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

(JNS)—In the wake of the latest mass shootings to afflict America, some Jewish organizations and their leaders joined in the effort to place at least some of the blame for these atrocities on President Donald Trump. Rabbi Rick Jacobs of the Union o...

(JNS)—Given the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, I decided to reflect upon my own personal immigration story. At the outset, I want to compliment the president for sticking to his guns and doing more than any president of the United States to...

At the beginning of a recent trip to the U.S. I was privileged to find myself in the office of my Congressional Representative, Bonnie Watson Coleman, (NJ 12th District) discussing legislation related to providing security in the Middle East against...

NEW YORK (JTA)—By the end of this year, my research and travels in the Middle East will have brought me through Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Kurdistan, as well as many visits to Capitol Hill. What...

(Jewish Journal via JNS)—At a time of rampant assimilation and declining synagogue attendance, how do you get more Jews to connect to their tradition? In recent years, the non-Orthodox streams of Judaism have tackled this challenge with renewed...

BALTIMORE (JTA)—As Americans of conscience, many of us are deeply troubled by the hyperpartisan tone that seems to color almost every news story and cycle. The sensationalism that is so often present within our nation’s discourse undermines our...

(JTA)—Earlier this month—or 16 years ago in Trump years—the White House disinvited a cartoonist named Ben Garrison to a meeting of right-wing media influencers. It had been pointed out that Garrison had once drawn a cartoon that could be interp...

From the title of this column you might presume that I oppose a two-state solution where majority Arabs and majority Jews live peacefully in separate independent democratic states, with guaranteed equality, and with civil and human rights protection...

(Israel Hayom via JNS)—At the State Department, human rights have generally been a not-so-high priority. The big kahunas tend to focus on war and peace, allies and adversaries, national security and global economics. So it came as something of a...

(BESA Center via JNS)—For some time now, Russia has been striving to establish itself as the Middle East’s preeminent great power. Through its military involvement in the Syrian conflict and deep partnership with Iran against the United States,...

(JNS)—Britain now has its first celebrity prime minister. On Tuesday, Boris Johnson was elected leader of the Tory Party following Theresa May’s resignation over her failure to deliver Brexit. On Wednesday, Johnson “kissed hands” with the...

(Jewish Journal via JNS)—It’s almost a boring thought these days to observe that we are bitterly divided by our political tribes. Democrats hate Republicans, Republicans hate Democrats. Need we say more? We no longer want to win arguments; we...

I almost walked out of my first college Shabbat. Not only did I miss the close Jewish community from high school, but I also remained convinced that my new peers would view me as a “fake” Jew. Why?  Because my mother isn’t Jewish. Only my...

(JNS/Israel Hayom)—The turmoil gripping Israel’s political system ahead of the repeat election in September has not skipped over the Arab parties, among which a war is now raging that makes the struggles among the Zionist parties on both the...

(JNS)—If further proof were needed to illustrate the futility of diplomatic overtures to the Palestinian Authority, Monday’s attack on a pro-Israel Saudi in Jerusalem is a good example. As part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reg...

MITZPEH YERICHO, West Bank (JTA)—On July 8 in Psagot, I addressed the first group of participants on J Street U’s “Let My People Know” Israel trip, their new alternative to Birthright aimed to give American Jewish college students meaningful...

NEW YORK (JTA)—A recently released Pew Research Center report about global restrictions on religion focuses mostly on discrimination against, and the persecution of, various religious groups in different countries. Jews are prominent targets as alw...

(JNS)—The exposé on anti-Semitism in the British Labour Party, broadcast in the United Kingdom last week by the BBC’s flagship Panorama program, gave viewers an opportunity to see the extraordinary confrontation in April 2016 between John Mann,...

The 50th anniversary of the first successful Apollo-Saturn Moon Mission was met last week with great fanfare and enthusiasm by the national and international media, the American people and the entire global community. There were inspiring speeches, r...

(JNS)—Early last week Tehran announced its intention to enrich uranium above the level permitted by the nuclear deal to which it is a signatory. Over the weekend, soldiers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attempted to seize a British oil...

(JNS)—The radical anti-Zionist IfNotNow group hit the jackpot last week with its initial investment in efforts to impact the 2020 presidential election. IfNotNow’s attempts to infiltrate Jewish summer camps and alter the way they teach about...

How could the world forget the Beatles? “Yesterday”—first the song, now the movie. For fans of the Beatles, “Yesterday,” the song Paul McCartney says came to him note by note in a dream, has a well-deserved claim on the best popular song...

Todd Cohn Just recently, the South Florida Jewish community collectively took a very deep breath when Spanish River High School’s Principal William Latson weighed in on the school’s approach to State-mandated Holocaust education. I was in...

(JNS)—The critics are right about U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman’s presence at the ceremonial opening of Jerusalem’s “Pilgrimage Road” being unprecedented. None of his predecessors would have been caught dead at a Jewish site on...