Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 3042 - 3066 of 3854
(JTA)—The rise of a new global power usually creates tensions with the incumbent superpower, and the United States-China duo is no exception. At their summit last week in Washington, D.C., Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping spoke of progress in some areas, such as cyber espionage and climate change, but skirted more contentious issues, such as China’s reclamation of contested islands in the South China Sea and human rights. While the U.S. and China are managing an uneasy relationship, Israel and China are in the midst of a romance. Wit... Full story
(JTA)—As the new school year gets underway, Jewish educators are making decisions regarding how best to teach about Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most begin with the premise that Jewish students should learn to support Israel and defend its government. Throughout the year, their lesson plans will flow from this fundamental objective. As a rabbi and Jewish educator this concerns me. I question why our Jewish institutions encourage critical thinking when teaching ancient Jewish texts—challenging students to consider multiple voi... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—During the course of the second Republican presidential debate, Ann Coulter, the well-known commentator, writer, speaker and provocateur, tweeted: “How many f---ing Jews do these people think there are in the United States?” Her explanation was that she had grown frustrated with the candidates’ remarks that concentrated on things nearly all Republicans agree on—admiration of Ronald Reagan, opposition to abortion and support for Israel—and ignored what she considers the biggest domestic problem facing America: immigration... Full story
During the past few days, Arabs in Jerusalem stoned a Jew to death in the Armon HaNetziv neighborhood, wounded three Israeli policemen in the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood, and hurled rocks and firebombs at policemen on the Temple Mount. How did the Obama administration respond? By condemning “all sides.” White House spokesman Josh Earnest put it this way at his daily press briefing: “The United States remains deeply concerned by the recent violence and escalating tensions surrounding Haram al-Sharif, or the Temple Mount, as it’s also known.... Full story
In the weeks since the Obama administration announced the perilous international nuclear deal with Iran, growing attention has been paid to the network of organizations and foundations that have been actively lobbying to normalize relations between the U.S. and the Islamist regime in Tehran. Rightly, that network is being referred to as the “Iran lobby.” The welcome and much-needed scrutiny of its workings and contacts provides a salutary lesson in how to identify enemies who present themselves as friends. At the head of the pack is the Washing... Full story
The Temple Mount (to Muslims Noble Sanctuary or Haram al Sharif) has returned to world headlines for God may know how many times, according to Jews, since the time of Solomon. Whatever happened there, and happens now, is a matter of intense concern. It is not a stretch to conclude that it is the prime reason, or at least among the prime reasons, why Jews and Palestinians have not moved beyond where we are to a final settlement of our disputes. There is no decent doubt that it was the site of the First and Second Temples, with the present... Full story
What was all the hoopla about the Iran nuclear deal? All the time spent discussing the deal and debating the deal among Americans across the country seems now to have been wasted time (By the way, Americans were against this deal four to one according to a compilation of polls by The Israel Project). All the agony of decision making and wrestling of consciences among Congress as to how to vote on this deal—called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—and now, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the Islamic Re... Full story
Twenty years ago this week, Israel’s occupation of the Palestinians came to an end. So why do Israel’s critics keep claiming that Israel is still occupying the Palestinians? On Sept. 28, 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo II accord, also known as the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement. It provided for Israel’s withdrawal from the cities in Judea-Samaria where 98 percent of Palestinian Arabs reside. And in the weeks that followed, Israel did just that. Israel’s forces... Full story
Dear Editor: I was surprised and disappointed to see the letter by Jeffrey Prince in the Sept. 18, 2015 edition of the Heritage Florida Jewish News. I thought that letters to the editor were to contain comments and opinions by the writer, of course not necessarily agreeing with positions in the Heritage. Instead this particular letter was just a rant consisting of conspiracy theory statements, most of which have been proven to be incorrect. Almost in the beginning of the letter the write begins by claiming that President Obama is a Muslim (alth... Full story
Let’s assume—despite evidence that polling on the issue was at best “quick and dirty,” according to one prominent analyst—that the Jewish establishment was out of step with most American Jews in opposing the Iran agreement. And let’s agree with other polls suggesting American Jews as a whole are to the left of the biggest Jewish organizations, especially, if not exclusively, when it comes to Israel. Who cares? Various op-eds lamenting this gap note that the Jewish vote remains overwhelmingly Democratic and that most American Jews support rev... Full story
The High Holy days are designed as a time for reflection, repairing and making ready. A new year, a new set of ideas and a determination to do better than last year. Really? One day leads to another, time goes on. I hit a BIG birthday a couple of months ago (really?). I had decided that I would cut back on my physical workouts when I hit that number. But, the next day I said to myself “Hey! I’m only a day older”—and went back to the routine. We all live life one day at a time. Jews have been doing this for millennia. Our history is that we... Full story
One of the principal lessons that should be taught in courses dealing with politics and public policy is the persistence of uncertainty. People who insist on telling us what will be, or what will not be, have a lot to learn. Many who claim to be predicting are telling us what they want to happen, or alternatively telling us that their enemies currently in power are bound to make things worse. The reality is that there are many things capable of influencing who wins an election, which party or sub-party faction will have the upper hand in the... Full story
One year ago, we commemorated the beginning of the “War to End All Wars” in 1914. So traumatized were the Great Powers by both the carnage, with millions of lives lost, and the loss of treasure, that they were determined to avoid future worldwide conflicts. Instead, their actions helped precipitate one. Three years following the 1918 armistice that ended The Great War, the Great Powers met in Washington, D.C., to prevent further development of the most fearsome weapon of war to date, the capital naval warship. The Washington Naval Treaty (the ... Full story
(Kveller via JTA)—Last year I performed a magic trick: I made most of my “stuff” disappear. I never considered myself a hoarder, at least not the kind worthy of a feature on late night cable TV, but I held on to things, lots and lots of things, because I was sentimental. I thought getting rid of them meant giving up a memory. I was also convinced I would need all these things later on. And lots of my stuff was around simply because I had spent so much money on it that I thought I hadn’t realized each item’s value yet. Surely I would need this... Full story
The Obama administration announced Sept. 8 that it is putting Mohammed Deif and three other Palestinian terrorists on its “designated terrorists” list. That’s basically a slap on the wrist—for someone who should be subjected to U.S. prosecution, not U.S. name-calling. Deif was trained in the art of bomb making by the infamous Hamas leader Yehya Ayyash, nicknamed “The Engineer.” When Ayyash was killed in 1995, Deif was chosen as his successor. Deif then masterminded bombings in which hundreds of Israelis, as well as a number of Americans,... Full story
On Sept. 17, the Regents of the 10-school University of California (UC) system discussed a statement of principles against intolerance. Alarmed by a rash of anti-Semitic incidents on UC campuses, a large number of Jewish scholars and activists have urged that the Regents adopt, in the context of their deliberations, the U.S. State Department’s working definition of anti-Semitism as an essential step in dealing with this grave problem. What the incident count at UC schools demonstrates is that the intellectually modish anti-Zionism that a... Full story
The State Department said Iran’s support for terrorism was “undiminished” in 2014. The U.S. remains very concerned about the activities of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and its terrorist proxies in the Middle East. New York Democrat Eliot Engel said “How can we trust Iran when over the decades, I’ve heard ‘Death to America!’ shouted routinely at Muslim Friday prayers, and at commemorations of the U.S. Embassy takeover and many other demonstrations. The regime refuses to shelve the slogan.” A letter signed by 200 former military leaders who under... Full story
The numbers are large, and projections are that the stream of refugees from the east and south will remain at flood stage. Some are predicting another historic migration, such as that which brought tribes from Asia to Europe long ago, and the great movements after World War II. Projections range to over a million this year, from east across Turkey and from Africa across the Mediterranean. Leaders are doing what they know best, i.e., talking. Also typical for a situation of crisis is that each is speaking differently, changing details from time... Full story
Dear Rep. Shultz, Your credentials are that you are the Representative, 23rd. District of Florida; DNC-Chair; and your Jewish accomplishments: A driving force behind “Jewish Heritage Month.” NEVER AGAIN! are words that I grew up with. As a Jew I know the horrors of the Holocaust, and I was taught to never let it happen again. All Jews were taught this. Barak Hussein Obama, who was raised Muslim (and arguably still is) clearly hates Jews and Israel. He can smile and talk about support for Israel all he wants, but his actions do not align wit... Full story
(Kveller via JTA)—I used to have the right idea for Yom Kippur. I liked the notion of an entire month to clean up my messes from the past year, and I worked hard to deliver carefully worded apologies. The promise of a clean slate appealed to my resolution-making personality. And I appreciated the fact that the obligation to make life improvements deeper than, say, eating better, differentiated the Jewish New Year from the secular one. I was a High Holidays superfan. This year, however, I’ve found it difficult to focus solely on my faults, my... Full story
BUDAPEST (JTA)—As our car rolled slowly toward Budapest, we saw a huge group heading in the opposite direction on the highway just outside the city: Hundreds of people quietly walking in the breakdown lane, marching toward freedom and peace. I couldn’t tell if the other drivers were lifting their heads or not, but I couldn’t look away, paralyzed by a scene that reminded me of the stories my grandfather told me about his march from Budapest to the concentration camp at Mauthausen. Barbed wire fences are again being built in Europe to stop the fl... Full story
You won’t read about it in the New York Times or the Washington Post. But this week’s arrest of four Palestinian terrorists who were plotting to attack a Jewish holy site tells you everything you need to know about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today. The reason you won’t hear about it in the American news media is because the terrorists were caught before they struck. Apparently intentions don’t count. No casualties, no news coverage—and even when there are casualties, there isn’t always news coverage. Did your daily newspaper report abou... Full story
On Aug. 16, the Israeli Army revealed that Iran has been directing terrorist attacks from Syria against Israelis in the Golan Heights region. Nobody paid attention. Four days later, Iranian-sponsored rockets from Syria struck Israel’s Upper Galilee. Is anybody listening now? For weeks, supporters of Israel have been warning that the emerging Iran agreement would give Tehran funds that it could use to wage war against Israel through its proxies. But now it turns out that Iran is already waging that war. The question is, who is paying a... Full story
It’s time for another round of that hoary folk song about disaster just about everywhere, i.e., “They’re rioting in Africa, they’re starving in Spain...” The ugliest story concerns more than 70 bodies, decomposed to a smelly lump making counts difficult and identification impossible, found in a closed truck along a highway in Hungary. No less disturbing are reports by an Israeli journalist who interviewed women in a refugee camp on the Jordan side of the Jordan-Syria border. There were few men to be interviewed. The women told stories o... Full story
(My Jewish Learning via JTA)—We live with a practical tradition. We begin the Jewish New Year with 10 days devoted to introspection. Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we are asked to review our past failures and victories, to evaluate our relationships and how we can make things better for ourselves and those we care for. We take stock of our lives and try to put ourselves back on the right path. “Chet” is the Hebrew word commonly translated as “sin.” It is derived from the term that means “to miss the target.” The assumption is that sin i... Full story
