Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) speaks Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, at an election night party in Birmingham, Mich.

With early returns showing Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) with a 20-point lead over fellow Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, it was a relatively short night at the campaign’s election watch party, which took place at the city’s Townsend Hotel. Stevens took the stage for her victory speech just over an hour after polls closed, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports from Birmingham, Mich.

Victory speech: It took nearly half an hour for the news to reach most in the dense crowd, when the results came up on a local news channel playing in the room. The news prompted an impromptu dance session by some Stevens supporters. Stevens took to the stage moments later. “It’s not a mystery why we beat the odds. We stayed in Congress because we listened. I listened,” Stevens said in her speech. “I heard your stories. I learned… every single day doing this work what is most important to you.”

Jewish community support: Stevens was asked about the role that Jewish supporters played in the race. Many leaders in the mainstream Jewish community in the district were early and forceful backers of the congresswoman. “I thank my wide-ranging supporters from all over Oakland County from labor to our Jewish community to our African American community,” Stevens responded. “Certainly having Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence’s early support and endorsement, which is so significant… She started the Black-Jewish caucus. She’s led the Women’s Caucus. That is [whose] footsteps I’m going to follow in the Congress.”

Heaping praise: Later in the evening, Lawrence, who is retiring at the end of this term, delivered brief remarks congratulating Stevens, whom she endorsed early in the primary. Lawrence currently represents part of the redrawn 11th District. “I wanted to turn over some of my district to a person that puts people before politics, a person who understands what it means to fight,” Lawrence said.

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State Sen. Adam Hollier

To the extent that Lehrhaus, a new bar coming to Somerville, Mass., could be compared to anything, its closest analog would probably be an Irish pub, rather than a synagogue multipurpose room or a grab-and-go café at the local JCC. But the new neighborhood establishment bills itself as a Jewish tavern and house of learning, akin to a neighborhood watering hole and community library, with educators on hand to guide people in learning Jewish text. “We want to build on-ramps to Jewish learning in an environment that people understand and want to spend time in,” Lehrhaus director Rabbi Charlie Schwartz told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch in an interview last week in this still-under-construction space.

Place to be: “This is gonna be the place to be and the best kosher food in New England, if not farther afield. And good Torah, and community,” said Lehrhaus board chair Joshua Foer, who also founded Sefaria, a digital library of Jewish texts. The name comes from a term coined by the early-20th-century German Jewish thinker Franz Rosenzweig, who hosted a salon called the Freie Jüdische Lehrhaus, or “free Jewish house of learning.”

Big plans: If Boston’s Jewish community catches on to Lehrhaus, which is set to open in September or October to serve the vibrant Jewish community in Cambridge and Somerville, Foer and Schwartz anticipate taking the concept nationwide: “This is a project that ultimately has national ambitions, and we think that this is a pilot for something that should exist in lots of places. That’s our long-term goal,” said Foer. “If you make it work here,” added Schwartz, “I think we can make it work in Cleveland, and Detroit, and D.C. and L.A., in Brooklyn and Miami.”

Multipurpose: During the day, Lehrhaus will be a members-only space for people who join the institution’s beit midrash and want to stop by to study alone or in hevruta, with a partner. In the evening, Lehrhaus will be open to the public, with a bar and dining program designed by award-winning veterans of Boston’s restaurant scene.  

Sneak peek: The food will be “pescatarian kosher.” A sampling of menu items shared with JI includes a signature “Lehrhaus kugel” with crispy Roman artichoke, and fish schnitzel with fries seasoned with Old Bay, the tangy spice popular on Maryland seafood. “It’s a Jewish tavern. The milieu is a Jewish one,” said Schwartz, adding that even the menu offers an opportunity for “passive learning moments that you can incorporate in a non-preachy way.” Take, for instance, those Old Bay fries: “What does it mean when the server knows the Jewish history of Old Bay?” (The seasoning was created by a Holocaust survivor.)

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Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

Following weeks of criticism for arresting an American citizen, the United Arab Emirates revealed it had charged American attorney Asim Ghafoor in absentia with tax evasion and money laundering, following an investigation provoked by the U.S. Justice Department, Jewish Insider’s Jacob Miller reports. Ghafoor, an Arab-American attorney who represented Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi before the prominent dissident was murdered by Saudi agents, was arrested in the UAE on July 14.

Heard on the Hill: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) labeled the allegations “false charges,” while Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) suggested that Ghafoor was convicted because of his work for Khashoggi. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) called the process “politically motivated” and accused the Emirati government of denying Ghafoor due process. Five Virginia lawmakers adopted a more measured approach, demanding the UAE allow Ghafoor — a Virginia resident — to be released on bail and allowed access to his attorneys.

American affair: A State Department spokesperson told JI that the United States did not seek Ghafoor’s arrest and that it had raised the issue with senior Emirati authorities, adding that Ghafoor is receiving consular support, and that American embassy officials last visited Ghafoor on July 30. The Emirati government explained that it was first alerted to Ghafoor’s financial maneuverings by Department of Justice officials, whom the UAE claims were conducting their own investigation of Ghafoor. “This case is part of broader legal cooperation between the UAE and United States to strengthen policies and enforcement to uncover and prevent transnational financial crimes and illicit money flows,” the UAE wrote in a press statement. The UAE has not made any evidence publicly available and the Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Mideast moves: Along with Khashoggi, Ghafoor co-founded a nonprofit called Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN), an organization profoundly critical of both Israel, which it has called an apartheid state, and the Abraham Accords, which it labeled “regressive.” DAWN has called for Ghafoor’s immediate release.

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