JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT. |
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WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION |
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Israeli citizens arrested for allegedly spying for Iran, college mulls proposal to divest from Israel, Los Angeles mom names her newborn after Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Disney’s rabbi speaks out, the Jewish NBA players to watch this season, and much more. |
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(Chart: Arno Rosenfeld; Source: Forward/CHIP50) |
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Poll position
American Jews are open to censoring political speech on campus and arresting college students demonstrating against Israel, but are divided over when these measures should be used. The new Forward-CHIP50 poll also found that Jews remain highly concerned about antisemitism following a tumultuous year where antisemitic incidents and hostility toward Israel increased throughout society. They are also more worried about Islamophobia and racism than other Americans. Go deeper â–ş
Related: The poll also found that U.S. Jews say former President Donald Trump is more supportive of Israelis, but Vice President Kamala Harris is better on the war in Gaza. |
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A woman prays in Washington, D.C., at a June conference that advocated for incorporating Christianity into the government. (Getty) |
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The Book of Esther
The group behind Project 2025, the controversial blueprint for a second Trump administration, has released a plan to counter antisemitism. It’s called Project Esther. The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the plan, says it worked with 57 Jewish organizations on the 33-page document, but several of the groups listed said they played no part in the process. It was instead drafted by a coalition made up largely of evangelical Christian groups. My colleague Arno Rosenfeld dives into its details. Go deeper ►
Related… Our Louis Keene looks at what American Jews should know about Project 2025 and its connection to Christian Nationalism.
Project 2025 would be the end of the American Jewish dream, argues our columnist Rabbi Jay Michaelson.
Joel Pollak, a Jewish author, has written his own version of Project 2025, which includes “White House Bible study sessions” and establishing “Religious Liberty Day.” |
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We asked two Jews to weigh in on why they’re supporting each candidate. (Getty) |
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Opinions…
Opinion | A Jewish and former Democratic congressman’s case for electing Trump in 2024: “Other people may prioritize issues like abortion, health care or entitlement reform,” writes Peter Deutsch. “Those are important national conversations for us to have. But I believe deeply that given the existential threats we face today, our security and our strength in the world are a prerequisite for those necessary conversations.” Read his essay ►
Opinion | I ran Israel’s largest company. Here’s why I support Kamala Harris:She is “a rational, balanced, thoughtful leader who has carefully laid out her policies and demonstrated clear actions to counter antisemitism, support Israel, promote women’s rights and remain committed to democratic principles,” writes Jeremy Levin, the former CEO of Teva Pharmaceuticals. Read his essay ►
Plus… A group calling itself “Muslims for Trump” is working on get-out-the-vote efforts in swing states, with their key message being Trump would more likely help end the war in Gaza. (Algemeiner)
Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, in an interview posted Monday, said he may “throw some gelt” and “maybe a few more dreidels” into the Christmas decorations at the White House if Harris is elected. (X) |
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Danielle Berrin with her newborn son named after Hersh Goldberg-Polin. (Aimee Ginsburg Bikel) |
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Opinions…
Opinion | Why I named my newborn son after Hersh Goldberg-Polin:A pregnant Danielle Berrin visited the Nova music festival site earlier this year. “It was there,” she writes, “on that hallowed ground, the last place Hersh Goldberg-Polin was free, that my pregnancy took on new meaning.” Berrin was inspired by the “poetic and prophetic voice” of Hersh’s mom. “It wasn’t only that I wanted to be a mother. I wanted to be a mother like Rachel.” Read her essay ►
Opinion | Shirel Golan survived the Nova massacre but died by suicide. Online denial may be to blame: “Adding to the trauma of witnessing their friends hunted down, tortured, raped and murdered by terrorists, these survivors are also facing a world that refuses to believe their accounts,” writes Meredith Jacobs, CEO of Jewish Women International. “Online, female hostages who have shared how they were sexually assaulted when in Hamas captivity have faced denial and mockery.” She added: “Other survivors like Golan see this. It makes healing — let alone sharing what happened — feel impossible.” Read her essay ►
The latest… Air raid sirens went off today in Tel Aviv as Hezbollah targeted the city with about 20 rockets shortly before Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel. There were no immediate reports of injuries. (NY Times)
Israeli officials “arrested a network of Israeli citizens spying for Iran who allegedly provided information on military bases and conducted surveillance of individuals.” (The Guardian)
David Bogdanovskyi, a Ukrainian-born Israeli soldier, was killed in December in fighting in Gaza. The headstone at his grave in an Israeli military cemetery has a cross on it, what his mom calls “an integral part” of “the faith in which he was raised.” Officials and rabbis are telling the family to remove it because it violates regulation and harms the sanctity of the cemetery. (Times of Israel) |
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Actor Joe Locke and Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner in a scene from Agatha All Along. (Disney+) |
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Lights, camera … amen
The latest episode of Marvel’s Agatha All Along on Disney+ opens with a bar mitzvah. How’d they pick the Torah portion? Rabbi Alexandra Shuval-Weiner, who served as a consultant and appears in the show, chose the story of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, who brought an unsanctioned sacrifice to God and were immediately consumed by fire and died. “They were dabbling in stuff they shouldn’t have been dabbling in,” she said. It resonated with the themes of the show, which, airing in the weeks leading up to Halloween, is filled with witchcraft and the supernatural. “I just kept hearing in my head the Jewish concept of avodah zarah — worshipping a false idol.” Go deeper ►
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From left, Scarlet Pimpernel actors Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon; Raoul Wallenberg’s half-sister Nina Lagergren with a photo of him. (Getty) |
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Life imitating art
The Scarlet Pimpernel, the fictional tale of a foppish English nobleman who leads a double life saving aristocrats from the guillotine during the French Revolution, was remade as an anti-Nazi propaganda film in 1941. It inspired Stan Lee, Larry David and Raoul Wallenberg’s Holocaust heroism: Our Beth Harpaz unearthed that and other Jewish connections to the tale, including a Daffy Duck spoof called The Scarlet Pumpernickel featuring a $1,000 kreplach. Go deeper ►
Plus: One of the greatest living Jewish sculptors, Joel Shapiro, has a passion for life — and a soft spot for Mallomars. |
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WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
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A pro-Palestinian demonstrator clashes with counter protesters attacking a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA on the night of April 30. (Getty) |
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On campus…
đź‘® Two pro-Israel activists who attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA this spring have been arrested in the latest fallout from a violent clash that rocked the campus. Warrants have been issued for the arrests of two more people. (JTA)
🔎 Brown University is investigating potential student conduct violations during a Friday protest against the school’s decision not to divest from Israel. (Brown Daily Herald)
🤷 The Rhode Island School of Design said it will “share its thoughts” by March on a proposal by some pro-Palestinian students for the school to divest from Israel. (Brown Daily Herald)
And elsewhere…
đź©ş Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced former Hollywood mogul, was diagnosed with cancer and is receiving treatment behind bars at Rikers Island. (NBC News)
đź“– A Brooklyn Judaica collector bought a 16th century Hebrew Bible. When he listed it for sale recently, it set off alarms: Turns out, the book belonged to a Budapest seminary and had been stolen by the Nazis. (JTA)
🎄🕎 Actress Rachel Bilson — who starred in The O.C., a TV drama that popularized Chrismukkah in 2003 — said she will likely celebrate the holiday for the first time with her daughter this year when the two festivals actually collide. (People)
What else we’re reading ► In a new movie, Andy Samberg gives a master class in Jewish pain …. The Jewish NBA players to watch as the 2024-2025 season tips off … What do real hot rabbis think of Netflix’s “hot rabbi” effect? |
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A new movie dramatizes the story of Joe Kennedy, the Christian football coach at a public high school who was fired for praying with his players after games. Encompassing both the separation of church and state and freedom of religious expression, the case made national headlines and eventually ended up before the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor. Watch the trailer above. |
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Thanks to Louis Keene, Jacob Kornbluh and Julie Moos 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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