⚖️ Closing arguments are expected Tuesday and Wednesday in the case of Robert Bowers, the man found guilty of shooting 11 Jews at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. A decision on whether he will receive the death penalty is expected soon after that. (JTA)
? A federal judge dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against CNN, in which the former president said the network defamed him by associating him with Adolf Hitler. (Politico)
? A Senate committee proposed cutting $18 million in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program which, among other things, helps synagogues improve security. Sen. Jacky Rosen, Democrat of Nevada, called the move “outrageous and dangerous.” (Jewish Insider)
? A judge ordered the release from prison of three men convicted more than a decade ago of plotting to blow up New York City synagogues and a Jewish community center and to shoot down military planes. The judge found that the FBI had used an “unscrupulous operative” to persuade the men to join the plot. (New York Times)
? A panel of rabbis from the Conservative movement endorsed the use of electric cars on Shabbat, while a second panel rejected driving on Shabbat altogether. (JTA)
? Florida became the first state to allow its public schools to use a “supplemental curriculum” created by PragerU, an unaccredited right-wing nonprofit co-founded by Dennis Prager, the conservative Jewish pundit. (Pensacola News Journal)
? Trader Joe’s issued a voluntary recall on premade falafel because the products “may contain rocks.” (New York Times)
? The National Museum of American Jewish History is extending free admission until at least the end of 2023. It had declared bankruptcy at the start of the pandemic, but has rebounded thanks to several large donations. (JTA)
Shiva calls ➤ Louise Levy, “supercentenarian” subject of longevity study among Ashkenazi Jews, died at 112 … Bo Goldman, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, died at 90 … Laurence Griffin, a San Francisco civic and labor leader, died at 69 … Dugo Leitner, a Holocaust survivor whose ritual of eating a falafel every year to mark his survival made him a social media star, died at 93.
What else we’re reading ➤ Twenty-five years ago, Saving Private Ryan presented a rare portrait of a Jewish soldier in film … Why Larry David’s personal assistant is taking his own shot at stand-up … Pickleball, America’s fastest-growing sport, is a hit at Jewish camps.
