Good morning, New York. A reader criticized us for revealing the score of an Olympics baseball game featuring Team Israel before he had a chance to watch the replay. So be warned: The results of today’s game are below, if you need to avert your eyes.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
A billboard near New York Times headquarters on 8th Ave. says the paper fails to cover the “full truth” about surging antisemitism.
- The billboard was placed by the media watchdog group Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, or Camera, JNS.org reports.
- Camera’s Andrea Levin said the goal of the ad is to bring attention to “the deplorable role of The Times in failing to cover the full facts about anti-Semitism and actually fueling hostility towards Jews with its incessant, false and inflammatory depictions of Israel.”
- Everybody’s talking: About Roger Cohen’s long piece in The Times about relations between Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens. “Towns portrayed as models of peaceful coexistence fester with resentments born of double standards,” writes Cohen.
The Masbia Soup Kitchen Network is encouraging vaccinations.
- The kosher food pantry serves hundreds of families a day at its locations in Borough Park, Flatbush and Forest Hills.
- The campaign will include flyers, directional maps to the closest vaccination site and info on how to claim the $100 gift card offered by NYC.
- Background: Mayor de Blasio “strongly recommended” that people once again don masks indoors, even those who have been vaccinated, as the Delta variant brings the average daily case count to over 1,200.
BEYOND THE BOROUGHS
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded $3.5 million in security grants to 20 Jewish nonprofit organizations on Long Island.
- The grants are part of a DHS program for houses of worship and institutions that are at a higher risk of a terrorist attack.
- “No Long Islander should ever feel threatened or endangered because of their religious identity,” said Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Nassau), who announced the grant.
Elizabeth, New Jersey native Judy Blume will have a rest stop named after her on the Garden State Parkway.
- Gov. Phil Murphy celebrated National New Jersey Day with the announcement that the highway’s nine service areas will be renamed after various inductees in the New Jersey Hall of Fame, Keller reports.
- Blume is the author of a number of classic young adult novels, including “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.”
SPORTS
The Athletic named Brooklyn’s own Sid Luckman as the 48th greatest player in NFL history.
- The quarterback led the Chicago Bears to four championships in the 1940s and was named All-Pro five times.
- More importantly, the son of Jewish immigrants won two city football championships at Erasmus Hall High School in Flatbush.
Israel’s gold-medal-winning gymnast touched off a national debate over Jewish identity.
- Artem Dolgopyat, who placed first in the floor exercise, has a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother.
- His mother complained that the country’s new hero is not considered Jewish under rabbinic law and thus is unable to marry in the Jewish state — which does not have civil marriage.
Olympic spoiler alert: Israel baseball edition.
- Israel’s baseball team was eliminated from the Olympic tournament after losing to the Dominican Republic 7-6 on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday night. Israel, 1-4, will finish fifth in the tournament.
FOOD STUFF
Our colleagues at The Nosher do a deep dive into deli decor.
- Leah Siesfeld writes about the classic elements of deli design — the neon signs, the display counter, Art Deco touches — and how they got that way.
- Quotable: Pat Kuleto, the architect of Carnegie Deli’s Beverly Hills branch: You “put a few sandwich signs up on the wall, a few pictures of the owner, a couple of notices from the government… You’d turn the lights up real bright, hang a bunch of sausages around and show the food, you know, cause that was kind of the program — to just show off the food. And that was it — they called it a deli.”
PEOPLE & PLACES
(Triumph Israel)
Twenty-three young adults from Israel (above) visited NYC last month as part of Triumph Israel, a social impact accelerator program under the auspices of Aish Hatorah. The program’s goal is to create projects that strengthen ties between Jews here and in Israel. The group met with Jewish leaders in Manhattan, Lawrence and the Hamptons.
Israeli students and professionals from the University of Haifa’s Ruderman Program for American Jewish Studies are visiting NYC this week on a 10-day academic program. The 22 Israelis will meet Jewish leaders; visit synagogues, JCCs and museums; and attend lectures. The Ruderman Program is a master’s degree program with the goal of increasing Israelis’ awareness of the diverse Jewish community in the U.S.
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Jodi Rudoren, editor-in-chief of the Forward and former Jerusalem bureau chief of The Times, will talk with current and former Mideast correspondents about the complexities of covering a region where the narratives clash so violently and about which readers care so deeply. With Ethan Bronner, Daniel Estrin and Janine Zacharia. Register here for this virtual Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center event, sponsored with the Forward. 11:30 am.
Danny Seidemann, founder of the Terrestrial Jerusalem NGO, uses Israel Policy Forum’s new 360 platform to provide an on-the-ground view of East Jerusalem flash points like Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. This interactive virtual platform incorporates original drone footage and high-definition photography, and the webinar will feature Seidemann’s commentary and analysis. Register here. 2:00 pm.
Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters will be special guests at an intimate digital conversation event with playwright and director James Lapine and composer Stephen Sondheim. Moderated by actress Christine Baranski. The evening will celebrate the release of Lapine’s new book “Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created ‘Sunday In The Park With George.’” Tickets $25-$65, available at www.TheTownHall.org. 7:00 pm.
Join UJA-Federation of New York and The Jewish Week Wednesday for a conversation with Robert Abrams, the former attorney general of New York and author of “The Luckiest Guy in the World.” He and moderator Sandee Brawarsky will discuss his journey in politics, his career and his life of public service. Aug. 4, 7:00 pm. Register here.
Photo, top: Katz’s Deli. (Getty Images)
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