Shabbat shalom, New York! Rabbi Jesse Olitzky of South Orange, New Jersey shocked your Jewish Week/Daily correspondent by suggesting that instead of cream cheese, we spread white fish on a bagel, and layer our lox on top of that! How did you break your fast? Let us know: editor@jewishweek.org.
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OMAR AND ME: In 2019, actor Michael K. Williams, who played Omar on “The Wire,” brought his prison documentary “Raised in the System” to the Hillel house at NYU. In a Jewish Week essay, Rabbi Joe Wolfson remembers the heart and humanity of the late actor, “who used his story, fame and innate brilliance to help others.”
GOING SOUTH: Thanks to an influx of New Yorkers, South Florida’s Orthodox Jewish communities have experienced a major pandemic-driven population boom. (JTA)
- “The newfound flexibility of remote work, combined with frustration over COVID restrictions elsewhere, has driven people toward the more freewheeling Florida,” writes Shira Hanau.
AN ABRAHAMIC ACCORD: Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) initiated a congressional letter urging the federal government to make kosher and halal meat available to observant Jews and Muslims through an emergency food program. (JTA)
- Why it matters: It was the rare opportunity for Jewish and Muslim lawmakers, often at odds over Israel, to work together, reports Ron Kampeas.
HEALTH FIRST: A Brooklyn activist and Orthodox Jew planned an alternative Yom Kippur ceremony for people like her who have struggled with their eating disorders on the fast day. (JTA)
SECOND SHOT: Max Rose, the Jewish veteran and Staten Island Democrat who lost his Congressional seat last November to GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, is planning a rematch. (Politico)
- Background: Redistricting may threaten Republican strongholds, including Staten Island, in as many as five districts around the state. (New York Times)
HATE CRIME: The NYPD is looking for a suspect who spat on a Jewish man and threatened to kill him Thursday in Crown Heights. (New York Post)
GIVING & GETTING
NYC native Erica Hartman-Horvitz and her husband Richard Horvitz gave a $3 million naming donation to the neonatal intensive care unit at Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood, Ohio. (Cleveland Jewish News)
SHABBAT SHALOM
THE GIVING TREATISE: The Torah portion Ha’azinu is read just before Sukkot, a holiday highlighting the importance of giving and expressing gratitude. “The true purpose of existence is to live this life of generosity,” writes Dr. Alisa Braun.
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- More wisdom: Sukkot is also the holiday of eternity, writes Rabbi David Wolpe, when we look to the heavens and the past for inspiration.
WHAT’S ON
The Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Pl., presents an in-person screening of “93 Queen.” Set in Borough Park, the 2018 documentary follows a group of Hasidic women who created the first all-female volunteer ambulance corps in New York City. Tickets $10. More info here. Sunday, 2:00 p.m.
Photo, top: Manhattan’s Temple Emanu-El held its first-ever Yom Kippur service in Central Park, at the park’s SummerStage, Sept. 16, 2021. Proof of vaccination was required to enter the venue, and worshippers were required to wear masks. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
