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JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

FBI says anti-Jewish hate crimes tripled since Oct. 7, IDF strike destroys thousands of embryos in Gaza fertility clinic, mother of Israeli hostage named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people, and Barbra Streisand to release new song to honor Holocaust victims.

A scheduling note: Forwarding the News will be off tomorrow and back in your inbox on Monday morning.

Where do you turn when faced with disinformation, propaganda and fearmongering? The Forward is here for you. In a sea of disinformation, the Forward parts the waters to get to the truth.

You can always count on the Forward to pursue the truth wherever it takes us, delivering the news, investigations, narrative storytelling, and commentary that you need and deserve. Make your Passover gift today to support our award-winning news, analysis and Yiddish content!

ISRAEL AT WAR

Nemat Shafik, president of Columbia University, testified Wednesday at a House hearing on campus antisemitism. (Getty)

Columbia University’s president, at House hearing, says school could do more to fight antisemitism: On Capitol Hill Wednesday, Nemat Shafik pointed to actions she’s taken to curb antisemitism, such as suspending pro-Palestinian student groups; agreed that some professors had crossed the line with their rhetoric; and avoided the stumbles that doomed her counterparts at Penn and Harvard. Read the story ➤

Related: A confidential letter obtained by the Forward shows that investigations were opened over the conduct of several Columbia professors accused of making antisemitic and anti-Israel comments in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.

More on campus…

Opinion | Don’t blame Jews for canceling USC’s valedictorian: The University of Southern California canceled a commencement speech by a pro-Palestinian student, Asna Tabassum, citing safety concerns. “There are two problems with this,” writes our L.A.-based Rob Eshman, who has taught at the school. One, the university hosted the Obamas at the 2023 graduation. “It’s hard to believe Tabassum would need more security than the former president of the United States.” And two, the school blamed outside groups, “largely Jewish and pro-Israel critics, accusing them of threatening violence.” Read his essay ➤

Plus: Students at Rutgers University voted overwhelmingly to call on the administration to divest from companies and organizations that do business in Israel, and to end a partnership with Tel Aviv University.

People gathered around a Passover Seder table on Wednesday in London featuring 133 empty chairs for the hostages. (Getty)

The latest…

The Republican-led House said it will vote on the aid package for Israel and Ukraine on Saturday. President Biden said he “strongly” supports it and “will sign this into law immediately.”

Nine Google employees were arrested and 28 were fired after staging a sit-in to protest the tech giant’s work on Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government, including its military.

A survey released this morning found that the majority of American Jews feel close to Israel but are also likely to feel uncomfortable with the Israeli government’s actions.

An IDF strike destroyed thousands of embryos at Gaza’s largest fertility clinic.

Twenty-nine authors and translators withdrew from PEN America’s prestigious literary awards, criticizing the nonprofit for failing to protect Palestinian writers in Gaza and “normalizing genocide.”

Empty chairs, mirrors and pomegranates: Here’s how some Jews are acknowledging the Israel-Hamas war at their Seders.

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ALSO IN THE FORWARD

The crowd at the 1947 cornerstone laying ceremony for a Holocaust Memorial planned for Riverside Drive in New York City. (Courtesy YIVO)

Could this be the most meaningful Holocaust memorial in New York?A granite plaque was placed in 1947 in Riverside Park as a temporary marker for the country’s first Holocaust monument. But eventually all the design proposals were deemed “too ugly, too depressing or too distracting for drivers on the West Side Highway.” Yet every April 19, the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, there is a remembrance ceremony. We spoke with the children of survivors who show up each year, as well as the unlikely head of the project: An Episcopalian with a passion for Yiddish theater.

Related: Why is there still a bust of this antisemite in Rockefeller Center?

What Houdini, Coney Island and space aliens have to do with the book of Exodus: In The Brighton Beach Bible, artist Joel Silverstein puts himself into the Passover story. Drawing inspiration from his Brooklyn childhood under the shadow of amusement park rides and on the beach and boardwalk, the art book merges midrash with B-movies and comic books in a unique celebration of Jewish identity. “That part of ‘You were there’ always got me,” Silverstein said of the belief that all Jews were present at the revelation at Sinai. “I took that as an aesthetic.”

Plus…

Tikkun magazine, a seminal Jewish publication founded in 1986, is closing. One former editor recalls how it changed her life.

Shoshana Kahan, a Yiddish actress, describes how she and other Jewish refugees managed to make a Seder in 1941 in Kobe, Japan.

NEW FROM THE FORWARD

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

FBI Director Christopher Wray said the bureau saw a rapid uptick in threats to Jewish people in the United States after Oct. 7. (Getty)

📈 The number of FBI investigations into anti-Jewish hate crimes tripled in the months after Oct. 7, including a significant rise in hoaxes and fake bomb threats, FBI director Christopher Wray told Jewish leaders on a call Wednesday. Wray also said the FBI is on high alert for any potential threats ahead of Passover. (JTA)

🇺🇸 The Democratic-led Senate dismissed the impeachment case targeting the Jewish Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, which some thought contained an undercurrent of antisemitism. (JTA)

🎶 Drake, the popular rapper who is outspoken about his Judaism, is at the center of an online controversy that some people believe has antisemitic overtones. (J. The Jewish News of Northern California)

Mazel tov ➤ Time magazine published its list of the 100 most influential people of the year, several of whom we often highlight in this newsletter, including: Alex Edelman, the comedian whose Broadway show tackled antisemitism; James McBride, the award-winning novelist whose latest book plays on both his Black and Jewish identity; and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American held hostage in Gaza.

Shiva call ➤ Sheppie Abramowitz, an advocate for refugees who helped shape humanitarian efforts around the world, died at 88. Abramowitz opened the D.C. office of the International Rescue Committee, a nonprofit founded by Albert Einstein to help Jews flee Nazi Germany.

What else we’re reading ➤ The golden age of Jewish hockey … New stand-up shows aim to revive the Borscht Belt’s comedy legacy … The eight best bagels in New York City, according to the city’s bagel ambassador.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

(Barbra Streisand/X)

Barbra Streisand said she will release a new original song, her first since 2018, called Love Will Survive, and composed by Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer. It will play over the end credits of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, a miniseries debuting on Peacock on May 2. The show is based on the bestselling novel of the same name and inspired by a real-life love story set in the concentration camp.

Striesand said that “because of the rise in antisemitism,” she wanted “a way of remembering the 6 million souls who were lost less than 80 years ago. And also to say that even in the darkest of times, the power of love can triumph and endure.”

Thanks to Susan Greene, PJ Grisar and Jacob Kornbluh for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Lauren Markoe for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected].

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