This article is part of our morning briefing. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox each weekday. Israelis will vote today for a new prime minister. Here are four possible outcomes: Benjamin Netanyahu has a serious chance of returning to the prime ministership for the … checks notes … third time. There’s also the possibility that Netanyahu is forced by his Likud Party colleagues and conservative and religious allies to remove himself from consideration and instead agree to recommend another person to head the government. And if all else fails, there could always be another election — the sixth in four years — next March. Read Jacob Kornbluh’s analysis ➤
Has Leonard Cohen’s most Jewish song become a ‘Hallelujah’ for darker times? If you’ve just finished “The Patient” on Hulu or seen the trailer for the new Timothée Chalamet cannibal romance “Bones and All,” you may be singing “hineni.” Both have made use of the late Leonard Cohen’s valedictory song, “You Want it Darker,” which riffs on Jewish liturgy to dramatic — and bleak — effect. Speaking to our PJ Grisar, the cantor featured on the track said the tune is a natural fit for our turbulent times. Read the story ➤ |
Rav Mordechai Yosef ben Avraham, left, and Rabbi Sandra Lawson. (Courtesy) |
We asked eight Black Jews to weigh in on the Kanye mess: “You don’t need me, as a rabbi, to tell you this is horrible,” Rabbi Sandra Lawson said. Others spoke of “the erasure of Jews of Color” in conversations about antisemitism, saying the “enemies of Jewish people want to portray Judaism as being this white religion.” And Yitz Jordan, an Orthodox hip hop artist who grew up listening to West’s music, sees a silver lining. “It sucks that this is the catalyst,” he said, “but this has brought a lot of unity out of the woodwork.” Read the story ➤ And in case you missed it: How close have you been reading this newsletter? Take our Jewish news quiz to see if you remember last week’s stories. (Full disclosure, I got a 7 out of 9 and I write the thing.) |
Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets posted an antisemitic tweet, yet he’s not facing the same backlash as Kanye West. Our Louis Keene suggests a few potential reasons why: Irving’s stature in the league, the obscurity of the content he posted, and inertia. Meanwhile, at last night’s game against the Indiana Pacers, several Orthodox fans sat courtside wearing T-shirts they had made that say “Fight antisemitism.” That’s Irving standing in front of them in the photo above.
The veteran point guard approached them at the end of the first quarter for a brief conversation. Louis tracked down the fans for an interview. Andrew Pearl, who was in the group, said they told Irving: “We don’t fight with hate, we fight with love. And we still love you. But we have to wear the shirts.” Read the story ➤
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Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke via video at the conference. (Jewish Federations of North America) |
Our editor-in-chief, Jodi Rudoren, sent this dispatch from the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly, a three-day gabfest of some 1,200 Jewish leaders and lay leaders…. Israeli President Isaac Herzog greeted the crowd Monday morning from what he described as “the Jewish democratic state of Israel.” He was speaking via video chat rather than from the podium at the Hilton hotel because he had to remain in Israel to vote in today’s election — and, then, to mediate the complex process of forming a government in a hopelessly divided nation. That is also, no doubt, why he included the word “democratic” in his description of the holy land. Many in the audience, and the American Jews they represent, are deeply concerned that the outcome of Tuesday’s balloting could weaken Israel’s democracy, with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some of his right-wing allies promising to curtail the power and independence of the courts. Many are likewise worried about the rise of Itamar Ben-Gvir, a Kahanist poised to play a powerful role in coalition-negotiations and a possible Netanyahu-led government — and how that might affect their ability to defend the Jewish (democratic) state on Capitol Hill and college campuses. “I know the frequency of elections in Israel is somewhat unnerving,” Herzog said. “The results may or may not be to your liking, but they should be respected.” |
Jodi Rudoren talks with Yaron Deckel of the Jewish Agency on stage. (Rachel Fishman Feddersen) |
At a panel I was on about the elections, a 23-year-old student at Tel Aviv University in the audience lamented that the campaign had not focused on the high cost of living that most worries her — and that, at such a young age, she had already voted in four national elections. Asked about the growing popularity of Ben-Gvir among her peers, she spoke of the anxiety they’ve grown up with — “every summer a war and every winter a terror campaign,” as she put it — and said her generation was attracted to extremism on right and left. And here are three money lines I’ve heard from the stage (so far): - “Sadly, I work in a growth industry.” — Amb. Deborah Lipstadt, special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism
- “I’m not buying a brownie from the KKK bake sale.” — Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith America, on where his “red line” is regarding diverse viewpoints
- “I support free speech, but I also really oppose deranged antisemitism.” — Tablet writer James Kirchik on Alice Walker
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WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
Clockwise from top left: The Mussolini march in Italy, the RBG stamp, Anthony Hopkins in ‘Armageddon Time’ and Anne Frank. (Getty; USPS; Focus Features; Wikimedia) |
? An evangelical GOP House candidate in Texas wrote a novel about Anne Frank finding Jesus. It “picks up where the original journey left off,” according to the book’s promotional material. The candidate, a pastor and business owner named Johnny Teague, also considers fossil fuels a gift from God. (JTA) ?? An Australian professor had the right to superimpose a swastika on an Israeli flag, a federal judge ruled, adding that this intellectual freedom was permitted under the terms of his contract. The University of Sydney fired the professor in 2019. (Australian AP) ?? Thousands marched to the grave of Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator, on Sunday to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of his coming to power in Rome. Italian Jews are worried that the country’s newly-elected prime minister, the far-right Giorgia Meloni, has close ties to neo-fascist groups. (JTA) ? More than 400 pieces of music by Jewish composers that were banned by orchestras during the rise of Nazism will now be heard on a wider scale thanks to a new initiative that aims to publish and perform the works. It is “our obligation to counteract these policies by rescuing the music of exiled composers from oblivion,” said one person working on the project. (New York Times) ? Remember that new movie we told you about starring Sir Anthony Hopkins as a Ukrainian zayde? Some critics have complained that Hopkins and other non-Jewish actors should not be the ones portraying Jewish characters. But the director, who is Jewish, says calls for only casting Jewish actors in Jewish roles can lead to stereotyping. (Hollywood Reporter) ? Cormac McCarthy’s first new novels since his Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Road” in 2006 are about a Jewish brother and sister whose last name is “Western.” The reclusive author usually laces his works with Christian allegory. (JTA) ?⚖️ The United States Postal Service unveiled a new stamp honoring the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, set to be released in 2023. The artist Roy Lichtenstein and author Toni Morrison are also getting stamps. (USA Today)
What else we’re reading ➤ People dressed up as Nazis for Halloween. It didn’t go over well … Salt-encrusted art from the Dead Sea lands at the Israel Museum … Meet 10 Jewish candidates who could be elected to Congress for the first time this fall.
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On this day in history (1971): Billy Joel’s debut album, “Cold Spring Harbor,” was released by Family Productions. Through a mastering error, the singer’s vocals were mistakenly sped up, which caused the album to be a commercial and critical failure. Because of that, Joel left Family Productions for Columbia Records, with whom he would eventually release many of his signature hits. Check out Billy Joel’s most Jewish-themed songs ➤ Last year on this day, our colleagues at JTA reported on how retailers responded when customers complained about clueless holiday products like a Hanukkah advent calendar and a pillow that said: “Why is this night different from all other nights? Happy Hanukkah.” On the Hebrew calendar, it’s the seventh of Cheshvan, when Jews in Israel begin to recite the prayer for rain.
In honor of National Vinegar Day, check out our recipe for pickled cherry tomatoes.
And of course it’s Dia de los Muertos. Here’s an essay about the holiday by a self-described “21st century Mexican Jew.” |
––– Thanks to PJ Grisar, Louis Keene, Sarah Nachimson, Jodi Rudoren and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected]. |
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