This article is part of our morning briefing. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox each weekday. Germany gave these Ukrainian Jews sanctuary. But do they want to call it home?
Germany has welcomed more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees since the war began last winter — including some 30,000 Jews. Our Arno Rosenfeld recently met in Berlin with two of those refugees, Yonatan and Miriam Yakovemko, and asked how they are imagining their future. Overcoming aversion: The Yakovemkos, 26 and 22, had vacationed around Europe but avoided Germany because of its Nazi legacy. When they fled their apartment in Kyiv after Russia invaded last year, however, Berlin proved the best option. It took a while to settle in, but Yonatan said he now receives friendly greetings from Germans who see his yarmulke. “People say ‘Shabbat Shalom,’” he said. “It’s not aggressive, it’s always with smiles.” The draw of Germany: While Israel courted Jewish refugees from Ukraine, and around 14,000 have settled there, others have found European countries more appealing. Refugees who learn German become eligible for citizenship if they stay in the country for six years. Missing home: The Yakovemkos said they have found a warm welcome, including at Berlin’s robust Chabad center, but also miss a lot about Ukraine, where Yonatan’s parents and many friends remain. They pine for the fresh pita, kosher meat and Jewish cafes — a rarity in Berlin. “I don’t think you can compare Kyiv and Berlin,” Miriam said. “It’s like two different planets.” Read the story ➤ |
Opinion | Is ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ my modern Orthodox neighbor? The popular Amazon Prime series generally celebrates the prototypical mid-century assimilated Jew: summers in the Catskills, bagels and lox, synagogue on the High Holidays. But as the show wraps up its fifth season this month, writes our contributing columnist Hannah Lebovits, it “finally portrays an observant Jewish lifestyle in a way that does not fetishize Orthodoxy, but honors it.” Read her essay ➤ Lipstadt to Musk: Stop invoking antisemitic tropes: “You can criticize George Soros” for his economic and political positions, the antisemitism czar Deborah E. Lipstadt said Wednesday. “But when you turn him into the Rothschild of the 21st century, then you’re engaging in antisemitism.” Referring to Elon Musk’s recent Tweets comparing Soros to a Marvel character, she added: “When you turn him into this villainous character, which has antisemitic overtures, you’ve crossed the line.” Read the story ➤ From our partners at Haaretz: Why Israel’s government is shielding Elon Musk from accusations of antisemitism. (Sign up to receive Haaretz’s daily briefing.) Plus… |
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WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
? An 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible sold for $38.1 million at a Sotheby’s auction Wednesday, becoming the most expensive book ever sold. Known as the Codex Sassoon, it was bought by the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv through a donation from Alfred Moses, a former U.S. ambassador to Romania. (JTA, Getty photo) ?? The Israeli Knesset advanced a bill by a far-right lawmaker that would make it a crime to wave the flag of a “hostile entity” — including the Palestinians. It was the first of four rounds of voting on the bill; the flag-waving would have to be in a gathering of at least three people and could lead to a year in prison. (Haaretz) ? A stray puppy was found in Missouri with swastikas drawn all over its body. A local shelter posted to Facebook that it cleaned up the dog, who is three months old and now staying with a foster family. “She is heading for the tub to scrub-a-dub-dub all of this hate off,” the post said. “Only love here.” (NY Post) ? Public school employees may not encourage — or discourage — prayer on campuses, according to new guidance issued this week by the U.S. Department of Education. The agency clarified its rules following last year’s landmark Supreme Court ruling that a football coach should have been allowed to pray at the 50-yard line. The new guidance also says students have the right to distribute religious literature to their classmates — but that schools can restrict when and how. (NPR) ? Synagogue Hebrew schools in New Orleans are seeing increased enrollment, in contrast to a nationwide drop. Jewish leaders attribute the rise in part to the local Federation’s payment of tuition for 150 students. (Axios, JTA) ? An Israeli pharmacy in a Haredi neighborhood put stickers over the faces of women on products lining its shelves. Local rabbis had apparently threatened a boycott. (Haaretz) ? Naomi Harris, a photographer, moved into a Florida hotel for Jewish retirees — at age 26. At first, it was to take photos, but she stuck around for the company. “I became their surrogate granddaughter.” (Guardian)
What else we’re reading ➤ Now on display, U.K. Jews’ correspondence shows the Holocaust unfolding in real-time … The lasting lessons of United Fruit CEO Eli Black, a former rabbi, whose company was the first to sign contracts with the United Farm Workers under Cesar Chavez … The Sims video game adds Jewish foods. |
On this day in history (2001): Shrek was released in American theaters. The film, which went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, was loosely based on Jewish author and cartoonist William Steig’s 1990 children’s book by the same name. Steig named his anti-social, swamp-dwelling ogre a transliteration of the Yiddish word for “fear” or “fright.” |
Attention Fauda fans! The show’s creators are debuting Ghosts of Beirut Friday on Showtime. The four-episode series is based on the decades-long global manhunt for Imad Mughniyeh, an Islamic Jihad terrorist in the 1980s and 1990s. Watch the trailer above. — Thanks to Rob Eshman, Jacob Kornbluh, Arno Rosenfeld, Rebecca Salzhauer and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected]. |
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