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| INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT. SINCE 1897. Give a tax-deductible donation In today's briefing: Headstone shortage complicates unveilings, the Jewish founder of the Paralympics, gefilte fish demos, Mandy Patinkin's viral TikTok video and more. OUR LEAD STORY💰 PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Scandal rocked the Chabad of Poway. Is it heading for another?
An independent board of synagogue outsiders tried to stabilize the San Diego-area synagogue last year after its rabbi pleaded guilty to tax and wire fraud. State filings now show the board was quietly replaced in June — by the rabbi's family.
Why it matters: The attempt to bring independent oversight to synagogue finances was a rarity in the Chabad world, and it had placated longtime members who felt betrayed by the rabbi’s crimes.
The background: The synagogue drew worldwide attention in 2019 after it was the target of a shooting that killed a congregant, Lori Gilbert-Kaye, and injured three others. Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who lost a finger in the shooting, became famous and was invited to the White House.
The long con: At the same time, he was under investigation for using both the synagogue and a related nonprofit, the Friendship Circle of San Diego, to enrich himself and defraud the government. The board aimed to separate the two organizations, but was unable to. For Poway’s Jewish community – first attacked, then betrayed – it was yet another hit.
But wait, there’s more: The investigation has already uncovered more than $6.2 million in fake donations, and hundreds of thousands in fraudulent grants. Thirty people have been named as co-conspirators in the case so far, 10 of them charged. Goldstein’s son Mendel, who has not been implicated in the scheme, took over as the congregation’s rabbi and now his father-in-law is the chief financial officer.
ALSO IN THE FORWARD 👋 PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS The Yiddishist side of “Jeopardy!” co-host Mayim Bialik: She was raised speaking the mamaloshen and sang it to her children when they were babies. “All of their body parts they learned first in Yiddish, just like I did when I was a kid,” Bialik said. Among Yiddishist audiences, she is probably best known for her memorable episode of the web series “Yidlife Crisis.” (Fast forward to the three-minute mark for the Yiddish speed dating.) Mayim, we’ll take hilarious performances for $200! Watch the video >
A shortage of headstones is making unveilings hard for grieving families: A year after funerals with only a few mourners because of pandemic restrictions, many Jewish families are again struggling to plan unveilings, with months-long delays on delivery of memorial stones. What’s causing the shortage? Stewart Ain investigates. Read the story >
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY👇 LUDWIG GUTTMANN FOUNDED THE PARALYMPICS. (DESIGN BY EMILY BURACK; PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES) 💉 Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the U.S. has sent 500,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine to the Palestinian Authority. (Twitter)
😢 In an emotional TikTok video, a tearful Mandy Patinkin bonded with a grieving fan over the “I want my father back” scene in “The Princess Bride.” Both Patinkin and the fan lost their dads to cancer. He told her he would add her father to a list of loved ones that he prays for every day. (USA Today)
🥇 The Paralympics, which began this week in Tokyo, have an inspiring Jewish origin story. Ludwig Guttmann, a German doctor who escaped the Nazis, founded the event. Guttmann specialized in helping disabled war veterans, created the International Medical Society of Paraplegia and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1966. (Alma)
😮 A Jewish family has been reunited with a Bible their forebears hid in an attic as Nazis invaded. It took almost 80 years, including a pit stop on eBay and travel delays due to the pandemic. “With all the terrible terror and inhumanities in this world,” said one of the family members, herself a Holocaust survivor, “I can’t believe that I have such pleasure and such magic that I should live to see something that remains of the Holocaust that is good — and that’s the Bible.” (Washington Post)
🎬 Jewish porn star Ron Jeremy was indicted on more than 30 counts of sexual assault from incidents spanning the last quarter-century. Jeremy, 68, pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face 90 years to life in prison. (Los Angeles Times)
☕️ File under oops: Owners of a Ukrainian cafe housed in a former synagogue say their new logo resembling a Nazi symbol had “nothing to do with the SS” and was simply a case of a “font gone wrong.” (JTA)
🤔 Mike Richards will stay on as executive producer of “Jeopardy!” but will undergo sensitivity training. On a call with the quiz show’s staff on Wednesday, Richards apologized for the offensive comments about women, Asians and Jews he had made on his podcast, and asked for an opportunity to prove “who he really is.” (NYT)
NEW EPISODE ALERT 🎧 “O Brother Where Art Thou” wrote to our Jewish advice podcast because his brother, an elected official, has spiraled down a YouTube-impelled rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. He refused to get vaccinated and is talking tough about immigrants in his small town. Our hosts Ginna Green and Lynn Harris invited the crew from another podcast, “Majority 54,” to share their insights about bridging political divides. Listen to the podcast >
FROM OUR ARCHIVES 🐟 PHOTO: FORWARD ARCHIVES It’s been a while since we saw a food demonstration in person. (To be fair, it’s been a while since we’ve seen anything in person.). The above photo is a 1941 Gefilte fish demo at Essex Street Market, which had opened the previous year.
A woman identified only as Miss Kassel of New York City’s Consumer Affairs Department was tasked with convincing Lower East Side cooks to use saltwater fish like mackerel and haddock in preparing the dish, since the freshwater specimens traditionally used for gefilte fish, like carp, mullet and pike, cost eight times as much. “I mean, it was a time of war and sacrificing for the common good was the call of the hour,” reflected our archivist, Chana Pollack. “And yet, mackerel in your gefilte?”
This and other images from Forward history can be viewed at the Eldridge Street Museum through the end of September in PRESSED, an exhibit of photo engraved press plates, and online at the Urban Archive.
ON THE CALENDAR 🗓 PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES On this day in history: Albert Sabin, who developed the oral polio vaccine, was born in Bialystock on Aug. 26, 1906. His discovery, which built upon the work of Jonas Salk, played a pivotal role in eradicating the disease. Sabin, who died in 1993, spent several years in Israel, where he was president of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.
The photo above shows people lined up outside the Children’s Hospital on April 24, 1960, the first day the vaccine was made available to American children. It was known as “Sabin Sunday.”
PHOTO OF THE DAY 📸 PHOTO: AVI OHAYON-GPO Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reciting morning prayers in Washington D.C. He is scheduled to see President Joe Biden at the White House today, their first meeting since each took office. “There’s a new dimension here,” Bennett said, “coming up with new ways to address problems, being very realistic, very pragmatic, and being reasonable with friends.”
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