Israel - What Next?

Please join me for a timely conversation with Israeli journalist Lahav Harkov, Jewish Insider's senior political correspondent.

Monday, October 27, 1:30 PM

The New Bedford Whaling Museum, Harborview Gallery

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Don't miss out on this one-of-a-kind opportunity to learn and discuss what is next for Israel after the recent ceasefire agreement. Unpacking the events of the past two years isn’t easy. The analysis and credible perspective Harkov offers is one of the goals of the North American Speakers Tour organized by the Jewish Federations of North America.

Harkov brings unparalleled insights from years of covering Israel’s domestic and international politics to help us better understand the current situation, its broader implications and what may lie ahead.

There will of course be time for your questions. Nevertheless don't hesitate to reach out to me at amir@jewishnewbedford.org in advance with any questions you would like introduced into the conversation.

2.Babysitters

You have to hand it to President Donald Trump and his team for their Middle Eastern approach that made this agreement possible. Many of the aggressive approaches to government that make us cringe domestically carry a different value over there.

Jared Kushner's daughter has written a note to every hostage (more than Bibi and his team did for two years). Steve Witkoff must have spent 100-plus days in the region. And 47 himself took to the Knesset as if it were the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago. Infuriating yet effective.

Equally significant - while all the details of phase 2 and later seem less than certain - watching Bibi from up close is a full time job. Vice President Vance (and Rubio next) have taken the first two shifts. Not only did America take over (with a new "military" base near Kiryat Malachi), this administration is committed to not let Bibi mess this up.

"President Donald Trump has said (West Bank) annexation is off the table in his view as he seeks to solidify peace in the region and secure additional relationships between Israel and Arab nations." Good!!

Lahav Harkov, our guest on Monday at the Whaling Museum, has more on this in Jewish Insider: "Netanyahu does damage control after Trump, Vance, Rubio condemn annexation push."

3.Vote No

Park Avenue Synagogue's Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove called him dangerous to New York's Jewish community. I agree. Around the country, 850 (more are joining) rabbis signed a letter opposing the political normalization of anti-Zionism. Zohran Mamdani is exactly that.

Aside from being unqualified to lead a multi-billion-dollar corporation (he is 34 with no job experience), his rhetoric endangers the Jewish community and will without any doubt increase hostility towards Jews. You may recall that I said the same about Hannah Einbinder's absurd Oscar speech. This however is NOT a movie and it is not bubble wrapped in Hollywood stardust. It is an election for the most iconic city in the world where more than a million Jews live.

More on this from Jewish Insider and also "If Mamdani is the future of the Democratic Party, how will Jews respond?"

4.They Want This After All

"The first season of the hit series Nobody Wants This left viewers with more questions than answers. Did Rabbi Noah Roklov (Adam Brody) really ditch the pulpit for forbidden love? Why did Joanne (Kristen Bell), so enthralled by every Jewish ritual she experienced, suddenly balk at conversion?

"And, uh, why is Nobody Wants This obsessed with menorahs?

The show, which returns to Netflix on Thursday for Season 2, isn’t about Hanukkah. It doesn’t take place during Hanukkah, as far as I can tell. The holiday never comes up.

"And yet if there’s a Jewish interior in Nobody Wants This, you can bet on a menorah — or chanukiyah, if you want to be technical — lurking in the background. It’s like the show wants viewers to believe menorahs are Jewish houseplants. And as soon as you notice it, you start seeing them everywhere."

Who will be keeping count?

5.More TV Jews

When CBS decided to end the 100-year run of Blue Bloods, it seemed like an obvious decision. Enter Boston Blue. Gone is the very Catholic weekly Sunday meal and in its Beantown stead is a family for all seasons . . . and religions. I'm not going to do it justice if I explain (or even try), so watch the first episode and see Marky Mark, one of Tom Brady's baby mamas and their new partly-Jewish Boston family. Here's a cheat sheet: "Boston Blue: The Silver Family Tree Explained."

In other news, there is a show on Fox titled Doc (sorry, I'm late to the game) now in its second season where Dr. Heller secures an organ donation using the good old "anyone who saves a life, it is as if he saved the whole world." And there's Dr. Robby in The Pitt if two are not enough.

Check out "Doc and The Pitt: Balancing Jewish Representation in Media."

6.Can I Have This Dance?

Mixed marriages and the hora do go together. Just ask Benny Blanco (born Benjamin Joseph Levin) and Selena Gomez.

"While the couple haven’t shared wedding details beyond their Instagram posts, Benny and Selena laid out a few of their plans this past February. 'Of course we will,' Benny responded when Interview Magazine editor Mel Ottenberg asked if they’d be doing the hora at their wedding. (Old Jewish Men on Instagram confirmed a hora occurred via a photo of performer Dani Luv and Benny Blanco at the wedding. In the same Interview interview, Selena said that she wouldn’t be converting to Judaism."

“We want our kids to have both of our values, both of our morals, and hopefully when we mix them up in a pot they’ll [turn out well],” Benny said.

Got me thinking about the hora in general, though. Is this still a wedding fixture? (I mean, tossing the garter belt is so yesterday.) And if it is, has it crossed religious and cultural lines and been adopted by the American masses? Things that make you go hmmm based upon social media snapshots.

7.What to Eat on Pagan Purim

Halloween is upon us. We know this because our neighbors' enthusiasm for decorating their yards with blow-up phantoms and ghouls grows annually and exponentially.

The holiday's pagan and Christian roots cause observant Jews to abstain from celebrating it. However, many non-Orthodox Jewish families have adapted secular Halloween traditions, such as trick-or-treating. And, well, decorating.

To go along with the witches hats and brew, pumpkins on doorsteps and Hocus Pocus on rewind, I share some recipes for the season. Oh, and this: Times of Israel's "More Than Hocus Pocus to Salem's Jewish Past."

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