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JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Good morning. Today: American Jews view war more favorably than Americans at large; antisemitic conspiracy theories around potential forced TikTok sale; and Israelis injured in West Bank shooting.

ISRAEL AT WAR

(iStock by Getty)

Opinion | Purim joy is not simple this year. What does a responsible Purim look like?Purim, which begins Saturday night, is a festival that celebrates Jewish perseverance — and ends with the Jewish people in Persia killing 75,000 enemies who had risen up to slaughter them. As the Gaza war rages on, with the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry saying the Palestinian death toll is close to 32,000, both the horrors of Oct. 7 and the extraordinary toll of the ensuing conflict can feel perhaps too resonant with the holiday’s themes. “Each of these partial readings in light of current events runs the risk of becoming dangerous, whether by ignoring the real need for Jewish self-defense, or ignoring that there can be innocent victims of Jewish strength,” writes Rabbi Aviva Richman. Read her essay ➤

Plus:

Silence your groggers: 6 ideas for Purim pivots in response to the war

On Purim, there’s a fast before the festival. It’s a ritual I need in these dark times

Is the Purim story actually a work of Babylonian fan fiction?

Opinion | Don’t be fooled: Palestinian suffering in this war is exactly what Hamas wants. The world has rightly focused ire on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, writes Dan Perry. But that rage shouldn’t come at the cost of understanding the evil of Hamas — or the ways in which the war is working to the terror group’s benefit. “By provoking Israel into expanding its reach into Gaza and the West Bank — thereby imperiling chances for a two-state solution — Hamas endangers prospects of a lasting peace,” Perry writes. “And when civilian Palestinians are killed in a conflict that Hamas started, the group is delighted, not outraged.” Read his essay ➤

A young girl stands in the ruins of the Al-Faruq Mosque in Rafah, Gaza. (Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images)

Latest on the war…

The United States is distributing a United Nations Security Council resolution today calling for “an immediate and sustained ceasefire.” The resolution, which also condemns the Oct. 7 attacks, will be put to a vote today.

A vast majority of American Jews believe Israel’s reasons for embarking on its war in Gaza are justified, and a substantial majority approve of the way it is conducting the war, a new study from the Pew Research Center found. Approval for the war is much lower among Americans overall. The study also found that only about half of Americans can correctly answer “whether the number of deaths in the war, so far, is higher among Palestinians or among Israelis.”

Seven Israelis were wounded in a Friday morning shooting in the West Bank. The suspect in the shooting was killed after a standoff with Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

Sen. Chuck Schumer said he would welcome Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress, days after calling for new Israeli elections and saying Netanyahu’s leadership is an “obstacle to peace.”

Israel’s Supreme Court temporarily blocked the planned deportation of 20 Palestinians receiving cancer treatment in Israel to Gaza, requesting that the government hold off on action until it has time to review a petition by the patients and a number of human rights organizations.

The IDF is investigating after a reservist shot and killed a Palestinian who had converted to Judaism in the West Bank

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, currently on a tour of the Middle East, said progress is being made toward normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia despite tensions raised by the war. Blinken is in Israel today, meeting with Netanyahu, the war cabinet and the families of hostages.

Jerusalem’s mayor agreed to changes to the city’s first Purim parade in 42 years after meeting with representatives of the families of hostages, after objections over the appropriateness of a raucous celebration in wartime.

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ALSO IN THE FORWARD

Three versions of Hannah Arendt come together to solve the enigma of Adolf Eichmann in The Banality of Evil. (Raven Watson)

Hannah Arendt is a detective solving the mystery of Eichmann in a new play. How do you turn one of the most famous works of modern journalism — Hannah Arendt’s dispatches from Adolf Eichmann’s 1963 trial in Jerusalem — into theater? In its newly opened play The Banality of Evil, New York’s Meta-Phys Ed theater company, three actors play Arendt, physically embodying the philosophical, discursive qualities that made her meditations on the architect of the Holocaust so powerful.

How one wedding dress came to symbolize the strength of more than 2,000 Jewish women. The 6th Jerusalem Biennale features a strong feminist theme, perhaps most powerfully in Andi Arnovitz’s piece “What We Bring.” Arnovitz built the piece on her own wedding dress, adorning it with the names of 2,611 Jewish women laser-cut from white bookbinding cloth. “There’s no way to contain this wealth of cultural assets,” Arnovitz said. “These Jewish women have changed history — we are who we are because of them.”

NEW FROM THE FORWARD

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

(Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

📱 Antisemitic conspiracy theories about the Congressional push to force a sale of TikTok are proliferating, with one antisemitic influencer writing that the “Jewish lobby” is behind the effort, with aims to gain “complete control over narratives and information.” (ADL)

👀 Malmö, the Swedish city hosting this year’s Eurovision competition, is preparing for possible unrest related to Israel’s controversial participation in the beloved song contest. “There is currently, according to the information we have from our partners, no direct threat to Eurovision,” the city’s safety director said on Thursday, but “given the situation, things could change.” (Reuters)

🖼️ A new exhibit in Barcelona examines antisemitic portrayals of Jews in art from the Middle Ages — a sobering examination of how religious art has often been used to fuel prejudice. (Wall Street Journal)

⚖️ A British man is facing charges related to terrorism and inciting hate, which touch on his affiliation with the antisemitic group Goyim TV. The group has emerged as an active antisemitic propaganda outfit in recent years. (Bolton News)

Shiva call ➤ Amnon Weinstein, who dedicated himself to restoring violins that had belonged to Jews during the Holocaust, died at 84. Julie Robinson Belafonte, an actress and dancer with Russian-Jewish roots and the second wife of Harry Belafonte, died at 95.

What else we’re reading ➤“A Holocaust exhibit seemed harmless. With the war in Gaza, it’s come under scrutiny” … “The brutal conditions facing Palestinian prisoners” … The story behind the death of a Palestinian 12-year-old “shot dead after he lit a firework.”

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Tired of the same old hamantashen routine every Purim? Our editorial fellow Sam Lin-Sommer took a food tour in search of unexpected treats for the holiday on offer in New York City; good luck watching without developing a sudden craving for halvah.

Thanks to Benyamin Cohen for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected].

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