Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — College acceptances have been coming out, and final collegiate decisions are generally due by the end of April. For Jewish parents helping their children navigate the process of choosing a school, the most important question may not be how an administration handled the last incident of antisemitism, but whether there is a Jewish community strong enough to help their child build a Jewish life there. For many Jewish parents, the college search has changed. It is no longer only about academic rankings, internships, the beauty of the ground...
(JNS) — It started with a sentence spoken in a classroom. A teacher told a group of students that Israel was bombing Iranian children. The statement was presented without context, without clarification and without any attempt to frame the complexity of what was being discussed. My son was sitting in that room. For him, this is not distant news. His family lives in Israel. They move in and out of shelters as missiles are intercepted overhead. This is part of their daily life, something I have experienced firsthand through my time being a s...
(JNS) — Israel has agreed to explore a ceasefire framework directly with the Lebanese government, despite Beirut’s failure to uphold the 2024 agreement requiring Hezbollah to disarm and withdraw north of the Litani River. “In light of Lebanon’s repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed at the Cabinet meeting yesterday to open direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Thursday. “The negotiations will focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah a...
(JNS) — You’d think that with 8 million Jews under fire in Israel from a country that screams “Death to Israel!” that Jews around the world would unite to support the U.S.-Israel war to defeat the Islamic Republic. It comes as no surprise that Jews in Israel overwhelmingly support this war of self-defense. But for American Jews, this solidarity drops precipitously, to only about half the tiny U.S. Jewish population. Whether you’re an American Jew who supports the war or one who does not, you have to ask, “Why this disparity?” Why would America...
(JNS) — You can’t simultaneously fan the flames of Jew-hatred, pose with a hose for a photo op and convince others that you’re serious about putting out the fire. To the surprise of at least some of this year’s religiously and politically diverse attendees at the annual Passover seder at City’s Winery in Manhattan, Zohran Mandani, New York City’s openly anti-Zionist mayor who has mischaracterized Israel as illegitimate, colonial, genocidal and apartheid, served as guest speaker. During his Passover address, he acknowledged “the rising tide of a...
(JNS) — All the usual suspects are producing editorials, op-eds and podcasts that conjure up a host of problems that lurk around the next corner and are about to confront the United States and Israel in their conflict with Iran. We’re told that the United States and Israel have no end game prepared, that they’ve begun an open-ended conflict that might turn into (if it isn’t already) a quagmire, that they’re running out of munitions, that aerial bombing can’t cause regime change, that the closing of the Strait of Hormuz will cause worldwide i...
(JNS) — Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and Carrie Prejean Boller (“The Three Cs”) are probably the most exceptional examples of the renewed Christian theological opposition to Israel and Zionism that has always been lurking in dark corners. There are, of course, the “normal” fanatical Jew-haters—Nick Fuentes, Ana Kasparian and Myron Gaines (pseudonym of the Sudanese Amrou Fudl). And now, even conservative media personality Megyn Kelley is queuing up. All claim not to be antisemitic but, to varying degrees, express a rhetoric of such intense dis...
After six canceled and delayed flights, I was finally able to get home to Israel last week having been stranded in the U.S. for three weeks due to the war. I used my time productively, conducting 20 interviews and briefings in the last two weeks alone. Most of my interviewers were interested in my perspective as a dual American-Israeli citizen on the war against the Islamic Republic, the challenges in Israel, and my not being there with my family. In one of the conversations, the host affirmed his support for the war, and Israel, repeatedly...
(JNS) — The “Greater Israel” narrative (from the Nile to the Euphrates) is a modern reincarnation of antisemitic myths. The claim is not rooted in Israeli policy, strategy and action but in simplified, emotionally charged narratives that cast Israel as expansionist and aggressive. Israel is not pursuing a “Greater Israel” in any way or form. The lie is amplified by media networks with millions of audiences, such as podcasters and media personalities Tucker Carlson, Piers Morgan and others, dripping with imagery of expansion, dominatio...
(JNS) — Passover began this year on the evening of April 1, April Fools’ Day. It’s known as the day when practical jokes and hoaxes are perpetrated on unsuspecting victims, with the pranksters usually exposing themselves by shouting “April Fools!” This year’s timing is curiously coincidental, but arguably not without significance. The theme of Passover is succinctly stated in the Haggadah itself: “We were slaves unto Pharaoh in Egypt, and God took us out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. If the Holy One, Blessed be He, had not taken...
(JNS) — For decades, the United States sold Gulf monarchies hundreds of billions of dollars in advanced weapons. These regimes were called “allies,” treated as partners and defended as pillars of regional stability. Yet now, with their order under threat, their American-built arsenals sit mostly idle. In the past decade, U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait totaled $300 to $450 billion. U.S. President Donald Trump also advanced a $142 billion deal with Saudi Arabia—the largest arms agreement ever—an...
(JNS) — The “State of World Jewry” speech given by New York Times columnist Bret Stephens at the 92nd Street Y on New York City’s Upper East Side in February sparked some intense debate over whether the Jewish community should focus on fighting antisemitism or invest its resources into Jewish culture and education. This debate, though important, obscured a point Stephens made about the sources of Jewish strength and survival: the Jewish imperative of saying “no” to a majority culture when its demands encroach on Jewish particulari...
(JNS) — They file in gradually, descending the two flights of steps leading to the bomb shelter. Some remain silent, heads down. Others exchange knowing glances, shrugging as if to say, “Here we go again.” Newcomers to this particular space follow veterans, learning the rhythm, the corners, the spots where cell reception is best. The last one to enter when the air-raid siren stops wailing pulls the heavy door shut and lifts the handle until it clicks—a required act to stave off blast-damage. The room has white walls, dingy from basement dust, v...
(JNS ) — “Operation Epic Fury” is a watershed moment in the moral and geopolitical realignment of the Middle East. It is the execution of a strategy that has been forming for years. Beneath the headlines about strikes and sorties lies a coherent framework aimed at reshaping the region by distinguishing governments that terrorize and destroy from those willing to cooperate in a new regional order anchored in stability, economic growth and peace. The military dimensions of the operation focuses on breaking the mechanisms through which radic...
(JNS) — The war against Iran is having a most clarifying effect. It’s shining a light on those who are prepared to stand with civilization against barbarism and flushing out those who are not. The usual suspects—those who hate Israel, despise America and stick pins into effigies of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—are willing Iran to win, or more to the point, willing Trump and Netanyahu to lose. Those who get news of the war only from mainstream media outlets in America and Britain have little idea of w...
(JNS ) — As Michigan’s Jewish community counts its blessings following a nearly catastrophic terrorist attack last week on Temple Israel, a cherished synagogue in my hometown, a political takeover is quietly underway in the state. It’s one that doesn’t just tolerate Jew-haters; it elevates them, dressing antisemitism up in political rhetoric and calling it progress. The Michigan Democratic Party will hold its State Endorsement Convention on April 19. Any registered Democrat who attends the convention in person can help decide who the Michiga...
(JNS) — Every year at the Passover seder, we recite the description of “The Four Children.” The Haggadah describes each one with his own characteristic quality of learning and, especially, questioning. But upon a deeper reading, what appears to be a lesson about children’s queries is really an insight into the importance of our response as parents and educators. At Hidden Sparks, our work is grounded in a simple but powerful belief: When we actively try to understand a child’s needs, we unlock their potential to grow and thrive. We guide tea...
\(JNS) — Watching the Academy Awards used to be a simple pleasure. Movie stars received statues, thanked their agents, thanked God, and occasionally, remembered to thank their parents. Now the Oscars have become something else: an improvised foreign-policy seminar conducted by people whose professional expertise lies in pretending to be someone else. This year’s ceremony followed the now familiar script. Comedian Conan O’Brien, this year’s host, reminded viewers that these are “very chaotic, frightening times.” Later, comedian and TV show hos...
(JNS) — The last time I went to Carnegie Hall to see something Jewish, it didn’t go well. In October, I went to hear the Israel Philharmonic but was denied entry because my pocketbook was “too big.” Security had nothing to say about the hundreds of protesters screaming, spitting and throwing stuff at the Jews in line. Recently, holding the tiniest bag I could find, I looked at the heavy police presence from across the street with a group who were there to see a performance of traditional Japanese arts. “Why so many cops?” one woman asked. “Wel...
(JNS) — If you walk through central London or other major cities in Western countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and across Europe, you may see Iranians gathering and openly supporting actions taken by the United States and Israel against the Iranian regime. One chant that can clearly be heard at these protests is: “USA, Israel—Thank you, thank you!” For some people watching these scenes, questions naturally come to mind: How and why would people support attacks connected to their own country? The answer lies in how people di...
In the America in which I was born, Jews did not need to have armed guards to pray, send their kids to school, go shopping, or take public transportation. Yes, there was antisemitism and discrimination. Quotas limiting Jewish enrollment in universities. Neighborhoods and upscale apartment buildings were off limits to Jews. “Exclusive” clubs preventing Jewish members. Antisemitism in the pews. Jewish children chased and beaten up for “killing Jesus” or whatever other antisemitic tropes other children had been raised with. Jews were discrim...
(JNS) — The American Jewish community is still reeling from the attack on a Reform temple in the Detroit area. Thankfully, no one was killed on March 12 other than the attacker, though several first-responders were injured. It’s a near miracle that roomfuls of children in the building that afternoon got our safely with teachers and synagogue staff. As I write this, Jews throughout the United States are preparing for Shabbat. This Shabbat is called Shabbat Hachodesh. It takes its name from the beginning of the special maftir (last Torah sec...
(JNS) — There is a vast distinction between living in the Western hemisphere and living in the Middle East. When your destiny is anchored to this region, there is literally nowhere else to go. People living in the north of Israel have been bombarded by Hezbollah. People in the center have been pummeled by the Islamic Republic. Even Eilat has gotten its share. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always said that it plans to annihilate “the Great Satan” (the United States), but its first course is “the Little Satan” (Israel). At this point, in...
(JNS) — Without detracting in the least from the considerable merits of the far-reaching military operation currently being carried out in Iran by the joint forces of the United States and Israel, it must be said that if these incredible efforts and incomparable successes in the field are not ultimately crowned with regime change—with the absolute toppling of the Islamic Republic and its replacement by a moderate, friendly state—much of what has been accomplished to date will have been in vain. In fact, it may well come back to smack us in th...
(JNS)— On the morning of the outbreak of “Operation Roaring Lion,” which also fell on the Torah portion Zachor (“Remember”), I once again found myself exchanging my Shabbat clothes for a military uniform. As a reservist soldier in the Israel Defense Forces and the CEO of AFJS: American Friends of Judea and Samaria, an organization working to strengthen the bond between friends of Israel in the United States, and Judea and Samaria, the transition from national mission to operational duty was sharp and unmistakable. It represented a united We...
