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JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Today is Yom Hashoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. Bomb threats sent to scores of synagogues in New York, how Brown University kept antisemitism at bay during campus protests, Jerry Seinfeld emerges as a public Jewish voice in time of war, and what the Talmud says about Gov. Kristi Noem shooting her dog.

CONFLICT ON CAMPUS

A student carries a Palestinian flag during graduation on Saturday at the University of Michigan. (Getty)

Dramatic, but brief interruptions show what could be ahead for college graduations:At the first major weekend of graduation ceremonies, students demonstrating in solidarity with Gaza waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans during the commencement ceremony on Saturday at the University of Michigan. Smaller demonstrations took place at Northeastern and the University of Toledo. Read the story ➤

➤ Lara Trump, Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law and the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, alleged that Jewish billionaire George Soros, often the target of antisemitic tropes, was instigating pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses.

➤ UCLA is set to reopen its campus today, after violent clashes last week between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters.

Jules Rabin at home in Vermont. (Courtesy Jeb Wallace-Brodeur/Barre Montpelier Times Arguses)

This 100-year-old Jewish activist is speaking up again — this time about Gaza:Jules Rabin, who made his name as a famous Vermont baker, attended his first demonstration at the age of 8 with his Uncle Harry, who was a communist. During the early 1960s Rabin marched against nuclear weapons. He was active in opposing the Vietnam War and continued protesting American military interventions in Central America, Afghanistan and Iraq. Read the story ➤

How Jewish students at Brown kept antisemitism at bay: “The encampment’s daily schedule included tai chi and a talent show alongside teach-ins and rallies,” reports our Mira Fox from Providence, Rhode Island. “Chants were focused on the activists’ demands — divestment not from Israel as a whole, but from companies involved in the oppression of Palestinians — and not on broader statements about Zionism or Israel’s existence.” What enabled this shift? Read the story ➤

Plus: A mischaracterization of the conflict is not limited to campus, and has distracted from the war itself, writes our editor-in-chief, Jodi Rudoren, in her latest column.

ISRAEL AT WAR

Residents of Rafah carry their belongings as they leave Monday following an evacuation order by the Israeli army. (Getty)

The latest…

A Hamas rocket barrage from Rafah on Sunday killed four Israeli soldiers. The IDF retaliated, killing at least 16. With the potential for an escalation, the Israeli military called for tens of thousands of Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah.

A Hamas spokesman said it will continue negotiations toward a potential truce and hostage deal, despite the latest news out of Rafah.

Elyakim Libman, who was thought to be a hostage in Gaza, was killed in Israel on Oct. 7, according to new forensic evidence.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his cabinet voted to temporarily shut down the Al Jazeera news network in Israel for at least 45 days.

Ahead of a renewed fight over military aid to Israel, 86 House Democrats said Israel was violating U.S. law through “the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid.”

Yom Hashoah…

With Israelis held hostage and antisemitism rising, some are calling Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which began at sunset Sunday, “the most significant Yom Hashoah in the last 76 years.”

At the March of the Living at Auschwitz Monday, an 86-year-old Holocaust survivor is commemorating her grandson, a hostage killed in Gaza.

Quotable ➤ “I pledge here today from Jerusalem on this Holocaust Remembrance Day, if Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. But we know we’re not alone. Because countless decent people around the world support our just cause.” He added: “Never again is now.” — Netanyahu in a speech Sunday night at Yad Vashem.

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ALSO IN THE FORWARD

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is under scrutiny for shooting her dog. (Getty)

In shooting her dog, Kristi Noem defied morality — and the Talmud: “I hated that dog,” the South Dakota governor and potential Trump running mate writes in her new memoir. The story has, not surprisingly, caused a stir. But Noem could’ve avoided such unpleasantries had she followed Jewish wisdom, which dictates kindness towards animals — even requiring one to feed animals before they feed themselves. And as our Mira Fox helpfully points out, “The Talmud also states that one should not own an animal unless they can properly care and provide for it.

Plus…

The GOP antisemitism bill harms more than it helps, argues Alan Solow, the former chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in an opinion essay.

Our Bintel Brief advice column is back. First up: Dad wants mom’s ashes scattered in Israel, even though there’s an active war going on. Should an adult child go to court to stop him?

Artist Frank Stella died at 87. He was Catholic, but drew on Jewish themes for his “Polish Village” series; the groundbreaking minimalist painting “Die Fahne Hoch!” and illustrations for the Passover song Had Gadya.

NEW FROM THE FORWARD

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

A bomb threat was sent Saturday to nearly two dozen synagogues and Jewish institutions.(Getty)

🕍 Nearly two dozen synagogues in New York received bomb threats on Saturday. The police deemed the threats not credible, though at least one synagogue was evacuated. (NY Jewish Week, NY Post)

💰 Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Sunday a $400 million increase in federal funding is available for security at synagogues and other places of worship. (AP)

🪦 Dozens of headstones were knocked over in a cluster of Jewish cemeteries in Schenectady County, New York. Police are investigating. (Times-Union)

🏚️ Berlin is offering to give away a villa once owned by Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, rather than continue to pay for maintenance and security at the complex, which has become overgrown and fallen into disrepair. (AP)

🎤 Jerry Seinfeld, long known his apolitical standup, has been wrestling with what it means to be Jewish amid the Israel-Hamas war, and “has emerged as a strikingly public voice against antisemitism and in support of Jews in Israel and the United States.” (New York Times)

What else we’re reading: Yom Hashoah edition ➤ Just how accurate is the Peacock series The Tattooist of Auschwitz? … They escaped the Nazis as children. Now they can’t go home because of Hezbollah … Thought to be destroyed by Nazis, books of the Lublin Yeshiva Library are turning up.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Saturday Night Live addressed the campus protests in its opening sketch this weekend. Watch it above.

Thanks to Jacob Kornbluh 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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