H eadlines
NEWSBRIEFS ‘My Unorthodox Life’ Renewed by Netflix
NETFLIX ANNOUNCED Sept. 20 that it is bringing back “My
Unorthodox Life,” the reality series about a formerly Orthodox
fashion mogul and her family, JTA reported.

Neither an approximate release date nor details about season
two were mentioned.

The series follows the family of Julia Haart, who left the
Monsey, New York, Orthodox community she grew up in and
became CEO of the Elite World Group fashion model agency.

The show focuses on her and her four children adapting their
varying levels of Jewish practice to secular New York City society.

The show received criticism for its portrayal of Orthodox
communities as harshly restrictive, resulting in a wide array of
debates in different Jewish communities.

Ukraine Passes Law Banning Antisemitism
Ukraine’s parliament passed a law that says “antisemitism and its
manifestations are banned” in the country, JTA reported.

The law passed on Sept. 22 with 283 lawmakers out of 450 in
support. It also makes antisemitic sentiment illegal, which is unusual,
as most countries with laws against antisemitism criminalize expres-
sions of antisemitic hatred but not the condition of harboring it.

The Law on Prevention and Counteraction to Anti-Semitism
in Ukraine defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews,
expressed as hatred of Jews.” Examples include Holocaust denial
and “calling for, concealing or justifying the killing or harm of
persons of Jewish origin.”
The law doesn’t mention anti-Israel rhetoric, nor does it
address a growing phenomenon in Ukraine of glorifying Nazi
collaborators as national heroes.

Punishments for violating the law weren’t specified.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish,
needs to sign the law for it to become effective.

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Poway Shooter Pleads Guilty to 113 Charges
John Earnest, who opened fire on a synagogue in Poway,
California in 2019, killing one and injuring three, pleaded guilty
to a 113-count federal hate crime indictment, JTA reported.

The plea comes with a recommended sentence of life in prison
plus 30 years. He faced a maximum sentence of the death penalty.

On April 27, 2019, the final day of Passover, Earnest, a white
supremacist, walked into the Chabad synagogue in Poway
near San Diego and began shooting at worshippers. The attack
occurred exactly six months after the Tree of Life synagogue
shooting in Pittsburgh, which killed 11 Jews.

Earnest killed one woman, Lori Gilbert Kaye, and injured
three others, including Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein and a child.

Torah Scroll Stolen by Nazis Returns to Service in Prague
A Torah scroll that the Nazis stole in Prague returned to use
there on Simchat Torah, JTA reported.

Memorial Scrolls Trust, a London-based nonprofit that
preserves Torah scrolls and other scripture, transferred the scroll
to Ec Chaim, a Progressive Jewish congregation in the Czech
capital, ahead of the Sept. 27 holiday.

The Nazis seized the scroll, which dates to 1890, in 1942. They
had it shipped to the Central Jewish Museum — an institution
that they planned to use to showcase liturgical objects stolen from
Jewish communities. That museum is now the Jewish Museum of
Prague and is owned by the local Jewish community. l
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM