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| | | | WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION |
| | Today: New Texas law requires Ten Commandments in classrooms • Mamdani surges ahead of Cuomo in NYC primary • Bodies of three hostages recovered • and Hasidic man goes to Iran to find Queen Esther’s tomb. |
| | | | Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on June 17. (Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images) |
| Jewish Democrats divided on Iran strike
Sen. Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking elected Jewish official in the U.S., criticized President Donald Trump for launching strikes on Iran without consulting Congress — but stopped short of taking a clear stance on the attack itself. Other Jewish Democrats voiced stronger support for the attack, highlighting the delicate political tightrope many now find themselves walking, writes our senior political reporter, Jacob Kornbluh. Read his analysis ►
Elsewhere in Congress: “I don’t want to fight or fund nuclear armed Israel’s wars,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, posted on social media Sunday, adding: “Americans now fear Iranian terrorists attacks on our own soil and being dragged into another war by Netanyahu when we weren’t even thinking about any of this a week ago.” (X)
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| | Shiite Muslims hold portraits of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to condemn U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, during a protest in Karachi on Sunday. (Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images) |
| Why some see an ancient biblical enemy in Iran
In Jewish tradition, no enemy looms larger — or carries more theological weight — than Amalek. Described in the Bible as the first nation to attack the Israelites after the Exodus, the Amalekites came to symbolize a recurring evil: not merely one that seeks to harm the Jewish people, but one bent on our erasure. Across the centuries, Jewish thinkers have mapped this archetype onto real-world threats — from Haman to Hitler. And now, some are asking: Should Iran be added to that list? Read the story ►
Related: Israeli politicians are using Holocaust comparisons to justify attacks on Iran. They are trying “to cast their opponent as the ultimate evil, in order to justify anything and everything they might wish to do in the present conflict,” writes our opinion columnist Emily Tamkin. Read her essay ►
More opinions… |
| | A member of the Israeli military checks the apparent remains of an Iranian ballistic missile lying on the ground in the outskirts of the Golan Heights on Monday. (Michael Giladi/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images) |
| Attack aftermath The Fordo underground nuclear site was severely damaged in the strike, but not entirely destroyed. (New York Times)
Trump raised the possibility of the U.S. pushing for regime change in Iran in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. (Axios)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is nearing its objectives in Iran, having dealt major blows to its missile and nuclear programs, and predicted the campaign could bolster efforts in Gaza and expand the Abraham Accords. (Times of Israel)
One way Iran may respond to the U.S. strikes is by shutting down the Strait of Hormuz — a vital passageway for global oil — a move that could send gas prices soaring. (Axios, New York Times)
In Iran… Iran said it hanged Mohammad-Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh, accusing him of spying for Israel and cooperating with the Mossad. (AFP)
An Israeli airstrike reportedly hit the entrance to Tehran’s Evin Prison, which houses political prisoners, journalists, human rights activists and others. (Times of Israel)
Travel issues… Israel began allowing limited outbound flights from Ben Gurion Airport on Monday, with a cap of 50 passengers per plane to reduce security risks amid the conflict with Iran, enabling over 1,000 Israelis and foreigners to finally depart. (Times of Israel)
As war between Israel and Iran escalated, the acclaimed Galilee Chamber Orchestra — made up of Jewish and Arab musicians — was performing in Germany and found themselves stranded, unable to return home. (Haaretz)
Stay updated with our latest coverage of the conflict with Iran.
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| | | | Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was released from ICE detention, speaks during a rally Sunday in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) |
| Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and leading figure in the pro-Palestinian campus protest movement, returned to New York Saturday after months in detention. He was greeted at Newark airport by his wife, newborn son, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York. The Trump administration says it remains committed to deporting Mr. Khalil. (PBS)
“It felt like kidnapping,” Khalil said of his detention, where he read Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl — about life in a Nazi concentration camp. (New York Times)
Khalil returned to activism at a New York City rally Sunday protesting U.S. strikes on Iran and Israel’s actions in Gaza. He also condemned Columbia’s “shameful trustees.” (Guardian)
Quotable ► The Trump administration said Khalil was spreading antisemitism on Columbia’s campus, which he denies. “I was literally advocating for the right of my people. I was literally advocating for an end of a genocide. I was advocating that the tuition fees that I and other students pay don’t go toward investing in weapons manufacturers. What’s antisemitic about this?” (New York Times)
Related: Around a dozen San Diego-area faith leaders visited federal immigration court Friday to watch proceedings tied to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. (AP)
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| | | | NYC mayoral candidates Andrew Cuomo, left, and Zohran Mamdani. (Charles Triballeau and Angela Weiss for AFP via Getty Images) |
| The Democratic primary for New York City mayor is set for Tuesday.
The final poll in the race shows Zohran Mamdani beating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, 52% to 48% in ranked-choice voting. (Emerson College)
Mamdani — who is Muslim and supports a boycott of Israel — would be a surprising pick for New York City, home to the largest concentration of Jews outside of Israel. Back in April, our Jacob Kornbluh met with Mamdani at a Manhattan diner where, over a bowl of chicken soup, the candidate explained why he thinks he’ll win over Jewish voters. (Forward)
Related …
Stay updated with our latest coverage of the race.
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| | | | President Joe Biden, center, during a January 2024 campaign event at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. (Sam Wolfe/Bloomberg via Getty Images) |
| What one Jewish reporter learned about forgiveness from two sacred spaces scarred by hate
As Charleston marks 10 years since the Mother Emanuel church massacre, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kevin Sack returned to the pulpit where it happened — watching as a pastor and a rabbi — Jeffrey Myers of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life — stood side by side, bonded by parallel tragedies. I spoke with Sack about his new book, which traces the church’s 200-year history and the long shadow cast by the 2015 shooting. It was that reporting that led him to the site of the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, where he began to explore how different faiths — and different families — reckon with the idea of forgiveness.
Both Mother Emanuel and Tree of Life now face the quieter struggle of survival. Once a hub for thousands, Emanuel’s membership has dwindled to just over 500, as gentrification reshapes Charleston’s Black neighborhoods. In Pittsburgh, the three small congregations that once shared the Tree of Life building have yet to return, even as millions of dollars are committed to plans for a rebuilt campus that will include a museum and memorial.
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| | Related: A man who began shooting outside a Michigan church packed with worshippers on Sunday was hit by a car and then fatally shot by security guards, preventing what could have been a mass shooting. (AP) |
| | | | WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
| | Texas State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, seen here in 2021, is the only Jewish member of the Texas House — and fought against the new law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in the state’s public classrooms. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) |
| On campus…
🏫 Texas will now require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, making it the largest state to adopt such a mandate. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the new law Saturday, setting the stage for likely legal challenges, especially after similar measures in Louisiana and Arkansas faced pushback in federal court. (AP)
Related: Meet the sole Jewish lawmaker who fought the new law, and learn why both Jews and Christians are worried about the translation of the Ten Commandments that Texas will use.
🎒 More than half of the Jewish students at Columbia University, 53%, said they experienced discrimination during the 2023-2024 school year, according to a new report. That’s compared to 15% of students overall. (JTA)
In Israel…
🇮🇱 The Israeli military has recovered from Gaza the bodies of three hostages — Ofra Keidar, Shay Levinson, and Jonathan Samerano— confirming that all three were killed as a result of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. (JTA)
⚖️ The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday unanimously sided with victims of Palestinian terror attacks, upholding a U.S. law that lets them sue the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization in American courts over payments made to terrorists and their families through the so-called “pay-for-slay” program. (Jewish Insider)
💻 Mike Huckabee launched a newsletter in 2016 that now boasts 330,000 subscribers. He handed the reins to his son after becoming U.S. ambassador to Israel — but he’s still making money from it. (Columbia Journalism Review)
And elsewhere…
🥊 A former employee for a Nashville bar is suing the Goyim Defense League, accusing the antisemitic group of a 2024 assault. (Tennessean)
✍️ All three journalists who served on the board of Shtetl, a news site created to provide accountability in Orthodox Jewish communities, have resigned together — after discovering the founder no longer supported that mission. (JTA)
Shiva call ► Edward Anders, an astronomer who used his science skills to uncover the identities of thousands of Jews from his hometown who were killed in the Holocaust, died at 98.
What else we’re reading ► Could two Jewish Democrats from Chicago face off against each other in the 2028 presidential election? (NBC News) … Inside the best Jewish food event of the summer (Jewish Insider) … Barbra Streisand on her duet with Bob Dylan and other favorites. (New York Times) |
| | | | Hasidic man goes to Iran to find Queen Esther’s tomb
From our Yiddish editor, Rukhl Schaechter: Just three months ago, Abraham Schwartz undertook a quest that was dear to his heart. He flew to Iran to find the tombs of the two heroes of the Purim story: Queen Esther and her uncle, Mordechai. He filmed his experiences, not knowing, of course, that shortly afterwards, Iran would be at war with Israel and a trip like this would be impossible. The video is in Yiddish but Schwartz uses so many English words, you don't need to understand Yiddish to get the gist of it.
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| Thanks to Ron Kampeas, Jacob Kornbluh and Rukhl Schaechter for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Julie Moos for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected]. |
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