Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 3385 - 3409 of 3706
Dear Editor: The way to memorialize victims and to teach the lessons from the monumental human tragedy of the Holocaust is through education—not through inappropriate contemporary Nazi analogies as argued by David Benkof (“The ADL should value Nazi analogies, not call them offensive,” Feb. 21 Heritage). Benkof’s analogizing endemic signs of Nazis stripping the rights of and de-humanizing Jews during the Holocaust era to present-day examples of policy debate trivializes the Holocaust. This misguided theory confuses the importance of remindi... Full story
Ever since its founding in 2008, J Street, the liberal Jewish advocacy group, has expended a great deal of time and energy trying to convince American Jews that it is a credible and more ethical alternative to traditional pro-Israel organizations like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). J Street believes, not unreasonably, that there is a constituency for its work among those American Jews who are generally supportive of Israel but queasy over certain of its policies, most obviously creating and sustaining Jewish communities i... Full story
So, what does that mean? If it is the duty of the Jewish People to “Heal the World,” where would you start? Is it up to us to finally wake the world up to the fact that the world—our world—really needs healing? Yes, it is. No one in this winter of snowy discontent will disagree that something is really changing. That the snows, where they are, are deeper and more frequent and where they are not the drought gets worse. That we know. That is a given. That last year was the warmest on record and this year, despite a brutal winter will probably be... Full story
There is a long tradition, no less prominent in Judaism than in other cultures, of voluntary service and donations collected for the benefit of the needy or some other public purpose. There is also a long list of eleemosynary organizations that have gone bad, with leaders using the resources collected for their own enrichment. The schnorer is an established character is Jewish myth and humor. The man or woman who asks for money, some of which may be for him/herself, but is skilled in telling a story that warms the heart and opens the wallet.... Full story
Los Angeles—Anne Frank is the most universally known of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Her diary has been read by millions of people around the world, and her tragic story of living in fear, hiding from the Nazis in a secret annex in Amsterdam with her family and others for more than two years, has been told in a Broadway play, Hollywood movie, television dramas and in countless other ways. Is there anything more to be known about this precocious young girl with a gift for writing, a poignant faith in humanity, and maturity fa... Full story
Dear Editor: In regard to the article in the Heritage Feb. 14 issue, about the communities, I would like to know where the funding for Ms. Paiss’ NGO comes from. The communities in Judea and Samaria are part of Israel. The Knesset should annex those areas. Calling all the cities in those areas “settlements” does a disservice to all the thousands of Jews living there. Visit Judea and Samaria when you go to Israel and you will see those cities are permanent for all the Jews who make their homes there. Sandra Solomon Casselberr... Full story
Dear Editor: I was disappointed to read your cover article in the Feb. 7 edition of the Heritage regarding a member of the community’s supposed “master plan” for the Maitland campus. I am referring specifically to Mr. Schwartz’s idea to re-combine the Jewish Academy of Orlando back into the JCC. I would encourage Mr. Schwartz to read Olga Yorish’s email (coincidentally sent on Feb. 7) about the importance of day schools for the future of a Jewish populace that is growing less connected to its Jewish roots. In addition to citing a Pew Research... Full story
By Ben Cohen JNS.org There is a smug sense of “I told you so” about much of the recent commentary concerning the challenge that Israel faces from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Jeremy Ben-Ami, executive director of J Street—a left-wing Israel advocacy group which believes the best way to advocate for Israel is by opposing sanctions on Iran and castigating Israel’s democratically elected government—is one example. Speaking to a Jewish audience in New Haven recently, Ben-Ami talked, and not for the first time, of Israel be... Full story
The people of Israel have survived worse than the threats currently being made by Palestinians, John Kerry and Thomas Friedman. The betting is that Israel and Palestine will agree to continue talking for another year, if only to avoid a frontal insult to the American administration. Kerry and Friedman do not appear inclined to comprehend the threats faced by Israel and many others from the various streams of Islam, now at one of their historic feverish highs in both Syria and Egypt. Perhaps they should turn to something that may be easier,... Full story
PHILADELPHIA (JTA)—In the past few weeks, Secretary of State John Kerry has come under attack from prominent Israelis as well as American friends of the Jewish state for some of the methods he has adopted in his determination to find a solution to the Middle East conflict. Such criticism strikes the Obama administration, as well as many friends of Israel, as absurd. After all, what better favor could the United States do for Israel than to help it find the peace for which its people have hungered since the birth of their state? But while K... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—The hostile intentions of the international boycott, divestment and sanctions movement toward Israel are clear. But some believe it is possible to be pro-Israel while supporting just a little BDS—boycotting Israeli businesses located on the West Bank but not those within pre-1967 Israel. While such a strategy may make people feel good about themselves, it is a distinction without a difference—like being just a little pregnant. More important, by adding to the boycott pressure, it will make resolution of the Israe... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—John Kerry is not a naive man. I met him recently at a luncheon at Georgetown University with a small group of Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith leaders brought together to hear the secretary of state’s frank reflections on the peace process. While deeply aware of the complexities and obstacles to peace, Kerry is undeterred by the acrimony and intransigence that imprison Israelis and Palestinians in a devastating and soul-corrupting status quo even as the Middle East shakes around them. “At some point,” he said, “you ju... Full story
In mid-December, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) sharply condemned a board member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) for comparing gun restrictions in America to those in Nazi Germany. That’s par for the course for the group, which appears to have a strict policy of battling any analogy that invokes Nazi Germany as offensive to the memory of the Holocaust. But Nazi Germany isn’t the same thing as the Holocaust—in fact, the Jewish community should constantly look for signs that evoke aspects of the pre-Holocaust era so we can speak out b... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—This past May, I made a YouTube video with the Israeli NGO Rabbis for Human Rights that drew a parallel between my role as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” in which the Jews in Sholem Aleichem’s tale faced expulsion from the Russian shtetl of Anatevka, and a Knesset proposal to forcibly displace up to 40,000 Bedouin-Arab citizens. The video included anguishing footage of the July 2010 demolition of the unrecognized Bedouin village of El-Araqib. The proposal, known as the Prawer-Begin plan, has reportedly been withdra... Full story
By Ira Sharkansky Slogans of the left are that Israeli occupation of Palestinian land cannot last, or alternatively, that the international community will not tolerate the lack of agreement between Israel and an independent State of Palestine. It has lasted for coming onto 66 or 47 years, depending on whether you begin at 1948 or 1967. Those who say it can’t last, and must be interrupted by an agreement with Palestine overlook two things: • The impossibility of predicting the future, perhaps especially amidst the turmoil currently app... Full story
When it comes to the most asinine response to the purported deal between the world’s main powers and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program, top honors to go Harvard University’s Stephen Walt. Walt was the co-author, with his academic colleague John Mearsheimer, of “The Israel Lobby,” a badly researched, poorly argued screed about how a cluster of pro-Israel organizations have cajoled successive U.S. administrations into doing things they otherwise wouldn’t have done. Paranoically obsessed with what he regards as the malign influence o... Full story
Against the backdrop of recent efforts in some academic circles to vilify and isolate Israel, let me put my cards on the table right up front. I’m not dispassionate when it comes to Israel. Quite the contrary. The establishment of the state in 1948; the fulfillment of its envisioned role as home and haven for Jews from around the world; its wholehearted embrace of democracy and the rule of law; and its impressive scientific, cultural, and economic achievements are accomplishments beyond my wildest imagination. For centuries, Jews around the w... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—On her way out the door to defend the SodaStream company, the suddenly political Scarlett Johannson threw a grenade at her erstwhile cause, the international aid organization Oxfam. According to her spokesperson, “she and Oxfam have a fundamental difference of opinion in regards to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.” Full stop. The global boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, which harbors more than a few people who want to put the entire project of a Jewish homeland out of business, is not the issue betwe... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—All in favor of a strong Jewish future say “aye.” On that core question, there is resounding unanimity, but there have been some unnecessarily polarizing articles in the Jewish press suggesting that we have to select either endogamy or outreach. Nonsense! Such binary thinking reduces a multi-dimensional and complex reality to a false choice. At the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial in San Diego a few weeks back, I challenged Jewish leaders to stop speaking “about intermarriage as if it were a disease. It is not.” I do not know... Full story
Dear Editor: We have received questions about the articles which appeared in last week’s Heritage regarding Jewish Academy of Orlando, including one proposed plan that suggests Jewish Academy of Orlando (JAO) will be moving from its current building. We want to address this directly as we reiterate our commitment to a vibrant and financially sound Jewish community for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. JAO’s lease term runs to year 2027 to house our much beloved K-8th-grade day school. We only want success for the Jewish Federation of... Full story
By David Bornstein In conversations with many community members, it became apparent that many people blame the Federation for the current crippling debt that encumbers the Maitland campus, while the vast majority don’t understand the situation at all. Having been involved from the beginning, I hope to shed some light on how we got where we are. No biases. Nothing softened or glossed over. Just the facts, and you can form your own opinions from there. Prior to the Maitland community campus e... Full story
Even though it is difficult to understand, Islamic fanatics consider themselves at war with all non-Muslims as well as the entire United States. Understanding ones enemy is important to having any hope of defending one’s self, specifically when the enemy does so many odd and illogical things. In Saudi Arabia, according to a spokesperson of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the religious police have the right to stop a woman who has “tempting eyes” and order her to cover them immediately or face a fine or pu... Full story
As pro bono attorneys for Jonathan Pollard since 2000, we never cease to be amazed at how those who are hostile to Pollard feel compelled to make up facts. Evidently, these adversaries recognize that the actual facts are not sufficient to justify keeping Pollard in prison any longer, as he has already served more than 28 years for delivering classified information to the State of Israel. The most recent manifestation of this phenomenon appears in an opinion piece in the online edition of The New York Times by M.E. Bowman, titled “Don’t tru... Full story
As I am out in the community, a recurring theme that comes up in many meetings and conversations is a lack of a unified Jewish community. This problem has been articulated by community members, volunteers, rabbis, and communal professionals. There is also a feeling that this Jewish community used to be united years ago, but that somehow we’ve lost our way and have become polarized and divided. Some of the strife among agencies and synagogues is a symptom of the competition for limited financial and people resources. Some of it is a r... Full story
As I speak to people in the community, I am often asked “Is Federation relevant?” The answer is a resounding, “Yes.” There’s probably no better time or place to explain my answer than this edition of The Heritage. As with any organization, Federation’s relevance depends on periodic adaptation to changing times. And the times are definitely changing. But our mission continues to be building and strengthening the Jewish community of Central Florida, which manifests in many ways. In 2008-09, when the economy took a bad turn, Federation... Full story
