| WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION | | | The latest war updates, Elon Musk’s lawsuit over Nazi content, and the secret Jewish history of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Forwarding the News will be off tomorrow. Enjoy Thanksgiving! | ISRAEL AT WAR | | A man and a child walk past portraits of Israeli hostages Tuesday in Tel Aviv. (Getty) | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet approved a deal late Tuesday night for Hamas to release 50 hostages over four days, likely starting Thursday or Friday. Most of those released will be women and children.
Afterward, Hamas can extend the truce by releasing an additional 10 hostages a day. Up to 80 of the estimated 240 hostages in Gaza could be released. The International Red Cross will be able to visit and provide medicine to those hostages who are not released, according to Netanyahu.
In exchange, Israel agreed to pause its offensive in Gaza for at least four days, and will release three Palestinian prisoners for every hostage released.
Related: For U.S. officials, Israeli hostage deal brings joy — and hard questions about how much more war to support | | A woman in Tel Aviv this morning looks at wall paintings highlighting children held hostage, as families await news after the announcement of a temporary truce. (Getty) | We have three opinion essays on the news…
Rabbi Jay Michaelson calls the hostage deal “a triumph of difficult compromise,” adding that “it’s easy for those of us on the sidelines” to chant slogans like “cease-fire now” or “destroy Hamas.” But, he points out, “reality is dictated by power and circumstance as much as by principle, and wisdom often bends principle toward mercy.”
There are enough politicians, policymakers and experts crafting sophisticated arguments for Israel’s next moves, argues Sruli Fruchter, a rabbinical student. “For the rest of us, empathy demands more of our attention.”
“The hard truth is that the Israeli government and defense establishment already failed to protect their people,” writes our contributing columnist Dany Bahar, who says that Israel has a moral responsibility to save the hostages at any cost.
Related… Pope Francis met separately this morning with relatives of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and begged for an end to the “passions that are killing everyone.”
Katzir Hanna, a 77-year-old Israeli grandmother taken hostage, has reportedly died in captivity from medical complications. | | A Shabbat dinner table with 200 empty seats representing the Israeli hostages, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 27, 2023. (Getty) | Thanksgiving in a time of war…
Opinion | Why the Thanksgiving meal should be like the Passover Seder: For generations, Jews have debated whether the Haggadah’s main message is of empathy for the stranger or vigilance against the perennial threat of antisemitism. “The answer, of course, is both,” writes Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove. This year, the war may make dinner conversations more challenging than usual. “The success of a Seder is not the answers it provides, but the open spirit of inquiry it engenders.” Read his essay ➤
Opinion | When you discuss antisemitism this Thanksgiving, do not mince words: “For all of the horror it wrought, the Hamas terror attack of Oct. 7 helped clarify some of the questions surrounding antisemitism and the best means of combating it,” writes Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States. “This year, despite the pain, the fear, and the loss, we have that unity to be thankful for.” Read his essay ➤
News flash: Your family is not going to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict around the Thanksgiving table. Here are some tips for productive conversation.
Take a seat: The families of Americans held hostage by Hamas are urging people to leave an empty seat at the Thanksgiving table to raise awareness of the captives’ plight. The initiative is called “Seats of Hope.” | | The IDF's chief cantor, Lt. Col. Shai Abramson (center), sings alongside a reservist who was injured in Gaza, as they play the violin at a hospital in Israel on Tuesday. (Getty) | Plus… There are reports that Hamas terrorists used a drug called Captagon, a stimulant used to improve performance and lessen inhibitions, during the attack on Oct. 7. Here’s what to know about the drug known as the “poor man’s cocaine.”
The Israeli military detained a Palestinian poet for two days. He joins a roster of celebrated Palestinian writers arrested or jailed by Israel.
A young Lebanese TV reporter and her cameraman became the latest journalists killed in the Israel-Hamas war, bringing the total number of media workers who have died to 53.
Calling Israel an “apartheid” country, a Minneapolis teachers union called for an “immediate ceasefire.” It didn’t go over well.
Jewish comedians are using social media to mock opponents and to cope with the tensions of a bloody war.
Susan Sarandon was dropped by her talent agency after the Academy Award-winning actress spoke at a pro-Palestinian rally. | | The Forward is made possible by readers like you. | Support our work with a donation of any size. | | Want more Forward? Explore all our newsletters at forward.com/newsletters | | ALSO IN THE FORWARD | | The dreidel “balloonicle” at the 2013 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. (Michael C. Dunne) | The secret Jewish history of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: Sure, it’s the official kickoff to the Yuletide season, but look past the singing Christmas trees and you might find some Yiddishkeit. Like in 2013, when the rare convergence of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving led to an ill-fated dreidel balloon that began to deflate somewhere along Central Park West. Or that time a Jewish couple crashed the parade and marched in front of Santa’s float for about 20 blocks before being caught. | | A jam-packed history of wartime Yiddish song leaves you wanting both more and less: Amid Falling Walls, the new musical from the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, is a survey of over two dozen songs written, performed or adapted by Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe. With an excellent cast of eight, the play traverses the ghettos, underground cabarets and camps of World War II, but, as our PJ Grisar writes in his review, “the play is more a revue or survey, or even a museum piece, than a work of coherent drama.” | | Today is the 60th anniversary of JFK’s assassination. Reuben Efron, the CIA agent who tracked Lee Harvey Oswald in the years prior to the killing, became a Bible scholar after his retirement – and often wrote about spies in the Torah.
Speaking of which: Here are Kennedy’s favorite biblical passages.
| | WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY | | Elon Musk faces sharp criticism that his site is helping spread antisemitic content. (Getty) | 💻 Elon Musk’s X sued Media Matters for America after the group reported ads appeared near antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on the platform formerly known as Twitter. X alleged in its lawsuit that Media Matters was trying to drive away its advertisers. (Hollywood Reporter)
🤷 Meanwhile, Musk, the world’s richest person, announced Tuesday that X would donate some proceeds to humanitarian efforts in the Israel-Hamas war, offering few details. (JTA)
🕍 Graffiti of a swastika and Jewish star were found on the door to a synagogue in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Police are investigating. (Jerusalem Post, X)
💰 New York Gov. Kathy Hochul launched a $3 million initiative to provide additional funds for safety at college campuses across the state, amid a rise in antisemitism. (eJewishPhilanthropy)
🇩🇪 German police raided the homes of 17 people accused of posting antisemitic hate speech on social media. (AP)
🚗 A lawsuit filed by a Jewish labor activist in 1925 took down Henry Ford’s antisemitic newspaper in a real-life drama that riveted Americans. The story is now being turned into a movie, produced by a co-founder of Sefaria. (JTA)
Quotable ➤ “We just had to do it,” actor and director Bradley Cooper defending his use of a prosthetic nose in the Netflix biopic about Leonard Bernstein. Cooper had previously come under fire for engaging in “Jewface.”
Shiva call ➤ Peter Tarnoff, a U.S. diplomat instrumental in planning the “Argo” escape from Iran, died at 86.
What else we’re reading ➤ A fired star, clients booted from talent agencies and a secret Tom Cruise meeting: Inside Hollywood’s divide over Israel … How a game designer turned Jesuit ended up writing about space religion … Here’s a ranking of all of Dollar Tree’s Hanukkah items.
| | VIDEO OF THE DAY | | Our Yiddish editor, Rukhl Schaechter, is here to teach you all the Yiddish phrases to sound like a chochem at your Thanksgiving meal. Learn not only how to say stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, but also phrases like, “Judging from the belly button, you can see how large the turkey is.” | Thanks to PJ Grisar, Jodi Rudoren and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected]. | | | Support Independent Jewish Journalism | Without you, the Forward’s stories don’t just go unread — they go untold. Please support our nonprofit journalism today. | | | | |
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