President Biden will nominate former Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew as his next ambassador to Israel. Mr. Lew has served in some of the government’s most important posts under two Democratic administrations, in the process earning him many admirers across the aisle.

He ran the Treasury Department for President Barack Obama, was also Mr. Obama’s White House chief of staff, deputy secretary of state, and director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Lew first served in the budget director post under President Bill Clinton, presiding over the last federal government surplus.

He will succeed Thomas R. Nides, another former deputy secretary of state, who stepped down over the summer to return home to his family.

Mr. Lew is an Orthodox Jew. While in public office, he observed Shabbat as much as he could, and made a point of walking to the White House whenever he had to work on a Saturday.

Shul member Susan Schrott has published a new book, Rise With Radiance, a collection of inspirational words illustrated with drawings originally created on fabric “to light your path every day of the year,” the writer says. A psychotherapists, artist, and certified yoga instructor, Susan Schrott invites readers to embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and daily inspiration.

While caring for her ailing father, she embarked on a personal journey that led to the creation of the book. Drawing from her emotions and experiences, she engaged in a yearlong daily exploration that resulted in the artwork and words from her heart.

Rise With Radiance is available on Amazon.com.

New York City mayor Eric Adams has announced the appointment of Fabien Levy as deputy mayor for communications. As the city’s first Persian Jewish deputy mayor, Levy will coordinate communications across all of city government, assuring that city agencies will speak with a unified message to New Yorkers.

“Since I was a kid, I knew it was my responsibility to give back, to help others, and — like the Jewish tenet “tikkun olam” translates — to repair the world,” Levy said.

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.