This article is part of our morning briefing. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox each weekday. Ad in Haredi newspaper says COVID vaccine was a ‘mistake,’ offers ‘detoxification protocol’: The ad in Hamodia, which describes itself as the “daily newspaper for Torah Jewry,” linked the vaccine to death and disease and, without scientific evidence, urged readers to take certain drugs and herbal tea. The recommendations listed several practitioners to contact for help, including a rabbi and at least two people with “Dr.” before their names who do not have medical degrees. Read the story ➤
Israel annexed West Bank’s largest park and ‘is turning it into a Disneyland’: The 865-acre archaeological park includes a Crusader-era hall and what some believe to be the prophet Samuel’s tomb. Critics say the development ignores the Palestinian villagers who live inside the park, who aren’t allowed to have plumbing or plant trees. They “are living in an intolerable cage,” said one activist. Moshe Gilad, a reporter for our Israeli partner, Haaretz, traveled there for a visit. Read the story ➤
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Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray photographs paved the way for Watson and Crick’s Nobel Prize. (Wikimedia) |
A neglected Jewish pioneer is having her say — this time in a musical: Rosalind Franklin, the woman whose research led to Watson and Crick’s discovery of the structure of DNA, has been honored with biographies, an eponymous university and a play starring Nicole Kidman. Now, her contributions are the subject of a musical, Double Helix. “She had a lot of chutzpah and she was very ambitious and she was tenacious,” said the show’s composer Madeline Myers. Read the story ➤
Equal access: A group of Jewish parents and schools are suing California over a law that prohibits religious schools from receiving government funding for special education. In a new opinion essay, Michael A. Helfand, an expert on religious liberty, writes that the law persists “in unconstitutionally preventing people of faith from accessing benefits available to all other citizens.” Read it ➤ |
The cast of ‘Succession.’ (HBO) |
Join us at JCRC-NY’s 58th annual CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE on Sunday, June 4, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., 57th – 74th St. along NY’s Fifth Ave. |
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
A memorial outside of Tree of Life in the days after the 2018 shooting. (Getty) |
Postcard from Pittsburgh: A crowded courtroom heard one of the 911 calls made from the Tree of Life synagogue during the first day of the trial of the accused shooter. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who survived the massacre, took to the witness stand and cried as he described how he recited the Shema prayer thinking he was about to die. “I thought about the history of my people,” he said. “How we’ve been persecuted and hunted and slaughtered for centuries.” (JTA) ? More than a third of people in Hungary and Poland have ‘extensive’ antisemitic beliefs, with stereotypes around Israel especially prevalent, according to a new ADL survey. (JTA) ? The chancellor and board of trustees of the City University of New York denounced a recent graduation speech at CUNY School of Law in which a student harshly criticized Israel. (NY Jewish Week) ? Stanford University launched on Tuesday an advisory committee of students, faculty, staff, and alumni to assess and enhance Jewish life at the school, after a recent spate of antisemitic incidents on campus. (Stanford) ? The Israeli Health Ministry called out Elon Musk for spreading what it called “fake news” when the Twitter CEO implied that Israeli data showed “zero young healthy individuals” died of COVID. (JTA) ⚽ Israel’s national under-20 soccer team extended its dream run at the World Cup in Argentina on Wednesday morning, dramatically defeating Uzbekistan 1-0 in the 97th minute to advance to the quarterfinal of the tournament for the first time in its history. (Haaretz) ?️ The Zone of Interest, a Holocaust movie filmed on location in Auschwitz and based on a novel by Martin Amis, who died earlier this month, won the runner-up prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film will premiere in theaters this fall, and is already generating Oscar buzz. (JTA) ? How much does it cost to hire a pop star to sing at a bar mitzvah? Anywhere from $150,000 to $1 million depending on particulars. (New Yorker) Shiva call ➤ Adela Grinbaum, who survived four concentration camps including Auschwitz, died at 100. |
The original Archie, and the cast of ‘Riverdale.’ (Wikipedia/The CW) |
On this day in history (1943): The Archie comic book debuted a version for broadcast radio. Archie, the comic’s titular character, and his friends Betty, Veronica, and Jughead, were co-created by artist Bob Montana, writer Vic Bloom, and publisher John L. Goldwater, who became a national commissioner for the Anti-Defamation League. Recently, Goldwater’s characters have made a “darker, sexier” comeback as brooding teens on the TV show Riverdale.
Happy last day of Jewish American Heritage Month! |
Imagine receiving a book that you were sworn to protect but forbidden from reading. That’s what happened to Meryl Frank, author of Unearthed. It tells a tale of discovery, across continents and generations, of her family’s Holocaust story. Meryl and Laura E. Adkins, our opinion editor, discussed the book with a YIVO audience, whose archives were instrumental in Meryl’s research. — Thanks to Laura E. Adkins, PJ Grisar, Rebecca Salzhauer and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com. |
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