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Today: Miriam Adelson, Alex Edelman, Doug Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris, Dan and Eugene Levy, Laura Loomer, Jon Stewart, former President Donald Trump — and a dog from Israel may win America’s Got Talent.

OUR LEAD STORY

President Joe Biden has considered Rabbi Michael Beals a spiritual confidant since 2006. (Getty)

Second act

President Joe Biden and his rabbi were both set to retire. But one has opted for a new job. Our senior political reporter, Jacob Kornbluh, traveled to Delaware Sunday to spend time with Rabbi Michael Beals as he began the next chapter in his career.

Beals spent two decades as the leader of Congregation Beth Shalom in Wilmington, and it’s in that capacity that he first met Biden. In 2006, the then-senator attended a shiva call for Sylvia Greenhouse, a synagogue member who had donated $18 — a number symbolizing life in Judaism — to every one of Biden’s campaigns since his first Senate run in 1972.

Biden, a devout Catholic, and Beals have remained close over the years. Last month, Beals delivered the benediction after Biden concluded his address to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Beals was eyeing retirement, but instead opted to take a new job: rabbi of Temple Beth El in Newark, Delaware, where he was installed yesterday in front of hundreds. Biden sent a note, which read in part: “I have been proud to see your leadership in action, benefit from your compassion and spiritual wisdom, and most importantly, call you my friend, and my rabbi.”

ELECTION 2024

Laura Loomer, like Trump, has questioned the mental health of Jews who vote for Democrats. (Getty)

Who is Laura Loomer? Trump wingwoman uses her Jewishness to attack: A provocateur who peddles conspiracy theories and Islamophobia, she is a self-described “feisty Jewess” who’s lately been traveling with former President Donald Trump. She’s been called out by the Anti-Defamation League for associating with white supremacists and exploiting the Holocaust for political gain. Read the story ►

Plus…

Do Vice President Harris and Trump consider themselves “Zionist”? Here’s what their campaigns said.

Trump is scheduled to speak at the national conference of the Israeli American Council, a group whose lead donor, Miriam Adelson, is also one of Trump’s biggest contributors.

Doug Emhoff spoke on Friday at The Villages, a large Florida retirement community, and said he hopes to put a mezuzah on the White House. Afterwards, he kicked off a parade of 350 golf carts.

THE EMMY AWARDS

“Thank you so much for this,” said Alex Edelman. “Oh God, I’m going to cry in front of Carol Burnett. Fantastic.” (Getty)

Our culture reporter PJ Grisar sent in this dispatch on last night’s Emmy Awards:

Father and son Eugene and Dan Levy were l’dor v’dor-able hosts of the 76th Emmys, kicking things off with embarrassing texts from the elder Levy and a primer on the correct pronunciation of their name “Leh-vy” not “Lea-vy.”

Here are some other Jewish highlights…

► Comedian Alex Edelman won his first Emmy for the television adaptation of his one-man Broadway show.

The show is about antisemitism, being raised Modern Orthodox in Boston and his infiltration of a neo-Nazi group in Queens. (Oh yeah, there’s also a hilarious bit about his brother, AJ, who represented Israel at the Winter Olympics.)

An emotional Edelman dedicated the award to his collaborator and friend, Adam Brace, who died unexpectedly shortly before the show opened on Broadway.

Edelman won a Tony Award earlier this year. That means he needs a Grammy and an Oscar to join the rarefied club of EGOT winners.

Edelman’s many upcoming projects include a comedy special about the Israel-Palestinian conflict and a Jewish Christmas movie.

► The Daily Show, which this season saw the return of host Jon Stewart (on Mondays), won an Emmy for outstanding variety talk show. Accepting his award, Stewart said, “You’ve made an old man very happy.”

► In his call for greater diversity in the industry, actor John Leguizamo said “we need more stories from excluded groups: Black, Asian, Jewish, Arab, LGBTQ+ and disabled.”

► Presenter Nicola Coughlan of Bridgerton wore an Artists for Ceasefire pin.

► Greg Berlanti was honored with the Television Academy’s Governors Award, and, though he isn’t Jewish (and neither is his husband Robbie Rogers), they are raising their kids in the faith — day school and everything.

► Shogun set a single-year record at the Emmys, taking home 18 (chai).

If you can’t attend the above event in Montclair, New Jersey, it will be livestreamed here.

ISRAEL AT WAR

The bumper of Tony Zinman’s car is a billboard for who he is and what he cares about. (Courtesy)

Opinion | Finding the line between antisemitism and anti-Zionism — on a bumper sticker: Tony Zinman sings in his synagogue choir and has led rallies for Israeli hostages. His silver 2016 Kia Soul — license plate OYVEY1 — features lots of bumper stickers, including a Star of David and one that reads “F*** Hamas.” When his car was defaced, the perpetrator — a 17-year-old son of Arab-Muslim immigrants — said he “was unaware that Israel had any association with the Jewish religion.” To Zinman, who spoke with our editor-in-chief, Jodi Rudoren, it’s a distinction without a difference. Read her essay ►

Other opinions…

Dan Perry on how blocking the international press from Gaza has left an information vacuum that Hamas has readily filled.

Orna and Eldad Adar, whose daughter Gili was murdered by Hamas, write that “as some young American Jews drift away from Israel, we ask them to remember that Israel is also Gili.”

The latest…

The Jewish Chronicle in England, known as the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper, finds itself in crisis after a freelancer reporter was accused of fabricating “highly sensational” articles about the Israel-Hamas war.

Hamas and the Houthis have quietly opened offices in Iraq. The Houthis launched a missile attack in central Israel on Sunday. No casualties were reported.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

The University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. (iStock)

On campus…

👮 Ann Arbor police are investigating a Sunday incident in which a 19-year-old student near the University of Michigan was asked if he was Jewish. When he said he was, he was beaten up. (FOX 2, Times of Israel, X)

🎒 A school district in San Francisco canceled antisemitism workshops for staff at four high schools last week after parents expressed concerns of bias because the group leading the training was the American Jewish Committee. (KQED)

And elsewhere…

😲 TikTok posts that used recordings of Nazis — including a speech from Adolf Hitler — have been liked more than 21 million times, according to an investigation. (Sky News)

🇩🇪 Thousands of German towns once made Hitler an honorary citizen. Now, some high school students in one of those towns want to strip Hitler of that honor. (DW)

🔥 A London man was sentenced to life in prison for starting a fire in his apartment building, an attack police say was motivated by antisemitism. (Hackney Citizen)

Shiva call ► Dr. George Berci, a Holocaust survivor whose innovations changed how hospitals perform surgeries, died at 103.

What else we’re reading ► A rabbi’s debut novel imagines a black hole swallowing Israel … A Nazi magazine regularly published manipulated photos and misinformation, long before the age of AI … TV series shows how Poland expelled 16,000 Jews in 1968.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Roni Sagi, an Israeli dancer who performs with her border collie, Rhythm, will compete for the $1 million prize on the finale of America’s Got Talent Tuesday night on NBC. (Many of the show’s contestants come from other countries.)

She says her cross-species act has a valuable life lesson: “It’s about being able to show that you can speak two different languages and still connect. And I hope this is a message that people will take — not just for this kind of show, but for living in general.”

In last week’s semifinal performance, which you can watch above, she wore yellow in honor of the hostages.

Thanks to PJ Grisar, Jacob Kornbluh and Lauren Markoe 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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