision of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the...
(JNS) - Backed by Mexico and Brazil, Gabriel Boric, Chile's outgoing president, nominated former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, a harsh critic of the Jewish state, to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations. Boric, who is also anti-Israel, made the announcement on Monday. José Antonio Kast, a right-wing politician who is set to assume the Chilean presidency next month, would be unlikely to nominate Bachelet, 74, for the role. Bachelet, who was Brazil's president twice-from...
(JNS) - Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro says he has become more open about his Jewish faith following the massacre at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa., and the Hamas attack against Israel and subsequent rising Jew-hatred. "As people have approached me and expressed to me the fear that they have to live openly about who they are in this country, I have felt the responsibility to be more open about my faith, to offer some comfort to them," Shapiro told a group of reporters at an event sponsored by th...
(JNS) — In recent years, the number of Jews in New York applying for German citizenship has nearly doubled, according to a Deutsche Welle report. That includes Ruth Gruenthal, who fled Nazi persecution in her teens and rebuilt her life in the United States. The 103-year-old told the German publication that U.S. President Donald Trump’s reelection “evoked feelings that I thought I would never in my lifetime have to deal with again.” The German consulate in New York City has recorded 666 restorations of naturalizations of Jews, whose citizen...
