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JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT. |
| WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION |
|  | | In this edition: Joe Biden, Pope Francis, Marlee Matlin, Debra Messing, Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump — and why Jimmy Carter loved the Catskills. |
| | |  | President-elect Donald Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump pay their respects Wednesday as former President Jimmy Carter lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. (Getty) |
| Today is a national day of mourning, with flags flying at half-staff and most federal employees off from work as Former President Jimmy Carter will be remembered at a state funeral in Washington National Cathedral. All five living presidents are expected to attend, with President Biden delivering a eulogy.
Jimmy Carter, bubbe and me | Lisa Mayer and her little sister, Dina, were supposed to travel from New York to D.C. for Carter’s inauguration, but their parents got sick at the last minute. Sweeping in to help was their grandmother, with sheitel askew at six in the morning. “Bubby was meh on the new President,” Lisa writes, “but very excited about the new Vice President, Walter ‘Mandel.’ Apparently, she thought he was Jewish.” Read her essay ►
Related opinion essays…
Plus…
And: The Catskills were not only a place for Borscht Belt comedy. They were also where Carter enjoyed going fly-fishing. (New York Times) |
| | |  | The rubble of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center after it burned down. (Sandra Haynes-Esensten) |
| Ravaged, but not broken
Cantor Ruth Berman Harris searched for her husband through the thick smoke that engulfed the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center. He had been beside her just moments before, but now, as flames closed in and the air grew heavier, he was nowhere in sight.
“Do you have the Torahs?” she shouted, her voice slicing through the chaos, trying to find him amid the suffocating darkness.
Berman Harris and others from the shul shared with me what happened next, as wildfires raged with a vengeance, reducing the buildings to ashes. “There’s no more raw reminder of our resilience than carrying our traditions forward and finding a new way to rebuild,” she said. “It’s the story of our people.” |
| | Related: Our Los Angeles-based senior columnist Rob Eshman was hosting a shiva when the alerts started buzzing on people’s phones and they frantically left to find out the fate of their homes. The ensuing hours, he writes, proved that “real estate doesn’t begin to describe community.” Read his essay ► |
| |  | | |  | An Israeli soldier walks past a snowman at the Hermon ski resort, bordering Syria and Lebanon, during a media tour on Wednesday. (Getty) |
| The hostages… Israeli troops retrieved from a Hamas tunnel in Gaza the body of Youssef Ziyadne, a Bedouin Muslim father of 19 who was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023. His son, Hamza, still remains in Gaza, his fate uncertain. Two other children who were also taken captive, Aisha and Bilal, were released as part of the weeklong ceasefire in Nov. 2023. (JTA)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday he believes a deal to release the hostages is “very close.” (Times of Israel)
The families of the American hostages plan to attend the inauguration and meet with Trump administration officials while they are in D.C. (JTA)
In Lebanon… Lebanon has not had a president for two years. Its parliament convened today to elect a new one, with the head of the army favored to win. (New York Times, Haaretz, Reuters)
The Biden administration redirected over $100 million in military aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon to support the Lebanese army’s enforcement of a ceasefire with Hezbollah mediated by the U.S. (AP)
In Washington… A bill to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court is expected to pass the House with bipartisan support today, but its fate in the Senate is uncertain. (Jewish Insider)
President-elect Donald Trump selected Eric Trager, a Jewish Republican Senate staffer and Egypt expert, as his Middle East adviser on the National Security Council. (JTA)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to attend the inauguration, a rarity for a foreign leader, but now does not plan to make the trip, according to an aide. (Times of Israel)
And elsewhere… A Quaker group opted not to move forward with a pro-Palestinian ad in The New York Times after the paper allegedly refused to run it because it contained the word “genocide.” (Guardian)
In an address on Thursday, Pope Francis called the humanitarian crisis in Gaza “shameful” and said that “we cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians.” (Reuters)
Poland’s president asked his government to ensure Netanyahu is protected from potential arrest for war crimes if he attends the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation later this month. Netanyahu does not currently plan to attend. (Bloomberg, Times of Israel)
Some Jewish film festivals are avoiding the hot-button topic of the Israel-Hamas war. But one in Miami, which opens today, is leaning into films about Oct. 7 and its aftermath. (Times of Israel)
A pro-Palestinian activist threw red paint on a wax figure of Netanyahu at a museum in Mexico City. (AFP)
Opinion | Members of the the largest group of historians in the U.S. accused Israel of committing “scholasticide,” alleging it destroyed much of the educational infrastructure in Gaza. The push to use all kinds of “cide” terms to describe Israel’s war efforts often doesn’t extend to other conflicts around the globe, writes our columnist Aviya Kushner. “Language is an intriguing mirror. It reflects not only what we want to focus on — but what we don’t.” Read her essay ► |
| | WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
|  | Haïm Korsia, the chief rabbi of France, speaks on Tuesday with President Emmanuel Macron as they attend commemorations marking 10 years since a terror attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a Jewish supermarket in Paris. (Getty) |
| 🇫🇷 Vandals in France sprayed antisemitic graffiti on at least 10 Jewish homes and businesses, as well as a synagogue. It came as Paris marked the 10-year anniversary of the shooting at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine that had mocked the Prophet Muhammad, and the subsequent attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris. (CNN)
🇩🇪 Germany reformed its process for returning art looted by the Nazis, aiming to make it easier for victims to claim property. But some Jewish families worry it does the opposite. (Barron’s)
🏫 A coalition of faith groups — including Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh organizations — filed a court brief challenging Louisiana’s mandate to display the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. (Religion News Service)
🕍 Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion launched a virtual rabbinical program, combining online coursework with in-person residencies in an effort to make rabbinical education more accessible and flexible. (Inside HigherEd)
💻 Meta released a tool last year on Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp that allows users to talk to AI versions of historical figures. In the months since, they’ve had conversations with Jesus and Hitler. (NBC News)
🎞️ October 8, a documentary about the rise in antisemitism after the Hamas attacks, is set to be released in theaters in the first quarter of this year. The film is executive produced by actor Debra Messing. (Deadline)
What else we’re reading ► Borscht Belt hotels were cornerstones of Jewish family life that have no real replacement (JTA) … Inside the classrooms at the center of the church-state battle (Rolling Stone) … Ants have more ‘group smarts’ than humans, Israeli study finds (Times of Israel).
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| | |  | Actor Jonah Platt recorded the first 2025 episode of his Being Jewish podcast in front of a live-studio audience at CBS studios. His guests were actors Josh Gad, Ginnifer Goodwin and Marlee Matlin, who all chatted about their Jewish journeys. Watch it above.
Before we go: I’d like to thank reader Myrna Greenfield (and her cats, Maya and Simcha), who liked yesterday’s photo of my wife Elizabeth’s completed puzzle, but wondered why I had not mentioned my cat’s name. Apologies to Eggnog. |
| Thanks to Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Julie Moos for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com. |
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