Why the yeshiva world is rooting against the 76ers: Philadelphia’s NBA team is one win away from securing a spot in the Eastern Conference Final. The league’s Most Valuable Player is on the roster. And betting agencies have the team neck-and-neck with Denver’s Nuggets (woo!) to win the championship. But the Philadelphia arena that serves as their home court is meant to host the biggest yeshiva gathering in the world on a June day when there would be a final-round basketball game if the 76ers do make it all the way. Which, our Louis Keene writes, would mean a last-minute scramble to rearrange the yeshiva event, Adirei HaTorah, which draws thousands of men for live music, dancing, prayer and speeches. Read the story ➤

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Plus: Earlier this week, Louis wrote about the growing influence of the Jewish duo behind the sports world’s most popular fan podcast on the 76ers and their supporters. Read the story ➤

‘He needs to go’: Long Island Jews react to George Santos’ indictment. As Rep. George Santos appeared in federal court yesterday to face charges including wire fraud, money laundering and lying to Congress, our Jacob Kornbluh took the pulse of political leaders and voters in Santos’s district. After months of outrage over his deep well of lies, “it is clear that George Santos cannot continue to represent” the heavily Jewish district, said Bruce Blakeman, Nassau County’s executive. Read the story ➤

Joe Vogel, a Maryland state delegate and congressional candidate in October 2022. (Matthew Litman)

This Gen Z, gay, Latino Jew leans into his identities to launch a bid for Congress: Joe Vogel, 26, was elected to Maryland’s state assembly just last year. Now he’s making a bid for higher office, hoping to become the second member of Generation Z in the House of Representatives. In an interview after his Monday announcement, Vogel told Jacob that he is a “proud pro-Israel progressive” and expressed support for the current wave of anti-government protests in Israel. Read the story ➤

Israel will mourn diaspora victims of antisemitism on next Memorial Day. Previously an occasion to mourn fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism in Israel, Yom HaZikaron will soon officially expand to include victims of terrorism in the diaspora — like the two Jewish pilgrims killed in a Tuesday shooting in Tunisia. Read the story ➤

But wait, there’s more …

• A microcosm of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is brewing on a New Jersey school board. 

• The Anti-Defamation League recorded a 41% jump in antisemitic incidents in California.

• Birthright will bring 40% fewer people to Israel this summer than last, a change the group said was necessary because donations have not kept pace with the increased cost of travel.

• Hadassah, the Jewish women’s organization, released a list of 18 Zionist “women to watch.” A spokesperson said it is part of the group’s search for “a way of reimagining Zionism.”

The Jewish Studies graduate programs at Spertus Institute make advanced Jewish learning conveniently available. Taught by skilled and distinguished faculty, the programs are offered in a flexible, part-time format. Courses meet online and during seminars at our award-winning downtown Chicago campus. 

Our programs draw students who are involved and engaged. Are you ready to join them? 

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Rockets were fired from Gaza City toward Israel on Wednesday. (MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty)

?  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.

ON THE CALENDAR

Irving Berlin with Alice Faye, Tyrone Power and Don Ameche singing the chorus from “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.”

On this day in history (1888): Composer and lyricist Irving Berlin was born in Imperial Russia. Berlin, originally named Israel Beilin, went on to shape the Great American Songbook by scoring musicals including Holiday Inn, Annie Get Your Gun and White Christmas. While Berlin is perhaps best known for “God Bless America,” Jake Romm argued in a Forward 2017 article for his birthday that Berlin’s most American song was this Russian lullaby.

In honor of National Twilight Zone Day, discover how Rod Serling fought injustice – and Nazis – on the iconic series.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Do employers have to accommodate workers’ Shabbat observance? That’s the key question at the heart of a pending Supreme Court case about the boundaries between church and state. It could help observant Jews — but it may also have unintended consequences. Michael Helfand, an expert on religious liberty and a frequent contributor to the Forward, explains in the new episode of our podcast, That Jewish News Show.

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Thanks to Benyamin Cohen and Rebecca Salzhauer for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected].