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WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Republican Jewish Coalition endorses Trump, $1 million competition launched to find tech that fights antisemitism, why Dune 2 feels like a Gaza parable, a historic kosher bakery sells for $1, and mazel tov to Gal Gadot.

ISRAEL AT WAR

The Alexander family, left to right: Edan, Yael, Roy, Mika, and Adi. (Courtesy)

Parents of American-Israeli hostage hope attending Biden’s State of the Union is one step closer to bringing their son home:Yael Alexander said she has barely slept and has trouble eating since Hamas terrorists took her son Edan, 20, and dragged him into Gaza on Oct. 7. “I just want to hug Edan, you know? I miss him so much,” she said on the road from her New Jersey home to Washington, D.C., where she and her husband have been invited to tonight’s speech. Read the story ➤

Related…

• More than a dozen other family members of hostages who have U.S. citizenship will join the Alexanders at the State of the Union, where members of Congress are expected to wear yellow ribbons to raise awareness of the hostages.

  
  

• House Speaker Mike Johnson invited Mia Schem, a freed hostage, to be his guest at the event.

Salt Lake City, Utah. (iStock)

‘No Zionists allowed’ at a bar in Salt Lake City. Owner says he’s not an antisemite: Mike Valentine, the owner of the Weathered Waves bar, said he has nothing against Jews. Instead, he says, he’s simply putting Zionists in the same category as racists, Nazis and white supremacists. “We work with a lot of anti-Zionist Jews,” he said, adding that he has a Pride flag in the bar. “It’s important for us to have a very inclusive space.” A state agency is now asking for an investigation. Read the story ➤

New report describes how Israel prevents humanitarian aid from getting into Gaza: Nail clippers, insulin pens and water filters are among the items Israel has prevented from entering Gaza, according to a report from Refugees International released Thursday that says the country’s “routine and arbitrary” denial of humanitarian assistance has produced an “apocalyptic” situation on the ground. Israel has previously defended itself against such accusations. Read the story ➤

The visuals for Dune 2 feel ripped from the news about the Israel-Hamas war. (Warner Media)

Why ‘Dune 2’ feels like a parable about Gaza: The movie is set in a galaxy far far away, on a desert planet full of a hallucinogenic magic drug. Yet somehow, watching it feels a lot like watching the news — largely thanks to the fact that the second installment in the blockbuster series focuses on a group of nomadic desert dwellers in scarves and head coverings fighting back against a colonizing force. The narrative sounds familiar from the debates about the Israel-Hamas war. Our culture writer Mira Fox takes a closer look at the parallels. Read the story ➤

Opinion | I tried to return a damaged book to Amazon. Instead, I got lambasted for living in Israel: The customer service rep told Dan Perry, a former editor at the Associated Press and the author of two books about Israel, that the country does not appear on a map. “I only see Palestine,” she told him, and hung up. Dan called back, spoke to a supervisor and got his refund — but he did not hear back from Amazon corporate headquarters. “I can’t help feeling that more and more companies are headed in the direction of denying service to Israel and its residents, officially or unofficially,” he writes. Read his essay ➤

An Israeli army tank drives along the border with Gaza on Wednesday. (Getty)

Plus…

• J Street and the Reconstructionist movement joined a call for a ceasefire. It marks a shift in rhetoric from liberal pro-Israel groups.

  
  

• A dozen artists protesting the war in Gaza replaced ads on a New York City subway train with images of rubble, a poem by a Palestinian and a quote from the man who immolated himself outside the Israeli embassy.

  
  

• A franchise operator that runs Starbucks outlets in the Middle East and North Africa region said it will lay off 2,000 workers amid calls for boycotts of the American coffee chain linked to the ongoing war in Gaza.

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ALSO IN THE FORWARD

Micah Siva drew on her mother and grandmother's beef brisket recipe when she developed her mushroom and tofu version. (Courtesy)

How to make your bubbe’s brisket — and make it vegan: “Modernizing your classic recipes doesn’t make them any less special,” said Micah Siva, a dietician and recipe writer whose new book is Nosh: Plant-Forward Recipes Celebrating Modern Jewish Cuisine. Vegetarian dishes, she said, “are oftentimes the most exciting dishes out there, because you’re not relying on just a piece of meat.”

Plus…

• A handful of people jeered and booed as Jared Kushner delivered a speech Wednesday at the Anti-Defamation League’s annual conference. Watch his remarks here.

  
  

• There is an array of Sephardic religious and cultural programming in the U.S., but no national coordinating body — until now. The American Ladino League has launched to fill that void.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Nikki Haley dropped out of the race, but did not endorse Donald Trump. (Getty)

🇺🇸  The Republican Jewish Coalition endorsed Donald Trump after Nikki Haley exited the presidential race Wednesday. Haley is withholding her own endorsement of Trump, citing Israel and other issues. (JTA)

🇺🇸  U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, the Minnesota Jewish Democrat who ran a long shot campaign for the Democratic presidential nod, suspended his campaign and endorsed President Joe Biden. (JTA)

👮  French police on Wednesday arrested a man who allegedly carried out an antisemitic attack over the weekend, assaulting a Jewish man as he left Friday night services at a Paris synagogue. (Algemeiner)

💻  A new competition will granta $1 million prize for technology to fight antisemitism. One of the organizers of the initiative named it after her nephew, who died on Oct. 7. (JTA)

🌈  There’s new scrutiny on the Oscar-winning song “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz. Its uncanny similarity to a long-forgotten piece by a Nazi-era composer has some questioning its authorship. (Hollywood Reporter)

🍪  A historic kosher bakery in Oakland, California, just sold for $1. The lucky buyer secured his place by winning an essay contest. (KTVU)

Mazel tov ➤  To Gal Gadot and her husband, Jaron Varsano, on the birth of their fourth daughter. They named her Ori, which is Hebrew for “my light.”

Shiva call ➤  Josette Molland, a member of the resistance who used her art skills to fabricate false papers to save people from the Nazis, died at 100.

What else we’re reading ➤  Nations agree to refine pact that guides the return of Nazi-looted art … Books about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are flying off the shelves … A prayer app turns to TikTok to find its flock.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

There’s a new four-part documentary series now streaming on ChaiFlicks about Jonathan Pollard, who spied on America for Israel. Our reviewer calls it “an intriguing, at moments jaw-dropping study in manipulation and incompetence at all levels.” Read the review ➤

Thanks to Mira Fox and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com.

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