WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Today: Orthodox group gives Steve Bannon award • Feds head to campuses for antisemitism investigations • And Timothée Chalamet’s next film includes a Forward cameo.

THE ACADEMY AWARDS

Adrien Brody with the latest addition to his mantle. (Getty)

And the Oscar goes to…

“Thank you, God,” Adrien Brody said after winning best actor for The Brutalist, a three-hour drama about a Hungarian architect and Holocaust survivor. It’s his second Oscar for a Holocaust film, following his 2002 win for The Pianist.

Quotable ► “I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and of othering,” Brody said as he accepted the award. “I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world, and I believe if the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked.” Watch his emotional Oscar speech.

Catch up on our Brutalist coverage…

• Famed architect Daniel Libeskind on why 'The Brutalist' resonated so deeply

• Adrien Brody's performance in 'The Brutalist' hits home for descendants of immigrants and Holocaust survivors

• How the master builder behind ‘The Brutalist’ was inspired by her hometown synagogue

• How 'The Brutalist' misrepresents the Jewish architect's experience

• I’m an art historian who researches the Holocaust — here’s why I hated ‘The Brutalist’

Actor Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor for his show-stealing turn in A Real Pain, a Holocaust tourism film about a pair of cousins visiting the Majdanek concentration camp. Our Mira Fox called it “the least didactic Holocaust movie I’ve ever seen, a blessing to the genre.” Our Olivia Haynie adds that it “avoids the tropes and tragedies that have defined other Jewish Academy Award” movies.

Mikey Madison, who is Jewish, won best actress for her starring role in Anora, which also won best picture, best director, best editing and original screenplay.

No Other Land, about the Israeli demolition of Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank, won for best documentary. Filmmakers Basel Adra, a Palestinian, and Yuval Abraham, an Israeli, accepted the award. “My hope to my daughter, that she will not have to live the same life I am living now,” Adra said. And from Abraham: “We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger,” adding, “There is a different path” than the current war. Their speech received resounding applause in the Dolby Theatre.

A Complete Unknown, about a young Bob Dylan, began the night with eight nominations and ended it with nothing. Maybe Timothée Chalamet will have better luck playing his next real-life Jewish icon from midcentury New York — ping pong sensation Marty Reisman — complete with a scene-setting Forverts truck. Because if there’s one thing awards voters love, it’s table tennis. (Seriously! Remember that scene in Forrest Gump?)

Members of our culture team —  Mira, PJ Grisar, Samuel Eli Shepherd — led by opinion editor Talya Zax — watched the Oscars from start to finish and opined along the way on the awards, the jokes, the fashion and much more. Enjoy their roundtable discussion.

ON POLITICS

Some have described Steve Bannon’s gesture at CPAC as similar to a Nazi salute. (Youtube)

Steve Bannon accepted a “Warrior for Israel” award on Saturday from Orthodox pro-MAGA activists, using the stage to dismiss accusations of antisemitism and calling himself “one of the most pro-Israel people out there,” about a week after he made a straight-armed gesture many saw as a Nazi salute. Go deeper ►

Plus…

• Nazi salutes, anti-immigrant conspiracy theories and rhetoric that was once considered extreme is now central to mainstream political debate. (JTA)

  
  

• Trump is set to meet with Eli Sharabi and other freed Israeli hostages at the White House on Tuesday. (X)

  
  

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that he invoked emergency powers to bypass Congress and expedite $4 billion in military aid to Israel. (Reuters)

Trump vs. Zelenskyy

Opinion | We published three essays on the jarring Oval Office meeting Friday between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

• Trump and Vance laid waste to a cherished Yiddish value, writes Robert Zaretsky. Common sense — or sechel — is under attack.

  
  

• The meeting rankled the relationship with U.S. allies. “Trump, who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing,” writes Larry Cohler-Esses, “believes America will never again find itself in need of support beyond the transactional from other countries.”

  
  

• Zelenskky should have channeled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and bent a knee to Trump and Vance, argues Isaac Saul.

Our most-read story over the weekend: The Germans have a word for what’s happening in Trump’s America

From our Sponsor, Zelikow School @ HUC-JIR

ISRAEL AT WAR

Mourners at the funeral today for Itzik Elgarat, whose body Hamas returned to Israel last week. (Getty)

The latest…

• A terrorist stabbed and killed a 70-year-old man and injured four others Monday morning at a Haifa bus station. The attacker was killed. (AP)

  
  

• Israel’s government said Sunday it wants to extend the current Gaza ceasefire through Ramadan and Passover, while Hamas is focused on negotiating the next phase of the deal. (AP, Times of Israel)

  
  

• Israel came under heavy criticism Sunday after blocking all food and supplies from entering Gaza and threatening further action against Hamas if the fragile ceasefire collapses. (AP)

  
  

• Freed hostage Emily Damari underwent a series of surgeries to correct complications from losing two fingers while she was taken captive. (Times of Israel)

Question from a reader: My daughter and I have almost completely different views on Israel. I am a right-wing Christian who is pro-Israel and she is a left-wing atheist who is pro-Palestine. What should I do? Our Bintel Brief column offers advice. Got your own question? Email bintel@forward.com.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Former Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, a Holocaust scholar, said she would turn down a job at Columbia University. (Getty)

On campus…

🎒  A federal task force on antisemitism will visit 10 U.S. college campuses to address rising antisemitic incidents, including Columbia, Harvard and UCLA. (USA Today)

🛑  Deborah Lipstadt, the Biden administration’s antisemitism envoy and a longtime Holocaust scholar at Emory University, said she was considering a visiting professor job next year at Columbia. “But I’m now convinced that to do so would be folly — to serve as a prop or a fig leaf,” she writes of her decision to turn down the gig. (The Free Press, JTA)

📈  For the second year, the Anti-Defamation League graded colleges on their response to antisemitism and anti-Israel activism — and says most are improving. Eight schools earned A’s, up from two last year, and B grades more than doubled. The ADL credits the progress to schools adopting its recommended policies after seeking guidance on how to improve. (JTA)

And elsewhere…

⚖️  A jury in Illinois convicted a man on murder and hate crime charges in the stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy. (AP)

🤦  Nicole Shanahan, the billionaire and former vice presidential running mate of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during the 2024 election, said she is now a member of Jews for Jesus. (Christian Broadcast Network)

🇧🇷  Jeremy Strong, who did not win an Oscar last night for his role as Jewish attorney Roy Cohn in a biopic about Donald Trump, will star in Netflix’s The Boys from Brazil, a series reimagining of the 1978 Nazi cloning thriller. (Hollywood Reporter)

Transitions ► Rabbi David Sevi was named the new chief rabbi of Turkey, succeeding Rabbi Ishak Haleva, who died in January … Rabbi Abba Cohen, the longtime lead in Agudath Israel of America’s government affairs office, is retiring.

What else we’re reading ► Why the creator of Netflix’s Shtisel fled his Orthodox life — and returned, and created a spinoff (New York Times) … Tajikistan was once home to tens of thousands of Jews. Now, the number is in the dozens (Moment) … Are Jewish celebrities afraid to talk about antisemitism? (Hollywood Reporter)

VIDEO OF THE DAY

With around 200,000 Holocaust survivors still alive, experts estimate half will pass away within the next 5-7 years. Photographer Gillian Laub has been working to document their stories, capturing more than 300 portraits so far. CBS Sunday Morning spoke with Laub about her project and interviewed some of the survivors she has photographed.

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