Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — As a law student at American University Washington College of Law in the early 1970s, I worked part-time as the administrator of the campus’s Abraham S. Kay Spiritual Life Center, a building in the center of the Quad, donated by the Jewish Kaye family and designed to look like a giant eternal light unto the nations. The Kay building’s use reflected its design, as its ground floor served as offices for clergy members of up to a dozen religious organizations and as a social hall. The main floor provided a nondenominational prayer and cere...
Watching Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian address the United Nations General Assembly was not only nauseating but also infuriating for millions of Iranians. To hear a man with the blood of countless citizens on his hands lecture the world about human rights, equality, and the rights of Gaza’s children is nothing short of grotesque hypocrisy. If the UN were to replace its teleprompters with lie detectors when Iranian envoys speak, the results would shock the world. These representatives of the Islamic Republic do not come to promote peace o...
(JNS) — While it has shown remarkable resilience, the economy has been one area where Israel has clearly suffered significant losses in terms of lost income from the collapse of the tourism industry, the cost of property damage, the cost of war materiel and the cost of rehabilitation. It will take years to recoup the losses, and even then, it is uncertain whether the economy will be as strong as it was before Oct. 7. One indication of the shape of the economy is the downgrading by major ratings services. S&P and Fitch both reduced the c...
(JNS) — When Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany were threatening to take over Europe in the 1930s prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain chose appeasement. On Sept. 30, 1938, the Munich Agreement was signed by Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany, handing over the Sudetenland, a fortified region of Czechoslovakia, to Hitler. The agreement was signed without Czechoslovakia’s participation. Six months later, Germany invaded the rest of the country. The appeasement had failed catastrophically. App...
For over 75 years, the State of Israel has taken pride in protecting worldwide Jewry as well as its own citizens. The current surge in antisemitism, however, reveals a collapse in this dual promise and obligates Diaspora leaders to adopt a new assertiveness toward distracted decision-makers in Jerusalem. The Basic Law of the Jewish state establishes Diaspora well-being as a priority: “The State shall strive to secure the welfare of members of the Jewish People and of its citizens who are in straits and in captivity due to their Jewishness or d...
(JNS) — It seems that each week during the month of Elul, there has been a terrorist attack, all of them a national tragedy. In the quietest moments of heartbreak, when the world feels shattered into a million tiny pieces, I’ve discovered something unexpectedly beautiful: Our broken hearts are actually doorways. Doorways to connection. Doorways to healing. Doorways to something Divine. As we enter the sacred period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, these Ten Days of Awe that feel both eternal and fleeting, I find myself thinking about how...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s new 20-point Mideast peace plan, based in large part on his “Peace to Prosperity” plan issued during his first administration, lays out conditions that on the surface seem like common sense. Palestinians must stop incitement. They must stop raising their children to hate Jews. They must form a vetted police force to maintain order, accept international supervision, rebuild their society and create a moderate self-governing authority. These sound like reasonable benchmarks. But the problem is simple:...
(JNS) — At first glance, the surge of support by Democratic elected officials for recognizing Palestinian statehood seems an act of moral clarity: After decades of suffering, political displacement and human tragedy, isn’t it overdue for Palestinians to receive the diplomatic recognition so many world powers already afford them? Beneath the veneer of humanitarian concern and lofty rhetoric, however, lies a host of practical, ethical and strategic problems that Democratic politicians seem to gloss over—and that deserve a harder look from voters...
(JNS) — As the U.N. General Assembly meets, leaders from across the globe are lining up to announce recognition of a Palestinian state. French President Emmanuel Macron has led the charge, urging the Saudis and others to enshrine the two-state solution as the only path to peace. Governments from Canada to Australia to the United Kingdom have already followed suit, formally recognizing Palestine. It may feel historic to those in the room. Palestinian activists will post triumphant slogans. Supporters will believe their governments have b...
(JNS) — It is astonishing and sometimes discouraging to see how history echoes itself in the formative events of our time. Recent statements by various Western countries expressing their intention to recognize a Palestinian state coincide with an escalation in jihadist terrorism, mass demonstrations and the growing influence of anti-Israel lobbies in key European capitals and decision-making centers. This familiar dynamic, which we have seen recently in Spain, France and the United Kingdom, illustrates the way in which pro-Palestinian o...
As world leaders attended the UN General Assembly, several Western nations marked this annual gathering with an act of treachery of global proportion. France, the UK, Canada, and Australia led the pack of those who made a mockery of international diplomacy, doing something sad and even illegal in recognizing the “State of Palestine.” The mockery would be funny if it weren’t so obscene, propagating a fake reality as if such an entity ever existed, or has the standing and legitimacy to exist as a state. Canada and the UK have raced to lead the p...
(JNS) — Some may view a vote this week in the United Nations on a resolution to recognize a Palestinian state as a long-awaited step toward peace. In reality, it is profoundly misguided. It rewards terrorism, abandons American hostages, undermines Israel—our strongest ally in the Middle East—and emboldens adversaries who threaten U.S. national security interests. For U.S. policymakers, the stakes could not be higher. The Palestinian leadership has rejected every serious peace initiative that required compromise, going back to the Peel Commi...
(JNS) — If you are Jewish or a friend of the Jewish people, this is your wake-up call. We are living in a time when silence equals surrender. The lies and propaganda against Jews and against Israel grow louder every day. If we sit back, if we hesitate, if we think that others will carry the burden for us, then we fail not only ourselves but also the generations who came before us and those who will come after. This Rosh Hashanah is not just a holiday — it is a summons to action. Here is the reality: Jews make up less than 16 million out of a w...
In many ways, Israel has never been stronger, winning military victories over enemies and creating new friends through economic partnerships. Internally, while there are still societal divisions, the Israeli public is largely united around the mission of eradicating the threat of Hamas and other terrorists from inside and outside Israel’s borders. At the same time, Jewish communities around the world have been convinced by mainstream media that Israel and world Jewry are weak and are facing an existential threat from worldwide antisemitism. A...
(JNS) — Charlie Kirk was only 31 years old when he was cut down by an assassin’s bullet while speaking at Utah Valley University. A husband, father, voice for freedom and unapologetic defender of Western values, he was murdered in cold blood—his life stolen not because of anything he did wrong, but because of what he stood for. His killing was not just the silencing of a man. It was an attack on the principles that bind free nations together: faith, courage and the determination to speak the truth, even when it is unpopular. Utah Gov. Spenc...
(JNS) — Although I oppose boycotts in principle, I’ve nevertheless been driven to consider launching one of my own. I will no longer rent a film that stars an actor or an actress who has signed a petition or delivered an unexpected shout-out at their award ceremony that condemned Israel for committing an alleged “genocide.” Quite frankly, I hereby denounce all Hollywood stars who have lip-synched a version of “Heil Hitler” by extemporaneously calling out: “Free Palestine.” This happened the other night at the Emmy Awards ceremony. Hanna...
(JNS)— I was never a mega-fan of Charlie Kirk. I never met him. I had some work-related contact with Turning Point USA, but, like many pro-Israel, pro-American pundits, I mostly followed his social-media feeds, where he voiced opinions others were often too afraid to share, particularly about the dangers of Islam and illegal immigration. I disagreed with him about when human life begins in the womb, his isolationist stance on the 12-day war this June between Israel and Iran, and his belief that women find ultimate happiness in m...
(JNS) — “You can say the earth is flat a hundred times from the U.N. podium in New York, and that will still not make it real.” — Arsen Ostrovsky, human-rights attorney At the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 12, a handful of prominent Western nations, desperate to show they still have global influence, joined the overwhelming support of a resolution recognizing the “State of Palestine.” Their gesture is absurd, of course, since no such state exists. Indeed, for 78 years, the Palestinians have proven incapable of accepting, let alone creating a...
(JNS)— It’s been almost two years since Hamas and other Palestinian Arab terrorists invaded southern Israel, murdered more than 1,200 people, and kidnapped 251 others, dragging them into the Gaza Strip. Two years since those terrorists committed rape and other unspeakable atrocities, as well as fired as many as 5,000 rockets into the Jewish state as part of the barrage on Oct. 7, 2023. Much like the Nazis, Hamas’s goal and war aims were explicitly disclosed and not hidden. It was the elimination of Israel and its citizens. The Hamas Coven...
(JNS) — In September 1972, the world watched in horror as Palestinian terrorists stormed the Olympic Village in Munich, taking members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage. By the time the ordeal ended, 11 Israeli athletes were dead. The world’s reaction was predictable: outrage, speeches and hand-wringing, but little action. The International Olympic Committee hurried to resume the Games. West German officials bungled the rescue attempt and then quietly released three of the captured terrorists. Israel drew a very different conclusion. The...
(JNS) — It’s easy to be cynical about congressional hearings. They often seem political and ideological. They encourage grandstanding. But hearing rooms aren’t courtrooms and they aren’t meant to be. Public hearings are forums where lawmakers are able to expose real problems in ways invaluable to American democracy. In an era when the most pedigreed brands in journalism have abandoned their duty to report facts honestly in favor of extremist advocacy, hearings can also be an essential corrective, allowing citizens to bypass the legacy media f...
(JNS) — At the heart of Jewish identity stands freedom. The people of Israel were born out of the eternal cry: “Let my people go!” This is our founding story, the DNA of Jewish existence, the yearning for liberty, the duty to break the chains of bondage, and the understanding that freedom is the precondition for a worthy human life. And it is no coincidence that freedom precedes the giving of the Torah: Without freedom, there can be no choice, and without choice, values themselves are stripped of meaning. Freedom is what separates man from...
(JNS) — The editorial writers at The Washington Post support establishing a sovereign Palestinian Arab state next to Israel. They continue to say this even as Israel approaches nearly two years of war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to understand that Oct. 7 has changed everything. The most alarming statement in the Aug. 24 editorial may be this groundless claim: “A two-state solution remains the only viable option to end decades of conti...
This article won second place in the American Jewish Press Association’s annual Simon Rockower Award program. Rosh Hashanah is the time of year when we as individuals find ourselves at the center of the universe in direct communication with God. For a brief moment the present stops, the past does not recede and the future refuses to beckon us. The High Holy Days are rest stops on our journey through life; a brief respite to catch our breaths, to check our baggage and to recharge our human energy. To understand where we have been, where we are,...
(JNS) — In 2023, I advised colleagues not to show the video that Hamas filmed of their sadistic murders on Oct. 7, certainly not at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. I said that the sight of Jewish blood always unleashes denial and even more Jew-hatred. Soon enough, I also understood that the sight of Jewish military prowess unleashes even more Jew-hatred. As Israel fought to ensure that Hamas could not make good on their threat of even more Oct. 7-style attacks on Israeli soil and displayed an extraordinary command of t...
