Bob Dylan turns 81 today. Scroll to the bottom for our virtual birthday party, including a Yiddish rendition of one of his songs. Plus: Play today's Vertl puzzle, the Yiddish Wordle |
Who gets to say what is kosher? A Long Island restaurant is caught in the crosshairs:Chimichurri, a kosher Portuguese barbecue place, changed its kosher-certification company after five years. The company circulated a letter suggesting the place was no longer kosher. Chimichurri sued, saying the letter cost the restaurant $150,000 in lost revenue over a year. But a judge dismissed the case last week, following a trend of courts shying away from disputes over kashrut for fear of violating the constitutional separation of church and state. A law professor explains. Read his essay ➤ 45 years after ‘Annie Hall,’ Diane Keaton remains the epitome of awkward grace and elegant imperfection:While some may have hesitations about Woody Allen’s Oscar-winning film reaching a milestone anniversary, Simi Horwitz makes a case for celebrating the filmmaker’s muse, whose career has thrived with richly-drawn women characters. Keaton’s gift for navigating roles that juggled self-perception, how others viewed her and the demands of the film shows up in more than just “Annie Hall,” but it is her performance in that film, Horwitz says, “that continues to resonate in its complexities and contradictions. Read her tribute ➤ But wait there’s more… To nobody’s surprise, Time magazine chose President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine among its list of the 100 most influential people of the year. Our Mira Fox writes that he deserves, but does not need, the honor, noting that Zelenskyy “has established himself as a moral leader, a hero and yet somehow a relatable everyman in the public eye.”
Two men rented a U-Haul, covered it in antisemitic graffiti and harassed people at a West Hollywood gas station. It appears to be the work of the Goyim Defense League. |
Mourners hold hands near the Tops Grocery store in Buffalo, New York. (Getty) |
We’ve got two responses to our recent coverage of the Buffalo shooting massacre, in which a white supremacist murdered 10 Black people at a supermarket. We reported on the screed written by the shooter – based on the “great replacement theory” and rooted in both racism and antisemitism. Our editor-in-chief explained our approach in her column on Friday, and now we’re adding more voices to the conversation. “This tragedy was not about Jewish Americans. It was about African Americans,” writes Elizabeth Webster, who works on social justice issues. “But too often, instead of providing one another space to grieve and find support together, we position ourselves in competition with one another. It is not a contest.” Sharon Rose Goldtzvik, a co-founder of the consulting firm UpriseforGood, agrees. “This is bad shiva behavior,” she writes. “Instead of supporting the mourners, we are inflicting deep harm.”
Let us know what you think: [email protected].
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It’s primary day in the states of Texas, Georgia, Minnesota, Alabama and Arkansas. Follow our Jacob Kornbluh on Twitter as he watches the following races: The outcome in the heavily-contested Georgia gubernatorial race will test former President Donald Trump’s sway over the Republican Party and could influence the 2024 presidential lineup. Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state who was attacked by Trump in 2020, is facing a primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, a Trump loyalist. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is being challenged by Jennifer Strahan.
In a Democratic runoff in South Texas, Jessica Cisneros, a human-rights lawyer endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and J Street, is challenging Rep. Henry Cuellar, an establishment favorite who is also co-chair of Congress’s Caucus for the Advancement of Torah Values (though he is not Jewish). AIPAC’s Super PAC spent $1.8 million on the high stakes race.
Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota was spared a serious primary challenger this year and is expected to win her party’s nomination. |
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
Israel's Shin Bet foiled a plot by Hamas to assassinate Itamar Ben-Gvir, a member of the Knesset. (Getty) |
😮 Israeli security forces foiled a Hamas plot to assassinate a far-right member of the Knesset, Itamar Ben-Gvir. The group of five men from East Jerusalem were also plotting to kidnap Israeli soldiers and bomb the Jerusalem light rail using a drone, the authorities said. (Times of Israel, Haaretz) 🎥 It appears that “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” will be going to Israel for its fifth and final season, which is now in production. A casting call for extras mentions Israel and adds that the show is looking for “Jewish types for an agrarian field work scene” presumably set on a kibbutz. (Kveller) ✈️ American Airlines has been named the most faith-friendly Fortune 500 company thanks to a welcoming environment where employees can practice their religion at work, religious diversity trainings and an in-house chaplain. (Religion News Service) 👩 An ex-Hasidic woman is giving two-hour tours of her former Brooklyn neighborhood, stopping into bakeries, toy stores and clothing shops. “There are other groups, busier than hers,” said one resident, “who portray the community as extreme and abusive and all kinds of things. She does it in a more professional way.” (Times of Israel) ✍️ A Rothschild is writing a book, called “Jewish Space Lasers” about the conspiracy theories that have made the illustrious banking family an antisemitic target for 200 years. “It’s just really wild the way this name is like a magnet for cranks,” said Mike Rothschild, who has nothing to do with his more famous name-sharers. “The book is about trying to figure out why it became this wealthy Jewish family and not another wealthy Jewish family.” (JTA) 🏀 LeBron James attended the wedding of the son of Jay Schottenstein, an Ohio-based billionaire and philanthropist. The family has long been friends with James, who used to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In a video from the event, James is seen walking through the crowd with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, a Moroccan kabbalist who has previously offered him spiritual advice. (JTA)
What else we’re reading ➤ In an effort to save money, El Al is moving its U.S. headquarters from New York to Miami … Meet the U.S. military’s highest-ranking Muslim clergyman … Is Paul Simon Jewish? Or Jew-ish?
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The Forward’s Jenn Martin painted this picture of the Brooklyn Bridge, which is visible from our office. |
On this day in history: The Brooklyn Bridge opened on May 24, 1883, at a time when early Jewish immigrants were beginning to leave their Lower East Side tenements for more spacious digs across the river. The bridge was designed by an architectural firm owned by John A. Roebling, a civil engineer and descendant of Sephardic Jews who was a disciple of the well-known scholar Ephraim Solomon Unger – although Roebling’s wife, Emily, did much of the design work after he fell sick. Once the bridge opened, it became a tradition for Jews to walk across it during Rosh Hashanah to conduct tashlich — the tossing of bread into a body of water to represent the casting off of sins — though eventually the Williamsburg Bridge, which opened 10 years later, became more popular for this ritual. Last year on this day, we reported on a celebrity chef who had apparently ripped off the design of the famous Russ & Daughters appetizing shop. What could have become a minor subplot in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” was resolved within a couple weeks.
This afternoon: Vice President Kamala Harris will ceremonially swear-in Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt as the State Department’s special envoy to combat antisemitism.
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In honor of Bob Dylan’s birthday, we’re sharing this video we made with Daniel Kahn singing Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” in Yiddish. Dylan is turning 81, and we have a lot more to help you celebrate… That time Bob Dylan went to shul incognitoBob Dylan’s 10 most Jewish songs Is Bob Dylan still the voice of his generation?Watch: Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, a ballad for two friends We traveled to the new Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa––– Thanks to PJ Grisar, Jacob Kornbluh, Jenn Martin, Amanda Rozon and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected]. |
Support Independent Jewish Journalism The Forward is a non-profit 501(c)3 so our journalism depends on support from readers like you. You can support our work today by donating or subscribing. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of US law. Make a donation ➤ Subscribe to Forward.com ➤ "America’s most prominent Jewish newspaper" — The New York Times, 2021 |
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