Good morning, New York. Our new mayor continues to be a very busy man. Earlier this week, he met with 100 CEOs and urged them to have their workers return to their offices in order to help stimulate the city’s economy. (At the moment, just 28% of workers are going to their offices.) Today, Mayor Adams is hosting a closed-to-the-press roundtable on antisemitic hate crimes — we’ll keep you posted if any news develops.
Fresh start: Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt, who made headlines when he was abruptly fired from his position at Manhattan’s swanky Park East Synagogue, has launched a new congregation, “Altneu.” “I feel like it is a tremendous opportunity to start a new synagogue in Manhattan; it’s not something that happens too often,” Goldschmidt told The New York Jewish Week.
Count me out: Rep. Jamaal Bowman changed his mind about the Abraham Accords. The Bronx/Westchester Democrat, who tends to be less critical of Israel than other members of the “Squad,” is dropping his support for a bill that would help Israel expand normalization agreements with Arab countries.
Remembering: Kathryn Kates (in photo, top), the actress who offered Jerry and Elaine a cinnamon babka on “Seinfeld,” died last month at 73. Kates, who lived in Manhattan, was born in Queens and grew up in Great Neck, N.Y. She studied acting at New York University, and went on to co-found and run The Colony Theater in Burbank, Calif.
Fiered up: The Forward has a lovely profile of award-winning Jewish actor, playwright and screenwriter Harvey Fierstein. The 67-year-old Brooklyn native — whose myriad credits include writing and starring in “Torch Song Trilogy” and playing Tevye in a Broadway revival of “Fiddler on the Roof” — has a new memoir out.
PEOPLE & PLACES
Nicole Krauss’ first short story collection,“To Be a Man,” won the £4,000 (approximately $5,450) 2022 Wingate Literary Prize, given by the JW3 Jewish community center in London “to the best book, fiction or nonfiction, to translate the idea of Jewishness to the general reader.” The Brooklyn writer is also author of the novels “Forest Dark” and “Great House.”
Becky Jaye will join the staff of T’ruah, the rabbinic human rights organization, as program manager for public education after her ordination this spring from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. As a T’ruah Summer Fellow this past year, she interned at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project.
The Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning teamed up with Ruth Messinger, former president of American Jewish World Service and former Manhattan Borough president, to create a racial justice supplement to its Social Justice: The Heart of Judaism curriculum. The curricular materials cover multiple aspects of racial justice, from inequality in the criminal justice system to the recent rise in hate crimes.
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Join journalist Yardena Schwartz in conversation with Tani Frank, director of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s new Center for Judaism & State Policy, about new legislation being proposed in the Knesset to reform the process by which people convert. Register here. 1:30 p.m.
YIVO presents performances in translation of scenes from playwright and librettist Nahma Sandrow’s new book, “Yiddish Plays for Reading and Performance.” In person at the Center for Jewish History building, 15 West 16 Street, and live on Zoom. 7:00 p.m.
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Join Ruth Messinger, the JCC Manhattan’s social justice activist in residence, and Matt Nosanchuk, president and co-founder of the New York Jewish Agenda, for a virtual conversation with NYC Council Members Gale Brewer and Erik Bottcher. 7:00 p.m.
Rabbi Shmuel Reichman, author of “The Journey to Your Ultimate Self,” appears in person today at Ohel Sara, 75-15 Main Street in Queens, 8:15 p.m. The book explores Jewish thought through the lens of the weekly Torah portion. For other appearances on his book tour, see dates and times here.
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