JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Today: Jewish groups worry over Trump funding freeze • Basketball coach suspended for hanging Palestinian flag • Brooklyn chef responds to antisemitic attack • Amazon teases new series about King David • And much more.

OUR LEAD STORY

Elsie Adler, left, and Edith Kaufman were lifelong friends and wives of Navy captains. They were buried a few feet from each other at Arlington National Cemetery on the same day. (Courtesy)

A shared life, a shared death

Elsie Adler and Edith Kaufman met at synagogue in 1961. They were buried together at Arlington National Cemetery in 2025. What happened in between is a story worth sharing.

They both died in the fall, two weeks apart, and their families held memorial services, gave eulogies and sat shiva. As wives of Navy captains, ​​they had always planned to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. But with 30 funerals a day, Arlington has a wait of three months to a year to be interred.

Even Ruth Bader Ginsburg had to wait a bit when she died in 2020. “I’ve probably done about 800 services here,” said Rabbi Randy Brown, Arlington’s resident rabbi, who coordinated the Supreme Court Justice’s burial.

When Arlington finally called to say the funerals could take place this month, it offered a proposal: To bury these lifelong Jewish friends on the same day, just a few feet from each other.

I was honored to be invited to the funeral, where I spent time with both families and learned of the two lives interwoven so deeply that separating them, even in death, would have felt like sacrilege.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Karoline Leavitt, the new White House Press Secretary, offered some details Tuesday about the funding freeze. (Getty)

Funding freeze

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a plan by the White House to freeze government loans and grants. Jewish organizations worried that the order from the Trump administration could impact hundreds of millions of dollars of grants given for synagogue security and other social service needs.

Karoline Leavitt, in her first outing as White House press secretary, said the goal was to stop funding for “transgenderism and wokeness” and “illegal DEI programs.” She also said that “there were about to be $50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza,” referencing USAid funding for contraceptives overseas, mostly in Africa. According to The Guardian, less than $50,000 worth was sent to the Middle East and distributed to the government of Jordan.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with President Donald Trump at an October rally in Georgia. (Getty)

The Kennedy nomination…

Senate hearings start today for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he would oversee several major agencies, including the C.D.C. and the F.D.A. Here’s some background…

The anti-vaccine activism of RFK Jr. has included antisemitic comments

RFK Jr. wants fluoride out of drinking water. Israel has a decade of lessons to offer

Is RFK Jr. about to ban goyslop — and what on earth is that?

Plus…

Multiple Quaker groups are suing the Department of Homeland Security over its plans to conduct raids of undocumented immigrants at houses of worship. (New Republic)

Randy Fine, a Jewish Republican and an outspoken advocate for Israel, easily won a special congressional primary Tuesday in Florida. Fine, backed by Trump, is running for the seat previously held by Mike Waltz, Trump’s new national security adviser. Fine is expected to win the April 1 general election in the conservative district. (Jewish Insider)

OPINIONS

Refael Hasid, owner of an Israeli restaurant in Brooklyn that was vandalized, chats on Sunday with Sen. Chuck Schumer. (Getty)

Opinion | Israeli chef Refael Hasid says he won’t be intimidated by the antisemitic vandals who targeted Miriam, his Brooklyn restaurant. “I want everyone who steps through our doors to feel that they are part of something bigger — a community built on respect and understanding,” he writes. “Hate has no place here. Actions taken in anger often seek to divide. But they also present an opportunity to find new strength.” Read his essay ►

Opinion | Returning the Palestinian Authority to power in Gaza is the key to a long-lasting peace, argues our Tel Aviv-based columnist, Dan Perry. And he believes one person can persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept such a plan: President Donald Trump. Dan writes: “Israel cannot resume the war without U.S. backing — diplomatically at the United Nations, with arms shipments, in the global legal arena and beyond.” Read his essay ►

Related: Trump invited Netanyahu to the White House next week, the first meeting with a foreign leader since Trump returned to power. (JTA, X)

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

A man in Tel Aviv walks past a poster with pictures of hostages. (Getty)

In Israel…

🇮🇱 Hamas is expected to name today the third hostage it plans to release on Thursday. It was previously reported that Agam Berger and Arbel Yehoud would be set free as part of the latest exchange. (Times of Israel)

😢 Israeli officials said 8 of the 26 remaining hostages set for release in the first phase of the ceasefire deal are dead. (New York Times)

🤝 Qatar and Turkey agreed to accept Palestinian prisoners convicted of murder who were released and deported under the hostage-ceasefire deal, according to officials. (Times of Israel)

😲 The Israel Defense Forces mistakenly killed on Tuesday an Israeli defense contractor doing engineering work in Gaza. (Haaretz, Times of Israel)

🪖 The U.S. military sent roughly 90 Patriot air defense interceptors from storage in Israel to Poland, aiming to bolster Ukraine’s defense against Russian missile attacks. (Axios)

And elsewhere…

🏀 A high school basketball coach in Colorado was suspended after he hung a Palestinian flag during a game against the Denver Academy of Torah, and refused to shake hands with the coach from the Jewish school. (CBS News)

🎶 Two bars in New York City canceled scheduled performances by two bands this week after it was revealed they allegedly use neo-Nazi imagery in their musical acts. (NY Post)

🇦🇺 Police in Australia found explosives and a list of Jewish targets Wednesday in a trailer on the outskirts of Sydney. They believe it’s tied to a recent spate of antisemitic incidents in the country, including the torching of both a synagogue and a Jewish day care center. (AP)

📚 Night Owls, a young adult novel about women vampires in a former Yiddish theater, won a top prize for Jewish children’s books. (JTA)

Transitions ► The Mandel JCC of Cleveland named Jesse Rosen its next president and CEO … The Jewish Agency for Israel named Danyelle Neuman its new chief development officer … Daniel Schwammenthal is the new editor of the Jewish Chronicle in London.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

A new swords-and-sandals TV series, produced by a Christian company, shares the story of the biblical David — including his epic fight with Goliath. It debuts on Amazon Prime on Feb. 27. Watch the trailer above, and read this Wall Street Journal article that dives into the growing business of religious entertainment in Hollywood.

Before we go: The Year of the Snake begins today. Read our 2018 article about the secret Jewish history of the Chinese New Year.

Thanks to Mira Fox, Jacob Kornbluh and Jake Wasserman 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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