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| Today's newsletter is sponsored by Spertus Institute of Jewish Learning & Leadership JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT. Give a tax-deductible donation Canada apologizes for Holocaust education misstep, man threatens to burn down kosher bagel shop and actors Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody need your help finding their sons. OUR LEAD STORY
When a fire destroys a house, it takes away not only the physical structure and what was inside it, but the spirit that animated it. Even the memories of what made the house a home can disappear.
Meg Adler, a Jewish artist and educator in the Bay Area, learned of the wildfires burning down homes in California and thought she could help people coping with the devastation by gifting them drawings of their former homes. “This won’t fix the tremendous loss,” she said, but “it will hopefully allow folks to mourn and honor their memories.”
Adler drew more than 70 lost homes last year and has offered to create 30 more in 2021: “Everything I do is as a Jewish person,” Adler told Stav Ziv, a freelance writer, “My art is as a Jewish person.” Read the story>
Speaking of art … When our Adam Langer asked readers to share their favorite artworks, scores sent us pictures and stories. We also got a couple calls for help – including one from Kathryn Grody and Mandy Patinkin, who have been searching for their sons for 15 years.
Well, not their actual sons, but a beloved portrait of them at ages 5 and 2. Apparently, during an apartment-move in 2006, Grody realized the frame was warped, and took it in to be fixed. She never got it back.
Click here to see the painting and – and help them find it >
ALSO IN THE FORWARD What does Jewish law say about Larry David’s latest gaffe?On Sunday’s episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” our hero found himself accidentally spilling coffee on the robe of a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Larry felt obligated to pay for the white supremacist’s dry cleaning. Our PJ Grisar checked in with two rabbis who are also lawyers on how they would handle such a situation. “You may be facilitating the sin by having the garment cleaned,” he writes, but you may also still be liable for the garment in question.Read the story >
A message from our sponsor: Spertus Institute of Jewish Learning & Leadership Jewish organizations need creative professionals equipped with the skills to lead in these rapidly changing times. Addressing this need, Spertus Institute offers the Certificate in Jewish Leadership, presented in partnership with Northwestern University. With a cohort of colleagues from across North America, participants learn to identify strengths, manage challenges, and identify opportunities for themselves and their communities. Applications being accepted now for the 2022 cohort. LEARN MORE
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY 🇨🇦 Oh, Canada. The province of Alberta apologized for diversity guidelines that urged teachers to offer a balanced approach to the Nazis. “For instance, if a video details war atrocities,” the document asked, “does it also point out that before World War II, the German government’s policies substantially strengthened the country’s economy?” Alberta’s education minister removed the document from the province’s website and tweeted that it “contains extremely concerning and completely unacceptable views.” No such apology has emerged in Texas, where a school administrator last month reminded teachers that they are required to share “opposing views” about “widely debated and currently controversial” topics including the Holocaust. (Haaretz)
⚖️ Karen Friedman, an Orthodox judge in Maryland, has been appointed by President Biden as the Justice Department’s director of criminal justice innovation, development and engagement. “Jewish people have a very strong belief that if you change one life it’s as if you’ve changed the world,” Friedman once said. “It’s straight in the Talmud that that’s the case.” (Jewish Insider)
🇮🇱 A man threatened to burn down a kosher bagel shop in Queens because it had Israeli flags. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, a teacher filed a discrimination complaint after the principal told him to stop wearing his “Proud Zionist” T-shirt. (NY Daily News, NY Post)
🎨 A Van Gogh painting that was seized by the Nazis from the Rothschild family was sold at auction for $35.9 million. The proceeds will be split between the most recent owner, a Texas oil magnate, heirs of the Rothschilds and of another family that owned the piece before World War II. (JTA)
🕍 When a Montana synagogue opened in 1891, it served hundreds of Jews who came during the gold rush. By the 1930s, the community had dwindled and the building was sold. Now the Montana Jewish Project is raising $1.2 million to buy it back and turn it into a community center. (AP)
🐖 Lab-grown pork, which may technically be kosher, has been rejected for kosher certification by the Orthodox Union. “This is possibly the most important decision for Judaism in the 21st century,” said one expert. (WSJ)
Shiva call > Netty Gross, an American-Israeli journalist who covered women denied divorces and restitution for Holocaust survivors, died at 66. Gross grew up in New York and moved to Israel after college, where she worked for The Jerusalem Report. She was “empathetic, tenacious in seeking out truth, and relentless in challenging individuals and organizations who needed bringing to account,” said David Horovitz, a former colleague. (Times of Israel)
What we’re watching > The trailer for “Moon Knight,” the new Disney+ Marvel series about a Jewish superhero who is the son of a rabbi. (YouTube)
ON THE CALENDAR On this day in history: Margalit Maggie Gyllenhaal, actress and filmmaker, was born on Nov. 16, 1977. She is mostly known for acting, but her directorial debut, “The Lost Daughter” – based on an Elena Ferrante novel – has premiered at film festivals and is being commercially released next month. Gyllenhaal, who both starred in and produced “The Kindergarten Teacher,” a 2018 remake of an Israeli film, has won a Golden Globe, been nominated for an Oscar and been featured in the “Forward 50.”
In honor of Indiana Day, check out these eight Jewish facts about the Hoosier State, as well as the secret Jewish history of Paoli, Indiana.
Double-header! We’ve got two great Zoom events for you tonight... At 7 p.m. ET: “You Will Not Play Wagner” is a virtual play put on by the Jewish Arts Collaborative Boston, in which a young Israeli musician causes a storm by selecting Wagner for an international conducting competition, angering a Holocaust survivor. Register now >
PHOTO OF THE DAY Issa Kassissieh, better known as the official Holy Land Santa, gets off a kayak on the shore of the Sea of Galilee at the location believed to be that of a biblical village that was home to Saint Peter. Kassissieh’s Christmas greetings, filmed at some of Israel’s most popular attractions, are part of a government campaign to attract Christian tourists.
Thanks to Mira Fox, PJ Grisar and Adam Langer for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com. Support Independent Jewish Journalism The Forward is a non-profit 501(c)3 so our journalism depends on support from readers like you. You can support our work today by donating or subscribing. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of US law.
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