👟 The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner: ESPN’s Sam Borden details the experiences of Oliver Ferber, a star cross-country runner at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Maryland, who forewent the state championship when the race was scheduled for Shabbat. “Oliver cried, more than once. He changed his mind, more than once. According to [JDS coach Jason] Belinkie, even the rabbi Oliver was consulting with indicated at one point that running could potentially be a defensible choice. ‘He had the whole world against him in that situation,’ the coach said. It didn’t matter. Oliver couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew what was right. ‘You’re not allowed to do really intense exercise you don’t really enjoy,’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘And when you’re running up the hill, every step requires effort. And it’s hard and it hurts. And if you’re doing that and like, “Oh, this is fun,” then you’re not racing the right way.’ He shrugged. ‘I wanted to live my values,’ he said.” [ESPN]

👨 Knowing Nides: The New York Times’ Michael Crowley spotlights U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides as Washington’s top diplomat in Jerusalem navigates a challenging political environment. “Senior Israeli officials interviewed for this article praised Mr. Nides, saying he has handled an explosive situation deftly. Because he is close not only to Mr. Biden but also to Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Blinken, Israelis say they see him as an authoritative representative of the Biden administration… In one notable bit of outreach, Mr. Nides took steps soon after he was appointed to develop a working relationship with Ron Dermer, an Israeli ambassador to Washington during Mr. Netanyahu’s previous tenure. Obama administration officials resented Mr. Dermer for being, in their view, a de facto Republican ally. Mr. Nides’s approach, which rankled some Democrats, showed strategic wisdom, some people familiar with the situation said, given that Mr. Dermer is among Mr. Netanyahu’s closest confidants.” [NYTimes]

🔍 This Town:Politico’s Michael Schaffer looks at how politics and business intersect — or don’t — noting as an example the recent sale of the Washington Commanders to a group led by Josh Harris. “Sports inflation has pushed team ownership beyond even the sorts of ordinary tycoons who once bought in ordinary markets — the local bankers and real-estate magnates and industrial leaders. While Washington has a few members of the more rarefied 21st-century master-of-the-universe set, it never did become a hub, despite all its pretensions to the contrary. Harris, who grew up locally, left town to make his fortune. ‘Washington has a lot of money, but it doesn’t have a lot of billionaires,’ says Stephen Fuller, who spent 50 years studying the regional economy at George Mason University, where the local-economy program now carries his name. ‘A couple of hundred million doesn’t get you front-row seats anymore.’” [Politico]

📺 Misinformation in the Mideast: In Politico, H.A. Heller explores Russia’s propaganda campaign in the Middle East. “This same playbook of Russian state-funded and -supported broadcasters, which is evident in Syria, is now visible in Ukraine as well. Simply look behind many of the false claims being pumped out and spread across social media, and one will find Sputnik and RT Arabic. The latter, which is prominent in the Middle East as it once was in Europe, operates 24 hours a day across eight satellite stations, making the channel one of the five most-watched news broadcasters in the region. Not only that, RT Arabic is also one of the most popular news sites in the region, in some months outperforming even Al-Jazeera, while its YouTube channel has more dedicated subscribers than any other RT subsidiary. In total, RT Arabic’s social media platforms have garnered a combined 804 million views — a number that’s risen exponentially since February 2022. RT Arabic’s significant online presence means pro-Kremlin propaganda is being fed directly to younger generations in the Arabic-speaking world — and their methods aren’t subtle. RT Arabic often posts content at two or three times the rate of Al-Jazeera or the BBC, and often multiple times. The goal appears to be to overload the audience with a flurry of information that’s then retweeted and reposted ad nauseam and, thus, also serves to crowd out dissenting voices.” [Politico]

🇸🇾 Spotlight on Syria:The Wall Street Journal’s Benoit Faucon and Summer Said report on the challenges faced by Saudi leaders as they look to lead the reintegration of Syria into the Arab world. “At least five mem­bers of the Arab League, in­clud­ing Mo­rocco, Kuwait, Qatar and Yemen, are re­fus­ing to read­mit Syria into the group, the Arab of­fi­cials say. Even Egypt, which has rekin­dled ties with Syria in re­cent months and is a staunch Saudi ally, is push­ing back, they added. These coun­tries want Mr. As­sad to first en­gage with the Syr­ian po­lit­i­cal op­po­si­tion in a way that would give all Syr­i­ans a voice to de­ter­mine their fu­ture, the of­fi­cials said…. Some of the coun­tries op­pos­ing Syr­ia’s read­mis­sion have dou­bled down on their de­mands, in­clud­ing calls that Dam­as­cus ac­cept Arab troops to pro­tect re­turn­ing refugees, crack down on il­licit drug smug­gling and ask Iran to stop ex­pand­ing its foot­print in the na­tion, the Arab of­fi­cials said.” [WSJ]

✡️ Mind the Gap: Liberties editor Leon Wieseltier highlights the dissonance between the Jewish left and the Jewish right as an obstacle to the fight against antisemitism. “The contemporary Jewish community is now faced with the prospect of a double struggle, but so far it has demonstrated only a skill for singleness. The Jewish left wants to know only one thing, the Jewish right wants to know only another thing. Right now it should be the duty of American Jews to fight the anti-Semitism outside the Jewish world and the anti-democratic decay inside the Jewish world, and on the basis of the same principles…Almost nobody acknowledges the politically non-partisan nature of anti-Semitism, its infernal ubiquity. “ [Liberties]

📰 Time-ly Honor: Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the Biden administration’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, was named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2023, an honor the Holocaust historian said “advances my ongoing fight to stamp out antisemitism and all forms of hate.”

🤝 MBS Meeting: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) met with Saudi Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday, describing the meeting as “very productive” and “candid.”

🇦🇪 Deepening Ties: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Peninsula Affairs Daniel Benaim and Israeli Ambassador to the UAE Amir Hayek discussed further integrating Israel into the region during a meeting in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

🗳️ N.J. Announcement: Jersey City, N.J., Mayor Steven Fulop became the first Democrat to announce a bid for governor of New Jersey ahead of the 2025 election.

❓ Santos Saga: Former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) is considering mounting a bid against Rep. George Santos (R-NY) for the redrawn Long Island seat.

🏃‍♂️ Rerun: Ohio businessman Bernie Moreno, a Republican, filed paperwork to challenge Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in the 2024 Senate race, following a failed bid in last year’s race.

🇷🇺 ‘Wrongfully Detained’: The State Department designatedWall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as being “wrongfully detained” by Russia, a day after outgoing World Bank President David Malpass called Gershkovich’s detention a “brazen act” by Moscow. In an op-ed yesterday, WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan described Gershkovich as “a journalist who is now a state hostage, held, it is generally assumed, for some future trade down the road.”

🥯 Bagel Bites: Politicolooks at how the bagel has risen in popularity among Washingtonians from Capitol Hill — where a group of freshmen representatives jokingly launched the “bagel caucus” — to the White House, whose chief of staff, Jeff Zients, is a co-owner of the city’s popular Call Your Mother bagel chain.

🇺🇸🇸🇦 Allies in the Air: In an interview with Al-Monitor, CENTCOM head Gen. Michael Kurilla detailed the collaboration between U.S. and Saudi air-defense units to counter potential threats from Iranian UAVs. 

⚽ Footy Fanatics: Michael Rubin’s Fanatics is planning to branch into sales of soccer merchandise, with an eye toward expanding beyond its domestic market.

💲 Singer’s Say:The Wall Street Journal’s James Freeman interviews Elliott Management founder Paul Singer about potential future economic challenges and steps that can be taken — such as the cessation of unlimited money-printing — to avoid future recessions.

🎖️ Humanitarian Honor: Paramount Global Chair Shari Redstone will receive the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance’s Humanitarian Award at a ceremony in Los Angeles in May.

✍️ Campus Beat: More than 170 faculty members at Columbia University signed on to a letter supporting the school’s plans to open a center in Tel Aviv, while 95 other faculty members signed a competing letter opposing the effort.

🎓 Cambridge Conversation:The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board reacts to the decision by Harvard University to create a faculty-led Council on Academic Freedom, whose members include Steven Pinker and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who previously served as president of the university.

🎻 Crime Time: Writer Sarah Weinman reexamines the unsolved 1953 attack on Jascha Heifetz at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, after the famed violinist played a piece by composer ​​Richard Strauss, a Nazi collaborator.

🎙️ Worthy Listen: MizMaa Ventures founder and JI wine columnist Yitz Applbaum was interviewed by “American Optimist” podcast host Joe Lonsdale about the future of the Abraham Accords and what it’s like working in Saudi Arabia as an observant Jew.

👨 Emhoff’s Emergence: The Los Angeles Times looks at how Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff became the Biden administration’s leading voice against antisemitism.

😊 Gold-en Moment: Varietyinterviewed writer and actor Brett Goldstein about his rise to celebrity following his breakout role in “Ted Lasso” and new hit series “Shrinking.”

🇬🇧 Across the Pond: Writer Richard Rubin traveled to the U.K. to learn more about the role played by the Jewish community in medieval England.

✡️ Welcome to the Tribe: Sophia Ritchie completed her conversion to Judaism ahead of her wedding to music executive Elliot Grainge.

🎭 Theater Circuit: Alex Edelman’s “Just for Us” will run on Broadway for eight weeks this summer following several sold-out off-Broadway runs.

☕ Community Café: The U.K.’s Metro newspaper spotlights a newly expanded café, run by the British Jewish nonprofit Jami in the London neighborhood of Golders Green, which seeks to provide assistance and community to individuals experiencing mental health challenges.

⚖️ Herzog’s Hopes:The New York Times interviewed Israeli President Isaac Herzog about his role facilitating negotiations over the government’s proposed judicial reforms.

🚌 Accident in Asia: An Israeli woman was killed and dozens injured when a bus carrying 33 Israeli tourists was involved in an accident in the South Korean city of Chungju.

🤝 Regional Realignment: Bahrain and Qatar will resume diplomatic relations, two years after the lifting of an Arab boycott on Doha. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to restart flights between the two countries weeks after a Beijing-brokered agreement reestablished ties between them.

🚀 Russia’s Stockpile: Iran has been engaging in secret talks with Moscow and Beijing over the procurement of ammonium perchlorate, which is used to propel ballistic missiles.

🛫 Fight or Flight: Iran reportedly used earthquake relief flights to transport weapons and other military equipment into Syria.

➡️ Transitions: Sofia Gross, who previously served as head of policy partnerships and social impact at Snapchat, is joining Anduril Industries as director of communications. The State Department named Matthew Miller, who previously worked at the National Security Council and Justice Department, as spokesman. Eddie Meyer, who previously worked for Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA), joined Democratic Majority for Israel as a congressional liaison.

🕯️ Remembering: Attorney Ben Ferencz, the last living Nuremberg prosecutor, died at 103. Mad magazine cartoonist Al Jaffee died at 102. Israeli author Meir Shalev died at 94. Photographer Carl Fischer, whose work appeared on the cover of Esquire, died at 98. Actor Michael Lerner, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in 1991’s “Barton Fink,” died at 82. Memory expert and magician Harry Lorayne died at 96. Restaurant critic and author Mimi Sheraton, who wrote The Bialy Eaters: The Story of a Bread and a Lost World in 2000, died at 97. Transgender writer and activist Rachel Pollack died at 77. Holocaust survivor Hedda Kleinfeld Schacter, who with her husband founded the famed bridal shop Kleinfeld, died at 99. Family Dollar founder Leon Levine died at 85.

French Consul General Rene Troccaz (right) presents Israeli author David Grossman with the French Legion of Honour award in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

JI wine columnist Yitz Applbaum reviews the Rosso Negroamaro 2020:

“Pesach, sitting in Rhodes soaking up sun on chol hamoed, demanded a wine that could stand up to our family tradition of eating heavily charred shmura matzah slathered with mayonnaise. We were a large group, so a wine that scored well on the price-to-performance index was hugely important, too. The Rosso Negroamaro 2020 is an Italian wine that is made from the Negroamaro grape from the Salento region in Italy. It is ruby red; the front palate explodes with cinnamon. The mid-palate and finish are slightly syrupy with a grape jam explosion deep into your esophagus. Let this wine breathe for an hour – so wake up a bit early. This bottle will be drinkable for at least three more years.”

Psychiatrist, entrepreneur, movie producer and philanthropist, Dr. Henry George Jarecki, pictured here with his son Nicholas, turns 90… 

FRIDAY: Anne Monk… Former Securities and Exchange Commissioner, Elisse B. Walter turns 73… Israeli news editor and analyst, Chemi Shalev turns 70… Media executive, she and her family are majority owners of Viacom and CBS through Paramount Global, Shari Redstone turns 69… Co-founder, co-chairman and co-CEO at Canyon Partners, LLC, Mitchell Julis turns 68… Film, television and theater producer, his credits include the widely acclaimed 2016 film “La La Land,” Marc Platt turns 66… Birmingham, Ala.-based post-denominational rabbi, known on social media as “Deep South Rabbi,” Barry Altmark… Founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics and author of nine books about makeup and beauty, Bobbi Brown turns 66… Border czar for the first few months of the Biden administration, she is the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Roberta S. Jacobson turns 63… Bench coach for the Oakland Athletics, he was also bench coach for Team Israel at the World Baseball Classic last month, Brad Ausmus turns 54… Los Angeles-based freelance editor and writer, Robin Heinz Bratslavsky…

VP of newsgathering for CNN’s Washington bureau, Adam Levine… Emmy Award-winning actress, Sarah Michelle Gellar Prinze turns 46… Journalist, professor and author of four books, Sasha Issenberg turns 43… Co-founder and president of Statt, an AI/ML enterprise software platform, Steve Glickman… Principal at Bnei Akiva Schools of Toronto, Hillel David Rapp… Founder and CEO of Charity Bids, Israel “Yummy” Schachter… Award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer, Rachel Swirsky turns 41… Co-founder and co-CEO of BurnAlong, a Tivity Health company, Daniel Freedman… Classical cellist, she was awarded a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2022, Alisa Weilerstein turns 41… Former professional baseball first baseman who played in the MLB, Japanese and Mexican leagues, Joshua S. Whitesell turns 41… Documentary filmmaker, Nicholas Ma… Washington-based technology policy reporter at Axios, Ashley Gold… Isaac Hasson… Graphic designer, Casey Tepper… Yitzchak Tendler… Jon Fine… Moriah Elbaz…

SATURDAY: Professor of law and public policy at Duke University since 1971, Joel L. Fleishman turns 89… Former U.S. solicitor general, now a professor at Harvard Law School, Charles Fried turns 88… Senior advisor at Covington & Burling, he was a 15-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Howard Lawrence Berman turns 82… Duke University professor, physician, biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate in 2012, Robert Lefkowitz turns 80… Retired U.S. Army chaplain who attained the rank of lieutenant colonel, Rabbi Alan Sherman… Professor of German and comparative literature at New York University, Avital Ronell turns 71… Former city controller of Philadelphia for 12 years, following 16 years as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Alan Butkovitz turns 71… CEO of DMB Strategic, David Brand… Founder and director of the graduate school in the decorative arts at Bard College in Dutchess County, N.Y., Susan Weber turns 68… Deputy counsel at the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Deborah R. Liebman… Former executive director at American Press Institute, he is the author of ten books, including three novels, Tom Rosenstiel turns 67…

Rebbe of the Boyan Hasidic dynasty, Rabbi Nachum Dov Brayer turns 64… Former deputy secretary of the Treasury following four years as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Sarah Bloom Raskin turns 62… Managing partner, CEO and chief investment officer of Hudson Bay Capital Management, Sander R. Gerber… CEO of the New Israel Fund since 2009, prior to that he was the executive director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Daniel Sokatch turns 55… Cheryl Myra Cohn… Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and founder of the Truman National Security Project, Rachel Kleinfeld, Ph.D…. Head coach of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos basketball program, Joe Pasternack turns 46… CEO of the American Fintech Council, Y. Phillip Goldfeder turns 42… Actor, comedian, writer, producer and director, Seth Rogen turns 41… Co-founder and co-CEO of theSkimm, Carly Zakin… Research manager at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, David May… Director of grants and operations at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Kristin McCarthy… Founder and managing partner of Neue Urban, Zach Ehrlich… Social entrepreneur, environmental activist and human rights activist, Erin Schrode… Moshe Lehrer…

SUNDAY: Chasidic singer Mordechai Werdyger, known by his stage name Mordechai Ben David, turns 72… Olympic track-and-field athlete, and survivor of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, Esther Roth-Shachamorov turns 71… Actress and movie producer, Ellen Barkin turns 69… Chairman and CEO of private equity fund manager Jordan/Zalaznick Advisers, David Wayne Zalaznick turns 69… Physician and venture capitalist focused on biotechnology and life-sciences industries, Lindsay Rosenwald turns 68… Professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University, Aaron Louis Friedberg, Ph.D. turns 67… Filmmaker Stephen Kessler turns 63… Dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School since 2016 and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, Douglas Elmendorf turns 61… Secretary of State of the United States, Antony John (“Tony”) Blinken turns 61… Television producer and writer, he co-created and produced “Will & Grace” and “Boston Common,” David Sanford Kohan turns 59… Los Angeles pharmacist, Jeffrey D. Marcus… Former mayor of Hoboken, N.J., Dawn Zimmer turns 55…

Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S., now Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer turns 52… Member of the House of Commons of Canada since 2015, she represents the riding of Toronto-Danforth, Julie Dabrusin turns 52… Celebrity plastic surgeon, he is active on social media as “Dr. Miami,” Michael Salzhauer, M.D. turns 51… Board member of Jewish Community High School of the Bay in San Francisco, Ellen K. Finestone… Founder and president of Glass Ceiling Strategies, Alex Glass… Founder of Jewish Fashion Council and journalist at Fabologie, Adi Heyman… Attorney who has served as a law clerk to three Maryland judges, now an MBA student at Temple University, Geoff Middleberg… Senior product manager at Duolingo, Uriel Kejsefman… Singer, pianist, and composer, he is best known as half of the folk-rock duo, the Portnoy Brothers, Mendy Portnoy turns 31… Principal at Helena Special Investments and interim CFO at Aether, Matthew Saunders… Director of partnerships at Grow Progress, Adam Gotbaum… First baseman in the Chicago Cubs organization, he played for Team Israel in last month’s World Baseball Classic, Matthew Jared Mervis turns 25… Josh Goldstein… Sarah Wolfson…