Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 25, 2022

With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

The Biden administration is bracing for bad GDP figures ahead of a what's expected to be a a busy week of economic news. | Scott Eisen/Getty Images

THE WEEK Today: The America First Agenda Summit convenes in Washington (heres the schedule). The Senate holds a cloture vote on the CHIPS Act, setting up a possible final vote on Tuesday or Wednesday. MIKE PENCEspeaks at the Heritage Foundation, laying out an agenda for a possible 2024 run. Tuesday: The Conference Board releases new consumer confidence numbers. At 3 p.m., DONALD TRUMP gives the keynote at the America First Agenda Summit, his first appearance in D.C. since leaving office. Wednesday: The Fed meets to decide whether to raise interest rates, and JEROME POWELL holds a presser. Thursday: New Q2 GDP numbers are announced. The annual Congressional Baseball Game is scheduled for Nats Park at 7:05 p.m. Friday: New inflation numbers released.

WHY TRUMP IS IN D.C. TOMORROW These former Trump advisers are trying to do the impossible: Make Trumpism about the future, by Meridith McGraw

THIS WEEKS BIG STORYLINE IN WASHINGTON If theres one thing the White House, economists and basically everyone who thinks about money can agree on, its that this is going to be a big week for economic news.

On Tuesday, we get new consumer confidence numbers, a measure which has fallen for two consecutive months. Last months report showed the Consumer Confidence Index at its lowest level since February 2021 and the Expectations Index consumers short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, per the Conference Board at its lowest level since 2013.

On Wednesday, the Fed will meet and make a decision on just how much to raise interest rates. After the most recent inflation numbers, most observers expect a hike of .75 percentage points. That would be the fourth rate increase this year.

Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell has vowed to follow the data in deciding how high to crank up interest rates to crush the worst inflation surge in four decades, Victoria Guida writes this morning. But Powell and other Fed policymakers are making that crucial decision based on data that lately has been so confusing and contradictory that its hard for them to know where the economy actually stands.

Case in point: Economic growth is projected by some analysts to have been negative in the second quarter of the year, but hiring is strong and the jobless rate sits near historic lows. Consumers say theyre unhappy about the economy but are still spending even amid the aggressive price spikes. Supply chains are improving, but manufacturing output is slowing. And Covid cases are skyrocketing again even as America fully reopens for business.

The high stakes: Whatever the Feds decision, it'll be made without a clear line of sight at their target. That uncertainty heightens the risk that theyll either do too much triggering a severe recession or too little, prolonging red-hot inflation and making it harder to conquer.

On Thursday, the GDP numbers for the second quarter will drop, and economists expect theyll show a decline of 1% to 2%. It would be the second straight quarter of decline which is often seen as signaling a recession.

The Biden administration is prebutting the expected bad GDP news.

I do want to emphasize: What a recession really means is a broad-based contraction in the economy, Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN said on NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday. And even if that [Q2 GDP] number is negative, we are not in a recession now. And I would, you know, warn that we should [not be] characterizing that as a recession. Most of the data that [the National Bureau of Economic Research] look[s] at right now continues to be strong.

Sounding a similar note: The economy created 1.1 million jobs in Q2, BRIAN DEESE, head of the National Economic Council, wrote in a Sunday afternoon Twitter thread. That's simply not consistent w/ a recession, where historically the economy is consistently LOSING jobs. Looking ahead, the global economy faces significant challenges. But with a strong labor market and household finances, the U.S. can transition without giving up all the econ gains of the past 18 [months].

On Friday, consumer price inflation numbers will drop, via the Personal Consumption Expenditure index which, as Ben White notes, happens to be the Feds favorite gauge of prices.

TWO OTHER BIG STORIES TO WATCH THIS WEEK:

1. Senate Dems hope to keep the reconciliation train on the rails. As soon as today, the Senate parliamentarian could give guidance on whether Dems plan to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices is permissible via reconciliation.

2. The pending same-sex marriage bill vote in the Senate. An aide to CHUCK SCHUMER says the majority leader is working closely with Sens. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-Wis.) and KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.) the chambers only two out LGBTQ lawmakers to win enough Republican votes to pass a bill to codify same-sex marriage and interracial marriage into law. (The House passed the measure last week.) Schumer is expected to bring the bill to the floor as soon as they get to 60 yes votes.

How theyre getting there: Dems are focusing on those Republicans who have LGBTQ friends, family or staff and might be convinced to support the straightforward legislation based on their personal connections, Burgess Everett reports this morning.

Baldwin, who in 2012 became the first openly LGBTQ person elected to the Senate, tells Burgess that shes hopeful about finding enough support, but is blunt about this moment in time: I had not expected to be fighting to protect a right thats already been won in court.

Good Monday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

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HARRIS TO THE RESCUE? VP KAMALA HARRIS and her team are planning to hit the road in support of Democratic state legislators and governors on the front lines of the fight for abortion rights, Eugene reports this morning.

Its something the strategists behind the DLCC and DGA have wanted for a long time attention from national leaders and marks an aggressive push by the second highest Democrat in the land to get involved in races often overlooked by the national party.

We need to make it a goal that were out in America three days a week, Harris told her staff recently as they worked to figure out how much overall travel she should take through the November elections, a source familiar with the conversations told Eugene.

TOP-ED Jeffrey Frank in the NYT: Kamala Harris Is Stuck

THE PLAYBOOK BOOK CLUB Q&A Our colleague and POLITICOs White House Bureau Chief Jonathan Lemires book The Big Lie comes out tomorrow. In it, he traces what he considers the root of Trumps political career: his relationship with lying.

Lemire tells Eugene he wanted to do something a little different with the book. Instead of trying to tell the entirety of the arc of the Trump presidency, I wanted to take a focused angle on his lies and how everything about his lies led to January 6 and has shaped our politics beyond that.

Trumps use of lies from the racist birther lie that accompanied his entry into national politics, to his lie that the 2016 Iowa GOP caucuses were rigged, to his lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him presents a challenge to the media as he gears up for a likely 2024 run, says Lemire.

It's not just [the] lessons learned during his presidency about needing to supply appropriate context to fact-checks, [or] not just carrying him live because you can't trust what he'd say would be true. More than that: How do we frame him? Do we frame him as an insurrectionist presidential candidate? We're going to be in a new place. There has not been a test like this for the country since the Civil War in terms of how we'd have to approach that race and how we'd have to cover someone who had such, in many ways, radical beliefs about our democracy.

Mini-excerpt from the book on the Biden teams preparations for lawsuits about the 2020 election and its ultimate failure of imagination over how far Trump would take his fight: [Biden legal adviser BOB] BAUER created a team of former solicitors general to fight the legal battles ahead. And internally, strategy sessions were held, with tabletop exercises to game out what could happen during the campaign and its aftermath. Led by ANITA DUNN and RON KLAIN, they tried to project scenarios both mundane and far-fetched. What if Trump refused to leave office? What if Trump considered calling in the military? The ideas were rejected as absurd and unrealistic.

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PRESIDENT JOE BIDENS MONDAY:

9:30 a.m.: The president will receive the Presidents Daily Brief.

12:30 p.m.: Biden will speak virtually to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives Conference.

Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will brief at 3:10 p.m. with ASHISH JHA.

HARRIS MONDAY:

8:45 a.m.: The VP will leave D.C. for Indianapolis.

11:30 a.m.: Harris will convene Indiana state legislators to talk abortion, as Adam Wren scooped last week, with opening remarks at the Indiana State Library.

3:20 p.m.: Harris will leave Indiana to return to Washington.

THE SENATE will meet at 3 p.m. to take up the House message to accompany the legislative vehicle for the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act. At 5:30 p.m., the Senate will have a cloture vote teeing up the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act.

THE HOUSE is out.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

From left, Rebecca Kleefisch, Tim Michels and Timothy Ramthun participate in a televised Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial debate Sunday, in Milwaukee. | Morry Gash/AP Photo

CONGRESS

WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN The major semiconductor manufacturing/China competitiveness legislation is on its way to a final Senate vote this week before heading back to the House, WaPos Jeanne Whalen previews. Semiconductor companies and universities are already jockeying for slices of the funding, in an early sign of whats likely to be a heated competition, should the bill become law.

But opposition is significant, too, coming from both the likes of Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) and a wide range of conservative lawmakers, think tanks and media outlets, who lambast the bill as corporate welfare, reports APs Kevin Freking. That means a bipartisan coalition will have to support the legislation to pass it in either chamber.

In addition to chips, same-sex marriage and reconciliation, some Senate Dems are pushing for a vote this week on Finland and Sweden joining NATO, per WSJs Siobhan Hughes.

Sen. TODD YOUNG (R-Ind.) on the chips package: Were very close to landing the plane.

ALL POLITICS

DEMOCRACY DIGEST The New Yorkers Dan Kaufman is out today with a dispatch from Wisconsin, where conspiracy theories have remade the political landscape and made election administration the central issue in the governors race. Republicans who dominate the state legislature are mainly divided over whether to restrict voting or to alter the fundamental nature of elections, he writes. And many in the state see the stakes for democracy as existential.

STILL THE JUGGERNAUT Seventy-nine percent of young conservative activists at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit backed Trump in a 2024 straw poll Sunday, Fox News Brooke Singman and Tyler Olson scoop from Tampa. Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS pulled in 19%; nobody else topped 1%.

Some other fascinating results:

FOLLOWING THE MONEY One of the key aspects of the Texas GOPs lurch to the right in the past few years is money from the billionaires TIM DUNN and FARRIS WILKS, whose collective $29 million in recent donations have quietly bankrolled some of Texas most far-right political candidates helping reshape the states Republican Party in their worldview, CNNs Casey Tolan, Matthew Reynard, Will Simon and Ed Lavandera report in a big new investigation.

Republican state Sen. KEL SELIGER: It is a Russian-style oligarchy, pure and simple. Really, really wealthy people who are willing to spend a lot of money to get policy made the way they want it and they get it.

BORN TO BE IN IT Could BETO OROURKE really mount a serious challenge to Texas Gov. GREG ABBOTT in a difficult year for Democrats? NYTs David Goodman reports from Sugar Land that hes pulling closer: The unrelenting succession of death and difficulty facing Texans over the last two months has soured them on the direction of the state. Texas Dems have seen their dreams turn into nightmares for several cycles now, but in recent weeks there has been a perceptible shift in Texas, spurred by news about guns, abortion, immigration and the electrical grid.

THE NEW GOP "QAnon Candidates Arent Thriving, but Some of Their Ideas Are, by NYTs Stuart Thompson

THE AIPAC ANGLE The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has spent more than any other group in Democratic primaries this year, splashing more than $22 million across nine races to attack more progressive candidates, Elena Schneider reports from Royal Oak, Mich. Nowhere is the dynamic coming to a head more than in Michigan, where AIPAC is boosting Rep. HALEY STEVENS in her race against Rep. ANDY LEVIN, who hails from a famous Jewish political family. AIPAC has long been an influential force in Washington, traditionally bundling direct donations to candidates in both parties, but the super PAC is a new innovation for the group this year, after decades of making much smaller donations.

TREND WATCH One thing voters agree on: Fresh voices needed in politics, AP

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JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH

EASTMAN FALLOUT Though the Claremont Institute grew in influence and stature during the Trump administration, its facing fresh challenges over the role of JOHN EASTMAN in trying to overturn the 2020 election, WaPos Marc Fisher and Isaac Stanley-Becker report in a big story from California. Eastmans actions and the think tanks response have divided its followers over the question: How far should scholars go to put their ideas into action?

TRUMP CARDS

SPORTS BLINK Ahead of a 9/11 victims families protest over the Saudi-backed golf event Trump is hosting, a Trump aide reached out to the group to try to smooth things over, Meridith McGraw reports. But the call didnt go so well: The recipient asked why Trump didnt call himself if he really cared.

WAR IN UKRAINE

GRIPPING READ NYTs Michael Schwirtz goes long on Ukrainian fighters final, 80-day resistance of the Russian onslaught at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. The apocalyptic siege that became Ukraines version of the Alamo is already the stuff of lore in the country. Soldiers and civilians cohabitating made life and armed defense more difficult. Starvation, death, escape and finally surrender: Azovstal became a horror show. Inside the field hospital at Azovstal, the wounded soldiers looked pale and deathlike. Crammed into a dark and dust-filled bunker, most were lying on the concrete floor. Their injuries were leaking and bloody, and where gangrene had set in, the flesh looked green and rotted.

THE PANDEMIC

THE LATEST WAVE As the nation staggers through another Covid-19 surge, hospital staff shortages are worrying the medical community about their ability to respond to a potential increase in hospitalizations, Krista Mahr reports. The current wave is also putting fresh stress on facilities as federal funding for the pandemic response is running out, leaving some with less flexibility to hire more staff if they need to.

Marco Rubio fired back at Pete Buttigieg over the same-sex marriage bill: Im not going to focus on the agenda dictated by a bunch of affluent, elite liberals and a bunch of Marxist misfits.

Wendy Sherman and Caroline Kennedy are heading to the Solomon Islands, where both their fathers fought in World War II, per Reuters.

IN MEMORIAM Former NY Conservative Party leader Michael Long dead at 82, by the N.Y. Posts Carl Campanile: [A] powerful force in New York politics who was instrumental in getting Republican George Pataki elected governor The Brooklyn-born political operative headed the Conservative Party for more than 30 years, from 1988 to 2019.

OUT AND ABOUT SPOTTED celebrating David Brocks 60th birthday in the Hamptons, which included an iPhone video birthday message displayed on a big screen from Hillary Clinton: James Carville and Mary Matalin, Paul Begala, Sidney Blumenthal, Joe Conason, Kelly Craighead, Michael LaRosa, Bradley Beychok, Mary Pat Bonner, Ilyse Hogue and John Neffinger, Melissa Moss, Jesse Rodriguez, Louise Gunn, Rob McKay and Susie Tompkins Buell.

TRANSITIONS Alison Markovitz is now COO at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She most recently was a senior operations executive for Fermilab. Tim Daniels is joining the federal affairs team at Tyson Foods as senior manager of government affairs. He most recently was deputy chief of staff and counsel to House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Andy Harris (R-Md.).

Lt. Col. Chris Mitchell has returned to the National Guard Bureau, where he will become chief of public affairs plans and policy. He most recently was a spokesman at the Defense Department, where he was principal press lead for issues related to homeland defense, the U.S. Northern Command, and counter-WMD. Lt. Col. Devin Robinson has replaced Mitchell to handle his portfolio. He was previously with the Air National Guards public affairs office and is a member of the Maine Air National Guard.

WEEKEND WEDDING Dominic Pierotti, a senior consultant at Deloitte Consulting, and Elise Rhodes, SVP at RightForge, got married this weekend in Lewes Beach, Del. Michael Brown officiated. The couple first met 13 years ago, and just left D.C. for a new adventure in Florida. Pic Another pic SPOTTED: Anthony Pierotti, Colleen Pierotti, John Rhodes, Janice Rhodes, Ryan Rhodes, Ximena Barreto, Jon Harrison, Luke Mahoney, Christopher and Katherinn Garcia, Margaret and Jim Ellis, and Alisa Troccia.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD Scott Detrow, co-host of the NPR Politics Podcast and White House correspondent, and Laura Olson, comms manager for the Capital Area Foodbank, welcomed Natalie Joan Detrow to the family. Scott says Natalies older brother decided months ago her name would be Banana and is very determined to make that stick.

Jon Romano, senior adviser to Helena Foulkes Rhode Island gubernatorial campaign and partner and co-founder of Department of Here, and Jennifer (Paolino) Romano, VP of corporate initiatives and strategic partnerships at Paolino Properties, welcomed Rosie Grace Romano on July 10. The parents are both Obama administration alums. Rosie joins big brother Leo. Pic

HAPPYBIRTHDAY: Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) Alex Nguyen of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumers office ... Andrew Feldman of Feldman Strategies Kirsten Sutton USAIDs Alison Harding Christine Quinn of Win Judy Keen Sarah Benzing Fox News Kelly Laco and Katy Ricalde TLC Politicals Christian Hulen ... Bloombergs Mike Nizza The Atlantics Anne Applebaum and Caroline Black Fanning Liz Brown of the Childrens Hospital Association ... Clio Grillakis of the Ex-Im Bank Robert Zoellick ... Brad Karp Amy Holmes ... Mark McLaughlin ... Rebecca Gale POLITICOs Maren Rincon and Taylor Cottle WSJs Elise Dean NBCs Jesselyn Cook Ella Gunn Katie Martin Alex Pfeiffer

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POLITICO Playbook: This week, it really is the economy, stupid- POLITICO - POLITICO

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

This summer, MACK is publishing the third volume in the Forests and Fields series of artist books by the American photographer Collier Schorr. Titled August, the book comprises two decades worth of Polaroids that Schorr took while on annual trips to Schwbisch Gmnd, a town in Southern Germany. Unlike the previous two volumes, which focused on the natural landscape and local population, August homes in on a group of adolescents that Schorr returned to year after year, sometimes casting them as models dressed in German army uniforms.

Although widely known as a fashion photographer, Schorrs artistic practice extends far beyond glossy magazine covers; she probes issues of nationality, religion, sexuality, and gender in resonant still lifes and portraits. Part of the recurring visits to Germany for Schorr was to confront her own Jewish identity. In an exclusive interview with Art21 filmed back in 2003, Schorr explained her interest in military history and masculinity.

When the artist first arrived in the country, she was taken with the quaint rural setting, which felt at odds with what she had always believed the land to be: a site of trauma. I always saw it from the side of the Jew who felt victimized, or the Jew who felt oppressed. I was very comfortable in that role for many years. But being in Germany for a longer amount of time, my experience changed, she said. After shooting images of young German boys playing hide and seek and wrestling, Schorr decided to stage imaginary battles, recreating scenes of a military occupation populated by contemporary youths.

So much of my workespecially portraits of large, blond, strong guysis really about confronting an Aryan myth that terrified me as a little girl, Schorr explained. I would read books like the Diary of Anne Frank and that was what you were scared of. That was the Jewish girls boogeyman, the big blond guy coming up the stairs.

Gender, religion, nationality, theyre all things that are in flux in my work, Schorr said. They all build on each other, this idea of youre not sure what youre looking atechoing youre not sure what you are, youre not sure what someone else is.

Watch the video, which originally appeared as part ofArt21s series Art in the Twenty-First Century, below. Collier Schorrs new book August is available now.

This is an installment of Art on Video, a collaboration between Artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips of news-making artists. A new season of the nonprofit Art21s flagship seriesArt in the Twenty-First Centuryis available now on PBS. Catch all episodes of other series, likeNew York Close UpandExtended Play, and learn about the organizations educational programs atArt21.org.

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That Was the Jewish Girls Boogeyman: Photographer Collier Schorr on How Visiting Germany Shaped Her Thinking on Art and Masculinity - artnet News

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

Spider-Man's 60th anniversary is celebrated at San Diego's Comic-Con Museum. Photo by Getty Images

By Roy SchwartzJuly 20, 2022

Comic-Con International: San Diego, better known as San Diego Comic-Con, returns July 2124 after a COVID-imposed three-year break.

An estimated 135,000 fans will be making a pilgrimage to the pop culture mecca to celebrate not just comics (to the chagrin of some purists), but movies, TV shows, video games, novels, animation, toys, collectibles and anything else even tangentially related.

Comic conventions have exploded in popularity over the last two decades, with nearly 500 in different sizes taking place across the U.S. each year. Theyve gone mainstream, and theyre big business. Theyre also a Jewish invention, just like comic books and the superhero genre itself.

The very first comic con took place in New York City on July 27, 1964. As with other historic firsts, there are earlier events that could lay claim to this distinction, like the Detroit Triple Fan Fair, a swap meet organized by teenagers Dave Szurek and Bob Brosch, that was held two months prior. But New Yorks Comicon is widely recognized as the first official comic book convention.

It was organized by five Jewish 16-year-olds: Bernie Bubnis, Ethan Roberts, Ron Fradkin, Art Tripp and Len Wein, and it was held in a small hall on the second floor of the Jewish nonprofit Workmens Circle on Fourth Avenue and 12th Street, where Roberts parents were members.

It was a modest gathering of 43 attendees (or 56, by some accounts) and lasted five hours. What made this a real con was that it included not just fans and sellers but also industry professionals and representatives from a publisher.

New York was home to the comics industry. Marvel and DC, the Big Two, operated out of Midtown (Marvel still does; DC moved to Burbank, California, in 2015), which allowed the entrepreneurial boychiks to stop by the offices and solicit free comics and original art to hand out something unthinkable today, with artwork from seminal issues fetching millions.

Marvel impresario Stan Lee (Lieber) sent his secretary, Flo Steinberg, to check things out. She was one of three women in attendance. (Today, women and girls make up half of con attendees.)

The star guest of the show was Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. It was the first and last convention the famously reclusive artist ever attended.

Several of the people involved would go on to play prominent roles in the comics industry. Len Wein, whos credited with coining the term comicon, became a successful writer of many big-name superheroes and cocreated several new ones, including Swamp Thing for DC and the Golem (not just a namesake but the actual Golem of Prague) and Wolverine for Marvel.

In 1975, he resurrected the X-Men, a failed series then, to lasting success, followed by Jewish writer Chris Claremont who helped make them a Jewish metaphor. He was one of the writers of Crisis on Infinite Earths, a landmark limited series that rebooted DCs canon in 1986, and the editor of Watchmen, arguably the most important comic of all time (which features implicitly Jewish protagonists, Dan Dreiberg, the Nite Owl and Jon Osterman, Doctor Manhattan). He was even Marvels editor-in-chief for a little over a year, in 1974.

Among the five dealers at the con was 30-year-old Jewish Brooklynite Phil Seuling, who in the early 1970s reshaped, and likely saved, the comic book industry by pioneering the direct market the sale of comics directly to specialty stores instead of through traditional distributors to newsstands, corner shops and so on. This also allowed for a greater variety of content, like non-superhero comics aimed at adults, for smaller publishers to prosper and for an organized fandom.

The very first ticket to the con was bought by 15-year-old George R. R. Martin, future author of Game of Thrones (who in 2019 discovered hes partly Jewish).

Another attendee was Jewish 13-year-old Michael Uslan, who became an entertainment lawyer, bought the movie rights to Batman, and has executive-produced every Batman movie since 1989.

The Comicon was a one-time affair, though other cons followed. In 2006, event company ReedPOP produced the first New York Comic Con, or NYCC, a spiritual successor. Its been held every year since at the Javits Center, generally for four days in mid-October.

It started out with one rented hall but grew with dizzying speed. By 2014 it had 151,000 attendees, surpassing San Diego Comic-Con as the largest convention in North America. By 2019, 260,000 filled the 840,000-square-foot convention center to capacity and spilled over to six other locations, including Madison Square Garden and the Hammerstein Ballroom. The economic impact on NYC is estimated to be more than $100 million.

San Diego Comic-Con, or SDCC, may be technically smaller, but is still considered the gold standard. The 2015 con still holds the Guinness World Record for largest comic book convention in the world, with 167,000 attendees. Its a bucket list, must-see four-day extravaganza that makes Disneyland look like a retirement home. And it, too, has Jewish origins.

In 1970, Shel Dorf, a Jewish 36-year-old whod produced the second Detroit Triple Fan Fair in 1965 and had since moved to San Diego, rallied local 44-year-old bookshop owner and indie publisher Ken Krueger to organize the West Coasts first comic book convention. They led a band of young comic fans who ranged in age from 13 to 18 Richard Alf, Mike Towry, Bob Sourk, Barry Alfonso and Dan Stewart.

The San Diego Golden State Comic-Con was held March 21, in the basement of the rundown U.S. Grant Hotel in then-seedy downtown San Diego. It drew a respectable 100 attendees.

The guests of honor were Mike Royer, an artist and inker, and Forrest J Ackerman, a Jewish literary agent who discovered Ray Bradbury, edited Famous Monsters of Filmland and is widely credited with coining the term sci-fi.

Dorf & co. followed up with a three-day con on Aug. 13, this time attracting 300 attendees, plus the biggest name in comics, Jack Kirby (Jacob Kurtzberg), cocreator of Captain America, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, Iron Man, Avengers, X-Men, Black Panther, New Gods, Eternals and countless others. Kirby attended every subsequent San Diego Comic-Con except one until his death in 1994.

He also put the gang in his comics. Dorf was the basis for Himon, one of the New Gods, while the others became the San Diego Five-String Mob, musical minions of the evil Darkseid.

SDCC has been held at the San Diego Convention Center since 1991, a 2.6 million-square-foot space that fills every July with over 130,000 people from all over the U.S. and the world. Demand is even higher, but attendance is capped due to capacity limits. (Which is partly why NYCC boasts bigger numbers. SDCC counts unique individuals while NYCC counts tickets, or badges, which can be bought for separate days by one attendee.)

The Con includes over a thousand exhibitors and vendors and over a thousand program events, including movie screenings, discussion panels, costume workshops and celebrity signings. The giant Hall H, where 6,500 fans huddle to catch a sneak peek at upcoming movies and shows and the stars that came to promote them, is an audience barometer dubbed the most important room in Hollywood.

San Diego Comic-Con is also home to the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Oscars of comics, named after pioneering Jewish cartoonist Will Eisner.

The nearby Gaslamp Quarter becomes an outdoor extension of the Con, with plenty of exhibits, promotions, parties and merchandise sales that dont require a ticket, attracting nearly 200,000 people. The regional economic impact is valued at $155 million.

There was also a short-lived Jewish Comic Con, held in 20162018 at Congregation Kol Israel in Brooklyn. Attended by about 140 people, it was dedicated to exploring how Jewish identity has influenced comics, both on the page and behind the scenes.

As modest and niche as it was, it had a grassroots, subculture charm that the big commercialized cons lack. Still, its amazing to think how these massive, multimillion dollar events all started with a few nice Jewish boys.

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The very Jewish history of Comic-Con - Forward

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

With the atrocities of the Holocaust that caused the murder of about six million Jews through unimaginable ways like gassing, mass shooting, and starvation, it was no surprise that many wanted to take revenge. This was how Nakam, a paramilitary organization made of Holocaust survivors, was formed.

They wanted to seek revenge for the death of their brothers and sisters who perished. The Jewish Avengers of the Holocaust might not have suits as cool as Iron Mans, nor could they turn green and giant like Hulk, but they sure were as brave.

It all started in 1945 when after visiting the site of the Ponary massacre and the extermination camp at Majdanek and especially meeting the survivors of Auschwitz camp, Abba Kovner decided that he would take revenge. He was a Polish Israeli poet and writer who attempted to organize a ghetto uprising. When that failed, he hid in the forest, joined the Soviet partisans, and survived the war.

Kovner recruited some 50 Holocaust survivors, most former Jewish partisans and a few who had escaped to the Soviet Union. They named their organization Nakam (Revenge). They used the Hebrew name that meant judgment, which could also be an acronym for the blood of Israel avenges.

The members of Nakam believed that the Jews were not safe from another Holocaust just because Nazi Germany was defeated. As for Kovner, the only way to let the Germans know that the Jews were not to mess with was through proportional revenge, which meant they had to kill six million Germans, too. They had also doubted that the laws of the time would suffice to punish an event as extreme as the Holocaust. So, they had their plans ready to be set in motion.

Poison a German Village.

One of Nakams members, Joseph Harmatz, posed as a Polish displaced person and attempted to infiltrate the municipal water supply in Nuremberg. The place had been the headquarters of the Nazis, so it would be a good place for them to take their revenge. Through some bribery, Harmatz had Willek Schwerzreich placed in a position with the municipal water company. Schwerzreich observed the outline of the water system and the control of the main water valve. From that, they planned where they would put the poison that would possibly kill the most significant number of Germans.

It was Kovner who had to find the poison that they would use. So, he traveled to Palestine under the guise of a Jewish Brigade soldier on leave. But, he failed to convince the Haganah chiefs, the Zionist paramilitary organization, to give him poison.

In September, he met Ephraim and Aharon Katzir, chemists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who were sympathetic to the revenge plot. In December 1945, he already traveled to Alexandria, Egypt, carrying false papers, a duffel with gold hidden in toothpaste tubes, and cans full of poison. After he boarded the ship headed to France, Kovners name and three more were called over. He left the duffel to a friend named Ytzik Rosenkranz and instructed that he throw half the poison in the sea. He then turned himself in and was arrested by the British police.

Mass Poison the SS POWs.

Plan A was already out, so Nakam had to move to Plan B to poison the SS prisoners. In October 1945, he set up a laboratory in the Nakam headquarters in Paris to test various formulations of tasteless and odorless poison with delayed effects. The result was a formulation made of arsenic, glue, and some other additives that could be brushed onto the loaves of bread. They tested their formula on cats to confirm its lethality.

They decided they would poison the prisoners of Langwasser internment camp with 12,000 to 15,000 prisoners, most of whom were former SS officers or important Nazi figures. They managed to smuggle the arsenic and apply it to the bottom of each loaf to prevent the loaves of bread from looking suspicious. Only 3,000 out of the original 14,000 loaves of bread were laced with poison because the bakers went on strike.

Soon, reports would say that 2,283 German prisoners fell ill from poisoning, 207 of which were critical. None of them died. Soon, the German prosecutors started an investigation for attempted murder, but the preliminary studies were dropped due to the unusual circumstance.

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Nakam: The Jewish Avengers of Holocaust - SOFREP

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

Ashkenazi is the name for a group of people of Jewish descent who lived in western Germany in the medieval era. In later centuries, Ashkenazi Jewish people migrated elsewhere, including Eastern Europe. Today, those with Ashkenazi Jewish heritage live around the world.

The Ashkenazi Jewish people who lived long ago in Germany carried genetic mutations that continue to remain in the population today. These mutations can result in certain genetic conditions if a persons parents both carry the same markers.

You may want to find out whether you carry these mutations if you are of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and wish to have children. You can do this with a genetic panel.

The panel will determine whether you carry certain mutations. If you do, your partner may also want to get tested. If you both carry certain genes, a doctor or genetic counselor can advise you about any conditions that may occur in your children.

A screening will determine whether you carry the genes that can cause certain genetic conditions in your offspring. You will be screened for several genetic conditions.

The National Gaucher Foundation states that Gaucher disease is the most common genetic disease among this population, followed by:

These are just some of the conditions your screening may include.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends screening for Canavan disease, cystic fibrosis, familial dysautonomia, and Tay-Sachs disease if you have Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.

Here are some of the conditions that may occur in a child if both parents carry genetic mutations found in the Ashkenazi Jewish population:

Canavan disease is an incurable degenerative neurologic disease that can impact the quality and length of life.

Cystic fibrosis is a chronic condition that causes mucus to be thick and sticky. It can damage the lungs and other organs.

Familial dysautonomia is usually present at birth and affects the autonomic nervous system. It can impact your lifespan significantly.

Tay-Sachs disease is an incurable, fatal condition that deteriorates nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Gaucher disease is a treatable condition that occurs when the GBA gene mutates. It can cause various health effects depending on what type of condition you have.

These conditions include:

Spinal muscular atrophy causes changes in nerve cells that can make it difficult to control muscles.

This chromosomal condition can affect height, sensitivity to the sun, and risk for:

This condition causes the pancreas to overproduce insulin, creating low blood sugar.

Fanconi anemia can increase the risk for cancer, affect height and skin, and cause severe changes to bone marrow, among other symptoms.

This condition damages internal organs because it builds up too much glycogen in the cells.

This condition can lead to atypical development in the brain that causes developmental delays and breathing abnormalities, among other symptoms.

Maple syrup urine disease is a metabolic condition that can cause urine to smell sweet and affects infants ability to thrive. It requires treatment since it can be fatal.

This condition affects vision and the development of psychomotor activities. These are physical movements that require mental coordination, like throwing a ball.

Niemann-Pick disease alters how the body metabolizes lipids and can affect organs like the liver and brain, as well as bone marrow.

This condition can alter sight, hearing, and balance.

You can get an Ashkenazi Jewish genetic panel in a few ways. Your doctor may recommend a local genetic counselor to conduct the test, or you may choose to do it by mail. Screenings will test for up to 200 genetic diseases.

If you are already pregnant, you may seek prenatal genetic testing. This process begins with blood testing. If there is an atypical result, a doctor may order chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis as further workup.

At-home screenings require you to send a saliva sample to a laboratory for testing. The administrators of these at-home screenings inform your doctor and may follow up with genetic counseling.

Your panel can indicate whether you are a carrier for certain genetic diseases but does not guarantee that you will have a child with one of these conditions. A child can only inherit these conditions if both of their parents are carriers of certain genes.

Even if both parents are carriers, it does not mean a child will develop a genetic disorder. It only indicates an increased risk that a child may have one of these genetic conditions.

Ashkenazi Jewish genetic panels are very accurate in detecting carrier genes. Screenings are 98 percent accurate for Tay Sachs and Canavan diseases and 97 percent accurate for cystic fibrosis, for example.

You should get genetic testing if you are of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. Your partner should get it if your genetic panel indicates you have carrier genes for one or more genetic conditions.

If both you and your partner carry genes for one or more genetic conditions, you should seek advice from your doctor or a genetic counselor. They will outline risks to a potential or current pregnancy, as well as your options.

Some options include conducting a genetic test on a fertilized egg before it is implanted in the uterus or using donor sperm or eggs in a pregnancy.

Those with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry may have a 1 in 4 to 1 in 5 chance of having carrier genes for at least one genetic disease. This is because the Ashkenazi Jewish population in medieval Germany had certain genetic mutations that have carried forward today.

You may carry certain genetic mutations if you are of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. If you plan to have children, you may want to get an Ashkenazi Jewish genetic panel to test for certain genes that may cause genetic conditions in your children.

If you carry one or more of them, your partner may also want to get a genetic panel. If you both carry the same mutations, your offspring may be at risk for certain genetic conditions. A doctor or genetic counselor can provide reproductive counseling if you are both positive for certain genes.

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Ashkenazi Jewish Panel: What It May Reveal About Your Genes

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

A giddy crowd of over 600 gathered last night at the Castro Theatre for the first full-fledged in-person installment of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival since 2019. Knife-like winds as people lined up outside couldnt blow away the high spirits of those who look forward to the film fest every year.

A great opening night for @SFJewishFilm! The movie, "Karaoke," was a crowd-pleaser, and the audience was excited to meet star Lior Asheknazi, who American audiences know from many Israeli hits. pic.twitter.com/fO6mRvYjPr

J. The Jewish News of Northern California (@jewishsf) July 22, 2022

People schmoozed and embraced old friends as they settled in with their popcorn and print copies of J.s film fest issue. First up was a run-through of some of the best of the film fests in-house promo short films over the years concluding with this years, in which a couple humorously, and relatably, grapples with going out to a movie with other people for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. (Of course, they end up at an SFJFF screening at the Albany Twin, where the East Bay portion of the festival kicks off next week. The video embedded below is a version of the one that showed last night.)

In her opening remarks, Jewish Film Institute executive director Lexi Leban was visibly excited to be back in the grand surrounds of the Castro Theatre. Moshe Rosenthal, director of the opening night film, Karaoke, said in his introduction to the film that he had been to the Castro before, but never dreamed that a movie of his would be shown there.

Jewish Film Institute executive director @LexiLeban was in high spirits in her opening remarks. The festival is back in the iconic @Castro_Theatre after two years away! pic.twitter.com/Pn5517AN63

J. The Jewish News of Northern California (@jewishsf) July 22, 2022

The film was received warmly by the crowd, who were treated to a live Q&A with Rosenthal and one of the films stars, Lior Ashkenazi, familiar to longtime viewers of Israeli cinema from hits like Walk on Water and Footnote.

In his pre-movie remarks, Karaoke director Moshe Rosenthal said hed been to the Castro Theatre before but never dreamed his own movie would be shown in the classic movie palace. pic.twitter.com/95Kc2f37tr

J. The Jewish News of Northern California (@jewishsf) July 22, 2022

At the outdoor afterparty at the Randall Museum, festival goers mingled with filmmakers as attendees circulated between tables stocked with wine, cookies and hummus. Ashkenazi stationed himself by a large vat of fresh hummus (from Pomella) near the entrance to the party and held court there.

He was indeed there! At the after party, he stationed himself near a large bowl of hummus and did not move all night. Our @davidAMwilensky asked him what else he's going to do while he's in town. Said he and the director, Moshe Rosenthal, really want to check out Alcatraz. pic.twitter.com/c4fbAv2LA1

J. The Jewish News of Northern California (@jewishsf) July 22, 2022

In an interview with J. over the vat of hummus Ashkenazi recalled having a good time in San Francisco about 10 years ago when he was here promoting a previous film. Hes here until Sunday, and hes got big plans: I made the tourist tour the first time, but Ive never been to Alcatraz, he said. So Moshe and I, were going to Alcatraz.

SFJFF42 FRIDAY FILM THREAD:

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our SFJFF42 Opening Night film KARAOKE at the Castro Theatre yesterday! We are back at it today w amazing films screening at the Castro, including KARAOKE star Lior Ashkenazis directorial debut PERFECT STRANGERS! pic.twitter.com/Bu0HasPhgh

Jewish Film Institute (@SFJewishFilm) July 22, 2022

Ashkenazi, who has already seen some of the Israeli films in the festival, especially recommended (of course) his own feature-length directorial debut, Perfect Strangers, which shows tonight at 8:35 p.m. at the Castro and July 27 at 1 p.m. at the Albany Twin. And he put in a plug for the festivals closing-night film, Let It Be Morning: Its a very good movie.

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival continues through Aug. 7 with screenings in San Francisco, Albany and online. This reporter will be doing a live Q&A with Tom Weidlinger on July 29 after the screening of his film The Restless Hungarian.

Check out our full coverage of the festival here: https://t.co/bjmvfUQ4mH

Review of Bernsteins Wall, showing tomorrow: https://t.co/0zEyjSl4Cq

Interview with David Strathairn, whose film Remember This premieres on Sunday: https://t.co/II5S5fdmlE pic.twitter.com/fKw4zCCoi2

J. The Jewish News of Northern California (@jewishsf) July 22, 2022

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At SFJFF opening night, we're all just happy to be back at the Castro J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

News and research before you hear about it on CNBC and others. Claim your 1-week free trial to StreetInsider Premium here.

Combining video processing and delivery and next-generation cybersecurity simplifies operators ability to launch new streaming services fast, with advanced anti-piracy countermeasures

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France & SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

Verimatrix, (Euronext Paris: VMX) (Paris: VMX), the leader in powering the modern connected world with people-centered security, today announced that Harmonic is one of the first partners to integrate its cloud platform with Verimatrix StreamkeeperSM.

Designed to reduce streaming video service deployments from months to minutes and reaching the greatest amount of consumer devices, Streamkeeper Multi-DRM enables video service providers to securely stream with content security delivered from a highly scalable and globally redundant platform. The Streamkeeper Multi-DRM service is designed from the ground up to delivery studio endorsed best practices for content protection, with meticulous focus on ensuring superior video viewer experiences. Streamkeeper, at large, is a suite of novel and adaptive cybersecurity technologies that include and go beyond DRM to allow video service providers to manage revenue risk in a world of continuously changing threats from video piracy. It is available in multiple tiers and includes features such as Multi-DRM, a real-time performance dashboard, on-call support integrations and alerts, individual device risk scoring, anti-piracy countermeasures, and much more.

Integrating Verimatrix Streamkeeper with Harmonics VOS360 cloud platform ensures customers will experience next-generation secure video streaming that harnesses the combined power of two highly-trusted industry leaders.

The Harmonic VOS360 platform makes it simple to launch and manage end-to-end video cloud workflows. Capitalizing on the company's expertise in video processing and delivery, the VOS360 platform embeds market-leading state-of-the-art microservices, including compression, packaging, origin and SSAI, in a unified software solution for next-gen cloud-based streaming. By pre-integrating the VOS360 platform with Verimatrix Streamkeeper, current and new customers can realize the combined benefits of security at scale with a rapid launch for OTT deployments on the cloud.

Were pleased to announce Harmonic, a cloud leader in the industry, as one of the inaugural integration partners for Streamkeeper, said Asaf Ashkenazi, Chief Operating Officer and President at Verimatrix. Combining innovative, proven cybersecurity and anti-piracy technologies with Harmonics well-known video processing and delivery platform creates a cloud-based, one-stop-shop for OTT service providers, enabling them to gain immediate business value and peace of mind for their content.

By integrating Verimatrix Streamkeeper with our VOS360 cloud platform, we are transforming how operators stream video, said Shahar Bar, senior vice president, video products and corporate development at Harmonic. Running on cloud, our solution is flexible, scalable and secure, enabling exceptional-quality streaming experiences to be delivered at scale.

For more information about Harmonic VOS360 cloud platform, visit: https://www.harmonicinc.com/video-streaming

For more information about Verimatrix Streamkeeper, visit: http://www.verimatrix.com/products/streamkeeper/

About HarmonicHarmonic, the worldwide leader in virtualized cable access and video delivery solutions, enables media companies and service providers to deliver ultra-high-quality video streaming and broadcast services to consumers globally. The company revolutionized cable access networking via the industrys first virtualized cable access solution, enabling cable operators to more flexibly deploy gigabit internet service to consumers homes and mobile devices. Whether simplifying OTT video delivery via innovative cloud and software platforms, or powering the delivery of gigabit internet cable services, Harmonic is changing the way media companies and service providers monetize live and on-demand content on every screen. More information is available at http://www.harmonic.com.

About VerimatrixVerimatrix (Euronext Paris: VMX) helps power the modern connected world with security made for people. We protect digital content, applications, and devices with intuitive, people-centered and frictionless security. Leading brands turn to Verimatrix to secure everything from premium movies and live streaming sports, to sensitive financial and healthcare data, to mission-critical mobile applications. We enable the trusted connections our customers depend on to deliver compelling content and experiences to millions of consumers around the world. Verimatrix helps partners get to market faster, scale easily, protect valuable revenue streams, and win new business. Visit http://www.verimatrix.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220721005490/en/

Verimatrix Investor:Jean-Franois Labadie, Chief Financial Officer[emailprotected]

Verimatrix Media:Matthew Zintel[emailprotected]

Source: Verimatrix

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Verimatrix and Harmonic Partner to Enable Streaming Content Protection at SaaS Speed - StreetInsider.com

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

Celebrated food scholar Darra Goldsteins latest book is The Kingdom of Rye: A Brief History of Russian Food. Her grandparents fled Russia and refused to discuss it with her. But that only piqued her interest. Her first opportunity to visit came in 1972. Ever since, she's made it her life's work to explore the foods and flavors of a country that is front and center in the news right now.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

KCRW: It's been several months since Russia invaded Ukraine. I'm curious about what you are thinking of these days.

Goldstein: I'm in despair. I feel deep anguish. I think what Putin did, and is doing, took even political analysts by surprise. The brutality of the war is beyond horrific. I think about what's happening in Ukraine. But I also think about my friends in Russia. Just before social media was shut down, I got frantic messages from friends. They wanted to make sure that we could remain in touch. One close friend said, We've been thrown back to the Middle Ages. Russia has completely isolated itself and its people. There have been tens of thousands of arrests. It's not on the same scale as what's happening in Ukraine, but it's also really, really bad there.

I'm always fascinated by people who come to a love of exploring food deeply through literature, since I feel like that happened to me as well. How did studying the Russian language spark your interest in Russian food?

I struggled with the language. It's complex the grammar is pretty difficult. When I was first studying it, it was very different from language study now, which is oral proficiency then we just read texts. But the texts we were given were Chekhov and Gogol these 19th-century authors who described amazing feasts. And somehow, and I still don't quite understand how it happened, but I would understand just enough to breeze through the descriptions of food, not really understanding every word, but getting this feel for the abundance and for the deliciousness. Then, I would go back and look up the words in the dictionary.

There are two Russian words for food. Can you describe them?

One is yeda, which comes from yeast, which is an interesting word in itself. It's a verb that either means to be, or exist, or it means to eat. And the other word is pishcha. And yeda is just sort of a general word for food it can also mean a meal. So it's not symbolic of anything else, but if you talk about pishcha, then it can be something metaphorical it can be something higher like, food for thought, or food of the gods. It's something that is more than just the food stuff on the plate.

There's this thread in Russian food lore of privation and abundance. And the privation part is so linked to the brown bread. You have this amazing excerpt at the beginning of your first chapter from Anna Karenina talking about an old man who makes, in essence, a bread parfait.

When we talk about being hungry, or people who are really struggling to get enough to eat, we say hand-to-mouth in English. The Russian phrase is from bread-to-kvass kvass being the lightly fermented drink that is made from stale black bread. So bread was used and it was never wasted. Even the crumbs returned into deserts. Countess Tolstoy, the long suffering wife Leo Tolstoy, wrote a cookbook and she has a beautiful recipe for an apple pudding made with leftover bread crumbs.

The Kingdom of Rye: A Brief History of Russian Food depicts how a nation developed a sophisticated cuisine from the bare essentials. Photo courtesy of University of California Press.

Also embodied in this history of famine and privation is this deep well of culinary ingenuity. You talk about fermentation and culturing in great detail. Is there a particular experience that you remember having during those first years that you were traveling where you ate something fermented or cured, and were just flabbergasted?

I think that what struck me was I had never liked mushrooms. I think it's probably because I grew up in Pittsburgh. Though I'm sure that there were amazing mushrooms to forage in the 1950s, we weren't going out and foraging them. So my parents really liked mushrooms, but they were always those horrible canned ones. They were slimy and disgusting. So I thought I hated mushrooms. And then I went to the Soviet Union, I tasted freshly-gathered mushrooms that were simply sauteed. But more to what you're talking about the fermentation, I tasted them salted. They had been layered with garlic with some dill, some peppercorns, and salt brine. And they were extraordinary. It was really a transformative moment for me.

It's interesting for me as an Ashkenazi Jew our food is often characterized by being brown and bland. As you talk about the food of Russia in this book, one becomes so aware of the high notes, the sourness, the pungency, the spiciness.

That's what makes it so exciting to me. You have horseradish, you have beets, you have very pungent mustard, you have vinegar, all of these things that even though it's not a spicy cuisine, it's very pungent, and sharp.

What is at the heart of a traditional Russian meal? What does the traditional Russian meal mean to you, and is it bifurcated by class?

It's definitely bifurcated. When I think of the heart of a Russian meal, I think I would go to bread and soup cabbage soup and buckwheat groats. It would be soup in a big communal pot. The Russian national soup is cabbage soup, preferably made with sauerkraut, the fermented cabbage. If you make it with fresh cabbage then it's called lazy cabbage soup, and it's not nearly as good. But then you have the starch and preferably black bread, or buckwheat groats. But I think the glory of the Russian kitchen is pies. Very rarely would you have soup without some sort of pie on the side. They're open-face pies that are filled with farmer's cheese.

The title of your book is The Kingdom of Rye. Explain their reverence of rye.

Rye is so interesting because it actually was a weed that was growing in Southwest Asia. People noticed that it was much heartier. It came to Russia probably in the mid-10th century, and was pretty well established by the 11th century. And because it's much heartier than wheat and can withstand poor soil, and also a much colder climate, it became the grain in Russia.

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Russian cuisine has evolved in light of scarcity and isolation - KCRW

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

From a young age, Tina Sacks struggled with feeling Jewish enough. Growing up in Chicago with a Black mother and a Jewish father, who was not observant, her strongest connection to her Jewish identity was through her relationship with her paternal grandmother, an immigrant from Belarus who spoke little English.

Sacks, 50, is now an associate professor at the School of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley, studying racial and social inequalities in health. She co-authored a study published in February 2021 on ancestral trauma and how it informs ones decision-making. In 2019, she shared her personal story in the UCB media relations publication Berkeley News about her Black and Jewish ancestries and how they shaped her worldview.

J.: What inspired you to choose social work as your field of study?

Tina Sacks: Ive always been interested very broadly in health, and how health and ill health are socially produced. Some people have access to health and some people dont. Oftentimes, that is predicated or organized around race, gender, ability status, immigration status, etc.

For me, growing up in the kind of household that I grew up in was so foundational to me. My dad was the first generation in his family to be born in the United States. His parents were immigrants from what they call the Old Country. My mother is from Mississippi. She was part of the Great Migration that came to Chicago and [out of the South] in this country. So it was always interesting to me that both of my parents, both sides of my ancestry, had this kind of immigrant experience, an experience of discrimination, of surviving all kinds of incredibly difficult circumstances, but their outcomes were profoundly different.

That really boiled down to race and how race is lived in the United States, and how one side of my family was able to transcend their humble immigrant beginnings and antisemitism, etc., to go on to have much longer lives and health and other things that my mothers side of the family did not have. That upbringing made me very deeply curious about how we arrange society and how that relates to who gets to be healthy and who does not.

Your study on ancestral trauma focused on one woman whose great-grandfather was in the Tuskegee syphilis study. Do you feel you have experienced ancestral trauma yourself?

In terms of Judaism, theres no question. Its something Ive been thinking about a lot more, as my dad is really aging. My dad doesnt know anything about anything in his family, and I am pretty sure thats because there was a lot of trauma there. There was a lot of stigma. My aunt was mentally ill, and because my grandparents didnt read or write in English, my dad was forced to translate for them, sign papers, be engaged in things that he never should have been exposed to. But because they were immigrants, he was recruited to deal with a lot of [his sisters] issues.

Those kinds of things are common in a lot of Jewish families. Theres this idea of sort of sweeping it under the rug, we dont want to acknowledge it, we dont want to think about it, we just move forward. I definitely think about that a lot.

What is the focus of your current research?

Im working on a study of how social mobility impacts health and well-being among Black people with college degrees. Theres this idea that socioeconomic status or class is sort of uniformly protective for people in the United States, and that is not the case. So Im interested in how ethnoracial minorities who are not poor fare in a highly, highly racist society.

In what ways do you think your Jewish identity has affected your work?

I think I have a deep sense of being othered. I have a deep sense of being outside of normative standards, whether they be Christian, or white, or male, or whatever. That has deeply impacted what Im interested in. There are certain things about Judaism that I do feel are very central to who I am as a person, some of the questioning of things, of not taking things necessarily at face value, of questioning authority. There are some values of Judaism and then also certainly of the culture of Ashkenazi Jews that I feel are implicit in who I am.

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Tina Sacks on racial inequality in health and feeling 'Jewish enough' - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

Photo by Getty Images

By Tani LevittJuly 20, 2022

Pizza is personal. From the best late-night slice to the most reliably cheap lunch, every New Yorker has a unique opinion that is objectively, 100% true. So when I posted on Instagram that I was searching for the best kosher pizza in Manhattan, it was no surprise to find my DMs flooded with hot takes and big feelings.

Friends and friends-of-friends inundated my inbox with the kind of meticulous analysis that befits the inheritors of the Talmudic tradition. One respondent suggested that a certain kosher pizza shop was a front for some more nefarious enterprise, asking how [tactfully redacted pizzeria] can have such a large space when no one actually eats there. Its a conspiracy to the highest level. Others cast doubt on the kosher certifications of the neighborhood joints.

You see, while pizza is a piping hot topic for all New Yorkers, the laws of supply and demand drive even more intense interest among kosher connoisseurs. For the general pizza-consuming populace, a slice of pizza is a matter of convenience. But there arent dozens of kosher pizza shops in every square mile. For the same reason, plain kosher slices run from $3 to $4 per slice. So the relatively few kosher pizzerias get outsized attention, with slices and shops analyzed down to the final drop of sauce.

I carefully considered the Instagram votes, but, like the chief rabbi from The Frisco Kid,I am the one who has to decide! While I originally planned to restrict the search to Manhattan, my quest for the best slice eventually led me across all five boroughs. Okay, fine, four boroughs Staten Island was a bridge (or a ferry) too far. I purchased and tasted 18 slices of plain kosher pizza, rating them on a scale of one to five greasy napkins. My only concession to my beleaguered Ashkenazi digestive tract was that I split the tasting over a bunch of trips.

So, here are my very biased and very correct opinions on the best kosher pizza in New York City. I look forward to being told Im wrong.

My research started informally and over time in Manhattan, as thats where I live and eat most of my slices. I started my crawl there too, with the slice Ive eaten more than any other in New York: Bravo Kosher Pizza.

When judging pizza, there is only one category that really matters, and thats the quality of the plain slice. I need evenly melted cheese that doesnt slide, a crispy crust (especially on the bottom of the slice), rich sauce that doesnt drown the triangle, and a thin film of grease to crown the small triangle of paradise.

Ari Schaffel, a food scientist and my former roommate, said it best in response to my Instagram poll. Bravo. Period.

Open since 1985, with locations in Midtown and the Financial District, Bravo Kosher Pizza is the king of classic. Their plain slice is consistent from bite to bite and order to order. More than any other kosher pizza place, Bravo is able to make a traditional NYC crust: crispy but not brittle, flexible enough to fold while still maintaining structural integrity.

Its worth letting a fresh slice from Bravo rest for a minute to let the cheese tighten ever so slightly, but this is a slice you can eat on the go. Just make sure to bring a napkin.

Where it is: 107 W. 37 St., Manhattan; 17 Trinity Place, ManhattanWhat a (plain) slice costs: $4.50My rating: 5 greasy napkins

Cafe Viva got a lot of love on the Instagram poll. Some praised Vivas specialty slices, but there were also plaudits for the plain.

Located at 97th and Broadway, Viva is often the most convenient option for Upper West Side Jews. In addition to the shops geography, its also open until the last second before Shabbat and within a minute of Shabbat ending. (How can that be, you ask? The shop stays open throughout Shabbat.)

Vivas crusts are less than crispy and dusted with a bottom layer of corn meal, but the slices reliably satisfy a craving for pizza. The cheese will not slide off the slice, though the point of the triangle might droop as you fold it.

Where it is: 2578 Broadway, ManhattanWhat a (plain) slice costs: $3My rating: 3.5 greasy napkins

Like Cafe Viva, Sabas is known for specialty slices more than plain ones. The pizzeria may also possess the most devoted fans of any shop I visited. When discussing the plain slices, fans praised the sweet sauce as a standout feature. Id add that locations on the Upper West and Upper East sides make Saba easily accessible for most of Manhattans kosher yuppies.

But when I actually tried the slice, I found I couldnt share the apparently widespread enthusiasm. The crust feels like cardboard, and the sauce and cheese are unremarkable. Slices here reminded me of the ones I ate at Jewish day school growing up a damning indictment, considering those slices were delivered to my school early in the morning and sat around until lunch time.My conclusion: Sabas is only worthwhile if youre out late on Saturday night.

Where it is: 1217 Lexington Ave., Manhattan; 403 Amsterdam Ave., ManhattanWhat a (plain) slice costs: $3My rating: 2.5 greasy napkins

Manhattan is unique among the five boroughs in that the kosher pizza shops arent usually located near each other. The exception is Washington Heights, where you can find Lake Como and Grandmas pizza shops on the same block of Amsterdam Ave., between 186th and 187th streets.

Still, the neighborhood is one to avoid when looking for kosher pizza. On my Instagram poll, thumbs-down and negative emojis far outweighed any other comments on these two eateries. Most commenters hedged by saying if youre in the Heights and have to eat pizza Its not a pretty picture, and I will spare you the details.

With 90 blocks between Washington Heights and Manhattans other kosher pizza offerings, upper Manhattan purists might have to gasp travel to nearby Riverdale to find a quality slice. I made the journey as part of a two-borough pizza crawl through the Bronx and Queens.

Riverdale is a suburb. I will die on that hill. But, technically speaking, it lies within the limits of the Bronx. Before I embarked on my grand tour of Queens, I visited the Bronxs single kosher spot: Pizza Plus.

Located in a calm Riverdale strip mall, Pizza Plus is only a 10- minute walk from the 238th Street stop on the 1 train. Unless you live nearby, you arent likely to be taking a slice to go. Thats a good thing, because Pizza Plus is not meant for grab-and-go.

In order to get a slice here, you have to order in Pizza Plus, then pay next door at Corner Cafe & Bakery, the pizzerias older sister. The slice you get when you return to Pizza Plus is too floppy to be a convenient travel partner. But its definitely tasty, with a fluffy texture and cheese that pairs nicely with an understated sauce. If there was such a thing as a diet pizza slice, this might be it. Some foreshadowing: Considering all the slices I had ahead of me in Queens, I was lucky to start the crawl with Pizza Plus.

Where it is: 3718 Riverdale Ave., the BronxWhat a (plain) slice costs: $3.50My rating: 4 greasy napkins

The real work began when I left the Bronx for Queens. Five stops to make, and all on a tight deadline. My stomach aches just thinking about it.

Naomis, my first stop in Queens, came highly recommended by a good friend. They told me that the vibes at Naomis are old-school, they only take cash, and the pizza is top-notch.

I paid with a credit card, and instantly knew something was amiss. My slice came noticeably thin, crunchy and burnt on the bottom, more matzo pizza than New York pizza. Spotty sauce distribution left me wanting flavor-wise as well. I left underwhelmed, the only lasting impression being my first tongue burn of the day. Word of mouth, it turns out, isnt always so trustworthy.

Where it is: 68-28 Main St., Flushing, QueensWhat a (plain) slice costs: $3My rating: 2 greasy napkins

When I asked around about Queens, my informers presented Shimons and Benjys as a unit. They rep Jewish Queens, said Shua Mermelstein, an acquaintance who became a friend as I ran my reporting by him. Old-school and non-conformist, yet simple and multicultural.

Shimons is cute: cash only, lined with faux-wood booths, messy in the way all good pizza shops are. Vibe-wise, I saw at Shimons what Id hoped for at Naomis. The slice was soft and doughy, though the sauce dried into the cheese and crust, creating a pizza bagel-esque culinary experience. Still, I enjoyed watching the owners grandchildren arrive and make themselves at home while I ate. The slice was lackluster, but the easy way customers moved around the joint testified to something of a cult following.

Two blocks down Main Street from Shimons, Benjys is separated from the street by a service road. While cleaner and more modern than Shimons, the space lacks personality. The restaurant was packed with families, so I took my slice to go. After the lackluster slices Id had in Queens so far, I was impressed with this one.

Chewier than the offerings in Manhattan or Brooklyn, Benjys pizza is still strong enough to fold and walk with. Ever-so-slightly-spicy sauce compliments a greaseless layer of cheese for a heavy-but-tasty bite. Though I was already well past full, I ate the whole slice. By the time I reached the crust, Benjys had cemented itself as my favorite pizza in Queens.

Where Shimons is: 7124 Main St., Flushing, QueensWhere Benjys is: 7272 Main St., Flushing, QueensWhat a (plain) slice costs:$3.25 at bothMy rating: 2 greasy napkins for Shimons, 4 greasy napkins for Benjys

Kosher offerings abound in Brooklyn, and I could never make it to every slice shop. Apprised of my plans, my concerned mother offered to overnight a box of Lactaid pills for the excursion. Foolishly, I declined. Still, I chose to handle Brooklyn in two trips. The first began in Crown Heights, and I brought a group of friends for support.

The Saturday night scene at Kingston Pizza in Crown Heights is one of controlled chaos. Chabad families, teenagers, and yeshiva bochers impatiently waited in line, muttering about being hungry while half a dozen portraits of the Lubavitcher Rebbe oversaw it all from the walls.

Kingstons plain slice is like a discount version of Riverdales Pizza Plus. Same runny cheese and anonymous sauce, with just a tad less chemistry between the two. If youre at Kingstons on a busy Saturday night, as I was, you will likely be nudged to vacate your booth by a group lingering just over your shoulder, hoping to snag a rare seat. But dont rush this puffy crust is unique in Brooklyn, and worth savoring as much as the rest of the slice.

Where it is: 395 Kingston Ave., Brooklyn,What a (plain) slice costs:$3.50My rating: 3.5 greasy napkins

If Sabas boasts the most stans, Flatbushs Pizza Time comes with the highest expectations. Three friends joined me for this crawl, and between the four of us, wed received a dozen recommendations for this pizzeria.

When we arrived, however, we discovered that Pizza Time doesnt serve slices on Saturday nights. Knowing that slices are on offer during the week, we bent the rules a tad and ordered a plain pie. While we waited, we went around the corner to Bennys.

A closet at the back of a hallway lined with tiny tables and struggling fluorescent lights, Bennys hit the Saturday night vibe on the nose. Groups of young people overcrowded tables. The food came quickly, and the unassuming space led to a major surprise when I tasted the slice.

Bennys slice is as close to Bravos as you can get. It boasts the same sauce-cheese symbiosis, and the same crispy-but-foldable exterior. The only drawback was that the dough had a strong taste of yeast; Bennys is a Brooklyn alternative to a Manhattan classic.

Where it is: 1418 Ave. J, BrooklynWhat a (plain) slice costs: $3.21My rating: 4.5 greasy napkins

Pizza Times pie might be the most photogenic one Ive ever seen but we had to take it to go, because there was no space to eat in the pizzeria. We chowed down in my friends Toyota Sienna, a tribute to our high school days.

I found these much-touted slices a bit confusing. The crust and cheese held their shape easily: I could fold and walk with only a greasy wrist to worry about. The sauce-and-cheese combo reminded me of Bennys and Bravos, but it finished with a bitter aftertaste. The crust was chewier than it was crisp, and everything felt like it could be a little bit better. Pizza Times slice was perfectly serviceable, but the hype made it harder to get excited.

Where it is: 1324 Ave. J, BrooklynWhat a (plain) slice costs:$4My rating: 4 greasy napkins

A few weeks after the first Brooklyn crawl, I returned to spend an afternoon in Boro Park. I had spent the weeks exercising and eating well, and I was ready to undermine all that good work in the name of investigative journalism.

I began with Naim Pizza. On first bite, I was immediately offended by the sauce. Ketchup-y and pretty much substance-less, it lays on a chewy and doughy crust under a blanket of coagulated cheese.

One interesting note: Naim pizza accepts Zelle, Cash App, and, in a bind, Venmo a modern take on the cash-only business model.

Where it is: 3904 15th Ave., BrooklynWhat a (plain) slice costs: $3.25My rating: 2 greasy napkins

I grew up eating reheated J2 pizza, so I was excited to try the original. In the shop, a pair of Haredi men pulled on their vapes and tucked into a meal for seven while I waited for a taste of my childhood. The slice tasted just like the frozen version shocking and disappointing, although maybe it shouldnt be. The cheese is the best part of this slice, but J2 is simply not a first or second option.

Where it is: 5502 18th Ave., BrooklynWhat a (plain) slice costs: $3.95My rating: 1.5 greasy napkins

In Queens, my friends and informers considered Shimons and Benjys the twin standard-bearers. In Boro Park, it was Mendelsohns and Amnons.

Founded in 1959, Amnons looks like it hasnt been renovated since. Over the oven, a puzzling sign assured customers that we do not use apple juice in our dough a grim hint at the quality of the product. Cheese slid across too-thin sauce over the edge of a slice that drooped down no matter how I positioned my hands. Exposed sauce and crust did Amnons no favors.

By contrast, Mendelsohns was pristine. The seating area could fit an entire middle school field trip. The slices, meanwhile, were unlike any other on the trip, and they grew on me by the bite. The sauce was a bit sweet, but the cheese had a great stretch and the crust was light and flaky. The slice folded well, without letting any cheese slip off. Quality air conditioning and leg room made Mendelsohns a perfect rest stop during a busy day in the neighborhood.

Where Mendelsohns is: 4418 18th Ave., BrooklynWhere Amnons is: 4814 13th Ave., BrooklynWhat a (plain) slice costs:$3.75 at Mendelsohns, $3.50 at AmnonsMy rating: 4.5 greasy napkins for Mendelsohns, 2 greasy napkins for Amnons

Tani Levitt is a freelance journalist and podcaster based in New York City. He likes baseball, beatboxing and breathing roughly in that order. You can find his work on Twitter @HateItOrLevitt.

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Who serves the best kosher pizza in NYC? We found out - Forward

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