Good morning, New York! Andrew Silow-Carroll is on vacation, so let me take the opportunity to introduce myself: I’m Lisa Keys and I recently came aboard as the New York Jewish Week’s managing editor. More about me soon, but for now: I’m excited to be here!
Over the coming days and weeks, you might see some changes to this newsletter. We’re going to be experimenting with the best ways to get you the news you need about your Jewish community. In the meantime, I encourage you to send me feedback about anything New York Jewish Week-related. Email me at lkeys@jewishweek.org.
HATE CRIME TIME: A 44-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for hate-crime charges in a violent attack on a Jewish man who was walking home from Shabbat services in April 2018. (NBC New York)
JEWISH ON STAGE AND IRL: Our friends at Kveller have a chat with Broadway star Caissie Levy about her first “authentically Jewish” role on stage. Levy is currently playing Rose Stopnick in the New York Roundabout Theater Company’s revival of “Caroline, or Change,” a 2004 musical with book and lyrics by Tony Kushner. (Kveller)
BDS FIGHT AT CUNY: Following CUNY’s Law School Student Government Association’s legislation calling the public university to sever ties with Israeli institutions and academics, the City does a deep dive into how BDS is playing out on campus. (The City)
CREAM CHEESE CYBERATTACK: OK, this news broke on Thursday, but I still can’t get over it: That cream cheese shortage story, originally reported by the New York Times? Turns out at least some of the shortfall is due to a cyberattack on Wisconsin’s Schreiber Foods — a rival of cream cheese king Kraft — which closed for days in October after its plants and distribution centers were “compromised” by hackers. (Bloomberg)
- Related: Don’t miss the New York Jewish Week story about how the city’s bagel shops and bagel consumers are responding to the shortage. Hint: They are not skimping out massive-sized schmears! (New York Jewish Week)
- Also related: Speaking of bagels, our pals at the Nosher have piece on an exciting new trend out of Berlin: an abundance of New York-style bagel shops. (The Nosher)
- Still related: On a personal note, I was hoping yesterday to bake rugelach, which is delicious, fun and made with a cream cheese dough. Sadly, I wasn’t able to find any cream cheese at my local shop in Western Queens.
ARTS INFUSION: The Jewish Museum, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and the Museum at Eldridge Street are among the more than 1,000 nonprofit arts groups getting new city grants. (New York Times)
WHAT’S ON TODAY:
Honor the 70th anniversary of Hannah Arendt’s milestone book, “The Origins of Totalitarianism,” with the Museum of Jewish Heritage. “Reckoning With Totalitarianism: The Legacy of Hannah Arendt” will explore Arendt’s enduring legacy and includes a discussion between two writers and Arendt biographers. Sign up here. 3 p.m.
DON’T MISS:
Mark your calendars! Join New York Jewish Week and the Museum of Jewish Heritage Friday, Dec. 17 at noon for a behind-the-scenes conversation with Dr. Ruth Westheimer and Tovah Feldshuh, the leading ladies behind the off-Broadway hit “Becoming Dr. Ruth.” Westheimer and Feldshuh will chat with our own Julia Gergely about their friendship, the new one-woman show and the best things about being New Yorkers. Register here.
Today is the one-year anniversary of the COVID vaccine, when, on Dec. 14, 2020, nurse Sandra Lindsay became the first person to receive the jab at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens. As of Monday, 90 percent of New York City adults have had at least one dose, according to Patch New York. (Photo by MARK LENNIHAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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