Berman Archive at Stanford

A Gorgeous Video Game That’s Also Very Jewish The ‘Eternal Life of Goldman’ is the rare video game to feature a distinctly Jewish protagonist

The Eternal Life of Goldman is one of the most beautiful games of 2026. It's also nice to finally see some video-game representation for people like me: aging Jews with back problems.

For this week's column, I spoke to the director of this stunning platformer: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

In JFNA’s first ‘State of the Jewish Union’ address, security and antisemitism loom large - Jewish Telegraphic Agency “The state of the Jewish union in America is strong, but it is being tested,” said Eric Fingerhut, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America.

Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of the @jfederations.bsky.social, delivered the organization's first "State of the Jewish Union" address, focused on security and antisemitism. "The state of the Jewish union in America is strong, but it is being tested," he said.
www.jta.org/2026/02/19/u...

Making space for Jewish thought leadership In moments of uncertainty, communities often turn to ideas for meaning, clarity, language and frameworks to make sense of what they are experiencing and what might come next. Over the past several yea...

New research by Dr. ValerieEhrlich examines Jewish thought leadership in America, analyzing who shapes public discourse on Jewish issues. Stacie Cherner of the JimJosephFoundation, the study's co-funder, frames and summariizes the research in today’s eJP:

ejewishphilanthropy.com/making-space...

In Boston, US Jews envision a Judaism beyond Zionism At a ‘Jewish Left’ conference, attendees set out to build new institutions that they consider more ethically grounded in Judaism post-Oct. 7, 2023.

Via @yonat.bsky.social: In Boston, US Jews envision a Judaism beyond Zionism religionnews.com/2026/02/19/a...

Here's my new blog post about Jewish dance cards and a recent UCL bicentennial event where we learned Edwardian ballroom dances from a Jewish dance card in @uclhjslibrary.bsky.social to the same tunes that were performed in 1909. #UCL200

In partnership with @uclhjs.bsky.social and the UCL IJS.

At the BBYO International Convention, Jewish teens demand a seat at the table - Jewish Telegraphic Agency From a global youth resolution to calls for boardroom inclusion, thousands of teens in Philadelphia pushed to shape the future of Jewish life.

Teen Spirit: At the BBYO International Convention, Jewish teens demand a seat at the table in conversations about their future and communal decision-making.
www.jta.org/2026/02/18/u... #jewishstudies

YouTube video by Michael Chaiken Leonard Cohen - Yad Eliahu Sports Palace, Tel Aviv, Israel. April 19, 1972

Cohen's response to the disruption and his relationship with Israeli audiences offers insight into how the Jewish singer-songwriter navigated his identity and spirituality in Israel.

Video: youtu.be/ay6O0rm4NQw?...

YouTube video by Michael Chaiken Leonard Cohen - Yad Eliahu Sports Palace, Tel Aviv, Israel. April 19, 1972

Far Out Magazine recounts Leonard Cohen's 1972 Tel Aviv performance, where Hasidic protesters ("men in orange") disrupted the concert over religious concerns about public performance during a sensitive period. faroutmagazine.co.uk/leonard-cohe...

Of note, the full article's framing differs from the Forward's newsletter version, which used more sensational language about the race in what reads as an attempt to capture the intensity of the American Jewish response to Mamdani's campaign for NYC Mayor.

She's a Democratic Socialist who affirmed Israel's right to exist. Can she be LA's next mayor? Nithya Raman thinks she can win over the city's Jewish voters. Step one: Convince them she’s not Zohran Mamdani.

LA Mayor: @louiskeene.bsky.social looks at Nithya Raman, the just-announced candidate running to replace LA Mayor Karen Bass, examining her substantial inroads with the Jewish communities she serves as a city council member.
forward.com/news/806134/... @forward.com #jewishstudies #LApolitics

New York City’s Synagogue Protest Bill is the First Jewish Showdown… A hearing on the bill scheduled for next Wednesday puts the City Council’s large progressive bloc in a tight spot.

Synagogue Protest: @jewishcurrents.bsky.social examines New York City's proposed synagogue protest bill as the first major Jewish community showdown of the Mamdani era on the City Council.
jewishcurrents.org/new-york-cit...
#JewishStudies #NYC #ReligiousFreedom

75th Nation­al Jew­ish Book Award Winners Attend the 75th Nation­al Jew­ish Book Awards Celebration

Book Awards: The Jewish Book Council announces the 75th National Jewish Book Award winners, recognizing outstanding works across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and scholarship.
www.jewishbookcouncil.org/pb-daily/75t...

Black-and-white memorial graphic featuring two historic civil rights–era photographs: at top, a group of religious and civil rights leaders gathered outside a building; at bottom, a large voting rights march with participants holding signs reading “Voting Rights Now” and “End Segregation in Public Schools.” In both images, Arnold Aronson is highlighted with an outline. Overlaid text reads: “Arnold Aronson z”l (March 11, 1911 – February 17, 1998). May his memory be a blessing — and a call to continue the work.”

Today we mark the yahrzeit of Arnold Aronson, founding executive leader of JCPA and a founder of @civilrightsorg.bsky.social. A lifelong civil rights champion, he believed Jewish safety is inseparable from justice for all. May his memory be a blessing.

Trump has chipped away at the long-standing wall between church and state. It’s just the beginning | CNN Politics A series of faith initiatives championed by the White House has led to a systematic religious revival within the government’s operations, culture and policy.

“We are in the early stages,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, “but this is a policy-making effort.”

www.cnn.com/2026/02/15/p...

Today we mourn the loss of Rev. Jesse Jackson, a giant of the civil rights movement. A friend of NCJW, he met with us during our trip honoring the 60th anniversary of the Selma bridge crossing. His passion for humanity & barrier-breaking legacy will inspire generations. May his memory be a blessing.

New Survey: Four in 10 Jewish College Students Report Experiencing Antisemitism American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Hillel International are releasing new data today detailing how American Jewish college students are changing how they engage with peers and show up on campus relat...

AJC and Hillel International release new survey on Jewish college students—4 in 10 report experiencing antisemitism on campus. This follows last week's broader survey showing 93% of American Jews see antisemitism as a problem.

www.ajc.org/news/new-sur...

#JewishStudies #Antisemitism #HigherEd

Notable Sandwiches #138: Reuben Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where my editor David Swanson and I trip merrily through Wikipedia’s List of Notable Sandwiches. This week, a...

Iconic Reuben: @swordsjew.bsky.social explores the Reuben sandwich's Jewish deli origins and cultural significance in American food history.

buttondown.com/theswordandt...

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

Skate Expectations: Meet Kamryn Lute, the Jewish speed skater competing in the Olympics. The Forward profiles her journey to the games and her Jewish identity.
forward.com/news/804481/...

My & Harriet Murav’s translation of a story by the Yiddish writer Itsik Kipnis, written just after the end of World War II & set amidst the ruins of Kyiv — an excerpt from our new book “In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Short Fiction by Jewish Writers from the Soviet Union.”@stanfordpress.bsky.social

Home | Community Study 2025 The Greater Boston Jewish Community Study is a data-driven, in-depth analysis including demographics, observance levels, and geographic profiles.

Boston Study: Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ 2025 Greater Boston Jewish Community Study is out with fresh data and analysis on demographics, engagement, belonging, and the communal needs of Jewish Bostonians.

ma.cjp.org/communitystu...

Giustina Levi-Perotti: The Nineteenth-Century Afterlife of a Fourteenth-Century Jewish Poet Who Never Existed This article explores the literary fabrication of Giustina Levi-Perotti, a fictitious fourteenth-century poetess, and her mistaken inclusion among the canon of Jewish writers. Originally invented d...

New academic research: Asher Shallah offers a case study in literary forgery and historiography around a fictitious medieval poet invented by Italian humanists, later recast as Jewish by 19th‑century scholars, and eventually dismantled.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Yahrzeit glasses, a kitchen mystery and a recipe for generations (RNS and NPR) — Using candles to mark the yahrzeit, the anniversary of a death, is mentioned in Jewish tradition as far back as the Middle Ages. But the mass-produced glass holders came later.

A poignant piece on how Jewish memory travels through everyday objects, specifically yahrzeit glasses. Yiddish for “year-time,” yahrzeit candles burn for 24 hours, to remember and honor a person lost. The reamining glasses are often repurposed as a tool or cup.
religionnews.com/2026/02/12/y...

For the Sake of Argument surveyed a group of anti-Zionist Jews in an effort to validate and complicate assumptions that pro-Israel leaders and organizations had about anti-zionists. The research process and findings are compelling and informative.

www.forthesakeofargument.org/azr

American synagogues are being forced into a terrible choice: Collaborate with ICE or risk our own safety - Jewish Telegraphic Agency Jewish federations should fund security so synagogues don't have to accept the federal government's conditions, a Philadelphia rabbi urges.

"The Trump administration leveraged our real security fears to neutralize an institution that historically has had the moral and legal standing to say no to state violence and provide actual sanctuary to refugees and immigrants."

www.jta.org/2026/02/11/i...

“This is about how moral leaders can stand up to protect democracy and to protect our neighbors. That includes, of course, standing up to ICE and standing up to protect immigrant neighbors on the street, but it also includes how to take actions to protect democracy.”
—@rabbijilljacobs.bsky.social

140 rabbis train in Washington on how to resist authoritarian governments, ICE (RNS) — The convening will train rabbis on practical tools for non-violent resistance — both to disrupt systems with tactics such as boycotts and strikes, and to create alternative processes to help v...

Rabbis converge in Washington, DC this week to participate in @truahrabbis.bsky.social's convening on peaceful resistance.

religionnews.com/2026/02/09/r...

The JFNA survey proves it: 'Zionism' today only impedes the conversations that Jews, Israelis and Palestinians need - Jewish Telegraphic Agency Jewish legacy organizations have made the term "Zionist" a synonym for uncritical support of Israel, writes the CEO of T'ruah.

"
"these organizations ...would do well to reconsider the decades-old policy of pushing aside those who believe that real commitment to Israel’s future requires fighting also for the rights of Palestinians."

www.jta.org/2026/02/09/i...

The State of Antisemitism in America 2025 American Jewish Committee's annual State of Antisemitism in America Report provides critically important insights into one of the most violent years against American Jews in recent history. In 2025, t...

The State of Antisemitism: The AJC just released the findings of their annual survey of American Jews. Most respondents (93%) see antisemitism as problem while 1/3 report having experienced antisemitism directly.
www.ajc.org/Antisemitism...

140 rabbis train in Washington on how to resist authoritarian governments, ICE (RNS) — The convening will train rabbis on practical tools for non-violent resistance — both to disrupt systems with tactics such as boycotts and strikes, and to create alternative processes to help v...

Via @yonat.bsky.social: 140 rabbis train in Washington on how to resist authoritarian governments, ICE —> religionnews.com/2026/02/09/r...

Proposed laws aim to test the Supreme Court’s ban on public school-sponsored prayer Lawmakers want public schools to set aside time for prayer and Bible study, threatening a milestone decision won by Jews decades ago.

Laws and Prayers: There’s a movement afoot to reinstate public school prayer, despide a 1962 Supreme Court ruling, siding with Jewish plantiffs, codifying the separation of church and state.
forward.com/news/803668/...