The writer Sarah Bernstein has been longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize for her second novel, Study For Obedience. The bold and unsettling novel, published in July, explores themes of prejudice, guilt and criminality from the perspective of the unnamed Jewish narrator.

Bernstein, who is Jewish and whose grandparents came from Eastern Europe and who lost family members in the Holocaust, explores the complicated question of where she comes from through the book’s narrator.

Born in Montreal, 36-year-old Bernstein lives in the Scottish Highlands, and is a lecturer in modern and contemporary literature at Strathclyde University.

The prestigious Booker Prize recognizes pieces of fiction from around the world. The selection was made from 163 books published between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2023, which were submitted to the Booker Prize Foundation by publishers.

Brad Mahlof, a kosher chef, showcases his Libyan-Jewish heritage on the PBS show, “The Great American Recipe.” He always thought of cooking as a hobby, but when asked by the producers of the show to be a contestant, he accepted the challenge. “There is basically zero representation of Libyan Jews in the United States, so to have my recipes featured is a great way to show the world how beautiful our culture and food are,” he said.

While an undergraduate at Brandeis University, he would make Shabbat dinners for his friends. “Just being Jewish makes so many of us home cooks, because we do Shabbat dinner every week. It’s less about the process,” he said. “I like the end result of everyone coming together and enjoying food.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                 PBS photo

David Eldar, a 27-year-old Scrabble player from Melbourne, Australia, last month beat players from 26 countries in a competition held in Nottingham, England, to take the title World Scrabble Champion. He won the title from Sri-Lankan-born Harshan Lamabadusurilya 3-0 in the best of five finals.

The winning game featured such words as asinicos, obvs and troelies, but the winning word was “carrels,” which gave Eldar 74 points, based on placement and honors, and about $10,000 in prize money. He told The Australian Jewish News that the most memorable word he ever laid down, not from that match, was badminton, a nine-letter word and a rare feat in the game.

James Snyder, executive chairman of the Jerusalem Foundation and the former director of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, has been named director of New York’s Jewish Museum, effective this November.

“In addition to its deep and far-ranging collections, dynamic exhibition programming, and professional expertise, what drew me to the museum is the opportunity it offers to anchor Jewish world culture in the context of the times and places where it has flourished globally,” Snyder said.

Gal Gadot will have her name immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She will be the first Israeli actress to have her name installed at the iconic Los Angeles landmark.

Shira Haas, who rose to fame in the television series “Shtisel” and also “Unorthodox,” has joined the cast of an Israeli drama in production, “Night Therapy.” She is also cast in the next “Captain America” movie, which is slated for release next summer, and as a young Golda Meir in a forthcoming TV series produced by Barbra Streisand.