Good morning, New York. Today is Purim Katan (“Little Purim”), a minor holiday that falls on the Jewish leap year. It’s a day for putting aside sadness, so enjoy! (Purim itself starts on the evening of March 16.)
Security blanket: In the wake of several antisemitic attacks in Brooklyn, UJA-Federation of New York created a $250,000 fund to beef up security at the borough’s shtiebels — small Brooklyn synagogues serving fewer than 200 Orthodox Jews each.
In accord: Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Long Island Republican running for governor, nominated fellow Jews Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz for the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the normalization accords between Israel and several Arab nations.
- Related: In a first for an Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett landed in Bahrain for meetings with its rulers.
Suite dreams: The Plaza Hotel on Fifth Ave. has created a replica of the Upper West Side apartment of Midge Maisel, as seen in all its mid-century glory in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” (The series about a Jewish homemaker-turned-comedian returns to Amazon Prime on Friday.) It can all be yours for $1,675 a night. (Photo, top, courtesy of the Plaza.)
- But wait, there’s more: For a somewhat more budget-friendly experience, the Plaza is also offering a Maisel-inspired tea at its iconic Palm Court for $99 a person. It includes a pastrami-style salmon pumpernickel tea sandwich, a bite-sized lekach (honey cake), a “reimagined” black and white cookie and more.
- ICYMI: Caroline Aaron, who plays Midge’s mother-in-law, defends the show’s casting of non-Jewish actors in major Jewish roles.
AROUND THE JEWISH WORLD, WITH JTA
- As Russia threatens war, young Ukrainian Jews are asking whether they should fight or flee.
- Whoopi Goldberg returned to “The View” after a two-week suspension, saying she was “grateful” for the criticism of her remarks about the Holocaust.
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Australia for giving his beloved stepfather — the late philosopher and legal scholar Samuel Pisar — a chance to rebuild his life after surviving the Holocaust.
PEOPLE & PLACES
Shira Efron has been named director of research at the New York-based Israel Policy Forum. She previously was a RAND Corporation researcher and special advisor on Israel and a policy advisor to Israel Policy Forum. She is based in Israel.
The Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University has announced a new Clinical Doctorate in Social Work, to begin in fall 2022. The 45-credit program, designed to be completed within three years, is tailored for experienced post-MSW clinicians who are either currently in direct practice with a client base or are administrators of clinical programs.
WHAT’S ON TODAY
In her new poetry collection, “Refusenik,” Lynn Melnick dives into personal and generational trauma, interrogating misogyny and antisemitism across time and a shifting global landscape — from a Russian shtetl to a Brooklyn bedroom. She speaks about the book with writer and editor David L. Ulin. Register here for this New York Public Library event. 7:00 p.m.
