Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
A version of this piece first ran as part of the New York Jewish Week’s daily newsletter, rounding up the latest on politics, culture, food and what’s new with Jews in the city. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.
What you need to know today
- Mamdani heckled at Judaica store: During a visit this afternoon to Eichlers — a Judaica shop in Brooklyn’s heavily Orthodox Jewish Borough Park neighborhood — Mayor Zohran Mamdani greeted customers and store staff, and a City Hall staffer blew a shofar. The mayor was also heckled by Stephanie Benshimol, a pro-Israel influencer, who told the mayor, “You’re the reason we have so much antisemitism,” and, “You have such chutzpah for coming here.”
- Israeli officials confirm Bibi will come to NYC: Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, told the New York Post that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “will come to New York and address the General Assembly, as he does every year. No protest and no provocation will change that.” Danon’s comments come as Mamdani has admitted that he cannot fulfill his campaign promise to arrest Netanyahu, but encouraged New Yorkers to exercise their right to protest.
- Utica rabbi arrested: Peter Schaktman, a rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in Utica, New York, was among eight people arrested for second-degree attempted rape in a police sting. Schaktman, 66, was allegedly caught trying to meet with someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy for sex, multiple outlets reported. Temple Emanu-El has suspended Schaktman and is conducting its own internal review, according to the synagogue. Schaktman has pleaded not guilty.
Jewish stories matter. As the new year begins, so does another year of covering the people, stories, and institutions that make Jewish life in New York what it is. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
