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JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT. |
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WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION |
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Today: Man shot at pro-Israel rally, anti-Harris ad targets Doug Emhoff’s Jewishness, parents say Texas school curricula is antisemitic, new Hanukkah stamp revealed, and did Taylor Swift wear tefillin at an awards show this week? |
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The burnt-out family home of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen in KIbbutz Nir Oz. Some in the community want to rebuild elsewhere, but funds have not been forthcoming. (Courtesy) |
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After Oct. 7, Jewish federations raised $850 million for Israel; 40% is still unspent
Federation officials want to carefully track how the funds are spent, and avoid overwhelming Israeli NGOs, but some say the money isn’t flowing fast enough.
Why it matters: The Oct. 7 attack spurred many American Jews to give. Half the donors to the Washington, D.C. federation’s emergency campaign, for example, had never donated to the organization before. At the same time, some of the largest Jewish institutions in the country — including the Reform movement, JCCs and local Hillels — directed their members to contribute to the federation emergency campaign rather than fundraise for Israel themselves over the past year.
If you build it: Then there is the matter of rebuilding in places like Kibbutz Nir Oz, which was almost completely destroyed on Oct. 7. The government plans to rebuild, but many kibbutz members do not want to return. “It’s a killing field for us,” explained Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui was kidnapped. Instead, Nir Oz survivors recently started fundraising to rebuild elsewhere, and are hoping American donors will step in.
Rainy day fund: “The assumption is we’re consciously saying, ‘Let’s reserve some money because we don’t know what’s ahead,’” said Jeff Schoenfeld, a retired investment banker who is helping manage distributions for the federations. Added Rabbi Noah Farkas, a Los Angeles federation leader, “This is a very long-term process,” he said. “As trauma changes, the recovery and resilience phase may need a boost, so we’re just tracking all of this.” |
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Trump’s golf club hosted an event for the Patriot Freedom Project, a group founded in response to the arrest of Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who was sentenced to four years in prison for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. (Department of Justice) |
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The latest… Former President Donald Trump’s private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, hosted two events organized by a Nazi sympathizer who has a history of harassing Jews.
A campaign mailer supporting a Long Island Republican has a photo of George Soros, the Holocaust survivor and philanthropist, showering money over the Democratic candidate. Some are calling it antisemitic. A fact check: Soros did not give money to the Democratic candidate. His son did, and it was $6,600 out of the $3.2 million total she raised in the second quarter of 2024.
A new anti-Harris ad targeting Muslim voters in the critical swing state of Michigan highlights the fact that her husband, Doug Emhoff, would be the first Jewish presidential spouse. |
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A demonstrator sits on a yellow ribbon painted on the ground during an anti-government protest today in Tel Aviv, calling for action to secure the release of the hostages. (Getty) |
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In the diaspora… A man taking part in a pro-Israel demonstration last night in Newton, Massachusetts, shot a man who tackled the demonstrators. The gunman was arrested; the wounded man is in the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Michigan attorney general filed criminal charges against 11 pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan, alleging that some tried to block police officers who were clearing a campus encampment. Two counter-protesters were also charged.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comments on the campus protests in her new book, due out on Tuesday. “The most effective protest movements do their homework, have clear goals, and build coalitions rather than alienate potential allies,” she writes. “Just look at the mass marches in Israel in 2023 that helped block Netanyahu’s right-wing government from gutting judicial independence.”
And in Israel… The U.S. approved a $165 million sale of tank trailers to Israel. They are set for delivery in 2027.
Two Israeli civilians tried to enter Gaza this morning and were detained by the IDF. Their motive was not immediately clear.
The U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees will mark its 75th anniversary this December. Can the group survive the current war? |
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READERS LIKE YOU SHAPE EVERY PART OF OUR WORK |
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Reporting on the ground from Israel and campus takes resources. Support the news that matters to you with a monthly donation. |
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Taylor Swift is “is just mysterious enough — and just accessible enough — to slot into almost any fantasy,” writes Talya Zax. (Getty) |
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Recommended reading… Uh, did Taylor Swift wear tefillin to the MTV Video Music Awards this week?
A world-renowned specialist of computational linguistics wrote a book about antisemitism. Our reviewer calls it remarkable.
Here are five horror movies by Jewish directors to watch on Friday the 13th.
Why are Jews calling anyone who disagrees with them a kapo? My colleague Mira Fox has received hate mail calling her a kapo. “It is one of the harshest insults a Jew can use against another Jew,” she writes, “an accusation of betrayal of self and people.” She took the opportunity to explore the history of the term and why it’s become such a political bludgeon. “I can’t wait to read my email after I publish this article.” |
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– From our Sponsors: Hadassah– |
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| Free Zoom Program: Jewish Resilience post-October 7
As we prepare for the High Holidays and grapple with the frightening and painful past year in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks, journalist Abigail Pogrebin and orthodox Rabbi Dov Linzer will speak with Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein about strategies for American Jews to meet this moment with Jewish and spiritual resilience. This event is free and open to all. Zoom captioning will be provided. |
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WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
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The W.R. Fort Elementary School in Royse City, Texas. (iStock) |
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😲 Jews in Texas say the state’s new Bible-influenced school curriculum, which includes a retelling of the Book of Esther in which second-grade students decide when to kill Jews, is “wildly problematic.” (The 74)
🇦🇱 President Isaac Herzog visited Albania Thursday, marking the first time an Israeli leader “set foot in the only European country that ended World War II with more Jews than it started with.” (JTA)
💻 And speaking of Herzog, he’ll be joined by Gal Gadot this Sunday for a streaming online event to promote Jewish unity around the world. (Algemeiner)
🚢 New York City officially recognized Landing Day when, 370 years ago this week, 23 Jews arrived on its shores. Moving forward, the city will honor the day each year. (NY Jewish Week)
🎶 Madonna, who has a history of dabbling with Jewish mysticism, celebrated the bat mitzvah of her twin daughters, Estere and Stella. (People)
💰 The owner of the Baltimore Orioles, David Rubenstein, plans to donate $1.5 million to the Jewish Museum of Maryland. (WMAR)
📬 The U.S. Postal Service unveiled this year’s Hanukkah stamp. It was designed by an artist whose mother escaped the Nazis on the Kindertransport. (JTA)
What else we’re reading ► How “uptown” Jews fought to clean up the criminal underworld of the Lower East Side … How did a popular Philippine televangelist land on the FBI’s most-wanted list? … Israeli-American tequila aficionados make the Negev bloom with agave.
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Thanks to Unitha Cherry, Jacob Kornbluh, Arno Rosenfeld and Jake Wasserman for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected]. |
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