 JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.  Marjorie Taylor-Greene embraces Louis Farrakhan, marriage tips from the oldest Holocaust-surviving couple, excitement at the world's hardest Torah quiz, and a big mazel to Paul Rudd. FROM THE FORWARD  It’s a busy morning here at the Forward with lots to report, so let’s get started…
Sexual harassers led Reform rabbinical seminary for 29 years: An unprecedented report released by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion on Tuesday revealed sexual assault allegations and decades of discrimination aimed at students who didn’t fit the mold of a “married 29 year-old straight male rabbi who was handsome, bearded, and married to a wife who was pregnant.” Read the story >
The hardest Bible quiz in the world is not for the casual Jew:We sent PJ Grisar, a Bible novice, to cover the annual Torah test – it was, he said, like “sending a cub correspondent to the NBA finals.” Eight contestants – mostly teachers and one antitrust lawyer – were asked questions about prophets, locusts and lions (oh my!). In the end, it came down to a rematch between two adversaries from the 2019 competition. So who won? Read the story >
Planter of forests, uprooter of a population – the tangled legacy of Israel’s Yosef Weitz.In a new documentary entitled “Blue Box,” a patchwork of archival films, family interviews, and diary writings paint a picture of Weitz, who is famous for planting Israel’s trees – while also uprooting Arabs from their villages. Through this lens, the film – which you can stream as part of the JCC Manhattan’s Other Israel Film Festival – contributes to Israel’s reckoning with the history of its inception as a state. Read the review >
How Dean Stockwell fought antisemitism and inspired Jewish moviegoers: Stockwell, who starred in “Married to the Mob” and “Quantum Leap,” died at 85. He was not Jewish, but often played Jews on screen – including in “Gentleman’s Agreement and “The Boy with Green Hair,” a fantasy about a young war orphan. “Jewish viewers clearly felt a special identification with Stockwell as protagonist beyond the ostensible subject matter,” our Benjamin Ivry writes in an appreciation. Read the story >
The secret to a 75 year marriage, from ‘the oldest Holocaust-surviving couple’: There are so many sermons in this straightforward story of a remarkable pair. Two people who saw their families murdered found each other, married and built wonderful, long lives. It’s a story of resilience, but also of communities and institutions that stepped up and a country that was open and welcoming to traumatized immigrants. Read the story >
A message from our sponsor: University of California Press  Ruth Bader Ginsburg's last book is a curation of her own legacy Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue is a collaboration between Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Amanda L. Tyler, a Berkeley Law professor and former Ginsburg law clerk. This book brings together materials that share details from Ginsburg's family life and long career including briefs and oral arguments, speeches, and her favorite opinions that she wrote as a Supreme Court Justice.
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY  🤝 Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene said she found “common ground” with Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, which the Southern Poverty Law Center calls a hate group for espousing “deeply racist, antisemitic and anti-gay” sentiments. Taylor-Greene made the statement after reading a Nation of Islam newspaper that had negative articles about the media, Democrats and the COVID-19 vaccine. (Insider)
🇺🇸 Mike Pompeo may have broken the law when he campaigned for President Trump while in Israel in 2020, according to a federal investigation revealed on Tuesday. In question is a speech that Pompeo gave while Secretary of State to the Republican National Convention from atop the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. (JTA)
🇨🇳 The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is “gravely concerned” that the “Chinese government may be committing genocide against the Uyghurs,” according to a report released on Tuesday. The museum said it seeks “to do for victims of genocide today what was not done for the Jews of Europe.” (Axios)
✍️ In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, 21 Jewish groups urged the swift confirmation of Deborah E. Lipstadt as antisemitism envoy, which has been held up by Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. “Every day that we delay filling this critical position, we are endangering people’s lives,” reads the letter, signed by groups representing all religious denominations. (JCPA)
🚴 Yuval David Shimoni suffered PTSD after serving in the Israeli army during the Second Lebanon War. Now, 15 years later, he is competing in Israel’s first Ironman on Friday. “I aim to continue to grow, not only in sport but also, primarily, as a human being,” Shimoni said. (Jewish Insider)
🥇 A win for Jewish men everywhere? Paul Rudd, actor and all-around nice guy, was named “Sexiest Man Alive” for 2021. (People)
Shiva call > Stuart Schoffman, one of the founding editors of The Jerusalem Report, died at 74. Born in Brooklyn, Schoffman transitioned from journalism to translating books by well-known Israeli writers into English, and dabbled in screenwriting, including “The Finest Hour,” a 1992 action film starring Rob Lowe. “His catholic range of interests was partnered with a prodigious memory and a love for precision, but also great humanity,” writes a colleague, David B. Green.
FROM OUR OPINION SECTION  Divorcing your husband is tough. Separating from your synagogue is harder:When Sarah Gundle’s spiritual home began to push her and her daughter away, she writes, “I questioned my connection to organized religion altogether.” But she found love and acceptance in a new shul. “I realized that being understood, uncertain and difficult as that process can be, is ultimately more valuable than the seductive certainty of belonging.”Read the OpEd >
ON THE CALENDAR  On this day in history: Norman Mailer, a man of letters inspired by the People of the Book, died on Nov. 10, 2007. In an appreciation, Ezra Cappell, a scholar of Jewish-American writing, wrote in the Forward of the time he met Mailer at a literary conference. “I found a certain talmudic pilpul in his finest work,” Cappell told Mailer. “To the amazement of the group, he responded by saying, ‘Many years ago, I received a translation of the Talmud as a gift, and I have been dipping into it on and off ever since; it has influenced everything I have written.”’
In honor of the Marine Corps’ birthday – it was established on Nov. 10, 1775 – read this essay by an Orthodox Jew who decided to become a Marine.
Today @ 5 p.m. ET! Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen were huge fans of each other — and the influence cut both ways. Our culture reporter PJ Grisar will moderate a conversation with special guests Ezra Furman, musician; Larry “Ratso” Sloman, author and musician; and Denise Sullivan, music journalist and historian. Join the more than 2,000 people already signed up for this free virtual event. Register now >
PHOTO OF THE DAY  The above picture of Fanny Brice is from the newly published “A Small Book of Jewish Comedians,” which, despite its name, is actually a decent-sized coffee-table book. It is full of one-liners, including this one from George Burns: “When I was a boy, the Dead Sea was only sick.” And this one from Jackie Mason: “Eighty percent of married men cheat in America. The rest cheat in Europe.”
Thanks to Rob Eshman and Arno Rosenfeld for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com. Support Independent Jewish Journalism The Forward is a non-profit 501(c)3 so our journalism depends on support from readers like you. You can support our work today by donating or subscribing. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of US law.
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