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Parent arrested for threatening to burn down Jewish school, Doug Emhoff can't text his wife, remembering the babka baker of "Seinfeld," and Israeli strawberry breaks world record.
THE 150 GREATEST JEWISH POP SONGS What’s the old joke: ask two Jews, get three opinions? Well, we may have taken that a bit far. In September, Seth Rogovoy, who has been contributing to our culture section since 1990, hatched an idea to come up with a list of the greatest Jewish pop songs in history. He enlisted a couple dozen comrades from the world of music and criticism who scoured the streaming services, asked the experts, solicited suggestions and wore out old LP’s, cassettes, and CD’s.
Eventually, Seth handed in a list of 300. Which our executive editor, Adam Langer, said was way too many. So they culled it to 150 greatest Jewish pop songs of all time, a list that Gothamist quickly gushed was “bizarre, admirably and frankly insane.”
Tonight at 7:30 p.m., Seth and Adam will be in conversation about this incredible project with a number of the musicologists who were involved. You can get more information about the free, virtual event and register to watch it here. But first, you’ll want to wallow in the collection of essays that provided context and perspective to the list, and perhaps listen to this playlist of the songs as you do.
Here’s the catalog: What’s a Jewish song anyway — and how can you recognize one when you hear it? How one cheesy 2009 pop song became the most massive bar mitzvah hit of all time How Mel Brooks’ Hitler ditty became the best worst song ever written The ‘dark and funny’ song that Leonard Cohen would have nailed to a church door How a Jewish song with gospel roots became a 1960s garage band standard A ‘Dachau’ song so shocking and transformative, there’s nothing else like it The second time Lou Reed paid homage to his Jewish mentor Audacious and transgressive, Randy Newman’s satire of bigotry still has the power to shock and awe When pop music’s fascination with Nazi symbols and history went way over the line In 1985, they wrote the granddaddy of all Bible story songs How a dysfunctional New York punk band personified the postwar Jewish struggle How Neil Diamond’s most personal song chronicled his journey out of Brooklyn In Bob Dylan’s mysterious 1975 masterpiece, is he referencing the Talmud?
And don’t forget to sign up for tonight’s event, where Adam and Seth will talk to Alan Light, author and former editor-in-chief of Vibe and Spin; Hesta Prynn, a DJ and host on SiriusXM; Jennifer Gilmore, assistant professor at Lafayette College, novelist, and screenwriter; and contributing music critic Dan Epstein. Register now to receive the Zoom link ➤ ALSO FROM THE FORWARD Like a young Trump in training, the Jewish ‘Tinder Swindler’ is manipulating the media for political gain: The son of a rabbi committed $10 million in international fraud, conning women all across the globe whom he met on a dating app. He served only a few months of jail time and is already out, buying billboards in Tel Aviv and purchasing paid content in magazines to promote his model girlfriend. A new Netflix documentary tells the story, and our language columnist, Aviya Kushner, watched it – twice. And then she learned that some Israeli news networks were sweeping his crimes under the rug and encouraging him to run for public office. “Con-artist experience as job qualification for world leader,” she writes. “We’ve seen it before.” Read the story ➤
Opinion | My daughter is a new immigrant to Israel. The state has failed to support her during the pandemic:N. Aron Troodler watched from 6,000 miles away as his daughter endured what he called a “horrific experience” in a government-mandated quarantine hotel. During intermittent lockdowns, Troodler writes, “she was completely alone, forced to observe Shabbat and Jewish holidays in total seclusion because she was unable to travel to other people’s homes.” Israel celebrates those who make aliyah, he adds, but fails to address “their unique needs.” Read the essay ➤
But wait, there’s more… The Jewish Vote, a progressive group, is endorsing women of color in two New York Congressional districts. The head of the Orthodox Union has a plan to combat rising antisemitism. And he wants Congress to fund it.WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY The Scheck Hillel Community School in North Miami Beach. 🔥 A parent was arrested in Florida after publicly saying he would burn down the his son’s Jewish school over its mask policy. He was charged with one count of threatening to kill or do bodily harm, which can carry up to 15 years in prison, and his son was expelled from the Scheck Hillel Community School. (JTA)
🎙️ Some people call podcaster Bruno Aiub the Brazilian Joe Rogan because of his popularity and irreverent interviewing style. Now, even as Rogan seems to have survived boycott efforts by musicians angry over his COVID misinformation and prior use of the N-word, Aiub has been booted from his own show over his remarks about Nazis. In Brazil, antisemitism and showing Nazi symbols are crimes. Aiub did not apologize: “I am being destroyed for defending an idea that is constitutional in the United States,” he said. (New York Times)
👏 The Jewish Federations of North America announced on Tuesday that its new chair is Julie Platt. She is the second woman to lead the organization. She is also the mom of star of stage and screen, Ben Platt. (JTA)
🗳️ Josh Mandel, a Jewish candidate from Ohio running for U.S. Senate, has become one of the nation’s most strident crusaders for Trumpism. A new profile in The New York Times is filled with Jewish tidbits: Mandel is the grandson of Holocaust survivors, it points out, yet has compared vaccine mandates to the Gestapo, trafficked in Islamophobia, and wants to tear down the wall separating church and state. Friends say his “drift into far-right-wing politics” makes Mandel “nearly unrecognizable” to them. “I want to believe this is a character he is playing,” said one former colleague. (New York Times)
🎨 France approved the return to Jewish families of 15 pieces of art that were looted by the Nazis. The artwork, which includes paintings by Gustav Klimt and Marc Chagall, had been displayed at public museums throughout the country. It’s estimated that approximately 100,000 works of art were seized in France during the war. (AFP)
🇺🇸 Doug Emhoff can’t text his wife and other true tales of being the Second Gentleman. This detailed story highlights the ways life has changed for Emhoff, an entertainment lawyer-turned Georgetown law professor, over the past 13 months. The first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president, Emhoff has tried to shine a national spotlight on antisemitism. “There’s a real epidemic of hate going on in our country,” he told a group of Jewish leaders after the hostage taking at a Texas synagogue. (Miami Herald)
Shiva call ➤ Alan Feldstein, who hosted his Jewish wedding at a Nazi mountain enclave, died at 88. “We got married there because my husband wanted to thumb his nose at Hitler,” Felice Feldstein recalled. And that was not the only time he took a stand. In 1968, Feldstein staged a walkout at a Virginia barber shop that wouldn’t serve Black customers; it ultimately led to a change in policy at several local barber shops. Read the obituary ➤
Another shiva call ➤ Kathryn Kates, who portrayed a bakery-shop owner who informed Jerry and Elaine that she had run out of chocolate babka on an episode of “Seinfeld,” has died at 73.
ON THE CALENDAR On this day in history: Margot Frank, the elder sister of Anne Frank, was born on Feb. 16, 1926. She reportedly kept a diary of her own, but it has never been found. Some modern-day authors have written fictionalized accounts of Margot’s diaries and, in 2013, a book was published that featured an alternative history: what if Margot did not die in a concentration camp but survived the war and resurfaced in Philadelphia? “Some of the best moments in the book are Margie’s intermittent reflections on how easy Americans — even, or especially, American Jews — have it,” we wrote in our review.
In honor of National Do a Grouch a Favor Day, check out our guide to starting a kindness revolution – with cookies.
Stay tuned: Later today, the Jewish Agency’s 10-member selecting committee is expected to hold a key vote to pick a new head after months of delays and controversy. PHOTO OF THE DAY A representative of the Ariel family holding his prize-winning strawberry. A strawberry grown in Israel has just won the Guinness World Record as the largest ever. The fruit is 18 centimeters long and 34 centimeters in circumference, and weighs more than 10 ounces. For comparison, a typical iPhone weighs about 7 ounces. “During this strawberry season, in late January and early February, it was particularly cold,” explained Dr. Nir Dai of Israel’s Agricultural Research Organization, who witnessed the great strawberry’s weigh-in. That cold allowed the fruit to develop slowly for 45 days, with multiple berries fusing together to form one large specimen.
Dept. of Corrections: In Tuesday’s newsletter, we mistakenly wrote that Rod Ponton, a Texas lawyer, used a Zoom filter to make himself look like a cat during a court hearing. The cat filter came from a third-party app associated with Dell webcams; Ponton did use it during a Zoom meeting.
––– Thanks to Rob Eshman, Jacob Kornbluh, Adam Langer and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected].
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