Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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After rejecting the United Nations Partition Plan in 1947, which would have given approximately half of geographical Palestine to the Arabs, Palestinian Arabs officially became belligerents in the conflict that persists today. Rather than accept a Jewish state after five-and-a-half months of warfare, Palestinian Arabs called upon their brethren from seven surrounding countries to invade and crush the nascent Jewish state. This decision to invade the new Jewish state on May 14, 1948, made by the Arab League on April 10, 1948, marked a watershed...
Dear Editor: The recent “mohel article” (“The quest to find America’s top mohels,” May 9 issue) brought back some memories. Fifty + years ago in Flushing, N.Y., my oldest son was born. The bris was to be performed by Rabbi Zimmerman. Little did my late wife and I realize he was a “frustrated Catskill comedian.” With a roomful of elderly aunts in attendance, he proclaimed that he “only performed for the first show.” After that he would “give the parents a diagram and instructions to cut along indicated lines.” I can still hear the screaming of...
Dear Editor: The JFGO May 16th article, “What’s next for Jewish teen education?” does not provide a thorough analysis of the main issues facing supplementary Hebrew high school education and offers no solutions. The Federation indicates that in 2005-2006 over 230 students were enrolled in our Beit Hamidrash and now a maximum of 35 students come. Then it indicates that three key reasons for the decline in numbers in 8 years: 1) greater high school student competition for colleges and extracurricular involvement, 2) high school student incre...
On Shabbat mornings, when I go outside to pick up the newspaper from the front stoop of my house, I am aware of a deep sense of responsibility. I know that where and how I open the paper to check the scores during the baseball season determines whether my beloved Baltimore Orioles won or lost the previous night’s game. I know, I know. Some might think it illogical—after all, the game has been over for hours and the players are home, asleep, no longer on the field. But over the years I’ve learned that if I check the scores before I bring the pap...
When Hassan Rouhani was elected as Iran’s president in June 2013, you could hear the sighs of relief in Washington, in Brussels, at U.N. Headquarters, and across key European capitals. Finally, we were told, the terrorism-supporting, human rights-abusing, Holocaust-denying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had left the political stage. Finally, a moderate, rational leader with whom we could conduct business was in power. Finally, there was a real chance of securing an enduring deal to thwart Iran’s dangerous nuclear ambitions. Almost a year later, we...
John Kerry regrets his use of the word apartheid in connection with Israel, but his half-hearted apology, which included a reiteration of his accusation against Israel’s leadership as well as that of the Palestinians for not having the courage to do what he thought was right, put him squarely with the Jewish and international left that thinks Israel has no choice but to cave in to Palestinians or to absorb them. Apartheid will come, in Kerry’s view like that of Jimmy Carter, when Israel has to protect itself from the Palestinians who have bec...
This week, the Hollywood left finally discovered something it had apparently been missing for the last few decades: Countries that impose Islamic law, known as Sharia, brutally violate human rights. This shocking realization came after the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, who owns the Beverly Hills Hotel, announced on May 1 that Brunei, a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia, will implement Sharia, which dictates that homosexuality and extramarital sex be punished with penalties including...
I was in one of those big boxes in another city, waiting for a prescription. After wandering around for a few minutes, I sat down across the aisle from the pharmacy on one of the benches kindly provided by the store. I was wearing my cassock and vest and skufia (a priest’s cap). I had attended the New Mexico Orthodoxy clergy April meeting, and stopped on my way home to fill a prescription, because it was significantly less expensive than at our home pharmacy. Several people wheeled their carts past me and said hello or made various comments. I...
Dear Editor: On behalf of the many food banks in this area, I want to commend the Postal workers who volunteered for the Annual Post Office food drive. The food was of excellent quality and in date. During the holidays, donations are plentiful but around this time of year, people forget that hunger is a year around event. There are still many people who are not employed because they are sick, and disabled and even if they were successful in finding employment, it was at a much lower salary. The need of food banks is still a necessity. The Post...
Dear Editor: I am responding to Richard Ries’ May 9 Viewpoint, “Beware the ides and tides of Jewish racism.” In Mr. Ries’ conclusion he states, “It is well past time for Islam to usher in Reform movements of their own with equality for women and gays.” I agree with Mr. Ries’ conclusion however, non-Muslims need to understand the Islamic concept of ‘Ijtihad’ or innovations in Islamic doctrine. Ijtihad is a technical term of Islamic Law that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources, th...
Dear Editor: I was so disappointed to read the letter to the editor in the May 9th edition that was so pointedly critical of Temple Israel. I felt compelled to share my experience, which has been completely opposite to hers. While I am happy to know that she had good experiences at the other synagogues, I actually had to read the letter twice to make sure she was talking about Temple Israel in Winter Springs! I have found this congregation to be very warm, friendly, and extremely welcoming. I can only wonder what “function” she attended tha...
By Alan Dershowitz When President Barack Obama warned of “international fallout” if Israel fails to embrace the latest U.S. Middle East peace proposal, Newsmax asked noted author and Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz to comment on the growing talk of a European boycott against Israel. Why are so many of the grandchildren of Nazis and Nazi collaborators who brought us the Holocaust once again declaring war on the Jews? Why have we seen such an increase in anti-Semitism and irrationally virulent anti-Zionism in western Europe? To answer the...
This article also ran in the Times of Israel. The Heritage ran the article about the anti-Semitic vandalism at Feldman’s off-campus housing in the May 2, 2014 issue. “We have something important to tell you and we really think you should know. We found at least 3 swastikas on the walls on the third floor.” This is how Saturday, April 26, ended for me. Not only did I find those three swastikas, but I found six more when I was making my rounds in the building. This is any Jewish college student’s worst nightmare. It is a reminder that either...
(JTA)—The vote is over, but the debate rages on over the recent rejection of J Street’s application to join the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Depending on where you stand, the 22-17 vote rejecting the application was either about J Street’s own missteps or the conference’s failure to live up to its billing as the Jewish community’s vehicle for bringing together organizations from across the political and religious spectrum to forge a strong pro-Israel consensus. With passions running high, it seemed like a go...
I am not normally for new Jewish/Israeli based organizations—we seem to have more than our share. Yet, the time has come for a new effort that will restore the greatness and vitality of the Zionist movement. Israel and the Jewish People are under attack from the outside, and more importantly, from the inside. Support for Zionism is the weakest I’ve seen. Support for Israel seems to be getting weaker every day—especially from within our Jewish community. The Zionist Spring is a new effort with which I am very impressed. It is not a polit...
Earlier this week the application of JStreet, which calls itself “The political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans,” was denied membership in the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (COP). While I personally find their stance on Israel and how they approach Israeli issues in Washington unhelpful from the viewpoint of someone who lives here, nevertheless they deserve a seat on the COP. To understand that position one needs to look at several critical factors beyond whether one agrees or disagrees with the pro...
(ALGEMEINER)—There were very good reasons why the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (the Conference) clearly voted against the membership application of J Street , an extremist group whose activities are hostile to Israel. The key stated missions of the Conference are “mobilizing support to halt Iran’s nuclear program,” “counter[ing] the global campaign to delegitimize Israel and the Jewish people,” “bolster[ing] Israel’s security” and “combating terrorism and anti-Semitism.” J Street ’s actions are clearly at...
When the taped conversation between Donald Sterling, billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and his friend/girlfriend/mistress V. Stiviano was leaked recently, a righteous uproar rose from National Basketball Association players, coaches, owners, media, down to people on the street, who rightly denounced his racist epithets against African Americans. Even though the released conversation was supposedly only a snippet of more than an hour of talk between the two, it contained statements...
As soon as an African American student at San Jose State University who was racially harassed and bullied by his dormitory roommates came forward, university, county, and state officials began an investigation. Within days, prosecutors labeled it a hate crime, battery charges were filed against three of the roommates, and the university had suspended them. Within weeks, California State Assembly Speaker John Perez announced the creation of a Select Committee on Campus Climate, and its first task was to look into this incident and find a way to...
Palestinians of Hamas Gaza and Fatah West Bank have announced the end of their dispute. They claim it gives them added strength to deal with Israel. Bibi is claiming that it provides the exit from the peace process. At least temporarily, the U.S. is siding with Israel in accepting a suspension of meetings between negotiators. The critical questions are: How pragmatic is Hamas? And can Israel or the U.S. negotiate with certified terrorists? Israel has negotiated with Hamas, as well as with Hezbollah, but only on limited issues with respect to...
Ed Ziegler’s April 18th column, “Islamic enclaves in America,” is, in my opinion, an attempt to create monsters out of us. The Judeophilic philosopher Frederic Nietzsche, who broke ties with Richard Wagner in large part over the opera composer’s German xenophobia and anti-Semitism, penned many proverbs and aphorisms, one of his most famous being “He who chases monsters lives in danger of becoming one.” By this, he means that if we compromise our own ethics and values in the fight against evil—for example, if we use torture to extract infor...
For the rest of his life Donald Sterling will be remembered for racist remarks even though they were made in private. Paula Deen and Cliven Bundy will also be remembered for their racist remarks, as will Don Imus. Imus made on air comments in 2007 about the Rutger’s women’s basketball team. Regardless of all the good any individual may have done in life it only takes one racist remark to dismantle an entire kingdom. I thought Joan Rivers really sounded stupid on April 22 when she appeared on the Today Show and compared staying in her dau...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — J Street wasn’t welcomed under the umbrella, but it hasn’t been left out alone in the rain. J Street’s failed effort to join the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations showed that many in the Jewish community still regard the dovish Israel policy group as beyond the pale. In a secret ballot Wednesday, 22 member groups of the Jewish community’s foreign policy umbrella body voted against admitting J Street, with 17 in favor, three abstentions and eight not present. At the same time, the membershi...
Dear Editor: I read with interest the column by Richard Ries about visiting various temples (April 4 issue) and wish to comment from a snowbird’s viewpoint. My husband and I are in Florida for only 2-3 months and our regular temple is up north. We cannot afford two memberships but do make small donations when we attend a temple function. We have needed to find a temple while in Florida and found that three have been great: Bet Chaim, which works well for us and is our first choice, for start time (8 p.m.), distance, and friendliness of the c...
Dear Editor: (Todah rabah—thank you) for running the piece about Hebrew language literacy (“American Jewry must reclaim Hebrew” – April 25, 2014). The author could also have written that learning Hebrew is fun! The article’s author asks, “how do we go about promoting Hebrew?” There are several Hebrew language learning opportunities in our community. Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation (SOJC) teaches Hebrew every fall, winter and spring as part of the adult lifelong learning programs (for more information call (407) 239-5444), and I bet oth...
