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WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

There’s no denying it: This has been a year filled with confusion and fast-changing news.

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Today: Israel accused of deliberately killing Palestinians • Montreal synagogue firebombed for second time • Ancient Ten Commandments tablet sold for $5 million • How interfaith families plan to celebrate Chrismukkah • And the best Hanukkah songs of all time.

ISRAEL

A Palestinian child collects water in February in Gaza. (Getty)

Human Rights Watch issued a lengthy report this morning documenting Israeli restrictions on water in Gaza since the war began, arguing that they constitute acts of genocide and crimes against humanity.

• The group contends that Israel is going beyond its military campaign against Hamas and deliberately depriving Gaza residents of basic needs. It aims to prove intent largely based on public statements from Israeli officials.

  
  

• The Israeli agency that handles water in Gaza disputed the report’s conclusions and said Israel was doing what it could to keep the water flowing.

  
  

• Gerald Steinberg, a longtime critic of Human Rights Watch, reviewed a summary of the report and condemned it as “propaganda in the disguise of research.”

Emergency responders inspect damage of a school after a rocket strike today in Israel.

In other Israel news…

• A school in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, was destroyed by debris from an intercepted ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The incident occurred at night, and no children were in the building. (Times of Israel)

  
  

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with top security officials today in an attempt to iron out details for a ceasefire, possibly to begin during Hanukkah. The CIA chief, William Burns, arrived in Qatar to negotiate. A Hamas source says “a deal is very close.” (JTA, Times of Israel, Haaretz)

  
  

• Netanyahu pledged to the mother of Austin Tice, an American journalist abducted in Syria in 2012, that Israel would not bomb areas in Syria where Tice may be located. (Axios)

  
  

• Israel’s culture minister threatened to cut funding for the popular Batsheva Dance Company after it included a Palestinian flag among 40 other flags during a recent performance of a show it’s been doing since 1993. (Times of Israel)

CULTURE

Rick Rosenthal, also known as Santa Rick, with Julie Sherman Wolfe, who writes holiday movies for Hallmark. Both are Jewish. (Courtesy)

Hallmark’s little helper

Julie Sherman Wolfe likes to joke that her favorite Jewish holiday is Tu B’shvat. Which is a shame, considering the Hallmark Channel has yet to make a movie about it. In the past decade, the former standup comedian-turned-screenwriter has penned 12 Hallmark Christmas movies, including one inspired by the romance of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. She’s written two Hanukkah movies where the inspiration comes from the less famous. “I named a character Evi Shekhman, who is a friend of mine from the Jewish Federation. It was very funny. She said a lot of people called her and said, ‘I just heard your name on Hallmark.” Go deeper ►

Related…

• My colleague PJ Grisar reviewed Hanukkah on the Rocks, Sherman Wolfe’s latest Hallmark film, and called it “a minor miracle.”

  
  

• PJ has also helpfully and exhaustively cataloged every American Hanukkah special, movie and TV episode worth knowing about.

  
  

• And here’s a guide to the best Hanukkah songs of all time, from 13th century classics to modern-day Wicked parodies.

A Hanukkah menorah and a Christmas tree at a shopping center in San Ramon, California. (Getty)

The Chrismukkah debate

It’s been eight long years since the last convergence of Hanukkah and Christmas. Some interfaith families avoid the holiday season altogether, while others embrace the overlap by incorporating elements from both holidays, such as decorating Christmas trees with Hanukkah ornaments. One family decorates their mantle with signs that read “Merry Chrismukkah” and “Deck the halls with matzo balls.” Go deeper ►

Related: A year with no Hanukkah? It’s a mathematical certainty in the year 3031.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

U.S. Park Police clash with demonstrators in July outside Union Station in Washington, D.C. (Getty)

Congress held a hearing accusing anti-Israel activists of desecrating a National Parks Service site. But there’s more to the story, as my colleague Arno Rosenfeld explains in the latest edition of his antisemitism newsletter. (If you don’t already subscribe, sign up here!)

🔥 A synagogue in Montreal was firebombed Wednesday, marking the second such attack on the same synagogue in just over a year. No injuries were reported, and police are investigating the incident. (JTA)

💰 Sotheby’s ran up quite the tab(let). An approximately 1,500 years old stone tablet of the Ten Commandments was sold for $5.04 million at auction Wednesday, surpassing its pre-sale estimate of $1–2 million. The anonymous buyer plans to display it at an Israeli museum. Some experts have questioned its provenance and authenticity. (New York Times)

✍️  In the depths of a Lithuania forest during World War II, journalist Kazimierz Sakowicz clandestinely chronicled the Nazi atrocities he witnessed from his attic window. His meticulous diary, unearthed decades later, offers a detailed and dispassionate account of genocide. (Atlantic)

🇦🇩  Andorra is a microstate bordered by France and Spain where non-Catholic houses of worship are legally prohibited. It recently appointed its first full-time rabbi to serve the small Jewish community and visiting tourists. (JTA)

📺  Netflix acquired the rights to an eight-episode Israeli drama, Bad Boys, from the creator of HBO’s hit series Euphoria. It’s set to stream sometime in 2025. (Hollywood Reporter)

🎙️ George Santos, the disgraced former congressmen who lied about his family’s Holocaust history, is launching a podcast. It’s called Pants on Fire. (Slate)

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Watch comedian Matthew Broussard’s new special on YouTube. In the clip above, he talks about a “recent uptick in antisemitism in the last 3,000 years,” and why it’s not a secret that Jews own banks. “Goldman Sachs. We put our name on the building, twice.”

Thanks to PJ Grisar 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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