One of the most famous stories in the Bible — thanks, in part, to the musical about its main character — is that of Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers before becoming a trusted advisor to the Egyptian pharaoh. 

The tale begins when Joseph’s brothers throw him down an empty well before selling him as a slave to passing merchants. But what if Joseph stayed in the well, and that well had been full of water, and the pharaoh was a merman who reigned over the depths of the ocean? 

A majority of senators, including 16 Democrats, voted on Wednesday night in favor of a non-binding Senate measure that opposes entering into an Iran deal addressing only the regime’s nuclear program as well as the removal of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ terrorism designation. The final vote on the measure was 62 to 33.

Wednesday’s vote came on a motion introduced by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), as part of the Senate’s consideration of the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) aimed at countering China. 

LOS ANGELES — Washington’s approach toward Ukraine could reverberate in its dealings with Iran and in relationships with Middle East nations, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday at the Milken Institute Global Conference here. 

Washington’s decision not to more strongly come to Ukraine’s aid militarily when the U.S. urged Ukraine to abandon its nuclear weapons three decades ago, Mnuchin argued, could send signals that the U.S. will not honor its nuclear commitments as it works toward a nuclear-free Iran. 

Orthodox Jewish groups have frequently found themselves aligned with Christian conservatives at the Supreme Court on religious liberty issues. But Monday night’s leaked draft opinion indicating that the Court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade brings into focus one area of potential difference between the frequent allies.

Christian conservatives have led the anti-abortion movement in the U.S. for decades and pushed for the Court to overturn Roe, the 1973 decision that said the Constitution gives women the right to choose whether to have an abortion. 

CLEVELAND — As a cluster of gathering storm clouds prepared to burst just after polls closed on Tuesday evening, the stage had been set for an appropriately cathartic end to the bitter primary rematch between Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) and Nina Turner in Cleveland and its surrounding suburbs.

With two-thirds of the vote, Brown claimed a decisive victory over her opponent, setting her up to win her first full House term in November and bolstering her position as the establishment heir to Ohio’s 11th Congressional District. 

Mark Mellman, the president of Democratic Majority for Israel’s political arm, warned leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus that it would be engaging in potentially discriminatory behavior if it changes its endorsement rules to exclude members who accept campaign contributions from the pro-Israel group.

The idea was recently floated as a possibility by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the CPC chairwoman. 

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) had never campaigned for a House colleague — nor had he ever been to Ohio, for that matter — before his arrival in Cleveland on Saturday to boost a fellow freshman lawmaker, Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH), as she seeks her first full congressional term in today’s primary.

“I believe in Shontel so deeply that I felt motivated to campaign in Ohio and then travel back to New York in time for a wedding,” Torres, 34, quipped in an interview with Jewish Insider on the eve of the election.

CLEVELAND — Even as Jewish voters overwhelmingly coalesced around Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) during her first congressional bid just under a year ago, Nina Turner, the well-known progressive champion, is actively engaged in an effort to peel away at least a portion of that support as she seeks to defeat Brown in a primary rematch on Tuesday.

In recent weeks, Turner has met with rabbis, attended synagogue services, held town halls and directly targeted Jewish voters through phone banking and canvassing initiatives in Ohio’s newly drawn 11th Congressional District, which includes all of Cleveland and some surrounding suburbs.