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Jews disguising themselves as Muslims, supply-chain issues hindering Israel's plans to strike Iran, and Kentucky Chabad coordinating aid in tornado aftermath.
OUR LEAD STORY (Photo by Talia Shimpan) She beat drugs, found love, and makes L.A.’s best pastrami taco:Elizabeth Heitner, 26, was raised on the Upper East Side, where a Passover Seder or a Hanukkah party meant a single call to Zabar’s. She’d make brownies with her mom – “my favorite part was licking batter from the bowl” – and extended family would come to celebrate.
Downfall: But by her senior year in college, Heitner was stealing money from her parents’ bank account to support an Oxycontin addiction. In was 2013, and, she said, the drugs “became my entire life.”
Redemption: After stints in three different rehabilitation facilities, Heitner had what she described as a “rebirth where I had to change every single thing in my life.” She became a sous chef and later met her soulmate – a chef with Latin roots. Stuck at home during quarantine, they began melding their cultural food traditions – Mexican chocolate babka, tsimmes with tamarind, braised sweet potato and salsa macha. The recipes became the menu for a pop-up restaurant being lauded across Los Angeles. Read the story ➤
Sign up for our new weekly newsletter: Letter from California ➤ ALSO FROM THE FORWARD Post-Trump, Israeli-American convention has less rancor and partisanship: The annual gathering drew some 3,000 people to a Florida resort for political speeches and pricey pastrami sandwiches served up in a makeshift shuk. Our senior political reporter, Jacob Kornbluh – shown in the video above with Yoni Kempinski, an Israeli journalist – was there, and observed: “The lack of politicians who had before riled up the crowds and pandemic protocols ensured a less boisterous affair.” Read the story ➤
Jewish members of the L.A. City Council call for divestment from Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever: Add Los Angeles to a growing list of local and state governments trying to hit back at the ice cream company for its decision to stop selling in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. But the proposal, introduced last week, has not yet been scheduled for a vote and would only instruct the city’s two major pension funds to investigate divestment. An activist who helped draft it said such initiatives “send a message loud and clear that public dollars should not support antisemitic discrimination.” Read the story ➤
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY 🙏 Members of a Jewish extremist group are disguising themselves as Muslims to be able to pray on the Temple Mount, a site where Jewish prayer is banned. They dress in traditional garb, carry prayer mats and Arab books, and in some cases even dye their beards darker. (Times of Israel)
🎖 The auditorium at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago will be named after Elie Wiesel, as part of an effort to honor “civil rights and social justice leaders whose significant contributions to society advanced justice and equality in America,” the Obama Foundation announced. Obama and Wiesel visited the Buchenwald concentration camp together in 2009. (Jewish Insider)
🚔 About a dozen faith leaders were arrested outside the U.S. Capitol on Monday while protesting delays in passing the Build Back Better Act, the bill that would provide sweeping social support to those in need. “In Judaism, kevod haberiyot, or human dignity, trumps almost everything else as far as Jewish values,” said Sheila Katz of the National Council of Jewish Women. “Build Back Better has the opportunity to bring dignity back for those who are really suffering.” (Religion News Service)
😮 An investigation found that the Arizona Department of Corrections commissioned a patch for officer uniforms that some likened to Nazi symbols. “Lightning bolts are connected with the Aryan Brotherhood,” said one former prison administrator. “You’ve got a skull and shotguns – frankly, it’s disturbing and offensive.” He added: “It looks like an ‘SS’ patch. This is not an image that Corrections should embrace.” Israeli soldiers and police officers have also been spotted wearing an emblem that some see as reminiscent of one used by the Nazi-era S.S. (Arizona Central, Forward)
✈️ Looks like supply-chain issues are hindering Israel’s ability to potentially strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. Benny Gantz, the Israeli defense minister, asked the U.S. to expedite delivery of refueling tankers and was told that the aircraft were back-ordered. (New York Times)
💉 An Israeli study found that Pfizer booster shots are effective against the Omicron variant. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is in quarantine after a passenger on his flight back to Israel from the United Arab Emirates tested positive for the coronavirus. (Reuters, Haaretz)
📸 Remember when President Donald Trump held up a Bible for a controversial photo-op at a D.C. church during the racial-justice protests last June? It was his daughter Ivanka’s idea, according to a new book by Mark Meadows, who says she was trying to “send a message to people of faith.” (Religion News Service)
ON THE CALENDAR On this day in history: Norman Fell, who played the landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom “Three’s Company,” died on Dec. 14, 1998. A World War II vet, he studied drama at Temple University and appeared in 35 movies, including, perhaps presciently, “The Graduate,” where he played Dustin Hoffman’s landlord.
Last year on this day, Smokey Robinson, Motown legend, went viral for his radically inventive pronunciation of Hanukkah while recording a video message to a fan.
On the Hebrew calendar, it’s the 10th of Tevet, a fast day commemorating the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian emperor.
PHOTO OF THE DAY Rabbi Avrohom Litvin of Chabad directed volunteers after tornadoes wreaked havoc across Kentucky, leaving dozens dead and more than 100 people missing. The group helped distribute clothes, water and other necessities. “Our hearts ache for the victims,” Litvin said.
––– Thanks to Rob Eshman and Jacob Kornbluh for contributing to today’s newsletter.
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