This article is part of our morning briefing. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox each weekday. Amazon released a Bollywood romance … about Auschwitz
“Every relationship goes through their Auschwitz,” says the heroine of Bawaal. At each stop on a grand tour of the Holocaust, Ajay, a self-centered schoolteacher, and Nisha, his long-suffering wife, gain perspective on their problems so they can save their troubled marriage. For example: A visit to Anne Frank’s house teaches Ajay to be less picky, because, as the guide explains, the Franks “didn’t have much but they were happy with whatever they had.” On the one hand: “The intention has always been pure, and always to acknowledge the turmoil, the devastation and the monstrosity of what happened,” said Janhvi Kapoor, one of the film’s stars. On the other: The Simon Wiesenthal Center condemned the movie and demanded it be removed from Amazon’s Prime Video, due to its “outlandish abuse of the Nazi Holocaust as a plot device.”
Our critic weighs in: “Bawaal feels in bad taste,” writes Mira Fox, “but is that simply because Westerners find most Bollywood movies, with their musical numbers and dramatic love stories, cheesy? Would we find the same concept, told differently, more palatable, or even edgy?” |
What does Judaism say about the death penalty? We gathered six scholars to find out. (Collage by Matthew Litman) |
Who shall live, and who shall die | Six scholars debate the death penalty: Closing arguments concluded on Monday in the last stage of the trial of Robert Bowers, who was found guilty of murdering 11 Jews at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. The jury will now decide whether Bowers will live or be sentenced to death. We convened four rabbis, a cantor and a Jewish educator for a conversation about the Talmudic view of capital punishment, the role of repentance and why disagreeing about the death penalty is very, very Jewish. Read their conversation ➤
Opinion | With the judicial overhaul, Netanyahu has broken something deeper than Israel’s democracy: The prime minister sacrificed social cohesion for personal ambition, argues our contributing columnist Dany Bahar, accelerating a “decline of tolerance.” This, he writes, means “that the people will also be less willing to compromise, less willing to sacrifice their livelihoods to help others.” Read the essay ➤ |
Paul Reubens, right, and Laurence Fishburne in a 1986 episode of ‘Pee Wee’s Playhouse.’ (Getty) |
Paul Reubens, son of a founding Israeli Air Force pilot and father of Pee-wee Herman, dies at 70: Reubens created his iconic character in the early 1980s. “As a proof of the Janus-like temperament of the character, who seemed to address children but also appeal to adults, he did both matinees and midnight shows,” writes our PJ Grisar in a remembrance. Read the story ➤ On Twitter, Nazis have free speech – but Elon Musk’s critics face censorship: Twitter’s parent company threatened a defamation lawsuit against a nonprofit researching the rise of hate speech on the platform. “Follow the whims of Musk,” writes our Mira Fox, “and your tweets will be allowed. Otherwise, have your lawyer ready.” Read the story ➤
And one more: Kylie Jenner, the reality TV star, changed her son’s name from Wolf to Aire. She says it means “lion of God” in Hebrew. It doesn’t. |
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday. (Getty) |
? Some Israelis worried about the future of democracy in their country are hatching exit plans – transferring money overseas and applying for other passports if they are eligible … The United Arab Emirates is trying to woo Israeli doctors to the Gulf country, as some Israeli medical professionals consider moving abroad due to the judicial overhaul … “I think when the dust settles, people will see that Israel’s democracy will be strengthened and not weakened,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told NBC News, adding that, “There won’t be civil war — I guarantee you that.” (New York Times, Times of Israel, NBC News) ? Police in Memphis shot a gun-wielding man on Monday who they said attempted to attack an Orthodox Jewish day school. The suspect is reportedly a member of the Jewish community and a former student. He’s at the hospital in critical condition. (AP, Daily Memphian, JTA) ? A group of parents, clergy and education activists in Oklahoma filed a lawsuit Monday to stop the opening of the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which could become the nation’s first religious charter school. (AP) ?? Israel’s Knesset approved a bill this week that would add harsher penalties for sex crimes motivated by racism or terrorism, leaving some critics to wonder if it would disproportionately apply to Arab attackers of Jewish victims. (Haaretz, Times of Israel) ? A vandal tossed a brick through a window at a Chabad in Pensacola, Florida. The rabbi is now using that brick as part of an expansion of the Jewish community center. (Washington Post) ⛺ Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman of the United States, will visit on Thursday Cedar Lake Camp in Milford, Pennsylvania, the Jewish camp where he spent his teen summers, to talk about antisemitism. (JTA) ? Arnold Schwarzenegger, the son of a Nazi soldier, will be honored by the Holocaust Museum LA at its annual gala for his “personal commitment to fighting antisemitism and extremism.” (KTLA)
Shiva call ➤ Alan Sherman, a longtime leader of Maccabi USA and who helped found the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, died at 87. |
On this day in history (1936): The Summer Olympics began in Berlin. Adolf Hitler used the Games to spread Nazi propaganda, and Jews were almost entirely prevented from competing. A dive into the Forward’s archives shows that American Jews who wanted an alternative to Hitler’s Olympics focused on a different athletic competition: “the great sports carnival of the labor movement in New York.” |
The trailer for Golda, starring Oscar-winner Helen Mirren as Israel’s first female prime minister, is now out. The movie, which arrives in theaters on Aug. 25, focuses on the 19 days of the Yom Kippur War. “This is like the Vietnam of Israel,” said director Guy Nattiv. — Thanks to Lauren Markoe, Gall Sigler and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected]. |
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