Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 3159 - 3183 of 3706
Dear Editor: I read with interest David Bornstein’s column regarding Jewish continuity, regeneration or dissolution. I offer a few suggestions in summary form to promote regeneration. The first example is promoting Torah study for families, as study is the foundation of Judaism. Study needs to again become part of our culture. There is no reason for Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and even agnostic Jews to cede Torah study to the Orthodox and Chabad. Our community should focus on convincing Jews that Torah study, and teaching their c... Full story
While I’ve never been a big fan of celebrity interventions in politics, I will concede that, on occasion, a big-screen actor or a rock star will achieve the kind of impact that mere mortals can only dream about. Case in point: Maureen Lipman, a much-loved British Jewish actress whom American audiences will recognize from her role in Roman Polanski’s 2002 film about the Holocaust, “The Pianist,” in which she played the mother of the film’s main protagonist, Wladyslaw Szpilman. Last week, Lipman wrote an article for Standpoint, a British p... Full story
A leering, hook-nosed Jew, beginning to disrobe, prepares to pounce upon a helpless non-Jewish woman who cowers in fear on the ground before him. This disturbing image, so common in anti-Semitic propaganda in past centuries, this week made an appearance with a modern twist: the hook-nosed would-be rapist wore an Israeli army uniform, and his intended victim, a weeping Muslim woman, wore a headdress indicating that she represented the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The cartoon, titled “Al-Aqsa is Being Raped,” would be outrageous even if it were t... Full story
Every day there are violent demonstrations on the borders of several Arab neighborhoods. “Violence” means stones, fireworks, and firebombs thrown at the ranks of Border Police, who respond with tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets and real bullets on occasion. There have been Palestinian casualties and minor to moderate injuries among the police. A Border Police officer was killed in one of the two incidents of Palestinians driving into pedestrians. The drivers died in a local version of suicide by cop. Palestinians say that the upsurge is... Full story
The Nov. 4 midterm election results have obvious implications for American domestic policy. For us in Israel, however, the new Congress and the last two years of President Barack Obama’s administration present a unique opportunity. Now is the perfect time to turn the page on U.S.-Israel relations. Our two governments should use this time to work together as a united front against the challenges facing the free world. While there will of course continue to be areas of disagreement between our governments, we both have much to gain by putting t... Full story
B’nai B’rith International and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations are outraged by the continued terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, and condemn the deafening silence from the international community on these violent acts. “The escalating terrorist attacks in Jerusalem and other areas are of grave concern and must be put to an end. Israel must do everything possible to protect its citizens and restore peaceful conditions,” said Conference of Presidents leaders Robert Sugarman, Chairma... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—With all the conversations surrounding the allegations against my congregation’s former rabbi, Barry Freundel, no one is saying what desperately needs to be said—that voyeurism is sexual assault and that eliminating sexual assault in our communities should be the direction of our next steps. In emails, blogs and articles, the reaction to allegations that Freundel installed hidden cameras in order to view women in the mikveh has focused repeatedly on the specific location of the crime, the importance of making mikvehs safer... Full story
What it means to be a Jew today may be far less significant than the question, “Why be a Jew tomorrow?” My generation, and my parents’, had concrete, fully realized reasons to be Jewish. World War II, the Holocaust, and the drive to survive after a near-extinction event. The birth of the State of Israel and the rise of modern Jewish pride, Jewish heroism, and Jewish hope. Success and acceptance in contemporary Diaspora society, in virtually every aspect of American culture, politics, and busines... Full story
By Ira Sharkansky Not really wars, but a continuation of disputes going back at least to the time of Ezra. Jews have been quarreling about who is a Jew since then, and over the centuries have added numerous other squabbles. It all amounts to disputes among people who have been literate for at least 2,500 years, and have written God knows how many interpretations of the fuzzy laws composed in their earliest writings, i.e., the books that came to be sacred and included in the Hebrew Bible. The current uptick concerns a proposal that has passed... Full story
Amid the ongoing controversy over the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of “The Death of Klinghoffer,” little has been said about the Palestinian leader who masterminded the attack in which Leon Klinghoffer was murdered. The decision to hijack the Achille Lauro cruise ship in 1985 was made by Muhammad Zaidan, also known as Muhammad Abbas or Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestine Liberation Front. (Not to be confused with his comrade-in-arms Mahmoud Abbas, the current president of the Palestinian Authority.) Four of Abu Abbas’s agents seized the shi... Full story
“I sat at their table, and it changed my life,” I told the woman sitting next to me on the plane. I was flying back from a summer spent in Israel, and I was overflowing with inspiration. You should have seen the beauty of the candles reflected on the Jerusalem stone wall. You should have seen the warmth between the husband and wife. The beautiful, pure faces of all those children. The aroma of fresh challah. The songs that danced and wove their way into the starlit night. My seatmate looked unimpressed. She gave me a half smile and downed the... Full story
I was thrilled as a young boy to watch the rebirth of Israel. I knew of the Holocaust; pictures of people suffering and dead in the camps sent shivers up my spine. I celebrated with Jewish friends in Philadelphia when Israeli independence was declared in 1948. But it wasn’t the same, really, because I’m not Jewish. For Jews, supporting Israel was choosing life over death, but I did not feel that. I did not have that personal stake. My grandparents did not come to the U.S. because of repression or persecution. They came for economic advantage. M... Full story
Dear Editor: I read with interest (and then I was appalled) the letter from Les Kippel in the Heritage. We belong to a Reform temple in Worcester, Mass., and attend Bet Chaim in the Orlando area when in Florida. Our temple up north does not have tickets and does not charge for coming during the High Holy Days. Anyone can walk in, sit anywhere, and is welcome at the services. There are forms/addressed envelopes at the door for donations and an announcement at each service is made that asks both members and nonmembers to donate for the services.... Full story
Naftali Bennett, Israel’s economy minister, got it 100 percent right in a Facebook posting just a few hours after the latest blow to American-Israeli relations—aka “chickenshitgate”— surfaced in the media. Responding to the anonymous “senior Obama administration” official who told The Atlantic correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a “chickenshit,” Bennett said, “Cursing the prime minister and calling him names is an insult not just to him but to the millions of Israeli citizens and Jews across the... Full story
Every once in a while someone new starts reading my notes, and responds with an expression of frustration. Usually it’s something like, “Dammit, what’s your solution?” Read my lips. There ain’t any. In politics one should never say never, but in this case there is close to a century of efforts circling back on similar ideas, with the same failure to bring the sides closer together. Is it time to plant a tombstone for the Two-State Solution? Who’s to blame? That’s a question too complex to answer. It resembles the question, “Do you believe in... Full story
Each lone wolf terror attack unto itself may appear minimal but Islamic fanatics are calling for an escalation in lone wolf activity in America. Their call is achieving the desired effect. After reading this article take a minute to imagine how much horror hundreds or even thousands of lone wolf suicide bombers could inflict in America. Image a suicide bomber or two in a subway during rush hour with knapsack bombs. Consider a car or truck bomb on a bridge or tunnel or at a reservoir dam or among pedestrians. The media rarely report on... Full story
Infanticide shakes Israel to the core. The world lets it pass unnoticed. A 10-month-old baby girl, on the playground, her head placed in the sniper’s scope, shot dead in her father’s arms. This cowardly, beastly act tore a hole in every Jewish heart. The pain was compounded by the drama of Shalhevet’s mother, crouched for hours on the floor of the playground, not allowing the burial society to touch her dead baby. All of Israel is shaken. Why? Because this is not about targeting settlers. It is about targeting Jews. All Jews. I am remin... Full story
On Friday afternoon, the Doctoral Students Council of the City University of New York (CUNY) once again considered a hateful resolution calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions After the same measure was defeated by 41 votes last month, this destructive and divisive resolution once again reared its ugly head. For a second time, the resolution failed to win passage, receiving 31 out of a required 39 votes. The hypocrites who promoted the resolution are part of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This... Full story
By Another young American man has given his life while fighting in the ranks of Islamist terrorists abroad. But this time, instead of being met with universal condemnations and scorn, the young terrorist is being greeted with sympathetic news accounts and “even-handed” statements from the State Department – all because he joined a politically correct terror group affiliated with the Palestinians. Just think. When Eric Harroun of Arizona joined an Al Qaeda group fighting in Syria last year, he was arrested as soon as he tried to re-enter the U... Full story
Beginning in the early 1990s, Turkey became the one Muslim-majority country that maintained a robust strategic relationship with Israel. The two countries developed strong trade ties. Israel helped update the Turkish air force and Turkey allowed the Israeli air force to train in its airspace. There were major plans underway to further upgrade strategic ties. In an unfortunate turn of events, Turkey’s elected prime minister (and now president), Recep Tayyip Erdogan, decided to take the once highly secular country in a very different direction a... Full story
Every time I pick up a newspaper (I am of that generational bent) I hold my breath. I do the same thing in turning on the news. Matter of fact, wife Rachel will greet me with “Anything in the news about Israel?” To be a Jew and to live like a Jew, be it Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or whatever, you must be aware of the Jewish world and what happens to Jews. Israel. What is happening in Europe with the rise of Anti-Semitism all of a sudden? Somebody gets arrested or accused—“Oy! I hope he/she is not Jewish.” When the financial world collapsed... Full story
Islam is a problem for the faithful, as well as for the rest of us. Its 1600 years of accumulated doctrines may not differ in essence from what Jews have accumulated in 2500 years or Christians in 2100 years. What is problematic, however, are all those Muslims stuck in a cycle of warfare against heresy and non-believers. It’s the same problem that produced centuries of killing among Christians from their earliest period, and hopefully has petered out in its last bastion of Northern Ireland. Jews have avoided killing one another over a... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—“See it. You Decide,” the Metropolitan Opera of New York exhorts in a promotional push capitalizing on the controversy over its new production of “The Death of Klinghoffer.” Well, I saw it. And I’m not sure which was more of a letdown, the hubbub over the show or the show itself. Let’s start with the critics and protesters, since they are responsible ultimately for turning the show into the most buzzed about cultural happening in New York (at least since the close of the Jeff Koons retrospective on Sunday at the Whitney Museu... Full story
On Oct. 8, 1985, our 69-year-old, wheelchair-bound father, Leon Klinghoffer, was shot in the head by Palestinian hijackers on the Achille Lauro cruise ship. The terrorists brutally and unceremoniously threw his body and wheelchair overboard into the Mediterranean. His body washed up on the Syrian shore a few days later. Beginning on Oct. 20 for eight performances, a baritone portraying “Leon Klinghoffer” appeared on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera and sang the “Aria of the Falling Body” as he artfully fell into the sea. Competing choruse... Full story
Ex-presidents seldom take an interest in Jewish affairs, with two notable exceptions. One is Jimmy Carter, who has repeatedly clashed with the Jewish community. Another is Herbert Hoover, an unlikely ally of the Jews who passed away 50 years ago this week (Oct. 20, 1964). Most ex-presidents have gone quietly into the sunset, and some have taken issue with the few who have chosen to speak out on current affairs. George W. Bush, for example, last week had some strong words in reaction to fellow ex-president Carter’s public criticism of President... Full story
