WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Today: Israel expands Gaza invasion • Car wash scams with Passover price-gouging • Yiddish archives celebrate centennial • And remembering Val Kilmer’s most Jewish role.

Thu. 3 p.m. ET: Ask us your questions! Julie Moos, who edits this newsletter, and I will be hosting a live conversation for readers of Forwarding the News. Register here to attend.

POLITICS

Sen. Cory Booker speaks to reporters as he leaves the Senate Chamber Tuesday night after delivering a record-setting floor speech — more than 25 hours. (Getty)

Booker’s 25-hour Senate speech leans on faith — and Yom Kippur-level stamina

• What happened: Sen. Cory Booker made history Tuesday with the longest Senate speech ever — clocking in at 25 hours and 5 minutes — and powered through it with scripture, symbolism and a sense of spiritual duty.

  
  

• Faith-fueled ‘filibuster’: A former athlete, Booker fasted and stood the entire time, telling reporters afterward that he emptied his pockets before speaking — except for a slip of paper with a verse from Isaiah: “They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

  
  

• Jewish themes: Booker, whose oratorical style skews pastor over politician, wove in Hebrew scripture, invoking Abraham’s call to God “Hineni — Here I am” to frame his moral call to action against a second Trump presidency.

  
  

• Hostage shoutout: On his lapel, he wore both an American flag and a yellow hostage pin — and spoke of Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage in Gaza, who grew up in Booker’s New Jersey.

  
  

• Civil rights callback: He shared how Marty Friedman, a Jewish lawyer, helped his parents buy a home when neighborhoods often barred Black families — part of Booker’s longtime emphasis on the Black-Jewish alliance.

  
  

• Family ties: He referred to himself as “mishbooker,” a play on the word “mishpacha,” family in Hebrew, and joked with Jewish Sen. Jacky Rosen about one of the toughest jobs around: shul president.

Plus: I spoke with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Booker’s former rabbinic confidant and perhaps his most colorful critic, to get his thoughts on the speech. “I taught him 10,000 hours of Torah,” said Boteach. Go deeper ►

And: Booker spoke at a Los Angeles synagogue last Yom Kippur. Its rabbi says Jews should heed the “prophetic urgency” of his speech. (JTA)

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest during Harvard University's May 2024 graduation. (Getty)

At Harvard…

• Rabbi David Wolpe, a harsh critic of Harvard’s handling of antisemitism, said that it is “reasonable” for the Trump administration to review the federal government’s $9 billion investment in the school, but that the grants should not be used “as a blunt instrument” or “to suppress genuine free speech.” (Forward)

  
  

• Opinion | In Trump’s war against campus antisemitism, hate the tactics but don’t ignore the problem, writes Barak Sella, who is currently taking classes at Harvard. (Forward)

  
  

• Opinion | Jacob Miller, a former president of Harvard Hillel, argues that Trump’s funding threats will harm Jewish students. (The Crimson)

On other campuses…

• The Trump administration this week suspended dozens of federal grants to Princeton — the fourth Ivy League school targeted since March — as part of its broader push to financially pressure universities it claims aren't doing enough to fight antisemitism or align with its other priorities. (JTA)

  
  

• A University of Cincinnati student carrying a Palestinian flag was arrested Tuesday after allegedly trying to disrupt a campus demonstration by preachers holding anti-Muslim signs. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

  
  

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed U.S. overseas diplomats to review social media for posts critical of the U.S. or Israel from students and others applying for visas. (New York Times)

Campaigns…

• Randy Fine won a special election for a U.S. House seat Tuesday, bringing the tally of Jewish Republicans in Congress to four. (Forward)

  
  

• A Secretive GOP firm is distorting a Democratic candidate’s views on Israel in the New Jersey governor race. Jewish supporters of Rep. Mikie Sherrill called the attack an “insulting” effort by Republican operatives. (Forward)

Elsewhere in politics…

• President Trump reached a deal Tuesday with another law firm he had  targeted — this one employing Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’ husband — after it agreed to provide $100 million in pro bono work supporting causes Trump backs, including combating antisemitism, a cause the former second gentleman championed during his wife’s vice presidency. (New York Times)

  
  

• Trump named Massad Boulos — his daughter Tiffany’s father-in-law — as senior advisor for Africa at the State Department, while he continues advising on Middle East policy, with a focus on his native Lebanon. (Semafor, Forward)

  
  

• A vandal protesting Elon Musk’s work in the Trump administration defaced several Teslas in Chicago with swastika stickers then sent an apology note to the Jewish owner of one of the cars. (JTA)

CULTURE

A man looks through stacks of Yiddish history in 1958. (Courtesy YIVO archives)

Old language, new tricks

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research — founded 100 years ago in Vilna — is marking a century of preserving Yiddish language and Jewish culture.

• Why it matters: Yiddish was nearly erased by the Holocaust and assimilation. But YIVO’s vast archives — packed with rare manuscripts, letters and recordings of pre-war Jewish life — are fueling a revival.

  
  

• What’s next: YIVO is teaming up with the Library of Congress on a major digitization project. Its online Yiddish courses span generations — “a 70-year age range between the youngest and oldest student,” says education director Ben Kaplan.

  
  

• Go deeper: Our PJ Grisar visited YIVO’s Manhattan headquarters, explored a quirky exhibit on Yiddish typewriters, sat in on a Yiddish class and discovered how AI could soon help decipher old handwritten Yiddish.

Related…

• 7 standout treasures from YIVO’s vast collection

  
  

• The golden age of Yiddish in Texas began in 1907 and continues to this day

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

A boy sits on a cart loaded with belongings as Palestinians flee Rafah in Gaza on Wednesday. (Getty)

In Israel…

🪖  Israel said Wednesday it would expand its offensive in Gaza against Hamas, including plans to seize “extensive territory.” (Times of Israel)

🇮🇱  Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is expected to run again in the hopes of unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (JTA)

⚖️  The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a long-running case that could decide whether U.S. victims of Palestinian terrorism can sue the PLO and Palestinian Authority over payments made to attackers and their families. (Jewish Insider)

And elsewhere…

🇩🇪  Germany is seeking to deport four foreign residents of Berlin, including one American, over their alleged roles in pro-Palestinian protests, citing a post-Holocaust law that makes it imperative for Germany to defend Israel. (JTA)

🚘  After investigating a car wash suspected of scamming Jewish customers, New York Attorney General Letitia James ordered the business to shut down its so-called “Passover special,” which charged exorbitant rates for holiday cleaning. (JTA)

🎬  Val Kilmer, star of Batman Forever and Top Gun, died at 65. The non-Jewish actor may be best known to Forward readers as the voice of both God and Moses in the 1998 animated classic The Prince of Egypt. (People)

📺  House of David, Amazon’s biblical drama about the ancient Jewish king, has been renewed for a second season. Read our review of the first season. (Variety)

Transitions ► Angela DeWilde is the new CEO of Jewish Family Services in Kansas City… Rabbi Joshua Herman is the new head of the Milwaukee Jewish Day School.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

The Jewish Broadcasting Service just premiered Blind Spot, a new documentary examining campus antisemitism — both before and after the October 7 attacks.

Today’s newsletter made me:

🤓 Confident I understand issues impacting American Jews.

🔗 Connected to the Jewish world.

💡 Curious to learn about something I read.

😵‍💫 Confused about today’s Jewish news.

🤷🏽‍♀️ No different.

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