Mark Zuckerberg donating $1.3 million to Jewish charities, speaking to a hologram of a Holocaust survivor, saving a prophet's tomb, notes from the Emmys and more.

I’ll be off for Sukkot Tuesday and Wednesday, and return to your inbox on Thursday.

OUR LEAD STORY

Did hate or derangement drive a Cutco knife salesman to stab a rabbi?

Khaled Awad made international headlines when he stabbed a Boston Chabad rabbi this summer. Many immediately saw it as a clear case of antisemitism, but his lawyer questioned his mental fitness to face the charges. We asked Larry Cohler-Esses, an investigative reporter who long worked at the Forward, to find the story behind the story.

Trial and error: The most pressing question facing the judge in the case is this: Did Awad, a man with some history both of antisemitism and of psychological problems, commit a hate crime – or is he too mentally ill to be held responsible?

Could it be both? “Freud himself explored antisemitism as a combination of mental illness and social phenomenon,” said Michael Berenbaum, a Holocaust historian. “We have to be careful that there’s no license to attack Jews and get out of jail free.”

A troubled history: Awad did not make any anti-Jewish statements during the attack, but Cohler-Esses tracked down Awad’s former Jewish roommate, Aidan Severt Anderson, who said that he frequently heard Awad spout anti-Jewish rhetoric. Anderson also said Awad once turned violent and tackled him. Lawyers who have handled other hate-crime cases said this background could certainly come into play.

Mental incompetence defense: At Awad’s initial arraignment on July 8, a court clinician reported that he was bipolar and had been off his medication at the time of the attack. Massachusetts is one of 11 states where the burden is on the prosecution to disprove a claim of insanity rather than on the defense to prove it.

Questions abound: Why did a Florida judge release Awad less than three months before the attack? Why did Awad then move from Tampa to Boston? Did the Cutco knives he sold to make extra money while studying in Florida figure into the attack?

Read the story >

ALSO IN THE FORWARD

I spoke to a Holocaust survivor’s hologram. Then I called her:Seeking a new way for people to connect to the Holocaust, an L.A. museum created 3D holograms that visitors can interact with. The recording process used 118 cameras over a full five-day week, morning to evening, asking survivors more than 1,000 questions collected from students, educators, researchers and historians. Our contributor Esther Kustanowitz spent some quality time with Renee Firestone. “If young Angelenos are going to hear Holocaust experiences from only one holographically-projected survivor,” she writes, “it probably should be Firestone.”Read the story >

Close to crumbling, the tomb of an ancient prophet is saved in Kurdish Iraq: For 3,00o years, Jews made pilgrimages to the Tomb of Nahum, which many believe belongs to the Biblical prophet. By the 21st century however, the elements had nearly destroyed the site. Then a nonprofit and a team of Israeli engineers stepped in. “To me, it looked like it was beyond rescue,” said Cheryl Benard, the founder of the nonprofit, ARCH International. “We really only had a couple of months to do something about the site, because it likely wouldn’t last another winter.” Read the story >

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan pledged 99% of their Facebook fortune to philanthropic causes. (Getty Images)

💰 Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan are donating $1.3 million to 11 Jewish groups – including schools, camps and a nonprofit working to fight antisemitism. “The couple has also been meeting with rabbis, historians and scholars to learn more about Judaism and the Jewish community,” writes Helen Chernikoff. (eJewishPhilanthropy)

✍️ Afghanistan’s last Jew was rescued on the condition he would finally grant his wife the divorce she had been seeking for years. Zabulon Simantov followed through, sort of. He reportedly signed a document related to the divorce, but there’s doubt whether it will hold up in a Jewish court. (Jerusalem Post)

☀️ COVID has turned South Florida into a promised land for Orthodox New Yorkers looking for fewer mandates, lower taxes and year-round good weather. So many people are moving there that new synagogues are popping up and some Jewish schools now have waiting lists in every grade. (JTA)

💻 Israel’s Mossad developed a way to assassinate Iran’s top nuclear scientist without any operatives present, using artificial intelligence to pull the trigger from more than 1,000 miles away. (NYT)

🚔 A New York City police officer has been arrested for burglary after allegedly breaking into Camp Young Judaea on Rosh Hashanah and damaging the property. (Mid Hudson News)

🇵🇸 Six Palestinian prisoners who escaped from a maximum-security prison in Israel have been recaptured. (AP)

⚾️ After failing to medal at the Summer Olympics, Israel’s baseball team won silver at the European Championships on Sunday. (Times of Israel)

What else we’re reading > The uproar over the “Ultimate American Bible”... Why you probably won’t have racial micro-aggressions at this Jewish summer camp … New album from Ladino singer is a loving homage to a once-vibrant Sephardic Jewish community in Macedonia.

EMMY AWARDS NOTEBOOK

Brett Goldstein was one of the many winners from 'Ted Lasso.' (Getty Images)

Our culture reporter PJ Grisar watched the Emmy Awards Sunday night and sent in these notes…

The opening musical number included Jewish rapper Lil Dicky: “I came up on Seinfeld and Curb, I’m so white.”

While presenting an award, Seth Rogen expressed concern about how many people were in the enclosed tent, saying he was told the event would be outdoors. “I would not have come to this!” Rogen joked. “It’s more important that we have three chandeliers than not kill Eugene Levy tonight – that’s what’s been decided.”

The Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy award went to Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein, who some online sleuths speculated was a CGI character. (He looked real to me – or if not, a very credible re-creation.) “I was very specifically told I’m not allowed to swear,” said Goldstein, whose character is notoriously foul-mouthed. The speech was short, sweet and included swearing.

Stephen Colbert came on stage with nail-biting news: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel could have its 2018 Best Comedy award recalled, Colbert joked – it was nearly The Marvelous Mrs. Larry Elder.

Lorne Michaels wore reading glasses and recited his speech from a crumpled piece of paper, giving us strong Zayde at Pesach/tired rabbi vibes as he dedicated the award he was presenting to Norm Macdonald, who died last week.

Scott Frank, who won for directing The Queen’s Gambit, thanked God for creating IMDB because he didn’t have time to name everyone during his acceptance speech. He then proceeded to talk so long that he was played off about three times.

Michaela Coel took home a writing statue for “I Think I May Destroy You,” a show whose score features a shofar and other sounds of the High Holidays, courtesy of Leonard Cohen’s cantor.

ON THE CALENDAR

Red Auerbach sitting on the bench next to rookie Bill Russell in 1956. (The Sporting News Archive)

On this day in history: Red Auerbach, the Hall of Fame basketball coach, was born on Sept. 20, 1917. During his NBA career, he won nine championships with the Boston Celtics. He was also a pioneer in helping break down racial barriers in the league – drafting the first African-American player and hiring the first African-American head coach. Auerbach died, at 89, in 2006. “Red was the best in the world at what he did,” his close friend Alan Dershowitz wrote in a remembrance for the Forward. “And off the bench, he was a real mensch.”

In honor of National Fried Rice Day (yes, that’s a thing), check out our recipe for schmaltzy chicken fried rice.

The U.N. General Assembly starts on Tuesday. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is slated to speak Sept. 27 and to stay in New York for Simchat Torah.

Looking ahead: On Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. ET, we’ll be co-sponsoring an online conversation about how antisemitism fuels white nationalism. Panelists include Eric K. Ward of the Southern Poverty Law Center; Prof. Pamela Nadell, who is authoring a book about American antisemitism; R. Derek Black, a former white nationalist; and Daryl Johnson, an expert in domestic terrorism. Register here.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

(Getty Images)

Ultra-Orthodox Jews inspect the leaves of the hadas, or myrtle, ahead of the festival of Sukkot, in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem. The hadas is part of the lulav and etrog combination used on Sukkot, which starts tonight at sundown.

And more: Check out this Twitter video of Curtis Sliwa, GOP nominee for NY governor, (over)shaking the lulav on the campaign trail on Sunday.

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

BECOME A SUBSCRIBER