Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Chaya Salomon was murdered at a Sabbath dinner with her family. The 46-year-old Jewish woman was stabbed to death alongside her 70-year-old father Yosef and her 36-year-old brother Elad. Photos show the kitchen of the Salomon house in the Israeli village of Neve Tsuf covered in blood. The youngest Salomon daughter had given birth to a new member of the family. The bottle of Glenfiddich on the table was never opened. Instead an Islamic terrorist burst in and stabbed the new grandfather. Tova, the new grandmother was badly wounded. Elad’s wife ru... Full story
He drew a circle that shut me out—Heretic, a rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in! —Edwin Markham According to the Bipartisanship Policy Center, our country’s history of working across the aisle can be traced back to as early as 1787. Our founding fathers, struggling with congressional representation regarding the populations of the colonies, reached what later was know as the Great Compromise. It was decided that our new government would exist with a proportional House of Repre... Full story
Dear Editor: Jewish identity is one of the most important qualities we can help our young to develop. Study after study shows that as Jewish identity slips because of intermarriage, the Jewish community in the United States suffers. So too does the connection between young Americans and the state of Israel. If we hope to see a continued Jewish future including continued support of Israel, we must take positive steps to assure it. Significant research on the American Jewish community shows that Jewish day schools, (in Orlando that would be the... Full story
To an objective observer, the crisis that erupted in the aftermath of a bloody terror attack near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount makes no sense. Three Arab terrorists used guns they had smuggled up to the compound July 14 to kill two Israeli policemen, both of whom happened to be Druze rather than Jewish. In response, Israeli authorities set up metal detectors to prevent a recurrence of the crime. The response to this from Palestinians was general outrage, violence and a promise of mass riots if the offending machines were not immediately removed. U... Full story
There is an interesting documentary on YouTube about a recent archeological expedition in Iraq and Iran—what was ancient Persia and before that Babylonia. In ancient texts and evidence in excavations there are stories about Sodom, Gomorrah and the big flood. That area of Persia/Iran was and is susceptible to flooding. They use round bottom boats of the type described in Torah in the story of Noah. But, there is no history of a great flood—plenty of floods, but not one big enough to bring penguins from Antarctica and giraffes from Africa. A lot... Full story
It was best not to write about this right away. Need to see how it would percolate. It could have been massive or a momentary blip testing the level of accommodation between Israel, the Palestinians, and other Muslims. Truth is, that it is still tense, with Friday prayers posing a challenge to all sides. The initial story made the international news, and monopolized what Israelis were hearing for a day. Three Israeli Arabs, from the Galilee city of Um al Fahm, exited the Old City from the area of the Temple Mount and shot three policemen. They... Full story
Journalists and pro-Israel activists often share a tendency to see current events as the beginning of history. I’ve been reminded of this lately by apocalyptic stories regarding anti-Semitism in the United States, the situation on college campuses and American public opinion. I’ve been perusing my archives of articles that I and others have written in the past and thought I’d share some historical observations in the next few columns to put present concerns in context. I hear people claiming the situation on campus today is worse than ever, but... Full story
(JNS.org, and Aish Hatorah Resources)—President Macron equated anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism and said Jew-hatred wasn’t born with the Vichy regime, nor did it die after the liberation of France. French President Emmanuel Macron is not the first French president to give a speech at the annual memorial ceremony commemorating the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup in July 1942, when some 13,000 Parisian Jews—a third of them children—were rounded up and taken to a local stadium and subsequently expelled to Nazi concentration and death camps. This operation w... Full story
(JTA)—Dear Jewish community, So you wanna understand Israel-Palestine debates on campus? The first thing you have to do is stop talking about BDS. Shocking, right? We try. But really, the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment campaign against Israel isn’t what Israel conversations on campus are all about these days. Campaigns to pass BDS measures on major campuses are actually in decline, yet somehow they still make up the bulk of Jewish news about students. The truth is, divestment proposals happen perennially, people freak out for two to thr... Full story
(JTA)—Last year, I wrote an opinion piece for JTA about a term and a trend few Jews over the age of 30 had ever heard of: intersectionality. Coined in the late 1980s, intersectionality posits that various forms of oppression—racism, sexism, classism, ableism and homophobia—are all interconnected. According to the theory, a black female is doubly marginalized by racism and sexism, for example. As a result, it is necessary for activists to connect these multiple forms of oppression in their advocacy. Rising in popularity in the wake of the prote... Full story
The U.S. consul general in Jerusalem recently set off on the first leg of a 200-mile hike that will simultaneously promote one pro-Palestinian myth while inadvertently exploding another. That’s quite a “twofer!” Consul General Donald Blome is an avid hiker. For some reason, he has decided to ignore Israeli hiking trails in Judea and Samaria, and instead is making his way across the “Masar Ibrahim Al-Khalil,” or the Ibrahim Path, which runs from northern Samaria to southern Judea. The website of the U.S. consulate general in Jerusalem quotes Bl... Full story
Malcolm Gladwell’s “Saigon 1965,” a chapter in his podcast Revisionist History, brought me back to the University of Wisconsin 1968-75. I participated in campus discussions on Vietnam, and smelled the tear gas used against mass protests. Gladwell’s message is that a mass of information about the Vietcong lent itself to widely different conclusions by intelligence personnel influenced by their own experiences, with their political superiors screening assessments through their own self-interests. Some saw the U.S. as winning, while others... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Over the weekend, JTA and others reported on a “blacklist of rabbis” maintained by Israel’s chief rabbinate. The list contains the names of more than 160 rabbis whom the rabbinate does not trust to confirm the Jewish identity of immigrants to Israel. The list, obtained by Itim from the rabbinate after a protracted legal battle, has sparked an uproar in Israel and around the Jewish world. I have been contacted by rabbis, politicians, Israeli and American consuls general and ambassadors, asking one question: Who is respons... Full story
Donald Trump made an important speech on May 21at the Arab Islamic Summit in Saudi Arabia that was quickly forgotten in the cacophony of tweets, accusations and other news surrounding the president. It is worth looking at that address more closely, however, because he laid out in the starkest terms yet the truth about what amounts to a world war that few people want to acknowledge. The speech also clearly distinguishes Trump’s policies from those of his predecessor by explicitly identifying Islamic extremism as a global threat, acknowledging J... Full story
Dear Editor: As a member of the Jewish community, I would like to bring exposure to Kids of Courage because I feel this organization is essential and so many people can benefit from their services. Kids of Courage is a Jewish innovative volunteer-based organization, dedicated to improving the lives of children and young adults with serious medical diagnoses. One of our many events that we sponsor will take place in the summer. This upcoming Aug. 3-10 we will be taking 130 sick children and young adults with all their required medical supervisio... Full story
If you haven’t encountered the term “Shi’a corridor” yet, chances are that you will in the coming weeks, particularly if the ongoing confrontation between the U.S. and Iran in Syria intensifies. What was initially a sideshow to the main battle against Islamic State in Syria is fast becoming the main focus of attention. In recent weeks, the U.S. has shot down at least two Iranian armed drones over Syria. A Syrian regime bomber jet supposedly attacking Islamic State positions near Raqqa was also downed, after it ventured too close to positions he... Full story
Before we were disturbed by a dust-up among Jews about the Western Wall and conversion, we were befuddled by another delegation of ranking Americans prodding Israelis and Palestinians to sit around a table and make peace. What these worthies do not grasp is that there already is peace. It ain’t perfect, but it’s close to the best that’s possible. Alongside the well-known constraints in both Palestinian and Israeli politics in the way of agreement on all the issues that would allow a celebration of formal peace, there are ample signs that both... Full story
Well, I’ll admit I was wrong. It happens. In the body of an article of mine about four months ago, I asserted that if Israel allowed the creation of any type of ‘West Bank Palestinian State’ where Israel did not have the absolute right to restrict Palestinian immigration and entry “the Palestinian Arabs could invite anyone they want into their state, including thousands of Hezbollah and tens of thousands of Iranian volunteers for Palestine.” Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah just stated that in a war with Israel, “hundreds of thousands of fight... Full story
The newly released details about a recent terrorist attack in Jerusalem show how easily Palestinian terrorists can enter Israel—thus contradicting the phony claims that Palestinians’ movements are severely restricted by Israel. The attack in question took place June 16. Three Palestinian terrorists killed a teenage Israeli policewoman named Hadas Malka, in Jerusalem. They also stabbed and shot several other Israelis, before they were killed. The BBC rubbed salt in the victims’ wounds by headlining its reports of the attack: “Three Palesti... Full story
While the anti-Semites continue to spin their wheels trying to convince college student governments to adopt meaningless divestment resolutions and persuade rock stars to boycott Israel, the prime ministers of Israel and India are having a lovefest and the world’s most populous democracy is signing contracts with Israel worth billions of dollars. What must be particularly galling to the BDS advocates is that India was once a vigorous adherent to the Arab League boycott. The change in India’s posture toward Israel did not happen overnight. Ind... Full story
Yes, he was a Jew. But he was killed because he was an American. The tragedy of Otto Warmbier took a strange twist shortly after his death last week. It was only then that we discovered that the young American imprisoned by North Korea to 15 years of hard labor at a one-hour show trial for the crime of stealing a propaganda poster as souvenir was Jewish. After his release following 17 months of brutal captivity and return to his parents in the United States, in a coma and suffering severe brain damage, we learned what was purposely suppressed d... Full story
The Jews of Israel are watching Muslims near and far killing themselves, and contemplating horror scenarios of a serious threat from Iran, Hezbollah, or some other evil source. There are near daily efforts of individual Palestinians to attack Jews, but for the most part, the Muslim front is quiet for us while chaos prevails among those who have declared their intention to destroy us. The furor among Jews has ratcheted up to what we haven’t seen in some time. Optimists or the indifferent see it as another round in the rituals of conflict, w... Full story
There are four important aspects to the government’s decisions on Sunday relating to egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall and the conversion bill. The first is that by and large, the headlines of the stories distort rather than explain what the government decided. The second is the nature of the American Jewish community’s response to the government’s moves. The third important aspect of the story is what the government’s decisions tell us about how the government perceives Israel’s relations with the American Jewish community. Finally,... Full story
Dear Editor: It looks like this will be a repeat year. The United States Postal Service will not be issuing a new Chanukah stamp design in 2017. This means it will be up to each local post office to order Chanukah stamps. Past history has shown that a vast majority do not do so. They claim it an “old” stamp and they do not reorder old stamps. So, it is important that you that go to your local post office and tell them to order Chanukah stamps now so they have them in time for you to purchase them. Chanukah is early this year. It begins the nig... Full story
The headlines of the Jewish press this week were filled with stories about angry American Jews arriving in Israel and denouncing the Israeli government’s decision regarding egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. Jerry Silverman, head of the Jewish Federations of North America, called the government’s decision “a direct insult” to diaspora Jewry and vowed to launch a “campaign” to “fight back.” Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said the battle to reverse the decision is “worth fighting for.” A statement issued by the... Full story
