Netflix Renews Orthodox Drama Shtisel
Israeli television drama Shtisel, which chronicles a family of haredi Jews, was renewed for a third season by Netflix, The Forward reported.
Show co-creator Yehonatan Indursky said May 7 that writers were working on the upcoming season.
Shtisel, which is available on Netflix with English subtitles, follows a haredi family in the Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem. Shtisel’s primary focus is on the family’s patriarch, Shulem Shtisel (Dov Glickman), and his youngest son, Akiva (Michael Aloni), the last of Shulem’s children to still live at home.
Shulem is an imposing widower who works as the teacher and later principal of a cheder and has a penchant for falling asleep in front of the Talmud as he studies late into the night.
Akiva is a romantic and a dreamer. He’s a young man in his mid-20s, fresh out of yeshiva and starting a job as a teacher at his father’s cheder, while nursing aspirations of becoming an artist.
Poll: Biden Top Choice of Jewish Voters
Nearly half of Jewish voters planning to vote in a Democratic primary that were surveyed by Morning Consult said they favor former Vice President Joe Biden, JTA reported.
Biden had support of 47.1 percent of those surveyed, compared to 11.1 percent for Jewish Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was third at 8.9 percent, Sen. Kamala Harris of California placed fourth at 8.2 percent and South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg was fifth at 7.3 percent.
Tennessee Judge Posts Links Saying Jews Should ‘Get Over’ Holocaust
Several organizations are calling for a reprimand of Tennessee Judge Jim Lammey after he posted an anti-Semitic article on his Facebook page that said Jews should “get the f— over the Holocaust,” JTA reported.
Lammey, who sits on the Shelby County Criminal Court, posted several racist and anti-Semitic articles, including the one in question by Holocaust denier David Cole.
Lammey, who was first elected in 2006 and was reelected in 2014, has denied being anti-Semitic or racist and added that he had a right to free speech. He told The Commercial Appeal that his now-deceased best friend was Jewish.
The posts are no longer visible, and Lammey said he accidentally allowed them to be public.
Jewish groups calling for his censure are the Anti-Defamation League Southeast Region, Jewish Federation and Jewish Foundation of Nashville & Middle Tennessee, Jewish Community Partners and the Tennessee Holocaust Commission.
Largest Human Menorah Sets World Record
Students and staff at Bialik College in Melbourne, Australia, celebrated Israel’s Independence Day by forming the world’s largest human menorah, JTA reported.
There were 1,048 people involved in the event on May 9. They created a menorah 137.8 feet both wide and tall. Two official counter tracked the number of people involved, as per Guinness World Records requirements.
The menorah easily broke the prior mark set in 2017 by more than 500 students at Ben Porat Yosef day school in Paramus, New Jersey.
