Mel Bernstein lives on 260 acres in Colorado. That's where he built his Nazi museum.

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Spotify removes antisemitic podcasts, why a Palestinian-American is suing Texas, combatting fat-shaming in religious culture, and recalling the time John Lennon sang 'Hava Nagila.'

OUR LEAD STORY

Meet the Jew with 5,000 guns and a Nazi museum: The long dirt road that leads to Dragon Land, a military museum in Colorado Springs, is lined with crushed cars pierced by bullet holes. “Is there life after death?” reads a sign along the way. “Trespass here tonight and find out.”

The idea is that anyone thinking about robbing Dragon Land or the adjacent Dragon Man gun store or the Dragon Man himself, aka Mel Bernstein, should reconsider. Reporter Ayala Or-El paid him a visit.

Size matters: The 75,000 square-foot facility cost $7 million and sits on 260 acres of land. It took Bernstein close to 50 years to collect all the war paraphernalia that he displays in its 28 rooms.

Most popular: The room filled with Nazi memorabilia. There are Holocaust artifacts, too: Star of David patches from each concentration camp, prisoner uniforms and soap given to the Jews lining up for gas chambers. “I have over two dozen Zyklon B cans,” he said as he pulled one out of the cabinet. “People should know what the Nazis did.”

Colorful character: Bernstein is 76, was raised in Brooklyn and is covered in 138 tattoos. He’s been married three times; in 2012, his second wife was killed in a freak accident during the filming of a Discovery Channel reality show.

Future proof: He has seven children, one of whom helps him run Dragon Land and will eventually take it over. “This is not a museum,” he told us. “It’s my home.”

Read the story >

ALSO FROM THE FORWARD

An all-around mensch finally makes it to the Baseball Hall of Fame:Gill Hodges, a devout Catholic, was a sincere friend of the Jews. One of many examples: After a 1968 arson attack on a yeshiva, Hodges participated in a fundraiser to help the school. In return, the school presented him and his team with a Passover Seder plate. The rabbi explained that in this case, the question “Why is this night different from all other nights?” might allude to the Mets possibly winning, after several years of paltry results.Read the story >

Kenny G thinks he’ll win an Oscar. First he has to find his soul:Kenny Gorelick is one of the most divisive figures in popular music. But in “Listening to Kenny G,” the new documentary on HBO, the figurehead of smooth jazz betrays no regrets about his reputation, taking the haters in stride. At the same time, our PJ Grisar argues, the singer emerges as a practice-obsessed perfectionist whose music “seems representative of his soul – a spick-and-span spirit that prides itself on immaculately-laundered white pants, a perfect putt and trusting his own taste above the tradition he’s drawing from.” Read our review >

But wait, there’s more…

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WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

🍩 Rabbi Minna Bromberg (above) recalled a Hanukkah event where someone said to her, “Let’s get back to dancing – unless you’ve gotten too fat from those sufganiyot!” Now she’s part of a new movement that aims to tackle fat-shaming in religious culture. “Fat liberationists say that by equating fatness with sin, faith-based diet culture exiles those whose bodies are naturally bigger,” writes Kathryn Post. (Religion News Service)

🎧 Spotify has removed nearly 150 hours hours of podcasts that contained hate speech. One episode had an explicit call to violence against Jews. The episodes remain online through Google’s podcast platform. (Sky News)

🚨 An Israeli woman was wounded in a stabbing by a Palestinian teenage girl near the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah Wednesday morning. The perpetrator was arrested later at a nearby school. (JTA)

🇮🇱 Rasmy Hassouna, a Palestinian-American, is suing Texas over a provision that bans him or his engineering company from protesting Israel or its products. His is the second lawsuit challenging the so-called anti-BDS laws adopted by some 35 states, after a newspaper took similar legal action in Arkansas. “I came here and thought I was a free man,” Hassouna said. “Why do I have to pledge allegiance to a foreign country?” (The Guardian)

🇪🇸 A Spanish town until recently known as ‘Fort Kill the Jews’ was struck with antisemitic graffiti. No Jews currently live in what was originally called Castrillo Motajudíos, or Jew’s Hill Fort, in 1035, when those fleeing from a neighboring pogrom sought refuge there and settled. (JTA)

⚾️ Major League Baseball drafted two Orthodox Jewish players – Jacob Steinmetz of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Elie Kligman of the Washington Nationals. They’re about to meet in person after months of texts and Zoom calls. “It’s nice,” Kligman said, “to have a guy on the same path as me.” (The Guardian)

🎬 Steven Spielberg’s upcoming semi-autobiographical film about his childhood in Arizona now has a name and a release date: “The Fablemans,” coming to a theater near you Thanksgiving 2022. The film, co-written by Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner, stars Seth Rogen as Spielberg’s uncle. (Hollywood Reporter)

Shiva call > Constance Ahrons, a psychotherapist and author of “Good Divorce,” died at 84. Born in New York to Jewish immigrants, Ahrons helped popularize the concept of no-fault divorce. She was divorced twice herself and, according to her obituary, “became a lightning rod for some conservative and religious organizations, which accused her of promoting divorce and contributing to the breakdown of the family.” (New York Times)

What else we’re reading > Hanukkah was a busy week for the Wyoming rabbi who drove 1,000 miles across the state to attend various candle lightings … Israel is not expected to join the U.S. diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in China … In his 90s, this Jewish WWII vet embarked on a new career: Writing children’s books.

ON THE CALENDAR

On this day in history: Julie Heldman, the American tennis star who won 22 women’s singles titles, was born on Dec. 8, 1945. She won three medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics, three golds at the 1969 Maccabiah Games, and was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1989. Her 2018 memoir, “Driven, A Daughter’s Odyssey,” chronicles the birth of the women’s pro-tour, which her mother helped found.

It’s also the birthday of Chava Alberstein, the Polish-Israeli musician and composer, who has released more than 60 albums in Hebrew, English and Yiddish. A champion of liberal causes and an activist for Middle East peace, she has been called one of the most important female folk singers in Israeli history.

For the 41st anniversary of John Lennon’s death, we’re recalling the time he sang “Hava Nagila.”

In honor of National Brownie Day, Carly Pildis shares her grandmother’s secret recipe. (Well, secret no more.)

Tonight at 8 p.m. ET: Join us for “The Chosen at 40.” Our executive editor, Adam Langer, will talk with filmmaker Jeremy Kagan about his adaptation of Chaim Potok’s novel, “The Chosen,” to mark the movie’s 40th anniversary. As Kagan recently wrote in our pages, he originally had no interest in making the film, but doing so changed his life. Kagan will also take questions from the audience. Register now >

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Nachman Shai, Israel’s minister of diaspora affairs, kicked off a weeklong visit to the U.S. in New York, where he met with rabbis, Jews of color, other community leaders and, pictured above, Jewish journalists (that’s our Jacob Kornbluh in the center).

On Wednesday, he is scheduled to meet with Biden administration officials including Chanan Weissman, the White House Jewish Liaison; and Aaron Keyak, the new deputy envoy to combat antisemitism. This weekend, he is expected to speak at the Israeli-American Council annual conference in South Florida.

Thanks to Rob Eshman, P.J. Grisar, Jacob Kornbluh and Lauren Markoe for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com.

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