Student accuses YU basketball player of rape -- and university of treating her callously

View this email in a browser

INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT. SINCE 1897.

Give a tax-deductible donation

In today's briefing: 10 ways Jews can help Afghan refugees, 19-year-old celebrity chef has the perfect Rosh Hashanah menu, a Holocaust survivor-turned-heavy metal rocker and more.

OUR LEAD STORY 🏀

THE CAMPUS OF YESHIVA UNIVERSITY. (PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES)

YU student accuses basketball player of rape, says school investigation fell short

Yeshiva University’s basketball team has attracted widespread headlines in recent years, with its NCAA tournament dreams dashed by the pandemic in 2020 and then a historic 36-game winning streak. At the same time, the flagship modern Orthodox school faced a lawsuit by current and former LGBTQ students who accuse it of discrimination and maintaining a hostile environment.

Now, a student is accusing a member of the storied basketball team of rape – and the university of treating her callously after she came forward. In an OpEd in the student newspaper and in an interview with the Forward, the young woman criticized the university’s investigation into her allegations, and said she was pressured to sign a non-disclosure agreement, a copy of which we obtained.

Tarnishing an image: The basketball program has been hailed not only for developing stellar athletes, but for cultivating upstanding young men who positively represented the Jewish people. The student claims that compromised the university’s investigation. “The school didn’t want to do anything against the basketball team publicly, because they don’t want any negativity,” she told the Forward.

A toxic culture: The description of the alleged assault is unsparing. “I explicitly told him I did not want to have sex,” she said. “I remember telling him ‘no,’ but that word had no meaning in his mind.” The student, who also plays sports at YU, said the school refused her request to protect her from encountering the basketball player in shared spaces on campus in the future.

Read the story >

ALSO IN THE FORWARD 🎭

TALIA SUSKAUER STARS IN THE TOURING PRODUCTION OF 'WICKED.' (PHOTO: JOAN MARCUS)

Opinion | 10 ways Jewish Americans can help Afghan refugees: The scenes from Afghanistan seem too dire to overcome — but that shouldn't be an excuse for inaction. “The time to act is now,” Marisa Fox-Bevilacqua argues. Read the OpEd >

How this Broadway star brings her Jewishness to the Wicked Witch of the West:The story of the Broadway musical “Wicked” is rife with Jewish resonance. Unlike the hook-nosed villain of “The Wizard of Oz,” the witch in “Wicked” begins the musical as a likable outsider. But she’s mocked and rejected for her green skin throughout her youth and scapegoated for societal chaos as an adult. This month, “Wicked” became the first tour of a Broadway show to resume performance, and its star, Talia Suskauer, is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. “The weight of it is not lost on me,” she told us. Read the interview >

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY👇

INGE GINSBERG, A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR WHO BECAME A HEAVY METAL ROCKER, DIED AT 99.

🧐 The new chief chaplain at Harvard is a Jew … and an atheist. The elevation of Greg Epstein, the 44-year-old author of “Good Without God,” reflects on the rise in young people who are spiritual but do not identify with a religious tradition. “We don’t look to a god for answers,” said Epstein, a humanist. “We are each other’s answers.” (NYT)

⛺️ Nearly 100 people attended Yiddish camp last week in Copake, N.Y. Rukhl Schaechter, our Yiddish editor, has been going nearly every summer since her father founded it in the 1970s. “It really started out as a singles event,” she recalled. “In fact, I first went to find a Yiddish-speaking guy. It’s nice to have a romance in Yiddish.” (Religion News Service)

🇪🇸 Spain is making it harder for Jews who apply for citizenship. In the last quarter alone, 2,276 were turned down — up from a total of three between 2015 and 2020. To be eligible for a Spanish passport, applicants have to put forward evidence of medieval Sephardi ancestry through heritage certificates and family trees. Some say the government has added unnecessary red tape to the process. (JTA)

🌵 Aaron Lieberman wants to be Arizona’s first Jewish governor. He is the third Democrat to announce his campaign for next year’s primary, aiming to replace Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who is term-limited. “He understands that his values as a political leader happen to be beautifully aligned with the roots of Jewish tradition,” said a local rabbi, citing “justice and equality and education for all.” (Jewish Insider)

🎬 Trans actress Hari Nef will portray the rabbi in “Simchas and Sorrows,” a drama now filming in New York. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Mazal tov > To Bari Weiss, journalist and author of “How to Fight Antisemitism,” on receiving the 2021 Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism. “I could not be prouder to be a Jew, and it’s impossible to express how honored I am to be receiving this prize,” Weiss said. (L.A. Press Club)

Shiva call > Inge Ginsberg, a Holocaust survivor who helped spies and eventually became a heavy metal musician, died at 99. The New York Times summed up her eclectic existence like this: “Her rich life, spanning three continents and 11 decades, entailed wartime espionage, volumes of poetry, songwriting and a late-career turn as a rock band’s frontwoman.” In recent years, she appeared on “Switzerland’s Got Talent” and in a documentary called “Death Metal Grandma,” which you can watch here. “We have no doubt whatsoever that she died because of boredom, loneliness and depression,” said Pedro da Silva, a friend and bandmate. (NYT)

Long weekend reads > The amazing return of the Yabloner Rebbe … Inside the monopoly bringing a ‘lost tribe’ to Israel … The epic family feud behind an iconic weight-loss camp for kids in the Catskills.

FROM OUR KITCHEN 🍽

Cooking show phenom Eitan Bernath, 19, is ready for Rosh Hashanah:You may recognize Bernath from his appearance, at age 12, on the Food Network’s “Chopped,” or from his appearances on Drew Barrymore’s show. On TikTok, he has 1.9 million followers. “One of the key elements of what I do is to push people out of their culinary comfort zones,” he said in an interview. “I’m not afraid to do both recipes and fun. I try to have no ego. I’m not above anything.” Read the story >

And try his High Holiday recipes:

ICYMI: We hosted a West Coast vs. East Coast “Bagel Off” this week, taste-testing treats from Zabar’s, Boichik Bagels and more. Watch what happened here.

ON THE CALENDAR 🗓

On this day in history: The first edition of the Guinness Book of World Records was published on Aug. 27, 1955. Charles Segal, a Holocaust survivor, was entered in the book in 2017 for being the Most Recorded Pianist in the world, citing 11,721 tracks of his 25,000-plus recorded titles. He died last month.

It’s Banana Lovers Day. (Yes, it’s a real thing.) To celebrate, cookbook author Paula Shoyer offers up this recipe for banana charoset. (Yes, it’s a real thing.)

Next week: Join us on Sept. 2 at 2 p.m. ET for a look at the rich history of the Borscht Belt and the rise of Jewish comedy in the mid-20th century, including the legacy of Jackie Mason, who died this summer. Our Yiddish editor, Rukhl Schaechter, will moderate a conversation with Prof. Phil Brown, president of the Catskills Institute; Eddy Portnoy of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research; and Aaron Bendich, host of “Borscht Beat” on WJFF Radio Catskill. Register for the free Zoom event here.

PHOTO OF THE DAY 📸

Our senior political reporter, Jacob Kornbluh (far left), talks with Jake Turx of Ami Magazine in the White House briefing room, as they waited for news from the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Joe Biden. But that never happened. After the explosions outside Kabul’s airport that killed at least 13 U.S. troops, the Biden-Bennett meeting was pushed to today. Bennett, an observant Jew who does not travel on Shabbat, will spend the weekend in D.C.

NEWS FROM OUR NEWSROOM 👏

Congrats to Talya Zax, whose Forward article about the enduring friendship between Philip Roth and the caretaker of his property will be included in the next edition of “Best American Essays.” The article also won this year’s Deadline Club award for arts reporting. Read the article >

And also a big mazel to the Forward for its four finalists in this years’ Religion News Association’s awards, announced yesterday.

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.

Copyright © 2021, The Forward Association, Inc. All rights reserved. The Forward Association, Inc., 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038

Click here to unsubscribe from this newsletter.

To stop receiving all emails from the Forward click here.