H eadlines
NEWSBRIEFS Jewish Basketball Star Serves as Team USA
Flagbearer at Tokyo Olympics
JEWISH BASKETBALL STAR Sue Bird was one of
Team USA’s two flag bearers at the Tokyo Olympics’
opening ceremony on July 23, JTA reported.

Bird is competing in her fifth Olympic games this
summer, and the 12-time WNBA All-Star won gold
medals her previous four trips with the U.S. Women’s
Basketball Team.

“That’s the best part, to be honest, to have your
peers be the one to see your career and pick you to be
the one to lead us in,” Bird told the Today Show before
the Olympics.

Bird also holds Israeli citizenship. Her paternal
grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from what
is now Ukraine in the early 1900s, changing their
surname from “Boorda” to “Bird.”
Bird shared flagbearer honors with Eddy Alvarez,
a former speed skating medalist who now plays
baseball in the Miami Marlins’ organization.

White House Intends to Name Antisemitism
Monitor Soon
The White House will nominate an antisemitism
monitor in the coming weeks, according to a White
House official speaking at a Jewish Federations of North
America conference on antisemitism, JTA reported.

Melissa Rogers, the executive director of the White
House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood
Partnerships, told the news to JFNA’s Young
Leadership Cabinet on July 20.

Jewish organizations have pressured the Biden
administration to name someone to the job since he
took office.

Insiders say the frontrunner is noted Emory
University Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt.

Also at the conference, JFNA CEO Eric Fingerhut
announced that $115 million of the federal govern-
ment’s nonprofit security grants this year would go
to Jewish institutions. Jewish groups have lobbied for
the grant program for many years.

Canada Announces Plan to Spend $5M to
Strengthen Security at Jewish Institutions
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced
July 21 at a virtual national summit on antisemitism
that the government would spend more than $5
million to increase the security of the nation’s Jewish
community institutions, JTA reported.

The spending is part of his government’s Security
Infrastructure Program to bolster the safety of at-risk
minorities. “The rise in hate-motivated crimes against the
Jewish community in the past few months is not
only alarming, it’s completely unacceptable,” Trudeau
said. “As Jewish Canadians, too many of you have told
me you’re feeling isolated and vulnerable.”
B’nai Brith Canada said more than 2,600 antise-
mitic incidents took place in Canada in 2020 — a
fifth-consecutive record-setting year. About 44% of
the incidents appeared to be related to the pandemic,
the group said.

Tokyo Olympics Creative Director Fired for
1990s Skit Mocking the Holocaust
The creative director of the Tokyo Olympics opening
ceremony was fired after a Holocaust joke he made
during a 1990s comedy skit came to light, JTA
reported. Comedian and actor Kentaro Kobayashi joked
during a television appearance in the 1990s, “Let’s
play the genocide of the Jews,” according to a video
that began circulating on July 21.

Yaffa Ben-Ari, Israel’s ambassador to Japan,
tweeted that she was grateful for Kobayashi’s removal
— which came less than 48 hours before the opening
ceremony. Kobayashi is the second Tokyo Olympics creative
director fired for offensive comments. A predecessor
was fired for mocking a female comedian’s weight.

And an opening ceremony composer stepped down
after revelations emerged that he bragged about
abusing a child with disabilities. l
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
ISRAELBRIEFS Israel to Host Miss Universe Pageant for
First Time
ISRAEL WILL HOST the Miss Universe pageant for
the first time, JTA reported.

Eilat, a remote resort city in the country’s southern
region, will host the beauty competition’s 70th annual
event in December.

Actor and comedian Steve Harvey returns as host
for the three-hour pageant. It will be broadcast live
on the Fox network in the United States and 180
countries. Reigning Miss Universe, Andrea Meza of
Mexico, will crown her successor.

The pageant was postponed last year because of
the pandemic.

Rina Messinger is the only Israeli to win the
pageant. She won in 1976.

The hosting announcement came amid a renewed
focus on the movement to boycott Israel after Ben &
Jerry’s said it would stop selling ice cream in Israel’s
West Bank settlements.

Casspi, 33, began his career with the Israeli
Maccabi Tel Aviv team, then was selected in the NBA
draft by the Sacramento Kings. The forward played
in Cleveland, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans,
Minnesota and for the Golden State Warriors during
his career. He wore the number 18 to signify life.

Casspi, who won a championship with the
Warriors in 2018, left the NBA the following year to
play again with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

“Basketball has given me a lot over the years. I
reached the peaks of European and world basketball
that I never dreamed of,” he said.

Former Consul General to New York Named
As the Next Yad Vashem Chair
Former Consul General to New York Dani Dayan
— who also is a past leader of Israel’s West Bank
settlements — will be the next chair of Yad Vashem,
Israel’s Holocaust museum, JTA reported.

Dayan will replace Avner Shalev, who is retiring
after 27 years in the position.

First Israeli in NBA Retires from Pro Basketball
In 2020, then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Omri Casspi, the first Israeli to play in the NBA, reportedly wanted to appoint Effi Eitam, a former
announced July 18 that he has retired from profes- general and far-right politician, but Holocaust survi-
sional basketball, JTA reported.

vors, politicians and Jewish organizations protested
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JEWISH EXPONENT
because Eitam had called in 2006 to “remove Israeli
Arabs from the political system.”
Dayan’s impending appointment by Education
Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton drew praise from some
of those who opposed Eitam.

Israel to be Compensated for Mediterranean
Sea Oil Spill That Occurred in February
The Environmental Protection Ministry announced
July 22 that the International Oil Pollution
Compensation Funds will pay Israel for the
Mediterranean Sea oil spill that washed up on its
shores in February.

Israel said it sustained a loss of about $15.3 million
because of the spill, and the foundation’s executive
committee — and all member states — approved the
request for compensation.

About 70 tons of tar washed up on Israel’s shores
and the ministry previously said more than 1,200
tons of tar were still in the ocean.

The ministry and an international shipping
journal called Lloyd’s List said the spill came from
the Iranian-owned tanker The Emerald, which was
carrying 90,000 tons of crude oil from Iran to Syria. l
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



This year, there are two easy ways you
can help nourish families in need:
1. Purchase ShopRite, ACME and Giant gift cards for Mitzvah
Food Program clients to use at their local stores. Gift cards up
to $50 are preferred.

2. Purchase food through the Mitzvah Food Program Amazon
Wish List so that products are shipped directly to a pantry.

$ NEW
$ Check with your synagogue for more information, or mail gift
cards directly to the Mitzvah Food Program –
2100 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
High Holiday Grocery
Gift Card Drive 2021
Visit jewishphilly.org/hhgiftcards
for more information.

Did you know...

23,000+ Jewish families in
our community live with
food insecurity
3,500 families
are nourished by
your donations
20% of our region’s
population falls under
the poverty line
A VERY
ISRAELI ROSH
HASHANAH Featuring Michael Solomonov and Adeena Sussman
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Make this year especially sweet and delicious with
a 1-hour live virtual cooking class with 5-time
James Beard Foundation Award-Winning Chef
Michael Solomonov and New York Times
Best-Selling cookbook author Adeena Sussman.

Local Virtual Community Schmooze Rooms Begin at 7:30 p.m.

Live Virtual Cooking Class Begins at 8:00 p.m.

Register today: jewishphilly.org/roshhashanah
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM JEWISH EXPONENT
JULY 29, 2021
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