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WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

IDF group warned of potential Hamas attack three weeks before Oct. 7, Vice President Kamala Harris speaks out against Hamas’ sexual violence, Poland bans two Israeli soccer teams, investigators find sexism and homophobia at LA rabbinical school, new movies take on Holocaust tourism, and the worst team in the NHL just hired a Jewish coach.

ISRAEL AT WAR

David Kamri was home when a Hezbollah rocket nearly totaled his house in Kiryat Shmona. He has no plans to leave. (Rina Castelnuovo)

24 hours on Israel’s northern front: Meet the holdouts who have refused to leave a border city under constant fire

Some 56,000 Northern Israelis evacuated their homes after the Hamas terror attack and the war it spawned in Gaza, as Hezbollah intensified its strikes. That included nearly all of Kiryat Shmona’s 24,000 residents.

Some fled to family or friends, others to state-funded hotel rooms, expecting to be gone a month or two. Most have not returned.

“Israel’s northernmost city has become a shell of itself — not flattened like Gaza, but bruised and empty and anxious,” writes our Israel-based reporter, Susan Greene. “Hezbollah assaults have pocked walls and shattered windows of houses and apartment complexes throughout town. Synagogues, shopping centers and most schools have been shut down since the fall. Playgrounds, parks and local orchards are charred by fires sparked by the missiles.”

A rabbi embraces an Israeli border guard after a morning prayer service last week in Kiryat Shmona. With the city nearly empty, gathering the minimum of 10 men needed for Orthodox Jewish group prayer can be challenging. (Rina Castelnuovo)

The estimated 2,000 residents who’ve either stayed in the city or returned to it despite admonitions by its mayor and the military face growing risk as both Israel and Hezbollah have been striking more frequently and farther across the border in recent days and weeks.

Rina Castelnuovo, an award-winning Israeli photojournalist and documentarian who has visited the north many times over the decades, joined Susan on a 24-hour trip to Israel’s loneliest city, where they spoke with residents about the small-scale war that each day is intensifying around them.

A man wearing a mask and a Hezbollah shirt at a protest last week in New York City. (Luke Tress)

Should masks at protests be banned? It’s complicated: Pro-Palestinian activists covering their faces with keffiyehs tormented riders on a New York subway last week. Now Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams want to ban masks on mass transit and at rallies. Similar laws were used in the 1940s and 1950s to curb KKK members who wore hoods covering their faces. Police like the idea so they can ID law-breakers. But opponents say mask bans raise issues related to public health, religious observance, privacy, free speech and more. Read the story ➤

In the United States…

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday at the White House screened part of a documentary about Hamas’ sexual violence on Oct. 7. “We cannot look away and we will not be silent,” she told the audience of 80 invited guests which included Amit Soussana, a former hostage and one of the sexual assault survivors.

The attorney general of New York and all of the district attorneys from across the state vowed that they would fully prosecute hate crimes amid rising antisemitism, our senior political reporter, Jacob Kornbluh, exclusively reports this morning.

David Duke, the former KKK leader, joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Detroit over the weekend, saying he was saving “our country from Jewish supremacism.”

Volunteers, including Mayor Francis Suarez, helped clean up pro-Palestinian graffiti painted on the front of a Jewish-owned business in Miami.

On campus….

The U.S. Department of Education issued its first ruling in campus antisemitism cases, determining that the City University of New York and the University of Michigan failed to protect Jewish students from discrimination.

The Anti-Defamation League updated its April report card about the “Jew-friendliness” of college campuses, downgrading Northwestern University, UCLA and the University of Michigan from a “D” to an “F” grade.

The New York City schools chief booted two elected parent leaders for stoking controversy over the war, one for criticizing pro-Palestinian student activism and the other for promoting pro-Palestinian protests.

In Israel…

Three weeks before Oct. 7, the IDF’s Gaza Division warned of a Hamas plan to attack and take 250 hostages, an Israeli news network revealed Monday.

Israel has paused daytime military operations in southern Gaza to help allow for aid delivery during those hours.

After a public outcry, El Al has reversed course and is reinstating its discount for shipping donated gear to IDF soldiers.

And elsewhere…

Remember when the Maldives recently said it would ban entry to people with Israeli passports? They’re now reviewing that policy out of concern that it could keep out Palestinians.

Poland banned two Israeli soccer teams from playing in the European Championship matches in the city of Łódź, after locals voiced anti-Israel sentiments and officials worried about safety at the events.

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ALSO IN THE FORWARD

American Jewish University’s Familian Campus, a 22-acre property that has housed the Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies since 1996. The school sold the property earlier this year, and Ziegler has relocated to a smaller campus offsite. (Wikimedia)

Investigation says many students at LA rabbinical school experienced sexism and homophobia but it was not ‘systematic’:The case stems from an April 2023 letter, first reported in the Forward, from 13 former students, alleging a range of abuses. The investigators attributed the gender concerns to the historically patriarchal nature of religious Judaism. “We hear you deeply and pledge to do better,” said a letter from the Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies.

Why Lena Dunham and Jesse Eisenberg made Holocaust tourism movies: In the new films Treasure and A Real Pain, family trips to Poland are the backdrop for personal journeys and broken relationships. Together with the Israeli film Delegation, they make up a mini-genre where the physical landscape of the death camps and ghettos reflects intergenerational trauma. As our PJ Grisar writes, in these films, as in so many heritage trips, “the task is not to engage with history, but to find a personal context.”

Plus…

Glass tchotchkes. Framed Broadway posters. Books about Charlie Brown. These are some of the items for sale today at an auction from Stephen Sondheim’s estate.

Is the “hot rodent men” trend good for the Jews?

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Malika Andrews reports before Game 3 of the NBA Finals last week in Dallas. (Getty)

🏀 The Boston Celtics won the NBA Finals Monday night. There was a Jewish star front and center: Malika Andrews, 29, the host of ABC’s NBA Countdown pregame show as well as ESPN’s marquee NBA Today program. (JTA)

💻 Artificial intelligence may help spread misleading and false information about the Holocaust, warns a report published this morning. One of the concerns is that people could use AI to create deepfake images or videos of the Holocaust. (AP)

🫄 A Missouri judge dismissed a challenge by a group of faith leaders, including rabbis, to the state’s abortion ban. (JTA)

🇷🇺 The trial of Evan Gershkovich, the Jewish journalist from The Wall Street Journal who has been detained in Russia for more than a year, will begin in secret on June 26, according to state-run media. (WSJ)

🏒 The San Jose Sharks promoted Ryan Warsofsky, making the 36-year-old the first Jewish NHL head coach in 32 years. The Sharks had the worst record in the league last season, and have the first pick in next week’s draft. (JTA)

What we’re listening to ➤ Louis Keene, our California-based reporter, joined the Dateline podcast to talk about his coverage of the trial of Sam Woodward, who is accused of murdering a former high school classmate who was Jewish and gay. Listen here, and catch up on Louis’ coverage of the trial.

What else we’re reading ➤ In a Virginia primary, the bottom line for Republican Jews is support for Israel … A Christian group teaches public school students during the school day. Their footprint is growing … Comedian Hannah Einbinder belts out a Hebrew song in her new standup special.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

A new Hulu movie chronicles the life and legacy of Diane von Furstenberg, the fashion icon and inventor of the wrap dress. It also delved into her identity as a Jewish woman and the child of a Holocaust survivor. “Just the fact that I was born was a victory,” von Furstenberg says in the film. (She was born in Belgium in 1946.)

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the film’s director, who is Muslim, said that the movie premieres at a particularly poignant time for interfaith and intercultural relations. “I think it’s really important for the world to see that people coexist, share a shared history, have a shared experience,” she said. “Diane and I are telling the story at a time where the world is very divided. And I think that in coming together, we are showing that it is possible and that peace is possible.” Read the story ➤

Thanks to Jay Ehrlich, Susan Greene, Jacob Kornbluh and Jake Wasserman 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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Reporting from the ground in Israel and campuses takes resources. Support the news that matters to you with a monthly donation.