Good morning, New York. We’re singing “Nobody Does It Better” in honor of singer-songwriter Carly Simon, 76, who was nominated yesterday for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022. Fun fact: Simon, who grew up in Greenwich Village, is the daughter of Richard L. Simon, the Jewish co-founder of the publishing house Simon & Schuster. (In related — if not necessarily Jewish — news: iconic Queens hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest was also nominated. Mazels!)
Plea deal: Aaron Mostofsky of Brooklyn, the Jewish judge’s son who wore fur pelts and a bulletproof vest when he entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the insurrection. His father is Steven (Shlomo) Mostofsky, a Kings County Supreme Court Judge and former president of the National Council of Young Israel.
Power play: New York State and Israel are teaming up for the second time on a contest matching Israeli startups with the New York Power Authority. The winning startup gets $1 million to work with NYPA on technologies that “advance the State’s clean energy transformation,” Gov. Hochul announced Wednesday. Details here.
Curriculum wars: A Hasidic yeshiva in Brooklyn notified parents that it is dropping secular studies for eighth grade boys, The City reports. Yaffed, a group seeking reforms in yeshiva education, reminded city investigators that state law requires such classes. Yeshiva Talmud Torah Ohr Moshe in Borough Park declined comment.
Refuah shelayma: Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, the Modern Orthodox philosopher, scholar, activist and founding dean of SAR Academy, a Jewish day school in Riverdale, is being treated for mantle cell lymphoma. In an upbeat letter on his Facebook page, Rabbi Greenberg said he chose a treatment that balances risks of serious side effects with a higher quality of life.
- “I always stress that Judaism is strongly committed to maximize life in every way,” he writes. “However, I believe strongly that quality of life should be given weight alongside assuring that quantity of life is preserved or created.”
Closing time: Nur, a trend-setting Middle Eastern restaurant in the Flatiron district, has permanently closed, Eater NY reports. Gadi Peleg, who’s also a founder of Breads Bakery, said the building’s owner terminated the restaurant’s lease with a week’s notice.
- Read a New York Jewish Week story about Nur and the New Wave Israeli cuisine trend that it helped kickstart.
GIVING & GETTING
Lincoln Square Synagogue announced a $5.5 million gift from hedge funder Mark Tsesarsky and his wife Robyn Tsesarsky. Rabbi Shaul Robinson wrote in a letter to congregants that the money “will allow us to pay off our mortgage in its entirety” and be used for building improvements and upgrades.
TODAY’S BIG IDEA
Whoops: Was the Holocaust about race? Are Jews white people? What is it with Whoopi Goldberg’s last name? Our colleague Gabe Friedman explains all you need to know about the controversy surrounding the comedian and “The View” host, who was suspended for remarks she made about the Holocaust.
- Related: Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, and Long Island’s Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, co-wrote an oped calling for “reinvigorating and re-energizing the Black-Jewish alliance.”
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Writer and educator Daniel Walber discusses American Jewish opera composers who have been pushing boundaries and reconceptualizing just what opera can do. Register here for a Zoom link. Presented by American Jewish Historical Society. 12:30 p.m.
Eleanor Reissa discusses her memoir, “The Letters Project: A Daughter’s Journey,” with journalist and author Sandee Brawarsky. The book was inspired by 56 letters handwritten in German by Reissa’s father in 1949 — only four years after Auschwitz — to her mother, also a refugee, already living in the United States. Reserve tickets here. 1:00 p.m.
Photo, top: Students at Manhattan Day School clean and dice hundreds of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to be distributed to the needy through the Masbia network of kosher pantries, Feb. 2, 2022. (Courtesy Masbia)
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