Orthodox leaders lobby Israeli government against Reform, Conservative causes

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American Jews funding IDF unit that killed elderly Palestinian, Black Jewish journalist hosts podcast on Crown Heights riots, and why nobody remembers Milton Berle's top writer.

THE WEEK IN POLITICS

Here’s our Jacob Kornbluh on the happenings in Jerusalem, New York and D.C.

Orthodox leaders travel to Israel to lobby government against expanding access to conversion:A group of American and European Orthodox leaders are starting a 48-hour lobbying blitz to urge the Israeli government to shelve plans supported by the Reform and Conservative movements to relax the rabbinate’s control of religious issues. Changes are being contemplated to rules on conversation, kashrut certification and prayer at the Western Wall.

Organized by Am Echad, an arm of Agudath Israel, the group plans to hand-deliver to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett a petition with more than 150,000 signatures that opposes a proposed pavilion for egalitarian prayer at the kotel. Leah Aharoni of Am Echad said these issues “are at the heart of the soul of the Jewish people” and “cannot be changed at whim by a small group of politicians without broad consensus in the Jewish world.” Read the story ➤

The trip overlaps with one by the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations. That group’s leaders landed on Sunday and heard speeches by Bennett and senior cabinet ministers; Tuesday’s itinerary includes a visit to the Knesset and meeting with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. William Daroff, CEO of the conference, said his delegation “very much represents a cross-section of American Jewish opinion.” On the Palestinian question, Daroff said, “there is a recognition” that Bennett’s coalition “is one that doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room.”

Congress in Jerusalem: Two large congressional delegations, separately led by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, are also visiting Israel. The trips, sponsored by an affiliate of AIPAC, were delayed from last summer due to COVID.

Yet another delegation, sponsored by J Street and, headed by Rep. David Price, a North Carolina Democrat, is meeting with representatives from the Israeli and Palestinian governments.

Race to watch: Vedat Gashi, an Albanian-American state lawmaker from Westchester County, is expected to announce a primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a first-term Democrat. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer endorsed Bowman, who is facing backlash for withdrawing his sponsorship of a bill promoting the Abraham Accords between Israel and Gulf countries.

In a letter to constituents, Bowman said his recent trip to Israel gave him second thoughts about the way the deals could isolate Palestinians. A group of 38 rabbis sent a letter to Bowman urging him to reconsider.

Iran watch: The U.S. and world powers are in the final stages of potentially reaching a deal that would revive their 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran. Israeli officials have warned in recent days that the proposed outline involves more U.S. concessions than the 2015 deal. Bennett told the Conference of Presidents delegation that “the emerging deal is likely to create a more violent and less stable Middle East.”

ALSO FROM THE FORWARD

He was ‘America’s greatest wit’ — so why doesn’t anyone remember this Jewish comedy writer? Goodman Ace was born in 1899, the same year that gave us Bogart, Cagney and Astaire. He hosted his own radio hour and became head writer for Milton Berle’s “Texaco Star Theater” and Perry Como’s variety show. Groucho Marx was a fan. In 1974, Michael Barrie worked with Ace – formerly Aiskowtiz – on what would be his final TV gig. Barrie, who went on to write for Johnny Carson and David Letterman, shared some fond memories in a new essay. Read the story ➤

Opinion | A Palestinian-American died in Israeli custody. American Jews helped fund the unit responsible: Omar Assad, 80, died after being dragged from his car at a routine checkpoint by members of Netzah Yehuda, an IDF unit created for Haredi soldiers. Activists and some members of Congress are calling for an investigation of the unit, which receives financial support from American Jews. “The amount of abuse allegations in recent years is staggering,” Nora Berman, our opinion fellow, writes of the unit. “Jewish values demand action in the face of such a flagrant miscarriage of justice.” Read her essay ➤

But wait, there’s more…

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Collier Meyerson, creator of 'Love Thy Neighbor,' a new podcast about the Crown Heights riots.

🎙️ The Crown Heights riots is the subject of a new podcast, hosted by a Black Jewish journalist with a personal connection: her father, a civil rights lawyer, defended many of those swept up in the events. “My intention was never to be an arbiter of some universal truth,” said Collier Meyerson, “but to pull back the layers of two vastly different experiences, and hopefully add a context that wasn’t there before.” (New York Jewish Week)

🇵🇸 A Jewish college student says she was pushed out of a sexual assault-awareness group she helped found after she shared a pro-Israel post on Instagram. “We only organize with people who share similar political views,” the group said in a statement. “You must denounce all forms of oppression and exploitation.” Palestinian students, it added, would feel uncomfortable “knowing some of our members supported the movement that has caused Palestinian families to be displaced, separated, and killed.” (Algemeiner)

🇺🇸 Former Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to visit Israel in early March to accept an honorary doctorate from an Israeli university in the occupied West Bank. He also plans on meeting with Prime Minister Bennett and bolstering the Abraham Accords. (Jewish Insider)

⚖️ Israel has appointed four new justices to its Supreme Court, including the first Muslim. They will replace four retiring judges from the bench of 15. Justices in Israel do not have lifetime appointments as in the United States, but can serve only until age 70. (Haaretz)

🏒 Why was a Jewish hockey star picked by Germany to play for its 1936 Olympic team? Turns out he may have made a secret deal to trade his performance for his family’s escape from the country. Hockey “saved me and my family from the Holocaust,” he once told an interviewer. (The Guardian)

Shiva call ➤ Mildred H. Lavin, who led an extraordinary ordinary life in Chicago and Iowa City, died at 97.Read her obituary ➤

Another shiva call ➤ Bernie Madoff’s sister and brother-in-law, Sondra and Marvin Wiener, were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide. She was 87 and he was 90. (JTA)

What else we’re reading ➤ This Jewish photographer was the ‘unlikely’ chronicler of New York’s Chinatown … Are rain gardens a practical, ecological and theological solution for houses of worship? … Gal Gadot’s new film was banned in Lebanon and Kuwait. Jordan may be next.

ON THE CALENDAR

Dolly the sheep was taxidermied and put on display after her death in 2003.

On this day in history: Scottish scientists announced on Feb. 22, 1997, that they had cloned a sheep named Dolly. The breakthrough was covered endlessly in the press and launched many ethical debates. Rabbi Moshe Tendler, a bioethicist who died last year, supported cloning because the underlying research led to life-saving stem-cell treatments. “We have a very simplistic approach: pikuach nefesh,” Tendler said, using the Hebrew term for saving a soul, “takes precedence over all other concerns.”

Last year on this day, we posted a video of Merrick Garland breaking down while discussing antisemitism. “I come from a family where my grandparents fled antisemitism and persecution,” Garland said during his confirmation hearing to become attorney general. “The country took us in and protected us, and I feel an obligation to pay back — and this is the highest, best use of my own skills to pay back.”

On the Hebrew calendar, it’s the 21st of Adar, the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, a leader of 19th century Lithuanian Jewry and one of the founders of the Hasidic movement.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Brett Goldstein, the Jewish actor known for being a curmudgeon on the hit show “Ted Lasso,” visited the set of “Sesame Street” to film an upcoming episode. He hung out with Big Bird, Ernie, and his kindred spirit, Oscar the Grouch.

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Thanks to 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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