Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2478 - 2502 of 3736
At a time when much of American Jewry is opposed to the immigration policies of the nascent administration of President Donald Trump, it was probably only to be expected that a growing number of synagogues would declare themselves “sanctuaries” where “undocumented” immigrants—a euphemism for those who crossed into the U.S. illegally or overstayed their visas—can find both shelter and help in evading the authorities. These institutions and their supporters say their decision is grounded in justice, history and even Jewish liturgy. But in spite o... Full story
(Kveller via JTA)—When a friend, cause or institution we support has been hurt or under attack, it’s human nature—and admirable—for people to want to “do something” to be helpful. Unfortunately, onlookers’ idea of being helpful is not always what’s most useful to those who have been hurt. We’ve seen it recently at one Planned Parenthood medical office, where pro-choice protesters gathered to counter those protesting against abortion. The protest went on despite the organization’s preference for non-engagement at its clinic sites in deference... Full story
Dear Editor: My mother-in-law passed away in January. While she had been suffering from poor health, her death was unexpected and our family was in shock. In the early morning hours that followed, we started doing the activities that all Jewish families do at moments like this: Phone calls were made; travel arrangements were put in place. When should the funeral be? Who can attend? Are the Rabbi and Cantor available to officiate? What is the address of the cemetery? Scores of logistics, all of which require timely answers in order to have... Full story
French President François Hollande is disturbed that President Donald Trump criticized a U.S. ally, describing the terrorism that has plagued France in recent years as the product of an open border policy. Yet it is Hollande who should self-reflect on his own criticism of a French ally. “Take a look at what’s happening in Germany,” Trump said at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference. “Take a look at what’s happened in France. Take a look at Nice and Paris. We fully understand that national security begins with border security.... Full story
(JTA)—Shots fired into a classroom window at an Indiana synagogue. Cemeteries desecrated in Pennsylvania, Missouri, and New York. Swastikas scrawled on Jewish buildings. More than 100 bomb threats called in to Jewish community centers. History doesn’t always repeat itself, but echoes of the darkest chapters serve as warnings. We study the past and preserve our tradition so that we’ll recognize the signs. For these troubled days, the observance of Purim—commemorating the defeat of a plot to massacre the Jews in ancient Persia—is a timely re... Full story
An extremist Arab Knesset member who endorses violence and has been condemned by the Likud and Labor parties alike was cheered at the recent J Street national conference. For an organization that supposedly promotes peaceful coexistence, they sure have some strange bedfellows! The object of J Street’s enthusiastic applause was Member of Knesset Ayman Odeh, leader of the parliamentary bloc known as the Joint Arab List. Odeh is well-known in Israel for his extremist rhetoric. Last year, for example, he claimed that Israel murdered Yasser Arafat.... Full story
American Jewry is under assault. A wave of bomb threats called into Jewish community centers and schools, cemetery desecrations and vandalism aimed at other identifiable targets such as synagogues has created an atmosphere of fear about anti-Semitism unmatched in recent memory. The incidents have caught the attention of the entire nation and brought home to a not insignificant percentage of the Jewish population the possibility that their gathering places have become a target for extremists. But like everything else in our hyper-partisan era... Full story
(JTA)—The “fear itself” thing? FDR was on to something. The rash of JCC bomb threats and cemetery desecrations, combined with a general sense that the country is becoming more intolerant, has Jews on edge in ways they haven’t been in years. The head of a major American Jewish organization wrote to me that the recent outbreak of anti-Semitic activity “is the worst America has seen since the 1930s.” (It’s not.) Ronald Lauder of the World Jewish Congress has declared that “in recent weeks and months we have witnessed an unprecedented a... Full story
(JTA)—Almost daily accounts of vandalized cemeteries, spray-painted swastikas and bomb threats to JCCs and other Jewish agencies have naturally evoked considerable alarm. Clearly, we must never reconcile ourselves to an America where this is considered normal. Yet we must not succumb to the opposite tendency to see these recent incidents through a 2,000-year-old lens and draw comparisons to darker days, when Jews felt powerless and alone in the fight against anti-Semitism. There is no nation—other than Israel, of course—that has been more hospi... Full story
For those of us who spent much of 2016, based upon then-candidate Donald Trump’s own bombastic declarations, worrying about the thrust of the foreign policy of a future Trump administration, President Trump’s address to Congress Feb. 28 provided welcome relief. As ever, precise details were scarce and important shifts of direction went unacknowledged, but the underlying message was clear—and notably more centrist in orientation. Trump correctly identified “radical Islamic terror” as America’s prime enemy, but he also spoke of the importance... Full story
Dozens of bomb threats have been called into Jewish institutions since early January, and scores of headstones at two Jewish cemeteries—one near St. Louis, the other in Philadelphia—were desecrated in February. But is there actually a rising tide of anti-Semitism in America? Despite the threats and attacks, positive feelings between different American religious groups are on the rise, as measured in mid-to-late January by the well-respected and non-partisan Pew Foundation. Additionally, far more damaging anti-Semitic incidents took place thr... Full story
The most prominent problem currently facing Israel in international politics is one of our own making. Not the work of us all, but the work of some. It’s the so-called settlement law, which aspires to solve the problem of some 4,000 homes built on land that individual Palestinians are likely to convince Israeli courts that they are the owners of the land, and did not agree to the construction. The enactment makes an effort to be fair. It offers compensation to the Palestinians having a valid claim. Its supporters assert that no property c... Full story
A Palestinian terrorist who murdered two Hebrew University of Jerusalem students has found a new ally, the far-left Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) group. How mainstream Jewish liberal groups respond will be telling. The killer, Rasmea Odeh, is locked in a battle, initiated by the Obama administration, to deport her for lying about her terrorist past. It all began in February 1969, when the 20-year-old Odeh, together with a fellow member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), set off a bomb in a Jerusalem supermarket. Two... Full story
Speaking to his ministers on Sunday about his visit to Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heralded a new era in U.S.-Israel relations. To a degree, he was correct. When U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greeted Netanyahu and his wife Sara as they alighted from their car at the southern entrance to the White House, Trump demonstrated that the eight years of hostile treatment Israel suffered at the hands of his predecessor Barack Obama were no more. But unfortunately, Obama wasn’t the only thing that was wrong wi... Full story
(Kveller via JTA)—My mother swims at the JCC. These days, she packs a “go bag” with all of her stuff to bring to the pool in case she is evacuated in her bathing suit by a bomb threat. It doesn’t seem unlikely. This is not what America should be. “Well, what can I do?” people ask me. They feel powerless. Let me tell you this: You are not powerless. Here are five things you can do to stand up against hate today. 1. Join your local Jewish community center. Today, I am joining my local JCC. I am not a member, but I think it is time I became one... Full story
By Rhonda Forest “When is Federation going to issue a statement?” It’s a question periodically posed to me as president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, usually when a national political issue dominates the headlines. And in the past several months, there has been no shortage of such issues. Just four months removed from one of the most contentious elections in modern history, our nation is polarized. To a lesser extent, our Jewish community is polarized. We see it, hear it and feel it almost daily at Federation. As presi... Full story
My time as a college student involved decision making. My Jewish observance was no exception. I had grown up in a traditional Conservative Jewish home. My four sisters and I attended Hebrew school beginning at age four through the eighth grade, and celebrated our b’not mitzvah. I attended Shabbat services several times a month and learned to read Hebrew, lead prayers, and take an active role in synagogue life. We had lots of Jewish friends in the neighborhood and at public school. At home, we kept kosher, enjoyed Friday evening Shabbat d... Full story
HIAS was established 135 years ago to protect Jewish refugees who were fleeing the pogroms of Czarist Russia. Today, we remain true to our original mission of refugee protection. We are helping people who have fled their countries because their lives were in jeopardy due to who they are or what they believe. When there are refugees who are Jewish, HIAS is still there to make sure they receive help. In the past year, HIAS brought Jews from Iran, the Middle East, Ukraine, and other parts of the former Soviet Union to safety and freedom in the...
Imagine you are an impoverished religious Jew living in Paris. You can no longer wear religious garb out of fear of being set upon by assailants from North Africa who will beat you to within an inch of your life, if not take it. Your children are bullied in school, as their teachers ignore their complaints, and might even take perverse satisfaction in their plight. Even though French political figures make speeches condemning anti-Semitism and police are routinely sent to protect Jewish institutions, the anti-Semitism grows on the body politic... Full story
To hear the news media tell it, Israel’s Knesset has approved extreme right-wing legislation that will steal Palestinian land by legalizing illegal outposts and thereby demolish the last hopes for Middle East peace. The truth, of course, is very different. The Israeli government has not authorized the establishment of a new Jewish community in Judea and Samaria since 1992. That was the policy decreed by then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and followed by his successors, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But the 1993 Oslo Accords d... Full story
In 1950, my family moved to Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. It was a lovely, leafy area with stately homes and a storied history. Once my parents bought their home we were shocked to find that just shortly before we moved, a law was struck down that prevented Jews from owning homes in that lovely, leafy suburb. They actually had a LAW that prevented Jews and African Americans from buying a home in their town. We’ve come a long way, baby. Restrictive covenants have practically disappeared in the United States. You have the w... Full story
We are undeniably blessed to live in a first-world nation like the United States and it’s not because of the copious amounts of WiFi hotspots and unlimited breadsticks at Olive Garden. Nor is it because of our incomparable military and massive economy. We are the most fortunate population of people to ever exist because of our access to the most important entity life has ever known: Water. It is absolutely intolerable that 660 million people or 1 in 10 live without access to clean water in the 21st century. What’s more outrageous is that thi... Full story
Dear Editor: I was delighted to learn that West Volusia County and the National Jewish Outreach Program rediscovered the fourth of the Ten Commandments. Now, let us remind the Jewish women who marched on Shabbat in Washington, D.C., holding up signs identifying them and their concern for “justice.” Were they concerned about the injustice experienced by our children and grandchildren through anti-Semitism and intimidation of their right to free speech in colleges all over this country? Our pro-Israel Christian friends help us in recognizing the... Full story
Dear Editor: In the Feb. 3, 2017, edition of the Heritage, Abigail Pickus gives a detailed argument in favor of expanding government support of Jewish days schools. While I certainly understand the source of this desire of additional funding I am not sure that in the long term it will service the Jewish community as envisioned. I should note that the assumption of the article that this is only an issue for the Orthodox Community alone is not correct. While certainly the percentage of Orthodox Jews sending their children to Jewish day schools... Full story
I will admit that this sounds perverse, but Iran’s recent ballistic missile test was welcome in one important sense. Let me explain. Just more than a fortnight into President Donald Trump’s administration, America and the world have been bombarded with all sorts of crises, to the extent that it feels as if two years of history has been packed into two weeks. Relations with Mexico are at their lowest ebb in more than a century. The administration continues to exasperate, most likely intentionally, European heads of state with its on again, off... Full story
