 INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT. SINCE 1897.  In today’s briefing: Israel predicted to win seven medals at Olympics, growing up with the star of Netflix's 'My Unorthodox Life,' taste-testing McDonald's falafel and much more...
ONE BIG STORY ☝️  ‘Can I take 12 holidays off?’ and other tips for Jewish job seekers
The job market is booming, with openings for new gigs up 10% since June. Which means that many people are dusting off their resumes, shining their shoes and heading to interviews. (Or, meeting a potential new boss over Zoom – in which case, you can keep your fuzzy slippers on.)
With the High Holidays coming up, observant Jews who are about to begin new jobs may find themselves asking for a whole lot of time off before they’ve even settled in. So what’s the best way to approach that awkward situation? We turned to the expert: Lavie Margolin, who has written a dozen books about job searching – including “Can I Wear my Kippah on Job Interviews?” which he co-wrote with his wife, Rachel.
Margolin suggests turning the holidays situation into a net positive. “I’m Mr. December 23-30,” he explained. “Companies tend to appreciate staff they can rely on to fill in at those times.”
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE 🍦  ISTOCKPHOTO Ben & Jerry’s is leaving Israeli settlements and people online are taking it very seriously: The maker of Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia has historically been a very vocal advocate of social justice and environmental issues. Feel-good politics with a feel-good food made it an easy brand to love. That is, until a social-media storm erupted Monday when the company announced it would stop selling ice cream in West Bank settlements. “Admittedly,” writes our digital culture reporter Mira Fox, “it does not specify the borders it intends to follow when determining Chubby Hubby distribution.” Some Jewish organizations and leaders accused the company of antisemitism, while some pro-Palestinian activists said the company should pull out of Israel entirely. Read the story >
8 OTHER THINGS AMERICAN JEWS ARE TALKING ABOUT 🥇  Israeli marathon runner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter is expected to medal at the Olympics. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images) 1. The Associated Press predicts Israel will win seven medals – including the gold in men’s gymnastics – at the Olympics, which begin this weekend in Tokyo. If their forecast is correct, it would be remarkable: the country has only won nine medals in history. “I will try to bring more medals to my country,” triathlete Shachar Sagiv told us. “I’m not only representing my flag. I am representing my people.” Get to know all the Jewish athletes with our comprehensive Olympic coverage.
2. President Biden has nominated Tamara Cofman Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former deputy assistant secretary of state in Obama's first term, as assistant administrator for the Middle East. “If confirmed,” she tweeted Monday afternoon, “I look forward to serving the American people & advancing human flourishing & human freedom in the Middle East on behalf of the Biden-Harris Administration.”
3. A new book out today about the rise and fall of WeWork and its Israeli founder Adam Neumann, has a startling revelation. Neumann reportedly told colleagues that SoftBank, WeWork’s biggest funder, had asked him not to give any money to the Israeli military because it might upset the bank’s Saudi Arabian investors. “He didn't intend to give money to Israel's military,” reports the website Axios, “but felt the request was antisemitic and also violated WeWork's corporate mantra of inclusiveness.” Elsewhere, the book says that Neumann aspired to help broker peace in the Middle East, saying a treaty would be signed one day in a WeWork office. (Axios;Read an excerpt at the Wall Street Journal)
4. For the first time in a decade, McDonald's has reintroduced falafel to its Israeli menu. One disappointed food critic called it “puzzlingly chewy.” (Haaretz)
5. The archives of the Jewish community of Uzbekistan are now open to the public. The central Asian nation became a sanctuary for Jews fleeing from Russia and other countries during World War II and was once home to a Yiddish theater. (The Jerusalem Post)
6. Some Jewish youth groups are enabling a toxic sexual culture, according to an investigation from New Voices magazine, a publication of the Jewish Student Press Service. “Some teens leave with such a negative impression of Jewish spaces that they turn away from Jewish community entirely,” Shira Wolkenfeld, a student in Jerusalem, reports in this long read. (New Voices)
7. James Beard award-winning bread maven Nancy Silverton is working with Subway to help its restaurants revamp and improve the menu. Silverton, who is Jewish, is featured in a new commercial alongside Serena Williams. (Los Angeles magazine)
FROM OUR OPINION SECTION 👗  A new TV series follows Julia Haart, center, and her children. (Photo courtesy Netflix) I grew up in the same community as the star of Netflix’s ‘My Unorthodox Life.’ Here’s what I wished she remembered: Everybody is talking about the binge-worthy new reality series, which follows the unlikely journey of Julia Haart, who was raised in a deeply religious community and left it in her 40s for a career in fashion. Some people who knew Haart before this transformation are questioning her version of the town they grew up in. “Women and girls were not less than,” writes Michla Baron, who, like Haart, lived in the Orthodox enclave of Monsey, N.Y. “We were not kept, we were not suffocated or silenced.” (And, in case you missed it, read our review of the series.) Read the essay >
ON THE CALENDAR 🌌
 ISTOCKPHOTO 🚀 It’s a big day for space. First, we’re commemorating the 52nd anniversary of when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon. And, weather permitting, Jeff Bezos – the world’s richest man – is launching on a supersonic joyride to the edge of space at 9 a.m. “Seeing the Earth from the vantage point of a few hundred miles up is a fabulous experience,” Jay Apt, who traveled to space multiple times in the 1990s, told the Jewish Chronicle. “If you took out all the training and the meetings, I’d go up again tomorrow if someone asked me,” he said.
⚖️ The definitive book on the Jeffrey Epstein case, by the The Miami Herald reporter who broke the story, is being published today. Read an excerpt here >
🇮🇱 On this day in history: Officials brokered the last of four ceasefire agreements to end the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
VIDEO OF THE DAY 📼 In case you missed it: Check out the second of our three "Israel Therapy" sessions.
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