Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2308 - 2332 of 3736
(JTA)—Contemporary Jewish life is graced by extraordinary blessing: We are the heirs of a Torah of compassion and justice that has grown ever more supple and vibrant because of the dynamic nature of halachah (Jewish law) and the opportunity to observe mitzvot (commandments). At the same time, modernity has removed barriers of discrimination and anti-Semitism, as well as opened doors to broader cultural participation and professions previously closed to Jews. We face the challenge of remaining true to the best of our ancient tradition while a... Full story
(JTA)—In an interview with The Daily Beast, George Clooney described Harvey Weinstein as a very powerful man with a tendency to hit on young beautiful women over whom he had power. Despite the “rumors” he had heard about Weinstein’s openly predatory behavior, Clooney expressed sincere shock and outrage at the widespread sexual misconduct allegations directed at Weinstein. Clooney is not alone in this cognitive dissonance. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reported that well before articles in The New York Times and the New Yorker quoted dozens of his victi... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—Stephen Bannon, whose anti-globalist insurgency at Breitbart News was interrupted briefly by his tenure as chief adviser to the Leader of the Free World, has always been adamant that his right-wing news site and worldview is neither anti-Semitic nor racist. When he referred to Breitbart as a “platform” for the “alt-right,” Bannon didn’t mean, he insisted, that he personally supported the white supremacists and racists who attached themselves to his “populist nationalist” movement. “Are there some people that are anti-Semitic... Full story
The Trump administration is pressuring Israel for further delays in the construction of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria, according to apparently reliable media reports. If true, friends of Israel have good reason to be concerned. Ynet, the news site of the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, reported Sept. 25 that “at the request of the Trump administration,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed a meeting of the government committee responsible for construction in the territories. The meeting is necessary to proceed with con... Full story
Walking through central London last week, and with a spare half hour on my hands, I decided to pay a quick visit to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Inside, I spent most of my time intently studying a painting that I could not recall having seen before: “The Philosopher,” a 1645 canvas by the Italian painter Salvator Rosa. Rosa depicts a stern young man with flowing black locks and undistinguished clothing holding a stone tablet that bears the Latin inscription, “Aut tace aut loquere meliora silentio.” In English, it means, “Either... Full story
In recent weeks, we have once against seen a flare up around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the Iran Deal, this time over whether President Trump will recertify the deal, as he is required to do every 90 days. Two years later after the signing of the JCPOA, it almost feels like we are back where we started. But we are not. Not at all. And that is the real issue. Indeed, two years later, we can argue about Iranian compliance and inspections regimes. We can dither about domestic political processes. But what... Full story
The Canadian government has announced that it will correct a memorial plaque at its new National Holocaust Monument, which spoke of the “millions of men, women and children during the Holocaust”—but neglected to mention Jews. Unfortunately, Canadian Minister of Heritage Melanie Joly has compounded the original error, by announcing that the new plaque will acknowledge “the six million Jews, as well as the five million other victims, that were murdered during the Holocaust.” But there is, in fact, no historical basis for that “five million” fi... Full story
Last month, former CIA officer Valerie Plame crossed a line on social media even the mainstream liberal media couldn’t ignore. Plame gained fame due to her unmasking at a time when her husband was a prominent critic of the George W. Bush administration’s Iraq War policy. But her status as a liberal icon took a hit when she retweeted an anti-Semitic polemic that claimed Jews were responsible for pushing the U.S. into wars in the Middle East for Israel’s sake. Plame defended the piece before eventually issuing a weasel-worded apology that furth... Full story
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to extort Israel to withdraw its support, and threatened to end the process of normalization unless it does so. It is worth noting that Turkey strongly supports statehood for the Palestinians but not for their own Kurdish population. The Palestinian leadership, which is seeking statehood for its people, also opposes statehood for the Kurds. Iraqi Kurds were a key partner for the U.S. coalition that toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime and has staved off further sectarian tensions in that country. One t... Full story
For Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s political opponents, his government’s woes aren’t just an opportunity to score political points at his expense. They also provide easy-to-understand explanations for the question that nags at the margins of every debate about American Jewish attitudes toward Israel. Every negative development or unpopular decision associated with the prime minister is used to rationalize and sometimes even justify the growing chasm between American Jews and Israelis. But a new study about America Jewish identity gives... Full story
It is difficult to look at the scandalous international response to the Kurdish independence referendum and not think, at the same time, of the betrayals endured by the Zionist movement in the decades after World War I. In 1917, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, promising a Jewish national homeland in Palestine. What people forget is that in 1939, Britain then issued a White Paper limiting Jewish immigration to Palestine—on the eve of the Holocaust—to a paltry 75,000 souls over five years. They forget, too, that as late as 1947, Bri... Full story
Public figures occasionally misspeak. That is, they say something that is clearly untrue, not because they are intentionally lying but because they innocently stumbled in their articulation of some thought. A famous example occurred during the 2008 presidential campaign, when Democratic nominee Barack Obama was interviewed by George Stephanopoulos on the ABC-TV news program “This Week.” At one point, Obama used the phrase “my Muslim faith.” Now, Obama obviously did not intend to say that. He had already said many times that he is a Christi... Full story
Today is October 6. Forty-seven years ago on this date, I was in my dorm room at the Hebrew University (I was spending a year in Israel as an exchange student) napping after Musaf service on Yom Kippur/Shabbat, Oct 6, 1973 At 2 p.m. I was awoken to the sounds of sirens. Sirens? On Yom Kippur? Didn’t make any sense. Was this a local malfunction? Strange. I turned over The sirens continued and did not stop for many long minutes. At this point, many students were out of their rooms seeking an explanation. I went to our floor counselor, an I... Full story
LAS VEGAS (JTA)—We just got into our car and drove. Going to Las Vegas after the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history felt like the right thing to do. As Americans and as Jews, we wanted to be a source of support and love in the face of terror. We wanted to stand with the victims and their families. With Yom Kippur only two days behind us and Sukkot on its way, we saw a window to show up—and so we started to drive from L.A. Rabba Ramie Smith and I are graduates of Yeshivat Maharat, the first school to ordain Jewish Orthodox fem... Full story
As the New Year 5778 begins, 88 percent of Israeli Jews say that they are happy and satisfied with their lives. This makes sense. Israel’s relative security, its prosperity, freedom and spiritual blossoming make Israeli Jews the most successful Jewish community in 3,500 years of Jewish history. The same cannot be said for the Jews of the Diaspora. In Western Europe, Jewish communities that just a generation ago were considered safe and prosperous are now besieged. Synagogues and Jewish schools look like army barracks. And the severe security c... Full story
This week, I became an American citizen. As I intently studied my naturalization certificate after the oath-taking ceremony, it struck me how fortunate I am to be accepted into this nation on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, of all occasions. I should stress that my own story is rather routine and uninteresting. I came to the U.S. from the United Kingdom with my family, I had a job and a home in New York, and as the years went by, I progressed from a work visa to a ‘Green Card’ to full citizenship. Along the way, I did nothing more dramatic than fil... Full story
(JTA)—“It looks just like L.A.” A character in the Amazon series “Transparent” says this as she gets her first glimpse of Tel Aviv, and if you work for the Israeli government, or any of a number of pro-Israel groups, you probably couldn’t be happier. Even if the show will go on to acknowledge the political and human rights mess of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (and don’t worry, it will), such glimpses of an extremely appealing and otherwise normal Israel have the feel of “mission accomplished.” The start of the fall TV season has been v... Full story
If we learn from an experience, there is no such thing as failure. Harvard University is perhaps the most prestigious academic institution in the world. Oprah Winfrey has often been called one of the most successful women in the world. So it was fitting that this June it was Oprah who was given the honor of serving as commencement speaker to the graduating class of some of America’s most elite students. But what was truly remarkable was the subject that Oprah chose as her theme. To a group almost certainly assured of great success in life, O... Full story
Is there anything that would entice liberal Jews to stand with President Donald Trump or to join with him in trashing former President Barack Obama’s legacy? The obvious answer is nothing. In the wake of Charlottesville, disgust with Trump is at an all-time high with most voters, but especially liberal Jews who were already appalled with him. Moreover, the longer Trump is in office, the better his predecessor looks to many Americans, if only for his more presidential temperament if not his policies. Yet a desire to defend Obama’s record has bee... Full story
An elderly woman approached her rabbi one year during services. “Rabbi!” she exclaimed, throwing her frail, skinny arms open wide. Given the fact that she stood barely five feet tall, the rabbi bent down to accommodate her. Maybe it was her height, or her age, or just a moment of awkwardness, but she missed planting a kiss on his cheek completely, and instead laid a big red smooch on his pristine white tallit, his beautiful prayer shawl that he wore only for special occasions. Flustered and emb... Full story
Should American Jewish leaders speak to the rulers of a petrostate that finances Hamas terrorists to blow up their fellow Jews in Israel? That, in essence, is the fraught question emerging from the rumors and reports of recent days that prominent representatives of the U.S. Jewish community will meet with senior Qatari officials, supposedly including Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on the fringes of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this week. Having canvassed Jewish opinion on this question, I’ve concluded t... Full story
A little-reported stabbing incident, coupled with a large dose of Palestinian Authority-generated fake news, have revealed pretty much everything you need to know about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It all began Aug. 18. Qatiba Zahran, age 17, left his hometown of Alar, near the city of Tulkarm, armed with a large knife. He was looking for an Israeli Jew to stab. He couldn’t find any Israelis in Alar, or in Tulkarm, because they have been under the control of the Palestinian Authority since 1995. That was when then-Prime Minister Yitzhak R... Full story
The nuclear confrontation between the U.S. and North Korea entered a critical phase Sunday with North Korea’s conduct of an underground test of a thermonuclear bomb. If the previous round of this confrontation earlier this summer revolved around Pyongyang’s threat to attack the U.S. territory of Guam, Sunday’s test, together with North Korea’s recent tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the continental U.S., was a direct threat to U.S. cities. In other words, the current confrontation isn’t about U.S. superpowe... Full story
(JTA)—The 2013 Pew survey “A Portrait of Jewish Americans” shows that Orthodox Judaism, while currently attracting the allegiance of only about 10 percent of all American Jews, is the fastest growing sector of the community. The high birthrate and retention rate confirmed by the survey have led some observers to predict that within a generation, American Jewry will be predominantly Orthodox, culturally if not demographically. Of course we cannot presume that present trends will continue, but it’s surely worth thinking about what such a Jewish... Full story
Over the past week, two major U.S. institutions have produced studies that discredit their names and reputations as credible organizations. Their actions are important in and of themselves. But they also point to a disturbing trend in the U.S. in which the credibility of important American institutions is being undermined from within by their members who pursue narrow partisan or ideological agendas in the name of their institutions. The political implications of this larger trend were clearly in evidence in the 2016 presidential election. From... Full story
