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Meet the mushroom rabbi, get a behind-the-scenes preview of Broadway's new Jewish season, pay a shiva call to Ivan Reitman's family, and watch Larry David's hilarious Super Bowl ad.
THE WEEK IN POLITICS Each Monday, Jacob Kornbluh, our senior political reporter, shares what’s in his notebook about New York, Washington, Jerusalem and beyond.
Democratic group seeks to inspire Jewish women ahead of midterms: A group of prominent Jewish women active in politics in recent years and communal leadership for decades, are launching a new effort to elect Democrats this fall.
Rabbi Julie Schonfeld said the new group, Jewish Democratic Women for Action, is diverse by age and geography in hopes of appealing to a broad base. “What matters to us is that every Jewish woman feels that she has the support in being able to achieve and realize her efforts on behalf of our Jewish values,” she said.
The group is planning a workshop on Thursday to teach activists how to communicate political talking points more effectively when engaging with voters, and to sharpen their written and digital skills. Another event scheduled for March will focus on encouraging women to get involved in local campaigns. “You can’t complain if you don’t participate,” said Susie Stern, the group’s founder. Read the story ➤
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a congressional delegation to Israel this week, including a visit to the Knesset.
Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Pricealong with Avi Berkowitz, the former Mideast peace envoy. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican, nominated the duo for their roles in brokering the Abraham Accords between Israel and Gulf Arab states.
The U.S. and its allies kicked off another round of talks with Tehran in Vienna last week. Sens. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina introduced bipartisan legislation that offers Iran sanctions relief if they forgo uranium enrichment and shift to nuclear fuel.
Race to watch: Suraj Patel, a former Obama staffer, is launching his third consecutive campaign against Rep. Carolyn Maloney in a Manhattan district with a significant Jewish population. Maloney, who has been backed by pro-Israel PACs, is one of a few Democratic incumbents who have faced tough primary challenges in recent elections. Rana Abdelhamid, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is also running in the district this year. Patel’s internal polling shows Maloney has 37% of support among likely Democratic primary voters.
ALSO FROM THE FORWARD Coming to Broadway this spring, a bevy of Jewish themes and writers: This year on the Great White Way, theater lovers jonesing for an evening out have plenty of Jewish choices. Beanie Feldstein will headline a revival of “Funny Girl,” Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite” is set to debut with real-life married Jewish couple Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, and Billy Crystal will lead a musical adaptation of his film “Mr. Saturday Night.” Mervyn Rothstein spoke with three Jewish luminaries involved with these new productions in advance of opening night. Read the story ➤
Opinion | My Serbian grandfather was killed during the Holocaust. How he died remained a secret – until now: Julie Brill grew up never knowing when or how her grandfather Alexander lost his life. Bureaucratic details like a card typed in Serbian, listing Alexander and his Jewish neighbors on a sewer-repair crew, bely the horror of forced labor and torture they suffered. “The execution site is a grassy knoll now,” she writes, “more suitable for a picnic and throwing a Frisbee than for memorializing the dead.” Read her essay ➤
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY Rabbi Ben Gorelick (pictured) says he rejects applications from people just looking for access to mushrooms. 🍄 The headline of the day goes to the Denver Post: Mushroom rabbi grows ceremonial psilocybin for Denver congregation — but is that legal? Police arrested Rabbi Ben Gorelick last week on suspicion that he was intending to manufacture and distribute the psychedelics beyond his shul. “The goal is not to blast people to the moon,” he said. “It’s to give people just enough of a threshold dose that they have that openness to connecting.” (Denver Post)
🚓 In separate incidents, two Jewish men walking in Brooklyn on Friday night were punched by strangers. “Make no mistake,” said Mayor Eric Adams, “an attack on our Jewish community is an attack on every New Yorker.” … In related news: A crossing guard on the Upper West Side was removed from her post after reportedly using antisemitic slurs against parents and children. (Algemeiner, WABC)
💉 Many faith leaders are wary of offering religious exemptions to those who want to opt out of getting vaccinated. A rabbi in Florida, for example, recommends skeptical congregants speak to a medical professional. Curtis Chang, a Christian theologian, worries that the exemptions are the “hijacking of religion to justify political or cultural stances, and that’s very dangerous.” (AP)
🏎️ From the Department of Ouch: A Ferrari sports car worth $900,000 crashed on Israel’s Route 6 on Sunday, the result of an apparent speed race. None of the injured wanted to identify themselves when medics arrived. (Times of Israel)
🎬 A new documentary is being made about John Galliano, the controversial British fashion designer who was suspended by Christian Dior following a 2011 arrest over a drunken, antisemitic tirade at a Paris bar. He apologized, but ignited more outrage when he dressed as a Hasidic Jew during New York Fashion Week. (Hollywood Reporter)
Shiva call ➤ Ivan Reitman, the director of “Ghostbusters,” has died at 75. His credits include “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” “Kindergarten Cop” and “Dave.” In a statement, his family said: “We take comfort that his work as a filmmaker brought laughter and happiness to countless others around the world.” (Variety)
Another shiva call ➤ Sigal Barsade, an Israeli-born professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, died at 56. She was among the first to study the benefits of showing emotions at the office. “I’ve been in the field for a while, and I had strong views that if we could only be less emotional, work would be better,” said Adam Grant, a colleague at Wharton. “And I no longer believe that, as a result of her research and as a result of teaching with her for a dozen years.” (New York Times)
ON THE CALENDAR Brothers Sigmund and Seligmann Heilner, German immigrants, opened one of the first shops in Oregon. On this day in history: Oregon was admitted as the 33rd U.S. state on Feb. 14, 1859. Congregation Beth Israel, the area’s first Jewish congregation put down roots, and was led by Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, one of the most influential Reform rabbis of the 20th century and a founder of the NAACP. The shul’s congregants opened up shops along the Oregon Trail, providing goods to farmers and gold miners. “They were some of the first business leaders and community organizers,” said Kami Horton of Oregon Public Broadcasting, who worked on a documentary called “The Jewish Frontier” (which you can watch here). Read more about Jewish Oregonians here ➤
In honor of Valentine’s Day, read about the strange history of Yiddish ads that appeared in the Forward celebrating the Catholic Saint Valentine.
Last year on this day, we reported that Jewish college students were volunteering to help senior citizens register to get vaccinated.
VIDEO OF THE DAY Mazels to the Los Angeles Rams for winning the Super Bowl Sunday night. If you’re like me, you may have been paying more attention to the commercials. (So many movie trailers and Toyota ads!) One of the funniest of the night was this gem featuring our favorite curmudgeonly old Jew: Larry David. In it, David travels through time nonchalantly dismissing critical inventions (the wheel, the fork, the lightbulb) with a wave of the hand and his trademark “nah.”
––– Thanks to Jacob Kornbluh and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected].
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