Alyssa Katz

As Iran’s Jews prepare for Purim, their government calls its story proof of a past genocide A besieged community navigates the holiday’s themes in real time — measuring loyalty to the regime against survival

Beyond the threat Iran poses to Israel and its own people, Jews in Iran have been living in an impossible situation where the only way to survive is to genuflect to the regime. We posted this at @forward.com yesterday, before the strike began and ahead of Purim, which begins Monday night.

In the aftermath of Oct. 7, many rush to paint the pro-Palestinian movement in the U.S. as supporters of Hamas terrorism — often relying on tenuous claims about slogans and political platforms that didn't hold up to scrutiny. 🧵

Young Americans increasingly likely to view Hamas as 'resistance,' not terrorists Polling hints at growing sympathy — but also misses important complexities of views on the militant group that controls Gaza

Young adults are becoming more likely to tell pollsters that they see Hamas as a militant resistance group, rejecting the label "terrorist." But views also defy simple labels, @arnorosenfeld.bsky.social found in this look at the numbers.

7am major reporting sites snowfall update: Islip: 22.5" Newark: 18.3" NWS NY (Upton, NY): 18.3" Central Park: 15.1" LGA: 15.1" JFK: 15.0"

WNBC says another 5-6 hours of snow to go. Central Park already at 15," per the NWS weather stations. Newark Airport has gotten 18" already. Long Island has gotten socked with between 18-22". x.com/NWSNewYorkNY...

Ethiopian-American Jews lament loss of Harlem restaurant hub Tsion Cafe declared a tiny community’s public presence through food and cultural connection. Its shutdown in the face of antisemitic harassment leaves a void for members of the Jewish-African diaspora

Almost all Ethopian Jews in the U.S. arrived via Israel, and their ties have made them a target. Said one: “For a long time, I felt like that extra layer of being Black almost protected me, because people are scared of being called racist...I don’t think I have that extra armor anymore."

Everyone can be a war profiteer in Gaza or Iran, thanks to online betting markets Polymarket and Kalshi let people bet on exactly when and where bombs might fall

"The likelihood of the U.S. striking Iran is currently the top trending market on Polymarket, with $313 million wagered." From @miraefox.bsky.social

VIDEO: Actor Allen L. Rickman reviews ‘Marty Supreme’ in Yiddish Hear this take on the film about an ambitious, unscrupulous table tennis player and pick up some Yiddish on the way

A Marty Supreme review as meant to be heard: in Yiddish (with English subtitles)

Romance is the last literary genre frontier for me. Philip Roth does not count.

How Jesse Jackson changed his mind about Jews — and what Abe Foxman made of it The late civil rights leader 'was the guy who couldn't pass the synagogue without going in,' the longtime ADL director said in a new interview with the Forward

My colleague @talyazax.bsky.social checked in with sometime adversary/sometime friend Abe Foxman, the longtime past ADL leader, on the legacy of Jesse Jackson. Foxman said: "We have to learn that people can change their minds and hearts."

An audiobook narrator told Zionists to kill themselves. A popular romance novelist hired him anyway. As the romance genre has grown more inclusive, some authors say Jews still aren’t getting their happily-ever-after

Storm in the romance world.

She's a Democratic Socialist who affirmed Israel's right to exist. Can she be LA's next mayor? Nithya Raman's Democratic Socialists of America affiliation makes some pro-Israel voters wary of her candidacy for mayor of Los Angeles.

Do read @louiskeene.bsky.social's profile of a DSA city council member who is a serious contender to be the next mayor of LA — and taking a different approach from the group and NYC's Zohran Mamdani when it comes to Israel.

Inside City Hall - YouTube

I’ve changed publications but am still on Inside City Hall @spectrumnewsny1.bsky.social occasional Wednesday eves. Tonight around 7:40 and again at 11:40, Gerson Borrero, @errollouis.bsky.social and I talk Mamdani’s tax gambit, rent freeze prospects and Jesse Jackson. TIL it streams on YouTube!

Muslim and Sephardic Jewish college students are connecting over shared heritage Amid campus tensions, participants in Mizrahi cultural events say shared food, language and other commonalities are creating unexpected connections.

Mimouna is a Moroccan celebration in which Muslims bring Jews flour and fixings for a post-Passover kitchen reboot. Honoring it on campus is just one of the ways students are finding what they have in common.
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Forever curious, never daunted, Frederick Wiseman sought to repair the world through film The great documentarian, who has died at 96, leaves behind a legacy of films that offered a moral accounting of the American soul.

Why is Frederick Wiseman so revered? There’s no substitute for watching his works, but for now read Dan Friedman’s appreciation.

Mamdani’s antisemitism chief pledges trust-building amid early skepticism Phylisa Wisdom outlines plans for NYC antisemitism strategy modeled in part on the Biden White House national plan.

My colleague @jacobkornbluh.bsky.social got the first interview with @phylisawisdom.bsky.social, Mamdani's appointee as antisemitism watchdog. See what she said.

Just you wait for the Bintel Brief reboot.

Sex tips from the Talmud, just in time for Valentine's Day Most people think of religion as puritanical when it comes to sex, but the rabbis of the Talmud were anything but.

"At points the rabbis prophesize all sorts of ills to come out of bad sex (which includes, variously, sex both standing up and sitting down), but they also have some pretty solid advice." As related by @miraefox.bsky.social

The longtime director of the ADL’s Center on Extremism — which tracks this kind of thing on social media — left last month to work for another watchdog group that has been deeply critical of the ADL’s political shift

ADL retracts Tumbler Ridge shooting antisemitism claim A day after ADL said Jesse Van Rootselaar had posted ‘the Zionists want me to hate Jews,’ it said the false claim had been 'preliminary.'

This disinformation about the Canadian mass shooter circulated widely (including on a syndicated post @forward.com published and has since unpublished) before the ADL retracted it. This is from the nation's leading antisemitism watchdog.

What Carrie Prejean Boller tells us about Christian Zionism in the US Are Carrie Prejean Boller's comments on Jews and Israel a bellwether for the end of Christian Zionism in the U.S.?

Important analysis from @miraefox.bsky.social on what now-ex-Trump religious liberty panelist Carrie Prejean Boller's declaration against Zionism portends: a Catholic front in the burgeoning right-wing coalition opposing Israel.

This Jewish Olympian prays with her mom before every race Kamryn Lute, a 21-year-old speed skater from Manhattan, is making her Olympic debut for Team USA in Milan.

Ice Jewish girl from Manhattan! Kamyrn Lute is making her Olympic debut this week on the U.S. speed skating team.

5 things to know ahead of the Trump-Netanyahu meeting Trump and Netanyahu are set to meet amid Iran nuclear talks, debate over U.S. military aid to Israel, and recent West Bank policy moves

A very handy rundown of the issues looming as Trump and Bibi meet at the White House today.

Why Bad Bunny’s halftime show delighted New York Jews of a certain age The Jewish love affair with Latin music and ‘Nueva Yol’ dates back to mambo dancing in the Catskills and stories of a shared diaspora.

The longtime Jewish love affair with Latin music lives on in the Bad Bunny halftime show.

Why do so many Jews support Israel — but reject ‘Zionism’? A new survey suggests American Jews are abandoning the term "Zionism," despite ongoing support for Israel. How could that be?

Forward columnist Dan Perry on the collapse of "Zionism": "What I do not accept is the mutated version of Zionism that equates Jewish self-determination with permanent and non-democratic domination over another people."

Can Manischewitz make matzo ball soup hot again? Manischewitz, the age-old Jewish brand, ran an art show in an attempt to build cool-kid hype for Jewish brands and food.

It's marketing. It's art. It's Manischewitz.

Created in hiding during WWII, a Jewish artist's underground 'zines are finally rising to the surface From 1943 to 1945, Bloch produced 96 editions of 'The Underwater Cabaret' while he and other Jews hid from the Nazis in an attic crawlspace.

I want to see these zines! Produced in the Netherlands in hiding during WWII and resurfaced on the Upper West Side.

Ah I thought one had the option of nuclear or not. Because...I don't block people.

Ah, the blocking not only me but my followers treatment.

AIPAC fails its first test in the midterms Tom Malinowski and Analilia Mejia are in a dead heat in a NJ election AIPAC spent millions on to elect a candidate they saw as more pro-Israel

Meanwhile: @jacobkornbluh.bsky.social's story this morning.

Well I have no idea anymore what the post I shared said because the poster blocked me after I posted what I sure thought was a factual, fair and neutral analysis. I'll keep it up here so that maybe someone who can see the other persons post and account can tell me what the heck I did to merit that.