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Ben & Jerry's may reverse course in West Bank, Confederate Jewish artists get cancelled, the unlikely group bringing teens to Israel decades before Birthright, and recapping 'Mrs. Maisel.'
OUR LEAD STORY Students from two Jewish high schools in South Florida compete in a flag football game. Why flag football is go-to sport for girls at Jewish high schools
Before the Super Bowl begins on Sunday, a student from Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles will help with the coin flip at midfield. The school is one of eight with girls’ flag football teams that the NFL will honor. With youth tackle football participation plummeting amid concerns of costs and safety, the NFL is counting on the continued growth of flag football to build new interest in the professional game, and its success at Jewish schools across the country shows why.
Why it works: Long a staple of physical education classes and intramural leagues, flag football differs from tackle in a few key ways: lineups are smaller, there’s no kicking game, and no contact is allowed.
Pray ball: Jewish day schools mostly play each other, since other schools often schedule games on Shabbat. But some have found convenient opponents among schools for Seventh-Day Adventists, who also observe Saturday as a day of rest.
Novelty effect: One appeal of the sport is that it’s new to most of students, evening the playing field. “When you found what you were good at,” one player said, “you really tried to get as good as you can at that position.” A former coach remembered one girl showing up to tryouts in ballet shoes.
ALSO FROM THE FORWARD Previously on ‘Mrs. Maisel’: It’s been two years since we last saw Miriam “Midge” Maisel, her neurotic parents, brusque manager Susie and ex-husband Joel. No matter how deep Midge may have wormed herself into your heart with her sharp comedy sets and brash demeanor, it can be a little hard to remember where we left off. With a new season dropping on Feb. 18, culture writer Mira Fox rewatched on our collective behalf – and has some guesses about what Season 4 might bring. Read our recap ➤
Is this particular strain of antisemitism and bigotry becoming endemic?The coronavirus is not the only virus the world is confronting. “There is, as well, the virus of political extremism,” writes our culture columnist, Robert Zaretsky. In France, he argues, there is a spiraling “Zed variant,” named for Éric Zemmour, the Jewish television journalist who is running an anti-immigrant campaign for president. “Pathogens,” Zaretsky says, “whether they are microbiological or ideological, are complex.” Read his essay ➤
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY Moses David Ezekiel, who designed the Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, is one of the artists whose background prompted Princeton to cancel an exhibit. 🎨 Princeton University has scrapped plans for an exhibit featuring Jewish artists after the Civil War when it discovered that at least two of them served in the Confederate Army. Jonathan Sarna, co-editor of a book that inspired the exhibit, disagrees with the decision. “We have faith in the audience; we display in full complexity the material and talk about it,” he said. “I’m very reluctant to be part of the woke, cancel everything that doesn’t conform to present-day moral standards.” (Religion News Service)
🍦 Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, announced on Thursday that it plans to figure out a “new arrangement” for sales of the famed ice cream in Israel by the end of the year. That’s when Ben & Jerry’s originally said it would stop selling ice cream in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. But Alan Jope, Unilever’s CEO, suggested that could change, saying: “On subjects where Unilever brands don’t have the expertise or credibility, we think it’s best that they stay out of the debate.” (Reuters)
😮 A Kansas community college president is under fire for comparing a Black athlete to Hitler, whom she called “a great leader.” She apologized when the remarks became public, but the editorial board of the Kansas City Star called for her to step down, saying the comments were “not just insensitive, but insane.” (Newsweek)
🇱🇻 The Latvian Jewish community will be reimbursed for buildings that were owned by Holocaust victims and expropriated during the war. “This law cannot bring back a destroyed community or a destroyed synagogue,” said a chairman of a group backing the effort, “but what it can do is recognize what happened.” (New York Times)
🇳🇱 Officials at more than a dozen Dutch universities are instructing their staff to reveal any ties to Israeli and Jewish groups. The move was prompted by a request from a pro-Palestinian group. Dutch Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs called the move reminiscent of mayors who gave the Germans "the names of their Jewish citizens.” (JTA)
👶 So nu, where are you registered? Quentin Tarantino, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker, and his wife, the Israeli singer Daniella Pick, are expecting their second child. The couple lives in Tel Aviv, where Tarantino has said he is slowly learning Hebrew. (Entertainment Tonight)
They said it ➤ The actor who played the Soup Nazi on “Seinfeld” responded to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s gazpacho gaffe. “How in the world can a grown person, who grew up in the 20th century, not know what the word ‘Gestapo’ is?” he asked.
Long weekend reads ➤ A rabbi decided to sponsor an Afghan refugee family. When he needed a hand, he brought in a mosque and a church … Real-life Indiana Jones: New research tracks ancient artifacts looted by the Nazis … “It is no small thing to have a cisgender, ultra-Orthodox, straight rabbi on the staff of a queer synagogue.” FROM OUR ARCHIVES Mrs. Esther Bibbins, the president of Hatzaad Harishon, with her vice-president, Yankel Goldstein. In honor of Black History Month, we’re looking back at our 1965 reporting on Hatzaad Harishon, a group that aimed to incorporate Black Jews into mainstream Judaism. It hosted many events and took youth trips to Israel – a generation before Birthright. But none of its activities drew more attention than the youth dance troupe – which acted as public relations for the organization: they performed at Carnegie Hall, were feted in The New York Times and danced in front of a national audience during a 1969 NBC broadcast.
The success was short-lived. By 1971, questions of identity, race relations and internal strife within the group led to its demise.
Further reading: 50 years after Hatzaad Harishon, how should mainstream Judaism reach out to Black Israelites? Read an excerpt from “Stepping Into Zion: Hatzaad Harishon, Black Jews, and the Remaking of Jewish Identity”ON THE CALENDAR Max Baer flexing for some young fans in Asbury Park, New Jersey in 1935. (Getty Images) On this day in history: Max Baer, a heavyweight champion boxer, was born on Feb. 11, 1909. Perhaps his most famous bout occurred in 1933, when he fought Max Schmeling, a world champion from Germany, at Yankee Stadium. Hitler himself reportedly coached Schmeling to downplay Jewish persecution in Germany when talking to American journalists. More than 60,000 people attended the fight, with millions more listening on the radio. Baer knocked out Schmeling in the 10th round, a win that, many years later, the writer David Margolick described as a symbol for “Jewry’s struggle against the Nazis.”
In honor of National Inventors’ Day, read our interview with Martin Cooper, the father of the cell phone.
YOUR WEEKEND READS Curl up on the couch with a hot cup of cocoa, some chocolate babka and our weekend magazine. This week’s cover story is about Rachel Linsky, a Boston-based choreographer. Inspired by Elie Wiesel’s ‘Night,’ she’s introducing new audiences to dance and stories of horror and survival. Also in this edition: Highlights from a tell-all book by President Trump's ambassador to Israel; the former president of the Texas synagogue attacked last month on why Deborah Lipstadt needs to be confirmed now; and a closer look at Disney’s “Encanto” reveals possible Sephardic inspiration. Get your copy here ➤
––– Thanks to Rob Eshman, Mira Fox, Louis Keene and Chana Pollack for contributing to today’s newsletter. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com.
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