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WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Good yontif! This newsletter will be off for the start of Sukkot. I’ll be back on Monday. Sukkot ends with Simchat Torah Oct. 25.

U.S. gives Israel 30 days to address Gaza humanitarian crisis, Lufthansa to pay $4 million for Jewish discrimination, Miriam Adelson donates $100 million to elect Trump, the clever ways New Yorkers build sukkahs in an urban jungle, and much more.

Online survey conducted 8/30-10/8 of 907 Jewish adults; totals include those who answered "probably" or "mostly." (Chart: Arno Rosenfeld; Source: Forward/CHIP50; Photos: Getty)

Exclusive: U.S. Jews say Trump more supportive of Israelis, but Harris would handle Gaza war better

With less than three weeks before the election, a new national poll, conducted for the Forward by CHIP50 with support from the Knight Election Hub, sheds light on what’s on Jewish voters’ minds.

Some key findings ►

American Jews think Vice President Kamala Harris would handle the Israel-Hamas war better than former President Donald Trump by a wide margin — 54% to 36%, but most also see Trump as more supportive of Israelis.

The top issue for Jewish Americans is preserving democracy. Economic issues and health care were also more important to them than antisemitism and the war in Israel.

The war in Ukraine, home to tens of thousands of Jews and initially the focus of considerable Jewish philanthropy since Russia’s 2022 invasion, has remained a priority for Jews: 61% compared to 46% of non-Jews.

Our poll suggested that Harris may be struggling to lock in what has been a reliably Democratic voting bloc for decades: 62% of Jewish adults who plan to vote in November are backing her. That would be significantly below what President Joe Biden got in 2020 (77% or 68%, depending on the exit poll).

Tight race: Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary to former President George W. Bush, said any shift among Jews to the GOP could be significant in such a close election. “The only thing that matters is inroads, and Trump is making meaningful inroads into a key Democratic constituency,” he said. “Trump will never win the Jewish vote,” he added. “But he likely will do better than most Republicans.”

FESTIVAL OF SUKKOT

Staggered balcony sukkahs in Brooklyn. (Beth Harpaz)

Unique NYC real estate

Most city-dwellers don’t have backyards, so building a sukkah with the requisite three walls and exposure to the sky through a roof made of branches requires some clever hacks. So they’re built on rooftops, fire escapes, alleyways, sidewalks and more. In many Orthodox areas, buildings are designed with terraces staggered across the facade in a zigzag array, rather than stacked in a row, so that every balcony has a sky view. Our Beth Harpaz traveled the city to explore and take photos. Read the story ►

Yael Aisenthal-Kordevani decorated her sukkah in the city of Modi’in with symbols of the year since the Hamas attack on Israel. (Courtesy)

Symbolic sukkahs

Israelis are decorating their first sukkahs since the Hamas attack with symbols of the crisis: yellow ribbons and photos of the 101 remaining hostages along with a symbolic open seat at the table. Rabbis have given soldiers pop-up sukkahs. “And the core ritual of Sukkot,” writes the JTA’s Deborah Danan, “building a makeshift hut, decorating it with all manner of symbolism and living in it for a week, likewise brings to mind other Israelis whose lives have been upended in the past year.” Read the story ►

Plus…

The father of a hostage said he won’t dismantle last year’s sukkah until his son returns home. Before being taken captive, the son promised he would help pack up the hut. (Times of Israel)

Chabad helped build a sukkah aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. (X)

But wait, there’s more: Learn how to say funny Yiddish expressions about Sukkot, watch a cooking demo for festive cabbage strudel and peruse our archive of Sukkot articles.

– From our Sponsor: Martin Peretz–

ISRAEL AT WAR

Critics are calling Ta-Nehisi Coates’ new book a one-sided take on the Mideast conflict. (Getty)

Opinion | Ta-Nehisi Coates weaponizes race to spread antisemitism. Take it from someone who’s both Black and Jewish: Coates, a revered critic on America’s legacy of racism and inequality, has been on a tour promoting his new book, which compares Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to the Jim Crow South. Its “message of contrived and dangerous intersectionality,” writes David Christopher Kaufman, has “not just revealed the extent of its author’s bigotry, but has ensnared” a major American TV network and one of the nation’s most prominent Jewish communities.” Read his essay ►

Opinion | The Haredi draft exemption is tearing Israel apart: Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition has squeezed a promise out of him to pass a law formalizing the de facto draft exemptions for yeshiva students. If the law passes, writes our columnist Dan Perry, the public “will view it as a betrayal of the soldiers who put their lives on the line, a betrayal of the families who have lost loved ones in defense of the country, and a betrayal of the millions of Israelis who pay their taxes, serve their time, and contribute to the economy.” Read his essay ►

Plus…

The U.S. warned Israel it could withhold military aid if Israel doesn’t take steps within 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. (Axios, JTA)

Israel said it captured three Hezbollah militants hiding under a building in Lebanon. (Times of Israel)

Delta has extended its suspension of flights to Israel until at least April. (Times of Israel)

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Jewish passengers were greeted by the police in a May 2022 incident with Lufthansa. (Courtesy)

✈️ The U.S. Department of Transportation fined Lufthansa $4 million for discrimination in a 2022 incident where the airline denied boarding to 128 Jewish passengers. (JTA)

🤔 Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and a megadonor to the Trump campaign, gave money to a political group that is running ads in Michigan, which has a significant Muslim population, highlighting Harris’ pro-Israel bona fides and that also feature her Jewish husband, Doug Emhoff. (Axios, Jewish Insider, Wall Street Journal)

💰 Another megadonor, Miriam Adelson, the Jewish philanthropist and widow of Sheldon Adelson, has now contributed $100 million to a Trump super PAC, according to new FEC filings. (NY Times)

🇨🇳 China is using the the social media platform X to spread “divisive and antisemitic claims” about politicians running in local down ballot races. (Washington Post)

🏠 A full-scale replica of the annex where Anne Frank lived is coming to America, where it will be on display at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan. It opens in January, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. (AP)

Podcast recommendation ► The latest episode of This American Life, which delves into the “Uncommitted” movement, a slice of pro-Palestinian U.S. voters that could swing the election.

Transitions ► Ida Klein will be stepping down as president and CEO of Keshet, a prominent Jewish LGBTQ+ organization, after 24 years.

Shiva call ► Adam Abeshouse, a Grammy Award-winning producer of classical recordings “as well as side gigs performing on Broadway in the pit orchestra of Fiddler on the Roof and setting up his synagogue’s sound system,” died at 63.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Jesse Eisenberg wrote, produced, directed and starred in A Real Pain, a road trip movie about two cousins (played by Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) who trek on a Holocaust tour of Poland as a way to honor their grandmother. It comes out Nov. 1 and is already generating Oscar buzz. Watch the trailer above.

Thanks to Lauren Markoe, Julie Moos, Arno Rosenfeld and Jodi Rudoren for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com.

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