? The Israeli military said Thursday that it had killed the commander of Islamic Jihad’s rocket-launching program in an airstrike on the Gaza Strip. At least a dozen mortars were fired from Gaza toward Israel, two hitting near homes and others being intercepted by Iron Dome or landing in open areas — all this while rumors of a cease-fire swirled. (Haaretz)
? A day after returning to Washington for the first time in three months, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said her doctors have advised her to adopt a lighter work schedule as she continues to work through lingering consequences of her battle with shingles. Feinstein, whose absence held up crucial committee votes on President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees, has faced escalating calls to resign —including from our columnist Rob Eshman. (Axios)
❗ An Illinois state lawmaker was removed from a leadership position after saying a staff member looked like Hitler. State Rep. Mary Flowers, a Chicago Democrat, protested her removal from Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Welch’s legislative leadership team, and said the appearance of the staffer in question had “stunned” her. (WCBU)
? Also file under legislators displaying, uh, confusing judgment: Arizona Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, a Presbyterian minister, is under investigation for hiding Bibles to protest what she called the increasing role of religion in politics. Stahl Hamilton hid the Bibles inside the House, moving them under cushions, or into a refrigerator. (NPR)
? A Kansas City church has embarked on a 21-day fast praying for “the salvation of Israel” — so as to speed the second coming of Jesus Christ. “The Second Coming is actually connected to the Jews saying yes to Jesus,” said the church’s leader. (Religion News Service)
? Gunter Demnig, a 75-year-old German artist, has spent three decades placing stones outside the last known residences of Holocaust victims, across 30 European countries. He will soon place the 100,000th of what he calls “stumble stones” — and said he plans to continue embossing the cobblestones with victims’ names and the dates and circumstances of their deaths, and installing them by hand, “as long as my knees are OK.” (News18)
Shiva call ➤ Fruma Gallant, a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Israel on the famous ship Exodus, and the mother of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, died at 88.
What else we’re reading ➤ “She escaped the Nazis to become New York’s porn queen” … A New Jersey synagogue offers a new perk: a “loom room” … What a Jewish 30-year-old learned about religion visiting every country in the world.
