Supermarket CEO accused of antisemitism, why some drag queens are bullied in Israel, Steph Curry dons Hebrew sweatshirt, and fans of Netflix's 'Stranger Things' are getting Holocaust tattoos. Plus: Play today's Vertl puzzle, the Yiddish Wordle |
We're starting off today with three new and diverse opinion essays. Publishing the broadest range of Jewish views is core to the Forward’s mission. If you have a timely and thoughtful perspective to share off the news, send a short pitch to [email protected]. |
A Hasidic man walks through an Orthodox neighborhood in Brooklyn. (Getty) |
Opinion | Hasidic boys like mine don’t receive the education they deserve: Nearly three years ago, Beatrice Weber, a mother of 10, filed a legal complaint saying her son’s yeshiva was not complying with a New York State law requiring secular education. The New York Supreme Court this month found in her favor. Weber says that her children were irreparably damaged and have struggled to enter the workforce: “They are unable to put together a resume, fill out an application or prepare for a job interview.” Read the essay ➤ Opinion | Stop bullying drag queens who perform in Israel: Performing drag was a lifeline for Matthew Nouriel, a nonbinary activist who grew up struggling to find self-acceptance in a conservative Persian family. Now a popular drag queen known as “Empress Mizrahi,” Nouriel argues that the movement to boycott those who perform in Israel “punish the very community who are at the vanguard of the push for liberal ideals within Israel.” Read the essay ➤ Opinion | Congress is closing the ‘boyfriend loophole.’ That could stop domestic abusers from turning into mass shooters: For Rachel Apfelbaum, the bipartisan gun deal announced Sunday that would bar firearm purchases by those convicted of domestic violence is deeply personal. “During one particularly terrifying incident,” she writes, “I locked myself in a bathroom after my boyfriend had stated unnervingly calmly, ‘we should kill ourselves together’ while cleaning his 40-caliber Glock.” Apfelbaum, who works for Jewish Women International, cites research showing someone in an abusive relationship is 500 times more likely to die if a gun is present. Read the essay ➤ |
The Dodgers are honoring Sandy Koufax with a statue – on Shabbat: The irony of the timing, for a pitcher best known for sitting out a World Series game on Yom Kippur, did not please observant Jewish fans in Los Angeles. “There are only six other options available to them,” one who grew up watching Koufax said dryly. “Obviously they don’t have a yiddishe kopf running the operation.” Read the story ➤ Former rabbinical student recalls the moment his belief in the Lubavitcher Rebbe vanished: Yossi Newfield thought Menachem Mendel Schneerson was the messiah. Until one day, a leading rabbi in the movement told him otherwise. “The truth stung,” he writes. Read the essay ➤ Are fans of Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ getting Holocaust tattoos? An attempt to mimic one of the show’s main characters, who has numbers printed on her forearm, has led to much online debate. “It’s perfectly worthwhile to discuss whether tattooing numbers on wrists is really fundamentally disrespectful to Holocaust survivors,” writes our digital-culture reporter, Mira Fox. Perhaps it “weakens the power of the symbol, distancing it from its real history — or perhaps it keeps the memory of the Holocaust relevant and alive.” Read the story ➤ Related: Kate Bush is experiencing a resurgence because her 1985 song is on the soundtrack to the new season of “Stranger Things.” Our music critic explores her nine most Jewish songs. But wait, there’s more… What a Yiddish-speaking dad taught his son about drinking whiskey.
Looking for a Jewish way to observe Juneteenth? Here’s a list of events around the country and online. And here’s a video of our conversation about the holiday and racial justice with Rabbi Sandra Lawson and Tema Smith. |
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
Stew Leonard's supermarket chain has seven locations, including this one in Paramus, New Jersey. (Getty) |
😮 A former employee of a supermarket chain in the tri-state area has accused the company’s CEO of making racist, sexist, and antisemitic remarks. A lawsuit claims that, among other things, Stew Leonard, the CEO of Stew Leonard’s, mocked the discovery of human remains and tombstones from an abandoned Orthodox Jewish cemetery near one of his stores as “The Yonkers Holocaust.” When the employee complained, she was told “Stew’s just being Stew.” (CNBC) 🇮🇱 The U.S. has asked Israel to avoid actions in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem that could create tensions ahead of President Biden’s visit next month. “They want quiet and calm,” said a senior Israeli official. (Axios) 💵 The president of Tel Aviv University defended his school’s decision to take $50 million from Roman Abramovich, a Russian-Israeli oligarch with close ties to President Vladimir Putin. The donation was offered several years ago, before the outbreak of the war with Ukraine. Now some professors say their institution has a moral responsibility to return it. Tel Aviv University has previously faced criticism for refusing to remove from its medical school the name of the Sacklers, the billionaire family whose wealth came from the opioid crisis. (Haaretz) 🏘️ A New Jersey town has agreed to pay $200,000 over claims it discouraged Orthodox Jews from moving in. The U.S. Justice Department had filed a religious discrimination lawsuit alleging Jackson Township intentionally restricted Jewish schools and housing that were meant to serve a fast-growing Orthodox community, with new residents attempting to move there from neighboring Lakewood as well as Brooklyn and Rockland County, New York. (Gothamist) 🪦 Archaeologists in Israel have discovered an ancient tomb marker cursing all who opened the grave. The 1,800-year-old gravestone for “Jacob the Convert” was recently unearthed at a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Galilee. (Vice) 🎭 Time is running out to see Beanie Feldstein in Broadway’s “Funny Girl,” a role first made famous by Barbra Streisand. Feldstein announced that her last performance would be Sept. 25. (Vulture) Mazel tov ➤ To Michael Tichnor on being elected president of the American Jewish Committee. What else we’re reading ➤ A hit Jewish rock group from decades ago is reuniting … An Israeli, an Arab and a Syrian refugee walk into a bar – and started a band … The weird and wonderful foods of Star Wars made Jewish. |
'Ulysses' fans celebrate Bloomsday in Bryant Park in 2011. (Getty) |
On this day in history: Today is Bloomsday, the annual celebration of James Joyce’s novel “Ulysses,” which is set on June 16, 1904, and follows the wanderings of a Jewish character, Leopold Bloom, through Dublin. The date is marked globally with celebrations of Joyce and his work — a tradition that, as the Forward’s PJ Grisar wrote in 2020, continues to appeal because of the deep sense of connection readers feel with Joyce’s Bloom. “Bloom being Jewish also allows readers an unlikely surrogate for a common feeling, as Odysseus must have had alongside his homesick sailors missing hearth and home,” Grisar wrote. “While the Jewish population of Ireland — now growing for the first time in decades — is marginal, the liminal space of belonging to one’s country while being alienated from it is universal.” Last year on this day, we reported that Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi was chosen to be the first Jew of color to lead a major U.S. rabbinical school.
On the Hebrew calendar, it’s the 17th of Sivan, when the Book of Genesis recounts Noah’s Ark coming to rest atop Mount Ararat.
|
Zoom in close on the photo above from a recent postgame press conference and you’ll see Hebrew writing on Steph Curry’s hoodie. It translates to “love never fails.” Fans of the Golden State Warriors’ point guard are likely not surprised: he has two Hebrew tattoos. Our friends at JTA point out that Curry’s fascination with the language might stem from his mother, Sonya Curry, who told reporters that she was “transformed spiritually” after a visit to Israel. Curry’s Warriors lead the Celtics 3-2 heading into tonight’s Game 6 of the NBA Finals. If the Warriors win, it will be the team’s fourth championship since 2015. ––– Thanks to Laura E. Adkins, Nora Berman 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 |
|
|
|
