Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Friday morning!
Ed note: Wishing you all a healthy and happy Passover. The Daily Kickoff will return on Monday, April 25.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend and holiday, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent JI stories, including: This Year in Orlando; Doug Emhoff’s Passover prep; In Napa Valley, a kosher wine revolution; Eliot Cohen says U.S. should reopen embassy in Kyiv; John Fetterman says he’ll ‘lean in’ on U.S.-Israel relationship as senator; The senator’s son striving to be a Congress man; Incoming UAE envoy to the Vatican says warming ties with Israel is the real deal and From actress to activist, Noa Tishby is Israel’s first special envoy to fight antisemitism. Print the latest edition here.
Three candidates took part in yesterday’s Pennsylvania Senate forum hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America: moderate Rep. Conor Lamb (D-PA) and progressives John Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, and State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta.
Each voiced unanimous support for continued security assistance to Israel, with no conditions, along with supplemental funding for Iron Dome. But there were a few notable contrasts.
For instance, guess which one of the three devoted much of his remarks — on a question regarding the two-state solution — to criticizing Israeli settlements and Netanyahu- and Trump-era policies? (Answer: Lamb.)
Now, guess who said the following about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and standing up for Israel as an ally: “I don’t support nor would ever support the BDS boycott movement, and furthermore, at every juncture, I’m going to come down on the side of Israel.” (That would be Fetterman — looking more formal than usual in a suit and tie.) Watch the full forum here, with Israel questions starting around the 45-min mark.
Suraj Patel, one of several Democrats challenging Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) in New York’s June primary, pulled in a first-quarter fundraising haul of approximately $650,000, his campaign announced on Friday. The attorney and former Obama administration staffer is now mounting his third consecutive bid to unseat Maloney, a 15-term incumbent.
Ambassador-designate Deborah Lipstadt delivered her first public remarks since her confirmation as U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism last night at the White House’s virtual “People’s Seder”.
Lipstadt said, discussing the tradition of breaking a piece of matzah at the Seder, “I am keenly aware that [the special envoy’s office] is made necessary by the brokenness of our world. I doubt — in fact I know — that I shall not erase that hatred nor repair that brokenness, but deep inside me is the hope, the prayer, that next year, when with God’s help we gather again, we will be able to say that because of the work I have been privileged to do, the world is a little bit less shattered, less broken.”
President Joe Biden addressed the event, saying, “During this holiday, our hearts are with the people of Ukraine and all of the people who are fighting for freedom. May the spirit of Passover — deliverance from oppression — carry you forward and give you strength.”
Vice President Kamala Harris said during the event, “For countless generations, people have gathered around the Seder table to be reminded of the power of faith and of the resilience of the human spirit, and to relive the journey from oppression to freedom.”
Harris also said that she had spoken earlier Thursday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and that she and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will be hosting a Seder for Jewish staff members on Friday, the first known Seder ever hosted at the vice president’s residence. Former President Barack Obama hosted Seders at the White House each year of his two terms, a continuation of a tradition started on the campaign trail in 2008.
meet the candidate
The senator’s son striving to be a Congress man
Even before his campaign launch in early January, Robert Menendez Jr. had all but officially been crowned as the heir apparent to outgoing Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ) in New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District. Of course, it was no surprise that Menendez, the Hudson County political scion, would notch endorsements from such leading establishment Democrats as Gov. Phil Murphy and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). His family name has long been revered in the district, where his father — the formidable senior Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) — once presided for more than a decade, reports Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel.
Reasons for running: It seems inevitable that the senator’s son is now staking his claim. But Menendez Jr., an attorney who goes by Rob, insists that such aspirations had, until recently, never held favor over a competing interest in carrying on as a private citizen. “The truth of it is that I could have seen a life where I never ran for public office and a life, now, where I am,” he told JI in a recent interview. “The ultimate question was: Are we on a good trajectory or are we not, and if we’re not, are there things that I can do, bring to the table, advocate for that would correct a lot of the struggles and issues that we’re facing?” The answer, he believes, “is yes.”
Like father, like son: While Menendez says he is taking nothing for granted, the congressional hopeful was also quick to confirm he aligns with his father on Middle East issues. For example, Menendez Jr. said he “agreed” with his father’s objections to the Iran nuclear deal in 2015 and remains skeptical of the current negotiations. “The only way that we can hope to bring Iran to the table and dismantle their nuclear program is to put heavy pressure on the Iranian economy,” he wrote in a lengthy position paper, calling for the imposition of sanctions that likely put him at odds with any future agreement.
Eye on Israel: Like his father — who, as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is among the most outspoken supporters of Israel in the upper chamber — Menendez said he is committed to strengthening ties with the Jewish state. “There’s been somewhat of a — how should I phrase it? — inconsistent approach to foreign policy through the last several administrations, and I think that’s left our allies in an uncomfortable position,” he explained. “You have to start by being very clear in your support for your allies, and I think being supportive of Israel is one of the most important actions any member of Congress can take.”
Rob and Bob: If Menendez prevails in the June primary and then the general election, he and his father — or, as some wags have noted, Rob and Bob — would be the only parent-child duo in Congress next year. “I do believe that’s been mentioned,” the younger Menendez told JI, albeit somewhat sheepishly, noting that he is now “solely focused” on his campaign. Still, he hastened to add, “it would be an honor to serve with my father.”
drink l’chaim to life
Zahav’s Mike Solomonov takes his Israeli cuisine outside of Philadelphia for the first time
Michael Solomonov
When reservations went live on Thursday for Michael Solomonov’s first restaurant to open outside of Philadelphia, the first several days of spots were gone within minutes. It’s a fitting welcome to Brooklyn for the chef who introduced modern Israeli cuisine to American diners with his perennially popular Zahav, which opened in Philadelphia in 2008. Laser Wolf Brooklyn opens the last weekend of April at the Hoxton Hotel in Williamsburg. The award-winning chef talked with Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch about his new restaurant, building bridges through food and the American ascendance of schug.
Skewer season: Fans of Zahav may be disappointed to learn that there are no plans in the works for a Zahav 2.0, in New York or elsewhere. Instead, they’ll have to learn to love Laser Wolf, a more casual restaurant that serves “salatim and hummus and fresh pita, and just a bunch of stuff cooked really right over charcoal,” Solomonov said. Solomonov calls it a shipudia, the Hebrew word for a grill that specializes in skewers and offers unlimited salads with the cost of the meat. The name is a play on Lazar Wolf, the butcher in “Fiddler on the Roof.”
More donuts: Solomonov, 44, who is Zahav’s head chef, and his business partner Steven Cook operate eight restaurants in Philadelphia, most of them offering a spin on Israeli cuisine. Last week, their restaurant group CookNSolo announced a growth equity investment that will take their Federal Donuts outside of Philadelphia as well. The popular local donut and fried chicken chain, which has 11 locations, is poised to expand throughout the Mid-Atlantic, but Solomonov was mum on details of where the new branches might be located.
Zahav mythology: Born in Israel but raised in Pittsburgh, Solomonov has incorporated his personal story and that of his family into the Zahav mythology. His award-winning 2015 cookbook, Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking, features stories behind the family recipes he includes. The publication of that and a second cookbook, “Israeli Soul,” have played a major role in acquainting Americans with some of the more unfamiliar elements of Israeli cuisine. “Things like schug and harif and shakshuka and babka and even hummus — those are things that, really, I’m incredibly proud to be a part of and this is … we’re marketing a part of the world or people that I think are really sometimes misrepresented,” explained Solomonov.
Building bridges: “Food has been, I think, a bridge. I’m not pretending that, like, we’re going to make challah or shakshuka or I’ll make my grandmother’s bourekas and we’ll grab a guitar and sing ‘Kumbaya’ or anything like that,” said Solomonov. For both Israelis and Palestinians, he added, “You humanize this idea, or these people, and I think that’s the right thing to do. I think that that’s the most constructive thing to do, and that is the most productive. So that’s where we stand.”
heard yesterday
U.S. should repair relations with Saudi Arabia, Amb. Herzog urges
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog on Thursday called on the U.S. to repair its strained relations with Saudi Arabia, particularly in the event that it reenters the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran — Riyadh’s biggest regional foe — Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Quotable: “I understand the U.S. concerns but I think Saudi Arabia is a hugely important actor in our part of the world and the Islamic world as a whole. And it’s important, in my view, to the extent possible, to fix relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia,” Herzog said at an Al-Monitor breakfast event on Thursday. “Certainly if you’re going to do an Iran deal, I think it’s extremely important to our part of the world that this will be done.”
Falling short: The ambassador said that Israel would support an Iran nuclear agreement that “rolls back Iran’s nuclear capabilities significantly and for a long time” — criteria he said were potentially consistent with the Biden administration’s initial pledges to seek a “longer and stronger” agreement with Iran. “We were told all along that the concept is kind of a package where you do this deal and you move on as a follow-on toward a longer and stronger deal, implying — and I believe rightly so — that the original deal was not long enough and not strong enough,” Herzog said. “Now we no longer hear any talk about longer and stronger. It’s no longer there. And we would support a deal which is longer and stronger. But that’s not the case we talked about.
To list or not to list: He decried the proposition of removing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list, reportedly a sticking point in talks taking place in Vienna. “I have yet to hear an explanation of why, when you do a nuclear deal, you take IRGC off a terror list,” Herzog said. “What’s the connection between a nuclear deal and terrorists?… I would understand if you said to me, ‘OK, we’re doing a nuclear deal. We are lifting nuclear-related sanctions.’”
Standstill: A political process between the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority is not practical at the moment, Herzog said. “I believe both parties cannot shoulder [a political process] at this point — our government because of its unique composition, the Palestinian side being, again, a weak, dysfunctional entity divided in the West Bank and Gaza,” Herzog said. “The idea is right now rather than trying to initiate a political process to at least keep the window open for the political opportunities in the future.”
maryland moves
Jazz Lewis exits Maryland 4th Democratic primary
Jazz Lewis
Maryland congressional candidate Jazz Lewis has dropped out of the Democratic primary in the state’s heavily Democratic 4th District, paving the way for a heated race between former Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) and former prosecutor Glenn Ivey. Lewis told The Washington Poston Thursday that he would instead run for reelection to his seat in the Maryland House of Delegates, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Fresh face: Lewis, a former longtime staffer for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), struggled against his better-known rivals, despite an early endorsement from Hoyer. Lewis had fashioned himself a pro-Israel progressive in the vein of Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), whose endorsement he earned. Despite the district having few Jewish voters, the Democratic primary has been followed closely by pro-Israel voters in nearby Baltimore and Montgomery counties.
Early endorsee: Edwards previously represented the district from 2008 to 2017, and she at times clashed with mainstream pro-Israel activists for her more left-wing positions on Israel. She was one of the first candidates to ever be endorsed by J Street, which endorsed her again earlier this week. She was also recently endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC.
Donor support: News of Lewis’ withdrawal from the race comes amid reports of pro-Israel donors lining up behind Ivey, a former Prince George’s County state’s attorney, one source with knowledge of the pro-Israel community told JI. “The big issue is whether to support Jazz or Glenn,” one mainstream pro-Israel Democrat had told JI in January after Edwards entered the race. AIPAC’s political action committee has not made an endorsement in the race, and an AIPAC spokesperson declined to comment Thursday when asked whether it would get involved in the race.
New numbers: There has not yet been any publicly released polling since Edwards entered the race in January. She announced on Twitter that she raised more than $600,000 in the first quarter of 2022. A spokesperson for Ivey’s campaign told JI that he raised $427,000 in the first quarter, which includes a $150,000 candidate loan, and that Ivey has $580,000 cash on hand.
Worthy Reads
📜 Redemption Song: In The New York Times, IKAR’s Rabbi Sharon Brous compares the story of Exodus to the present-day political and social challenges facing America. “The tragedy of the Exodus is that Pharaoh himself could have been a part of the redemption story. He could have moved from oppressor to liberator or even partner in building a just future. But that would have required him to embrace the redemption narrative, rather than be threatened by it. Instead, he rooted only more deeply in his fear- and greed-driven mission, until the chariots and horsemen of the Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea. America, too, needs a redemption narrative, a shared story for the America being born in our time. Perhaps the Exodus from Egypt, once deemed so dangerous that it had to be excised from some Bibles, will awaken our moral imagination as we strive to write a new story for this nation. I still believe that together we can build a redeemed society.” [NYTimes]
✡️ Expanded Mandate: In Real Clear Politics, Elan Carr, the Trump administration’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, calls on the Biden administration and Congress to expand the purview of the role for his successor, Deborah Lipstadt, to include addressing domestic antisemitism. “The Special Envoy is the Administration’s face in the fight against anti-Semitism. Audiences here at home want to know what is being done to protect by far the world’s largest diaspora Jewish community. ‘That’s not my department,’ is not the kind of answer that inspires confidence. Jewish communities in the United States and overseas are genuinely afraid. America needs an ambassador who will show the world that she is fighting against the scourge of Jew-hatred everywhere.” [RealClearPolitics]
Around the Web
👩👩 Supreme Sisters: President Joe Biden signed legislation clearing the way for the erecting of statues honoring late Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor on the Capitol grounds.
👨 Miller’s Time: Trump administration advisor Stephen Miller met with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol on Thursday.
⛔ Not Targeted: An attorney for Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) said the congressman, who is locked in a tough primary battle, was told he is not the target of a federal investigation that saw his home and campaign headquarters raided by the FBI in January.
⁉️ Outrageous Analogy: A Republican state senator in Tennessee drew outrage for comments in which he said that homeless people could derive inspiration from Adolf Hitler, who for a time was also homeless.
🐄 Glatt-Handing: Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz visited Kreider Farms in Manheim, Pa., one of the most widely distributed Cholov Yisroel milk companies in the country.
🫓 Bread of Affection: Business Insider spotlights the efforts of Ukraine- and U.S.-based matzah factories to make and distribute their products ahead of Passover.
🎞️ Film Fest Honors: Los Angeles’ Israel Film Festival next month will honor actor Henry Winkler and philanthropist David Wiener.
⚖️ Haggadah History: The descendants of a German-Jewish Holocaust victim are suing the Israel Museum in Jerusalem over its possession of a 14th-century Haggadah, the first time an Israeli museum has been entangled in a Holocaust art restitution case.
🚘 Road to Hell: An excerpt from the new book Nazi Billionaires looks at how Porsche co-founder Adolf Rosenberger, who was at one point imprisoned in a concentration camp, was mistreated by the company’s antisemitic owners.
🇦🇪 New Partners: A delegation from the United Arab Emirates will participate in an International March of the Living trip to Poland later this month.
📡 Beam Me Down: Israel ran successful tests of its “Iron Beam” laser missile-defense system, which has the ability to intercept mortars, rockets and anti-tank missiles.
💥 Rising Tensions: Clashes broke out this morning at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, leaving more than 100 injured.
🚓 Kidnap Plot: Police in Canada are searching for an Iranian woman kidnapped by individuals posing as law enforcement.
Wine of the Week
JI’s wine columnist Yitz Applbaum reviews OneHope’s new kosher wines:
“Jewish Insider ran a wonderful article about the birth of OneHope, a new kosher wine producer in Napa Valley. This Howard Backen winery is surrounded by luscious vineyards, and boasts a stunning entertainment space where many kosher simchot will, inshallah, take place. I was there earlier this week with a group of wine enthusiasts to taste the first three kosher offerings produced by OneHope. We acknowledged God’s generosity with a Shehecheyanu prayer – a blessing for the new and holy, and spent the night extolling the virtues of what we drank.
“Passover comes this week, and with it comes the requirement to consume copious amounts of wine. The three wines we tasted last night would elevate any Seder they grace.
“All three wines are made from Saint Helena cabernet sauvignon grapes. We are instructed to only “rise in holiness,” so I will describe the wines in order of the pleasure we derived from them.
“The first, OneHope Kosher Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon “The Rosen,” was a blend of several vintages. The nose was fresh, the color a medium purple and the legs were so thick they coated the entirety of the wine goblet. The front palate is of bright red cherry juice, the mid-palate smothers you with tart cranberries and the finish coats your throat in a layer of satin. Drink this wine with charoset. This wine will drink well for five to seven years.
“The second wine, 2013 OneHope Kosher Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon “The Levin,” was a 2013, deep red in color, which forces you into a trance if you stare a moment too long. The opening coats your mouth with melted milk chocolate, the flavor then morphs into a dark raspberry and finishes with an herbal savory touch. This wine will last at least 10 years. Drink it with spicy fish and horseradish.
“The last of the three, 2014 OneHope Kosher Iconic Cabernet Sauvignon “The Applbaum,” was a 2014 vintage that sat in new French oak for upwards of 36 months. This wine immediately engulfs you in a wave of tannins and cacao and finishes with French oak together with dark chocolate. This wine will last 15 to 20 years, and should be consumed with smoked brisket or turkey.”
Click here to purchase OneHope’s new kosher wine.
Pic of the Day
Israeli President Isaac Herzog hosted an Iftar at the presidential residence in Jerusalem this week, with guests including UAE Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja.
Birthdays
(Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
Secretary of state of the United States, Antony John “Tony” Blinken turns 60 on Saturday…
FRIDAY: Psychiatrist, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Dr. Henry George Jarecki turns 89… Professor of law and public policy at Duke University since 1971, Joel L. Fleishman turns 88… Former U.S. solicitor general, now a professor at Harvard Law School, Charles Fried turns 87… Senior advisor at Covington & Burling, he was a fifteen-term member of Congress from 1983 to 2013, Howard Lawrence Berman turns 81… Duke University professor, physician, biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate, Robert Lefkowitz turns 79… Retired U.S. Army chaplain who attained the rank of lieutenant colonel, Rabbi Alan Sherman turns 74… Professor of German and comparative literature at New York University, Avital Ronell turns 70… Former city controller of Philadelphia following a lengthy term as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Alan Butkovitz turns 70… CEO of DMB Strategic, David Brand turns 69… Founder and director of the graduate school in the decorative arts at Bard College in Dutchess County, N.Y., Susan Weber turns 67… Slingerlands, N.Y., attorney, Deborah R. Liebman turns 67… Former executive director at American Press Institute, he is the author of ten books, Tom Rosenstiel turns 66… The Rebbe of the Boyan Hasidic dynasty, Rabbi Nachum Dov Brayer turns 63… Former deputy secretary of the Treasury and member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Sarah Bloom Raskin turns 61… Managing partner, CEO and chief investment officer of Hudson Bay Capital Management, Sander R. Gerber turns 55… CEO of the New Israel Fund, Daniel Sokatch turns 54… Cheryl Myra Cohn turns 47… Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and founder of the Truman National Security Project, Rachel Kleinfeld, Ph.D. turns 46… Basketball head coach of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos, Joe Pasternack turns 45… SVP of government affairs at Cross River Bank, Y. Phillip Goldfeder turns 41… Actor, comedian, writer, producer and director, Seth Rogen turns 40… Co-founder and co-CEO of theSkimm, Carly Zakin turns 36… Senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, David May turns 35… Director of grants and operations at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Kristin McCarthy turns 34… Founder and CEO of Stoop, Zach Ehrlich turns 33… Social entrepreneur, environmental activist and human rights activist, Erin Schrode turns 31… Moshe Lehrer…
SATURDAY: Hasidic singer Mordechai Werdyger, known by his stage name Mordechai Ben David, turns 71… Olympic track-and-field athlete, and survivor of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, Esther Roth-Shachamorov turns 70… Actress and movie producer, Ellen Barkin turns 68… Chairman and CEO of private equity fund manager Jordan/Zalaznick Advisers, David Wayne Zalaznick turns 68… Physician and venture capitalist focused on biotechnology and life-sciences industries, Lindsay Rosenwald turns 67… Professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University, Aaron Louis Friedberg, Ph.D. turns 66… Filmmaker, he directed the 2011 documentary “Paul Williams Still Alive” and the 1997 slapstick comedy “Vegas Vacation” starring Chevy Chase, Stephen Kessler turns 62… Dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School, Douglas Elmendorf turns 60… Television producer and writer, David Sanford Kohan turns 58… Long Island native, he is a Los Angeles pharmacist, Jeffrey D. Marcus turns 58… Former mayor of Hoboken, N.J., Dawn Zimmer turns 54… Israel’s former ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Ron Dermer turns 51… Member of the House of Commons of Canada, she represents the riding of Toronto-Danforth, Julie Dabrusin turns 51… Celebrity plastic surgeon, he is active on social media as “Dr. Miami,” Michael Salzhauer, M.D. turns 50… Board member of Jewish Community High School of the Bay in San Francisco, Ellen K. Finestone turns 49… SVP of GMMB, Alex Glass turns 44… Deputy opinion editor at Newsweek, Batya Ungar-Sargon turns 41… Founder of Jewish Fashion Council and journalist at Fabologie, Adi Heyman turns 40… Attorney who has served as a law clerk to three Maryland judges, now an MBA student at Temple University, Geoff Middleberg turns 32… Product manager at Duolingo, Uriel Kejsefman turns 31… Singer, pianist and composer, Mendy Portnoy turns 30… Principal at Helena Special Investments, Matthew Saunders turns 29… Senior customer account executive at Quorum, Adam Gotbaum turns 28… Josh Goldstein… Sarah Wolfson…
SUNDAY: Cynthia J. Kugler turns 86… Retired Los Angeles cardiologist and active Yiddish enthusiast, Martin Bobrowsky, MD turns 82… Marketing manager at Allied Interpreting Service in Los Angeles, Barry Schreiber turns 79… American legal scholar Richard Allen Epstein… The official historian for Major League Baseball since 2011, John Thorn turns 75… Talk radio host best known for his work on NYC’s sports radio station WFAN, his nickname is “The Schmoozer,” Steve Somers turns 75… CEO of B’nai B’rith International, Daniel S. Mariaschin turns 73… Rosh Yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, N.J., one of the largest yeshivas in the world with over 6,800 students, Rabbi Aryeh Malkiel Kotler turns 71… French billionaire based in Geneva, Gérard Wertheimer turns 71… Elizabeth H. Scheuer turns 68… Rabbi of Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha, Wisconsin, her brother is former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, Dena Feingold turns 67… Actress, screenwriter and film director, Daphna Kastner turns 61… Winner of two Super Bowl rings during his career with the San Francisco 49ers, he is now a physician and an inductee in the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Dr. John E. Frank turns 60… Director of Rutgers University Press, Micah Kleit turns 52… Professor of politics and Russian studies at New York University and co-author of The Monkey Cage, Joshua A. Tucker turns 51… Congressional editor for The New York Times, Julie Hirschfeld Davis turns 47… Member of the Alaska Legislature, Jesse Kiehl turns 46… Executive director at Morgan Stanley, Nadya Belenkiy turns 43… New York bureau chief for Bloomberg, Shelly Banjo turns 38… Southern California-based regional director at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Ora Miriam “Miri” Katz Belsky turns 38… Press secretary for Senator Chuck Schumer, Angelo Roefaro turns 38… Senior communications manager at the Center for Responsible Lending, Matt Kravitz turns 37… Managing director at Bully Pulpit Interactive, Alex Kellner turns 36… Director for strategic communications and assistant press secretary at the White House National Security Council, Dean Lieberman turns 33… Member of the Baltimore City Council, Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer turns 33… Assistant attorney general in Missouri, Brian T. Earll turns 30…
