After 3,000 years, adding 12 letters to the Aleph Bet to make Hebrew less sexist

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Atoning for the California recall election, Vermont city backtracks on BDS (for now), Manhattan JCC names new head, Mandy Patinkin davens for dog via voicemail and more.

OUR LEAD STORY 👆

After 3,000 years, new Aleph Bet aims to make Hebrew less sexist

For a project at a Tel Aviv-area college, Michal Shomer, a graphic artist, added a dozen new letters to Hebrew to make the language more inclusive of women and non-binary people.

What’s the problem? All Hebrew nouns are either masculine or feminine. And when referring to any mixed-gender group, traditional Hebrew uses the male plural – even if that group were to be made up of, say, hundreds of women and a single man. Many people, perhaps throughout the language’s 3,000-year history, found this problematic.

How it works: Shomer’s new letters do not have their own pronunciations. It’s up to the reader to choose which part of the letter — the masculine or feminine — to apply for any given word. Visually, Shomer said, the new aleph bet includes everybody.

Catching on: Ten thousand people so far have downloaded what she calls “multi-gender Hebrew” from her website over the past year (it’s free). The new letters are now popping up all over Israel — at secular schools, on wedding invitations and in Knesset offices.

Backlash: Critics accuse Shomer of taking part in an anti-religious, radical feminist plot to undermine traditional Jewish values. Her response: “The letters are meant to make a contribution to inclusivity and equality in Israeli society. How can anyone be opposed to that?”

Read the story >

ALSO IN THE FORWARD 🗳

Recall or not, Governor Gavin Newsom needs to atone — and so do his critics: As Californians cast ballots Tuesday in a challenge polls suggest Newsom will beat back, Rob Eshman, our Los Angeles-based national editor, suggests that all involve take a cue from the Jewish calendar and do some atonement. “Yom Kippur asks us to look back on the year and see where we have fallen short as human beings,” Eshman notes. “A time of reflection is a terrible thing to waste.” Read his letter from L.A. >

Burlington did not endorse BDS — but left the door open:The city council in Vermont’s largest city narrowly voted early Tuesday to withdraw a controversial resolution to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel that would have made it the first American city to do so. The 6-5 vote came after hours of heated comments in a meeting that stretched into the early hours of Tuesday morning. But the sponsor of the resolution, who had acknowledged it “was a little bit one-sided,” said he might revive it after more committee discussion. Read the story >

Manhattan JCC announces new head: Manhattan’s Marlene Meyerson Jewish Community Center has chosen Rabbi Joanna Samuels, a congregational rabbi on the Upper West Side, as its next leader. Samuels will take over from Rabbi Joy Levitt, who spent a quarter century at the JCC, including 15 years at its helm. Read the story >

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY👇

ROCKET MAN JARED ISAACMAN WILL ORBIT THE EARTH FOR THREE DAYS. (GETTY IMAGES)

🇯🇴 Before we get going, our senior political reporter Jacob Kornbluh just texted me this scoop: Jordan’s King Abdullah II will meet with the top leadership of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in New York today.

🚀 Jared Isaacman, a self-made billionaire who once auctioned off a ride in his fighter jet at a Chabad charity event, is scheduled to blast into space this week aboard the world’s first all-civilian rocket. (Space.com, Forward)

🇮🇱 A single-engine plane crash in Greece on Monday killed Haim Geron, a witness in the corruption trial of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his wife, Esti. Netanyahu’s trial resumed yesterday after a three-week hiatus. (Times of Israel)

📚 Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Jewish congressman who led the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, has written a memoir about his son’s New Year’s Eve suicide and the Capitol insurrection a week later. “I wrote ‘Unthinkable’ as a way to make sense of two traumatic events in my life,” he said. (The Hill)

🍿 One of the most popular movies in Israel right now is an animated epic depicting a Jewish civil war and the destruction of the Second Temple 2,000 years ago. Both Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Isaac Herzog have encouraged people to see it. Isabel Kershner, a Jerusalem correspondent for The New York Times, said “Israelis on the left and right have praised the film as an argument for a new atmosphere of tolerance.” (NYT)

📺 Anna Winger, creator of “Unorthodox,” has signed a deal with Netflix to develop more shows. “Unorthodox,” about an ultra-orthodox woman from Brooklyn who runs away from her family and faith, was nominated for several Emmys, a Bafta and Golden Globe awards. (Hollywood Reporter)

🐶 It was previously reported that Mandy Patinkin sings three Jewish blessings to his dog, Becky, before she starts each meal. So when the actor recently went on his first flight since the start of the pandemic, he did what any good dog dad would do: he left a recording for Becky to listen to. (Algemeiner)

Shiva call > George Wein, a music-festival promoter who helped create the model for gatherings everywhere from Woodstock to the south of France, died Monday at 95. His most famous series – the Newport Jazz and Folk festivals – continue to this day. (NYT)

What else we’re reading > After evacuating, they rang in the Jewish New Year in the middle of a wildfire … ‘Come From Away’ returns to stage and screen, with Jewish values at the center of its story … Larry David getting annoyed at the noise during a fashion show is everything.

FROM OUR OPINION SECTION 🌍

I served in Afghanistan as an Army chaplain. Jewish wisdom can help us process what comes after withdrawal: “In a place where no one is human,” the great sage Hillel taught, “strive to be human.” Cantor David Frommer, now the Jewish chaplain at the U.S. Military Academy West Point, turns to that mantra often. “Two thousand years ago,” Frommer writes, “one of history’s most famous rabbis, urged Jews to choose the harder right over the easier wrong.” Read the essay >

YU’s institutional silence harms all students — and I know change is possible: Nora Berman, our opinion fellow, says Yeshiva University is ignoring the root of the problems underpinning both a recent discrimination lawsuit by LGBTQ students and a rape allegation against one of its basketball players. “It is possible to both protect the most marginalized members of one’s community and to preserve the religious character of the institution,” she says. Read the essay >

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 👋

Why do we still need Jewish journalism? That was the topic of a panel discussion yesterday including our editor-in-chief, Jodi Rudoren and our friends Alana Newhouse and Philissa Cramer, who run Tablet Magazine and JTA, respectively. Among the questions asked by Gal Beckerman of The New York Times: how they balance quality against website clicks and are these publications sustainable through philanthropy.

ON THE CALENDAR 🗓

On this day in history: Gertrude Berg, queen of classic radio and the American sitcom, died on Sept. 14, 1966. Berg’s “The Goldbergs” pioneered the vocabulary of the modern television comedy show: the squabbling-but-loving couple and their scrappy, curious youngsters; the nosy neighbors; and the well-meaning but somewhat befuddled uncle. “She really is the most famous woman in America you’ve never heard of,” said Jewish filmmaker Aviva Kempner who made a 2010 documentary about Berg. Watch the trailer here.

It’s also the birthday of Walter Koenig, who played Pavel Chekov in the original Star Trek TV series and movies. In his honor, meet the rabbi who wrote a book about the Jewish themes in the classic sci-fi series.

PHOTO OF THE DAY 📸

The diplomatic missions of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco to the United Nations celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Abraham Accords at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan on Monday.

“Perhaps even the Palestinians, as they see the benefits of our peace and the prosperity it brings, will finally view these Accords as an opportunity and not a threat,” remarked Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said at the event that the Biden administration “is committed to strengthening and expanding on these agreements.”

Pictured left to right: Ambassadors to the U.N. Gilad Erdan (Israel), Linda Thomas-Greenfield (U.S.), Jamal Al Rowaiei (Bahrain), Lana Nusseibeh (U.A.E.) and Omar Hilale (Morocco).

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