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| Today's newsletter is sponsored by Other Israel Film Festival JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT. Give a tax-deductible donation Israel passes budget and avoids yet another election, Netflix's new true-crime series revisits bizarre Jerusalem event and the secret Jewish histories of ABBA and "Gilligan's Island." OUR LEAD STORY Since the 'Unite the Right' rally, Rabbi Tom Gutherz has built relationships with Black churches. (Photo: Eze Amos) In interview, Charlottesville rabbi grapples with legacy of that hateful day
Inside a Charlottesville courtroom, 12 jurors are listening to witness testimony – including from Holocaust historian Deborah E. Lipstadt – in the case against organizers of 2017’s “Unite the Right” rally. A half mile away is Congregation Beth Israel, Charlottesville’s largest synagogue. And it’s where, on Thursday, our Arno Rosenfeld met up with Rabbi Tom Gutherz, who talked about the community’s experience of the event – and growth and change since.
Allying with Black churches: In a state rich with Confederate history, and in a neighborhood that until recently was home to a statue of Robert E. Lee, the rally helped push the synagogue early into the national conversation around systemic racism. “It accelerated our process of digging a little deeper into white supremacy,” Gutherz said. Perhaps the most tangible manifestation of that process was an interfaith civil rights pilgrimage from the site of a Charlottesville lynching to a memorial for the killings in Montgomery, Alabama.
A growing congregation: The shul has only grown since the Unite the Right rally, with some previously unaffiliated Jews going out of their way to join in response to the antisemitism in their streets. There’s also a Jewish Renewal minyan in town, and the university is home to a Hillel and Chabad House, as well as a robust Jewish studies department.
But there is still doubt: The federal civil trial over whether the rally amounted to an illegal conspiracy to commit racist violence, is expected to wrap up before Thanksgiving. But the rabbi is not expecting that to end the community’s grappling with the experience. “There will be gratitude that these people who are really violent and hateful people will be held accountable for their actions,” Gutherz said. “There’s not going to be closure.”
ALSO IN THE FORWARD Opinion | I lost my job after a German tabloid called me antisemitic. Now it’s my turn to speak. Nemi El-Hassan is an award-winning German-Palestinian doctor and journalist, who had done investigative reporting on antisemitic conspiracy theories and right-wing extremism. We wrote in September about German media attacks on her over her support of Palestinians. A public broadcast network that had hired El-Hassan as a host revoked its offer, despite more than 400 signatures on an open letter defending her. Now, for the first time in English, she shares her side of the story. Read the essay >
The Jewish mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, won reelection. Is it good for the Jews?Minneapolis is a city still reckoning with last year’s police killing of George Floyd and subsequent calls for reforming (or dismantling) the police department. Frey, a former professional runner and City Council member, beat a field of a dozen candidates, as a ballot measure to defund the police was rejected. We’ve got two takes: from Robin Washington, our editor-at-large, who lives in Minnesota, and from our senior political reporter, Jacob Kornbluh.
A message from our sponsor: Other Israel Film Festival 15th Annual Other Israel Film Festival Nov 4 – 11 Virtual + In Person Don’t miss this year’s Other Israel Film Festival, providing an in-depth look into Israeli and Palestinian societies. For more info and tickets, visit otherisrael.org. MORE INFO + TICKETS
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY 💰 Israel passed its first budget in more than three years early Friday morning, avoiding yet another election and offering hope for a period of more political stability. “A holiday for the State of Israel,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a tweet. “After years of chaos, we formed a government.” (JTA)
💻 Speaking of money in Israel… An Israeli grocery chain with separate online ordering websites for the ultra-Orthodox and the general public was found to be selling the same products for lower prices to the Orthodox. When other customers complained, the store shut down the site offering the discounts. (Times of Israel)
📱 A teenager in Michigan developed an artificial intelligence program that documents antisemitism on Twitter. This is his second go-round in social entrepreneurship. Last year, he created software to help those sheltering at home take care of essential errands. (Detroit Jewish News)
🎨 High-tech ‘Immersive Van Gogh’ exhibitions are being staged in Atlanta, New York, Pittsburgh and other American cities. As a new book points out, it was a Jewish art collector who launched the Dutch painter to stardom 120 years ago. (Times of Israel)
🍞 An Ohio eatery that specialized in Eastern European baked goods is closing after more than a half a century. Many attempts were made to save it, including a reality-show hunt for new bakers. (Cleveland Jewish News)
🎶 The Swedish group ABBA released “Voyage” today, its first album in 40 years. Known for 1970s and early 1980s hits such as Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia and Take A Chance On Me, the group has sold more than 385 million records. Of course we’re celebrating with the secret Jewish history of ABBA. (Forward)
What we’re bingeing this weekend > The new Netflix docuseries “The Motive,” that revisits a 1986 case in which a 14-year-old Israeli boy killed his parents and siblings – and said a green monster told him to do it.
And listening to > Laura E. Adkins, the Forward’s opinion editor, joined the “Talking Tachlis” podcast this week to chat about her recent piece “How to lie with statistics, antisemitism edition.” She and the hosts discussed when anti-Israel rhetoric is (and is not) antisemitic, threats to Jews from the left and the right, the difference between antisemitic hate crimes and other forms of prejudice, and more. Listen now >
ON THE CALENDAR Natalie Schafer (far right) and the rest of the 'Gilligan's Island' cast. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) On this day in history: Natalie Schafer, an actress on “Gilligan’s Island,” was born on Nov. 5, 1900. On the popular series chronicling the adventures of seven disparate castaways, Schafer played Lovey Howell, the millionaire’s wife. In real life, she was the one with the money. Upon Schafer’s death in 1991, she bequeathed a chunk of her fortune to her teacup poodle and, when the dog died, more than $1.5 million to renovate a hospital that now has a Natalie Schafer Wing.
Apparently, there are two National Doughnut Days, one in June and one today. To celebrate the latter, we’re baking eight doughnut recipes – one for each night of Hanukkah.
The funeral for Colin Powell will be held at noon today at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. As our Jacob Kornbluh and Lauren Markoe reported, Powell’s early life was steeped in Jewish culture and Yiddish. And it stayed with him.
Don’t forget! Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday at 2 a.m. Which means that Barry Newman, the Jewish actor who starred in the 1970s TV series “Petrocelli” and turns 83 that day, gets a 25-hour birthday.
Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET: Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen were huge fans of each other — and the influence cut both ways. Our culture reporter PJ Grisar will moderate a conversation with musician Ezra Furman; Larry “Ratso” Sloman, author and musician; and Denise Sullivan, music journalist and historian. Register now >
PHOTO OF THE DAY That is not the typical blimp you’re looking at. Israel is testing a humongous inflatable missile detection system that will hover at high altitudes and detect long-range threats. It “will be a significant component in strengthening our capabilities to defend the country’s borders against a variety of threats,” said Amikam Norkin, an Israeli Air Force commander.
Thanks to Laura E. Adkins, Nora Berman, Rob Eshman and Louis Keene 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.
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