This article is part of our morning briefing. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox each weekday. What’s the difference between a $40 etrog and a $100 etrog? You’ll need to squint to find out: As Jews across the world shake their lulav and etrog during this week of Sukkot, our Louis Keene wondered why there’s such a discrepancy in prices in the lemon-like luxury item. So Louis took to the streets of Pico-Robertson, the largest Orthodox neighborhood in Los Angeles, to chat with etrog vendors selling their wares. Read the story ➤
Opinion | Why Sukkot is my favorite Jewish holiday: Unlike Hanukkah or Yom Kippur, “Sukkot has almost no patriarchal theology, judgmental God imagery, militarism, or us-against-them stuff. There are no enemies or conflicts,” writes Rabbi Jay Michaelson. Instead, he writes, “there is joy.” And while it’s not as widely observed as the recent High Holidays, he offers up several suggestions for partaking in the festivities. Read his essay ➤
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The White House sukkah, at left, and Secretary Tom Vilsack at the USDA sukkah. (Courtesy) |
Shelley Greenspan, the White House liaison to the Jewish community, took to social media to unveil the Bidens’ sukkah. “A special shoutout to all the kids who came to decorate,” she wrote. “The sukkah will be the first thing visitors see on public White House tours during the week of Sukkot.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture also erected a sukkah at its headquarters on the National Mall. Plus… |
Lee Grant in 1970. (Getty) |
One of the oldest living Jewish Oscar winners is as fierce as ever: Lee Grant survived the Hollywood blacklist of those with alleged communist ties to become a preeminent director and actor. At 97, she’s “having a moment,” writes our culture reporter PJ Grisar. Her films, two of which are playing this week at the New York Film Festival, are newly relevant — tackling such topics as antisemitism, labor strikes and trans rights. “It’s a life,” Grant told PJ. “You know, it’s my life.” Read the story ➤ In Canada… |
Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir during a 1991 trip to Israel. (Bob A. Cumins) |
Plus… - Dianne Feinstein was tenacious and contradictory — just like American Jews, writes Rabbi Jay Michaelson in an opinion essay.
- Elizabeth Tsurkov, a doctoral student at Princeton University who used to write op-eds for the Forward, was kidnapped six months ago by a radical Shiite militia with ties to Iran. “Sometimes I envision really bad things,” Elizabeth’s sister Emma told our editor-in-chief, Jodi Rudoren. “But I try not to get sucked into that vortex, because there is nothing at the bottom of that.”
- Elon Musk, Bob Menendez and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Take our weekly news quiz.
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Hadassah is elevating Zionist voices, now and always. Inspire Zionism: Tech, Trailblazers and Tattoos, hosted by the Unorthodox podcast’s Stephanie Butnick, will feature Zionist innovators having bold conversations about identity, history and culture. Join us virtually on October 25 and 26. |
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
The announcement of the Nobel Prize in medicine this morning in Sweden. (Getty) |
? Drew Weissman, a Jewish immunologist, and Katalin Karikó won the Nobel Prize in medicine this morning. Their research led to effective COVID vaccines. (CNN, JTA) ?? The Biden administration instructed eight cabinet departments to extend civil rights protections to victims of antisemitism and other forms of religious bigotry. The decision marks a broad expansion of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. (Axios, JTA) ? More than half of Republicans see former President Donald Trump as a man of faith, according to a new poll, ranking him above more vocally religious figures like former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Mitt Romney. (Deseret News) ? Israel’s Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who has a history of inflammatory remarks, said in a sermon over the weekend that secular Jews who eat non-kosher food “get stupid.” (Times of Israel) ?? Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday visited the site of the Babyn Yar massacre to mark the 82nd anniversary of one of the largest mass murders of Jews in the Holocaust. (AFP) ? A federal agency sued Chipotle, the restaurant chain, accusing it of religious harassment after a manager at a Kansas location forcibly removed an employee’s hijab. (AP) ? The new $225 million National Library of Israel is set to open this month. The 495,000-square-foot, 11-story building (five of which are underground), will house 4 million books, historical newspapers, photographs, antique maps, manuscripts and other ephemera. (Times of Israel) Shiva calls ➤ Alice Shalvi, a trailblazing feminist and educator in Israel, died at 96 … Al Bernikow, a Jewish communal leader and namesake of the Joan & Al Bernikow Jewish Community Center of Staten Island, died at 82.
What else we’re reading ➤ What kind of person has a closet full of Nazi memorabilia? … How did a family of Presbyterians in California end up becoming etrog farmers? … The secret Jewish history of department stores. |
On this day in history (1890): Jewish comedian Groucho Marx was born. He was the most recognizable of the Marx Brothers comedy troupe, with his thick mustache and trademark glasses — an aesthetic that inspired, as Andrew Silverstein wrote in the Forward in 2022, one of the most ubiquitous costumes of all time. “The one-piece nose and spectacles, known as ‘Groucho glasses,’ have been around since the 1930s,” Silversein wrote, “and it would be fair to call them the most iconic mask of modern times.” |
Six years after a white nationalist rally brought death and destruction to Charlottesville, Virginia, a new HBO documentary pulls back the curtain on how lawyers set out to hold its organizers accountable. (Spoiler alert: They ultimately won the case.) The film takes viewers behind the scenes of the lawyers’ prep and includes an interview with Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, who was called to testify at the trial. No Accident premieres Oct. 10; watch the trailer above. — Thanks to Robert A. Cumins, PJ Grisar and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected]. Hope you have a wonderful day. |
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