Daily Kickoff
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we spotlight the efforts of the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, and report on the fallout facing the Council on American-Islamic Relations over its executive director’s praise of the Oct. 7 terror attacks. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: David Frum, Rep. Elise Stefanik and David Rubenstein.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider, eJewishPhilanthropy and The Circuit stories, including: Calling for moral clarity on antisemitism, Pa. governor slams UPenn’s president; Long Island special election could feature two candidates with deep Jewish community ties; ‘Mission impossible’: Gaza humanitarian envoy David Satterfield’s high-stakes diplomacy. Print the latest edition here.
Jewish Washington marked the first night of Hanukkah on Thursday at the annual National Menorah Lighting on the Ellipse, in front of the White House.
The evening’s emcee, Rabbi Levi Shemtov of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), spoke about the importance of living proudly as a Jew at a time when antisemitism is on the rise. A person in a menorah costume danced around the event’s attendees while the Marine Corps Band played a medley of Hanukkah songs. Several schoolchildren who had won a Chabad contest read short essays about their love for Judaism.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff addressed the gathering with an acknowledgment of the pain felt within the Jewish community since Oct. 7 and a condemnation of antisemitism. “We have not seen anything like this moment and I know it’s scary. Just look at the news these past few days. What have we seen? The presidents of some of our most elite universities were unable to denounce calling for the genocide of Jews as antisemitic,” Emhoff said. “The lack of moral clarity is unacceptable.”
“Let’s be clear,” Emhoff said. “When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or identity, and when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism, and it must be condemned. Condemned unequivocally and without context.” His comments were taken from the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.
His address touched only briefly on Israel. “President Biden and Vice President Harris have also been working to ensure Israel has the support it needs,” said Emhoff. He concluded, like Rabbi Shemtov, with a plea for Jewish joy: “We cannot live in fear or be afraid. And we must always live openly and proudly as Jews.”
The candlelighting on the Ellipse kicked off days of Hanukkah receptions and festivities in the district. On Sunday evening, Vice President Kamala Harris is hosting a Hanukkah reception at the Naval Observatory. Also on Sunday, Jarrod Bernstein, a White House Jewish liaison under former President Barack Obama, will light the menorah at Union Station at 4:30 p.m. ET. On Monday evening, the White House will host its annual Hanukkah reception. And on Tuesday evening, the Israeli Embassy will hold an “evening of solidarity” with a candlelighting, a more solemn event than in years past.
behind the scenes
Hostages’ families find all the services they need in one Tel Aviv building
The old Kibbutz Movement headquarters in Tel Aviv was bustling with activity this week. Like many other buildings in the center of the city that housed once-prominent organizations, this one was repurposed years ago into a high-tech office, with open-space work areas, lounges with beanbags and fancy coffee machines. And at first glance, the building looked like any other office in Tel Aviv’s tech sector – but cybersecurity firm Check Point and all of its tenants moved out weeks ago. Since then, all six stories of the building, as well as the basement, were repurposed as the headquarters of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the largest and most prominent civil society organization supporting and advocating for the families of those abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Launching into action: Former Labor MK Emilie Moatti was making herself coffee at the start of another day at the head of the Forum’s diplomatic team. “October 7 was a Saturday. This forum was founded on Tuesday, and I was working for them by Thursday. [Former Deputy Attorney General] Raz Nizri was already heading the legal department – I asked who’s dealing with international affairs,” Moatti told JI. “Our goal is to keep the hostages on the international agenda,” Moatti said. “We met representatives of every country [with an embassy or office] in Israel, except for Egypt and Turkey. We met over 200 lawmakers around the world. We met 40 heads of state – some on Zoom, like Brazilian President Lula da Silva.”
Rote resilience: According to Orna Dotan, a medical management professional who heads the “Hosen,” or Resilience Department, named for the Hebrew term for post-traumatic psychological care: “We prepare the families before joining delegations abroad, we are present during the trips and we talk to them at the end.” The department “was established eight weeks ago, with therapists, psychologists, social workers,” Dotan said, sitting in a lounge area where two therapists were waiting to be interviewed so they could volunteer at the forum. Outside the window was a billboard calling to bring the hostages home. “At first, we proactively made daily contact with the families to find out their emotional and mental needs. We now accompany their changing needs week after week.”
Infighting: At a meeting with the war cabinet, Israeli Prime Miniter Benjamin Netanyahu told the families that there is no deal that Hamas would accept in exchange for all of the hostages, other than Israel guaranteeing its survival “while it promises to do what it did on Oct. 7 again and again. We won’t agree to that and you wouldn’t either.” Quotes and recordings of hostages’ relatives shouting at the cabinet members, leaked to the media: “Don’t turn us into bereaved parents,” a mother said. Yet at least some of the hostages’ relatives did not like the others’ behavior in the meeting, and a fight among them over the right way to bring back their loved ones has been brewing for weeks. When Eliyahu Libman, mayor of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron, and father of hostage Elyakim Libman, thanked the government for the work it has done, other hostages shouted him down and called him a “plant” from the government.
handle with cair
White House distances itself from CAIR, condemns director’s ‘antisemitic statements’
The White House on Thursday distanced itself from the Council on American-Islamic Relations after the leader of the Muslim advocacy organization gave a speech celebrating the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Official response: “We condemn these shocking, antisemitic statements in the strongest terms,” Andrew Bates, the White House deputy press secretary, told JI. “Every leader has a responsibility to call out antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head.”
Details: Bates’ comments come after a JI report documenting a November speech delivered by Nihad Awad, co-founder and executive director of CAIR, in which he said of Oct. 7 that he “was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land and walk free into their land that they were not allowed to walk in.”
Scrubbed: The White House faced criticism in May when its release of the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism included a fact sheet that said CAIR would educate religious communities about protecting houses of worship from hate, given the organization’s history of antisemitic remarks. Today, CAIR’s name was deleted from that fact sheet, which the White House attributed to Awad’s comments.
Not inside: The White House official also made clear that CAIR is not part of conversations happening now as the White House drafts a national strategy against Islamophobia. “CAIR is not consulting on the development of the Islamophobia strategy, period,” the White House official said.
holding the line
J Street to stick by Bowman, other endorsees despite split on Gaza
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel, the progressive Israel advocacy organization J Street has resisted calls for a cease-fire, even as some left-wing members of Congress who are close to the group have demanded Israel end its war against Hamas. Some of J Street PAC’s endorsees have gone even further — including Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. But J Street said on Thursday it will not reevaluate its endorsements, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
No change: “We’re now in December of 2023, so we’re more than halfway through, essentially, the [election] cycle. We probably will not change our endorsements in mid-cycle,” the group’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, told JI in a phone interview on Thursday. “The kinds of things that are being said and done now will probably have an impact on our reevaluation of people for the 2026 cycle.”
Crossed a line: Ben-Ami said Bowman’s accusation of Israel committing genocide “certainly crossed the line in terms of the types of language that we use,” but it would not cause the group to reassess its endorsement of Bowman in his 2024 reelection campaign. Westchester County Executive George Latimer announced a primary challenge to Bowman on Wednesday; he is expected to receive significant support from donors aligned with AIPAC.
Different opinions: Since Oct. 7, J Street has found itself at odds with some of its progressive allies, many of whom have called for a cease-fire for weeks and slammed Israel’s military campaign. J Street, meanwhile, has supported Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas while also questioning whether the Israel Defense Forces could do more to protect Palestinian civilians. The group’s endorsees have offered a wide range of responses and policy actions vis-a-vis Israel and Gaza, but Ben-Ami said that’s not J Street’s fault. “I don’t think there’s any lack of clear guidance from J Street. We just don’t agree, and they go ahead and do their own thing,” Ben-Ami said. “These are elected officials. They’re grown people.”
Watch your words: J Street released a lengthy policy letter on Thursday laying out the group’s thinking on the war in Gaza. Its key question: “What happens if the Netanyahu government continues to ignore the admonitions and guardrails that J Street, the Biden administration and many Americans – Jewish and not – support?” The answer, according to J Street, is that the Biden administration should stop supporting Israel’s war effort. Not by cutting off aid, or calling for a cease-fire, or making any policy changes — just by signaling a lack of support.
conditions coalition
Thirteen Senate Democrats to push amendment conditioning Israel aid
A group of 13 Senate Democrats announced on Thursday that they plan to introduce an amendment to the Senate’s supplemental Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan aid bill that would place conditions on U.S. aid to Israel and other allies, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Behind the scenes: The announcement follows a largely closed-door push by some Democrats for conditions to be incorporated into the original text of the Senate’s supplemental bill. That effort failed, but this public announcement indicates that only about one-quarter of the Democratic Senate caucus is supportive of conditioning aid to Israel.
Who’s in: Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Dick Durbin, (D-IL), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) are leading the effort, joined by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Peter Welch (D-VT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tom Carper (D-DE), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Ed Markey (D-MA).
Who’s out: A significant number of lawmakers who had raised concerns about Israel’s military operations in Gaza did not sign on as sponsors of this amendment. It’s not clear whether the amendment, when presented, will have support from any lawmakers outside of the group that is introducing it, but the amendment is almost certain to fail in a floor vote.
State of play: There’s growing concern in Washington that Congress could depart for the holidays in a week without passing urgent Israel and Ukraine aid. There’s no clear path to the compromise Senate Republicans are demanding on border security policy. And it’s not clear how a compromise bill would make it through the divided House given hardline GOP demands on immigration, Republican skepticism of Ukraine aid and progressive opposition to sweeping border policy changes. Bipartisan talks resumed on Thursday afternoon, however.
primary problems
Bowman’s censure adds to his political headaches back home
The backlash over Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (D-NY) decision to trigger a false fire alarm in a House building in September, a misdemeanor to which he pleaded guilty, was always expected to be an issue in his campaign for reelection, where he is facing a formidable challenge from Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who officially entered the race this week, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. A Republican-led resolution censuring Bowman for pulling the alarm, which passed the House on Thursday in a 214-191 vote divided largely along party lines, is only likely to compound the fallout as he prepares to defend his seat in what is shaping up to be a hotly contested primary next year.
Latimer responds: In a statement to JI, Latimer, for his part, didn’t embrace the censure but used it as an example of painting the congressman as more engaged in distracting stunts than focusing on the needs of his constituents. “What the congressman did was an unfortunate incident, but with the unfinished work at hand before the House of Representatives, the motion to censure was about putting politics first,” Latimer said. “We need this Congress to get back to work on dealing with the real issues facing our country and our world, including aid to the Ukraine and Israel, addressing the high cost of living, investing in infrastructure and addressing climate change. That’s what the people need.”
Leadership move: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who has indicated he will support Bowman in his primary despite their differences on Israel and other issues, was among several Democrats who defended the congressman, a high-profile Squad member who is frequently at odds with his party’s mainstream wing. Calling the censure “fraudulent and fictitious,” Jeffries, in his floor remarks, accused “extreme MAGA Republicans” of seeking “to undermine” Bowman, a two-term congressman who, he said, has been “doing his best to serve his constituents.”
She’s out: Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) said yesterday that she won’t run for reelection, barring a court decision redrawing North Carolina’s new congressional maps that carved up her district. Manning, a former Jewish Federations of North America chair, established herself as among the most vocal Democrats on Israel policy and antisemitism in her two terms, as co-chair of the House antisemitism task force and vice ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Her retirement will be a blow for the Jewish and pro-Israel communities, which have lostseveralkeycongressionalchampions in recent years. Manning took over the antisemitism task force just a year ago.
heard at aspen
Egypt’s Sameh Shoukry, U.K.’s David Cameron and NSC’s Jon Finer discuss the state of the Middle East at Aspen summit
Key global figures gathered along the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., yesterday for an Aspen Security Forum event that focused heavily on the war between Israel and Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Key speakers included Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer.
Rock solid: “I think the issue of animosity and antagonism between Egypt and Israel is totally an issue behind us,” Shoukry said, entirely ruling out the possibility of cutting ties or renewed violence between Israel and Egypt. “We don’t agree on all issues, but that doesn’t in any way jeopardize what is a very stable foundation.”
No cease-fire: “People who call for an immediate permanent cease-fire, you need to understand that if you stop now with Hamas still in charge of even a part of Gaza, there can never be a two-state solution,” Cameron said. “So I think it’s important we support Israel while at the same time argue about the importance of international humanitarian law, the importance of reducing civilian casualties. We will make those points over and over again.”
View from the White House: Finer said that “a step forward for the Palestinians” is “an important part of any future Israeli-Saudi normalization talks. We believe the Saudis would support that too, and I think especially in the current context, in light of the conflict that’s broken out, that will have to be a piece of the puzzle going forward.”
Exclusive: Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced a bill to reauthorize the Never Again Education Act through 2030, a companion to a bill recently introduced in the House. “Failing to educate students about the gravity and scope of the Holocaust is a disservice to the memory of its victims and to our duty to prevent such atrocities in the future,” Rosen said in a statement to JI. “At a time of rising antisemitism, reauthorizing the bipartisan Never Again Education Act will help ensure that educators have the resources needed to teach students about the Holocaust and help counter antisemitic bigotry and hate.”
Worthy Reads
Reporter Retrospective: For CNN, journalist Ilene Prusher reflects on how international media reports on events in Gaza, tapping into her experiences covering the enclave in the 1990s and 2000s. “The Hamas leaders and spokesmen who agreed to our interviews were rarely what you would expect of representatives of a terrorist organization. They were men who were fluent in English, logical-sounding about their grievances and highly educated to boot, usually in engineering or medicine. They portrayed themselves as part of a ‘political wing’ of Hamas, one that was unaware of what was being planned by the more secretive military wing. Often, these [spokesmen] insisted, they had no idea that an attack was imminent. By and large, we reporters ate it up. Our editors wanted us to have access to this shadowy group and to explain its lure for average Palestinians — and in particular, the strategic challenge it presented to Arafat. By claiming that the organization’s left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing, Hamas made it easy for themselves to evade tough questions — like, why target civilians rather than military targets? — and convenient for so many of us to feel like we were putting our fingers on the Palestinian pulse rather than sitting down for tea with terrorists.” [CNN]
A Mattathias Moment: In The Wall Street Journal, Tablet’s Liel Leibovitz links the story of Hanukkah with the challenges facing Jews in the wake of rising global antisemitism following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks. “American Jews, as a consequence, are having their Mattathias moment. Though they aren’t picking up the sword, they’re becoming much more comfortable than ever setting themselves apart. You can see them filing into synagogues they’d never visited before, or buying Star of David necklaces to make sure they’re easily identified as Jews, even though or precisely because they may pay for it with a nasty look or worse. You can hear them at Shabbat dinners and read their posts on social media helping one another recover from the betrayal of so many people they once considered friends. Last month nearly 300,000 of them marched on the National Mall in Washington — the largest pro-Israel gathering in American history — to make sure they were counted as Jews. The men and women who followed the ancient priest to victory never looked back. The dynasty Mattathias founded, the Hasmoneans, governed over a proud and independent Jewish community for more than a century. They witnessed and nurtured a religious and cultural awakening — much like what we’re seeing today.” [WSJ]
Campus Codes: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens writes about double standards relating to free speech on campus, following a Capitol Hill hearing with the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT. “If they are seriously committed to free speech — as I believe they should be — then that has to go for all controversial views, including when it comes to incendiary issues about race and gender, as well as when it comes to hiring or recruiting an ideologically diverse faculty and student body. If, on the other hand, they want to continue to forbid and punish speech they find offensive, then the rule must apply for all offensive speech, including calls to wipe out Israel or support homicidal resistance.” [NYTimes]
What Free Speech Doesn’t Mean:The Atlantic’s David Frum considers how a proclaimed adherence to free speech plays out on college campuses. “Everybody should be free to express his or her opinion about the Middle East as an opinion. Everybody should be equally free to express opinions about other people’s opinions, including by exercising the freedom to peacefully boycott or to lawfully refuse to hire. But what the great majority of tolerant and law-abiding citizens are abruptly discovering is that some progressives define their rights as including the power to threaten, coerce, and harm others. This is not behavior that a free and democratic society can accept if it hopes to survive as a free and democratic society. If the public condemnation of their violent behavior comes as a shock to people incubated in progressive spaces, the shock will be a salutary one.” [TheAtlantic]
Around the Web
Follow the Money … to the Houthis: The Treasury Department announced sanctions against 13 individuals and entities profiting from the shipment of Iranian commodities to Tehran’s Houthi proxies in Yemen.
Probe of the Academy: Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, announced a formal investigation of the “learning environments,” policies and disciplinary procedures at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as other universities. Foxx said the committee would be requesting large troves of documents and would consider subpoenas.
Stefanik’s Stance: In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, House Republican Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) called for the ouster of the university presidents who testified about campus antisemitism earlier this week.
Summoning Suozzi: Former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) was selected as the Democratic nominee for the special election to replace expelled Rep. George Santos (R-NY) in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
Taking Back His $100 Million: Stone Ridge Asset Management’s Ross Stevens is withdrawing a gift of roughly $100 million to the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater, over the school’s response to antisemitism on campus.
School Daze: The Department of Education said that five schools and school districts — Cobb County School District in Marietta, Ga.; Montana State University; Tulane University; Union College and the University of Cincinnati — are under investigation by the department’s Office of Civil Rights over antisemitism complaints.
Harvard Antisemitism Fallout: Rabbi David Wolpe, the Anti-Defamation League’s rabbinic fellow, announced that he will step down from the antisemitism advisory committee at Harvard University amid an investigation into allegations of antisemitism at Harvard and other Ivy League universities, Haley Cohen reports for Jewish Insider.
Bird Buy: The Carlyle Group’s David Rubenstein is in talks to acquire the Baltimore Orioles.
Kabul in Queens: New Lines Magazine spotlights the Afghan Jewish community in Queens, N.Y., which has grown as Afghanistan’s remaining Jewish community has left the country.
Albany Arrest: Police in Albany, N.Y., arrested a 28-year-old man after shots were fired outside of an area synagogue; police officials said the man shouted “Free Palestine” during the attack.
TikTok Tensions: Jewish and Israeli employees at TikTok are raising concerns about unchecked antisemitism within the company.
Poster Punishment: NYU suspended a first-year student who was filmed ripping down posters of Israeli hostages.
On the Ground: The son of Israeli war cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot was killed in an operation in Gaza.
Border Crossing: Israel will reopen its Kerem Shalom crossing with Gaza to facilitate the transfer of additional aid into the enclave.
Journalist Killed: A Reuters investigation found that fire from an Israeli tank killed a journalist working for the wire service in Lebanon.
Wrong Policy: In the Washington Examiner, Daniel Samet questions the viability of a two-state solution.
Axis of Evil: Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Moscow’s ties with Tehran during a meeting in the Russian capital with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
Show Time: The Washington Postspotlights Harry Shearer’s “Le Show” radio program, which marked 40 years on the air this week.
Remembering: Rabbi David Ellenson, who served for 12 years as president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, died at 76.
Pic of the Day
Rabbi Shmuel Butman lights the world’s largest Hanukkah menorah at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street at Central Park on the first night of Hanukkah. The 36-foot, 4,000-pound menorah erected by Chabad Lubavitch was certified by the Guinness World Records as the largest in the world.
Birthdays
Emmy Award-winning sports commentator and journalist, Roy Firestone turns 70…
FRIDAY: Founder and CEO of Top Rank boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas, Bob Arum turns 92… Film, stage and television actor, composer of film and theatre music, and son of concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein, John Rubinstein turns 77… Israeli folk singer, lyricist, composer and musical arranger, she has released more than 60 albums sold worldwide, winner of the Kinor David (David’s Harp) Prize, Chava Alberstein turns 76… Astrophysicist and senior scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Margaret Geller turns 76… Film director, producer and screenwriter, Nancy Meyers turns 74… Canadian anthropologist and author of four books promoting Mussar, a Jewish ethical movement, Alan Morinis turns 74… Professor of human development at Cornell University, Robert J. Sternberg turns 74… Writer, photographer and designer, founder of the Honey Sharp Gallery and Ganesh Café in the Berkshires, Honey Sharp… Bedford, Texas, resident, Doug Bohannon… Senior executive producer of special events at ABC News, Marc Burstein… Chairman of a nationwide insurance brokerage, Bruce P. Gendelman… Author of Toward a Meaningful Life, and chairman of the Yiddish English weekly The Algemeiner Journal, Rabbi Simon Jacobson turns 67… Retired administrative law judge at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Nadine Lewis turns 66… Rabbi, speaker and musician known as Rav Shmuel, Shmuel Skaist turns 59… Co-founder of three successful companies, including Office Tiger in 1999, CloudBlue in 2001, and Xometry in 2013, where he is CEO, Randy Altschuler turns 53… Attorney by training but in real life a social media blogger and author, she is the co-founder of TheLi.st, Rachel Sklar turns 51… Recent general manager of The Wall Street Journal, now an advisor at Shoreline Drive Advisors, Aaron Kissel turns 49… Founder of newsletter “Popular Information,” Judd Legum… President and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, Rabbi Aaron Lerner turns 44… Actor and musician, Dov Yosef Tiefenbach turns 42… Actress, comedian and television writer, Joanna “Jo” Firestone turns 37… Artist, Sophia Narrett… Venture capitalist in Israel, Alex Oppenheimer… Partner at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, Ali Krimmer…
SATURDAY: Retired diplomat who served as Israel’s ambassador to Russia, China and the U.K., Zvi Heifetz turns 67… Los Angeles investor and entrepreneur, she is the founder of CaregiversDirect and Beverly Hills Egg Donation, Lisa Greer… Former senior White House aide and deputy secretary of the U.S. Treasury in the Clinton and Obama administrations, now CEO of the Brunswick Group, Neal S. Wolin turns 62… EVP of Sterling Equities and former COO of the New York Mets, Jeffrey Scott Wilpon turns 62… General counsel to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Daniel “Dan” Greenberg turns 58… Minister without portfolio in the Netanyahu cabinet, Gideon Sa’ar (born Gideon Zarechansky) turns 57… U.S. senator (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand turns 57… Singer-songwriter, music producer and founder of StaeFit workout apparel, Stacey Liane Levy Jackson 55… Senior advisor to the U.S. State Department’s sanctions policy coordinator, Tamara Cofman Wittes turns 54… Singer-songwriter and son of Bob Dylan, he rose to fame as the lead singer and primary songwriter for the rock band the Wallflowers, Jakob Dylan turns 54… Senior rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg turns 49… Managing director at Finsbury / FGS Global, Eric Wachter… Actor, comedian and musician, best known for his role as Howard Wolowitz in the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” Simon Helberg turns 43… Staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society’s juvenile rights practice, Daniella Esther Rohr Adelsberg… Digital director and policy fellow for the R Street Institute, Shoshana Weissmann… Israeli fashion model, Dorit Revelis turns 22…
SUNDAY: Baltimore-based dairy cattle dealer, Abraham Gutman turns 79… Former chairman and CEO of Verizon until retiring in 2011, Ivan Seidenberg turns 77… Owner of Judaica House and Cool Kippahs, both in Teaneck, N.J., Reuben Nayowitz… Progressive political activist, she headed the AmeriCorps VISTA program during the Carter administration, Margery Tabankin turns 75… Founding rabbi of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Md., Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt turns 71… Founder and CEO at Seppy’s Kosher Baked Goods in Pueblo, Colo., Elishevah Sepulveda… Real estate entrepreneur based in Palm Beach, Fla., Jeff Greene turns 69… U.S. senator (R-AR), John Boozman turns 68… One of NYC’s leading real estate investors and developers, Joseph Chetrit turns 66… Israeli filmmaker and political activist, Udi Aloni turns 64… Senior fellow with the Independent Women’s Forum, she was the deputy special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism at the U.S. Department of State, Ellie Cohanim turns 51… Former rabbi of Temple Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, he was held hostage in the synagogue in January 2022 and then rescued, Charlie Cytron-Walker turns 48… Head of Bloomberg Beta, Roy Bahat turns 47… Actress known for her roles in HBO’s “Entourage” and CBS’s “The Mentalist,” Emmanuelle Chriqui turns 46… Managing director for private-equity firm TPG, Marc Mezvinsky turns 46… General partner at Andreessen Horowitz, David A. Ulevitch turns 42… Screenwriter, best known for co-writing “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Captain Marvel” and “Pokémon Detective Pikachu,” Nicole Perlman turns 42… Former managing editor for CNN Business, Alex Koppelman… Co-founder of single-origin spice company, Burlap & Barrel (a public benefit corporation), Ethan Frisch… Disability rights activist who co-founded the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, he is a Ph.D. candidate in health policy at Harvard, Ari Daniel Ne’eman… R&B, jazz and soul singer and songwriter, she performs as “Mishéll,” Irina Rosenfeld turns 35… Senior manager of communications at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Mitchell Rubenstein… Rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel in Metairie, Louisiana, Philip Kaplan… Co-founder at Dojo, Daniel Goldstern… Actress, musician, fashion model and radio talk show host, Rachel Trachtenburg turns 30…
Recent Daily Kickoff Newsletters
