Moscow's chief rabbi in exile, primary night results, Georgia cops take page from Israeli police handbook, Adam Sandler's bat mitzvah movie, and for sale in New York: 'farkakte apartments.' Plus: Play today's Vertl puzzle, the Yiddish Wordle |
A rendering shows what the future of the 100-year-old synagogue will look like after its renovated. (Courtesy) |
Demise and rise: This 100-year-old Detroit synagogue was in disrepair. Now it’s set for a $5 million renovation Jay Hack was both charmed and repelled when he stepped foot into Detroit’s Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue 10 years ago. “The first services we went to, I brought my oldest son and he was literally crawling on the floor and we had to guide him away from broken glass,” said Hack, a 45-year-old financial planner who grew up in the suburbs. But this week Hack and the growing congregation are starting a $5 million renovation, spurred by a sharp recent influx of young Jewish residents and their families. It’s a stunning turnaround for a century-old unaffiliated congregation, too small to afford a rabbi or staff just a few years ago. The congregation grew from fewer than 100 households a decade ago to more than 400 now, with more than 100 children under 18 — up from 10. “I like to call us a 100-year-old startup,” said Rabbi Ariana Silverman, who was hired in 2016. When the ambitious construction plan is complete, several local Jewish organizations are expected to rent workspace in the four-story building, as they re-establish themselves in the city after decades in the suburbs. “I can’t wait, selfishly” Hack said, “for a place to take my family that’s both beautiful and safe.” Read the story ➤
Related: Inside the last days of a small-town synagogue
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Tucker Carlson speaks onstage at the Los Angeles Convention Center. (Getty) |
Opinion | Here’s how to replace the great replacement theory:The conspiracy theory that fueled the Buffalo supermarket massacre and is regularly touted on Tucker Carlson’s show says that elites – often Jews – are working to overwhelm white Christian populations with immigrants and minorities. “You can point out that the Rothschilds — whose photos the Buffalo shooter included in his manifesto — are busy racing horses or making documentaries in Santa Monica, not flinging open borders,” writes our senior columnist, Rob Eshman. Instead, he argues, the best way to extinguish the theory is to replace it with nuance and truth. Read his column ➤ Plus... Sixteen pro-Israel organizations are demanding that New York State officials follow through on divesting from Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s over the ice cream company’s policies toward Israel.
Elsewhere in New York, an event this weekend featuring Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has drawn the ire of some local politicians due to his support of what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” bill restricting discussion of sexuality in public schools.
A new George Carlin documentary on HBO led our critic to revisit his favorite Carlin album. Does it age well 50 years later?
Selling and renting real estate in New York City is serious business. But Stephanie Turk, a real estate agent, is using comedy, honesty and a rather vulgar Yiddish word, to market her “farkakte apartments.” |
Ron Galperin (right), who is married to Rabbi Zachary Shapiro (left), lost his bid for California state controller. (Courtesy) |
Tuesday was the busiest election day before November. Here are some of the results: CALIFORNIA San Francisco’s Jewish district attorney, Chesa Boudin, was recalled by a 60-40 margin. Boudin, a former public defender who eliminated cash bail and tried to reduce the number of people sent to prison, was criticized as soft on crime.
In Los Angeles, Katy Young Yaroslavsky won a City Council seat in a heavily Jewish district, with 47% of the vote. She beat three candidates including Sam Yebri, who was hoping to be the first Iranian-American on the council.
L.A. Mayoral candidates Rick Caruso, a businessman, and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass advanced to a runoff, with 42% and 37% of the vote, respectively.
Malia Cohen finished second in the race for California state controller, bumping Ron Galperin, the L.A. city controller, from the race, which will proceed to a November runoff. Galperin is married to Rabbi Zachary Shapiro of Temple Akiba, a Reform synagogue in Culver City.
Adam Schiff retained his seat comfortably, with more than 60% of the vote. NEW JERSEY U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., a Democrat whose redrawn district includes Newark, handily beat Imani Oakley, a strong advocate for the Palestinians he had painted as a future member of the so-called Squad of leftist House members critical of Israel.
U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, the state delegation’s lone Republican, trounced pro-Trump radio host, Mike Crispi. |
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt delivers a speech in 2018 in Paris. (Conference of European Rabbis) |
🇷🇺 Moscow’s chief rabbi has fled to Israel to escape pressure from the Kremlin to publicly support the war with Ukraine. The news was revealed on Tuesday by the rabbi’s daughter-in-law, Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, a former editor at the Forward. “The pain & fear in our family the last few months is beyond words,” she tweeted. (JTA) 🏫 A newstudy found that only a quarter of U.S. college campuses have Jewish student groups. Most also lack groups for Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim students. (Religion News Service) 😷 Israeli health officials are warning of a new COVID wave and say a fifth dose of the vaccine may be needed. If the past is precedent, the United States may experience a similar situation in about a month or two. (Times of Israel) 🔫 A small-town police chief in Georgia is training his officers to shoot without killing, inspired by a strategy he saw in Israel. He called the approach “another tool in their duty belt,” but the new policy has caused a heated debate. (Times of Israel) ✝️ There is new speculation that Pope Francis, 85, is planning for his retirement. Francis, whose mobility issues have him using a wheelchair, announced a surprise trip to the tomb of Celestine V, one of the few popes that have resigned. (AP) 🎬 Adam Sandler’s production company is casting for a movie called “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah,” based on a 2005 young adult novel. The announcement comes a month after Sandler hosted a star-studded bat mitzvah for his daughter, Sunny. (JTA) He said it ➤ “They’re all Persian Jewish. They all look like movie stars. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen these guys. They’re like the most perfect people you’ve ever seen.” – Steve Bannon talking about how much he misses his doctors in Los Angeles, in a profile in The Atlantic.
Shiva calls ➤ Phil Ritzenberg, the former editor and publisher of the New York Jewish Week, died at 90 … Isaac Berger, a weightlifting champion and three-time Olympic medalist, died at 85.
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On this day in history: Carl Laemmle, who helped establish the American film industry, founded Universal Pictures on June 8, 1912. When Laemmle immigrated to the United States in 1884 at age 17, he began working as an errand boy for a pharmacy, then became a farmhand and eventually a store manager. His breakthrough came when he began buying nickelodeons — the first movie theaters — and expanded into a film distribution service. Laemmle went on to produce or work on more than 400 films. In the video above, which Laemmle’s niece stumbled across in 2015, her uncle is chatting with his friend Albert Einstein, a fellow German Jew, at Universal Studios in California. Last year on this day, we reported that Oregon had finally scrapped its racist state song — thanks to a Jewish music teacher. On the Hebrew calendar, it’s the ninth of Sivan, the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yaacov Chaim Sofer, the author of a monumental work on Jewish law. He died in 1939. In honor of Frank Lloyd Wright’s birthday, check out the one synagogue the architect designed.
In honor of Best Friends Day, allow us to introduce you to Meghan Markle’s Jewish bestie.
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German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck laid a wreath near the eternal flame at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Habeck, who seemed to be holding back tears during the two-hour visit, wrote in the guest book a poem by Paul Celan, whose parents died in a concentration camp. ––– Thanks to Louis Keene, Rudy Malcom, Lauren Markoe, Arno Rosenfeld and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected]. |
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