Abby Meyers, a Maccabiah Games gold medalist and former University of Maryland basketball star, was selected 11^th overall by the Dallas Wings in the first round of the 2023 WNBA draft.

Meyers, who was active in Jewish life on campus, helped her squad make the Elite 8 at this year’s NCAA tournament. She averaged 14.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game during the regular season.

Go Abby!

Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist and reporter covering Russia for The Wall Street Journal, was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service in March on charges of espionage. The arrest marks the first time an American journalist has been detained since the Cold War.

Experts have speculated that the motivation behind the order for Gershkovich’s arrest was an anticipated prisoner exchange for one or more high-profile Russians imprisoned in other countries.

Gershkovich’s parents, Ella and Mikhail Gershkovich, separately fled the Soviet Union during a period of mass emigration in the wake of rumors that Jews were about to be exiled in Siberia. They came to the United States in 1979 and eventually settled in Detroit, where they met. The couple moved to Princeton, NJ, where Gershkovich and his sister grew up, speaking Russian at home.

When arrested, he was working in Yekaterinburg, covering a Russian military organization.

Shul member Tom Byrne makes the “Jews in the News” column this month, landing the role of Mr./Billy Webster in the North Fork Community Theatre production of “Sunday in the Park With George,” the 1984 Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical that was inspired by Georges Seurat’s painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.” The play won a Pulitzer Prize and was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Performances May 18 through June 4. Tickets: www.nfct.com

After nearly a year of waiting, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” the hit series that airs on Amazon Prime Video, will return for its fifth and final season. Three of the nine episodes will drop on April 15, with the final episode airing on May 26. Mark your calendars now.

If you’re just tuning in, the show follows Miriam “Midge” Maisel as she navigates her career as a stand-up comedian. But the comedy — and drama — don’t end there. There’s a splendid backup cast and plenty of Jewish guilt to go around.

Adam McKinney, a Black Jewish choreographer, who attended Orthodox schools in Milwaukee, is the new artistic director of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

“A question I often ask is this,” he said. “‘What can dance do other than entertainment?’ Not only does dance have the capacity to heal but, for me, dance has the capacity to fill in the blanks of history.” In that vein, he will oversee the premiere of a ballet about Florence Waren, a Jewish dancer who worked with the French Resistance during WWII.

Lee Zeldin, (R-NY), a former New York gubernatorial candidate defeated by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in the November 2022 election, has announced the launch of a political action committee to back candidates who will increase Republican turnout among Jews, voters of color, and younger voters, according to “The Hill,” an online political site.

‘Leadership American Needs PAC,’ chaired by Zeldin, plans outreach to groups like Millennial and Gen. Z voters, also Black, Latino and Jewish communities.

After 20 years of leading the Whitney Museum of American Art — and overseeing its move from Madison Avenue to the meatpacking district — Adam D. Weinberg is stepping down this fall as director. In an unusual joint announcement by the Whitney’s board, the museum also said it had already selected Weinberg’s successors: Scott Rothkopf, 46, the current senior deputy director and chief curator, who will become director on Nov. 1.

Rothkopf told The New York Times that in a way, he had been building toward this professional milestone his whole life. “I came to the museum when I was a kid with my grandparents to look at art and went back to Dallas and made Calder circus animals out of coat hangers. Then I worked as an intern here in college. So for me, there is a lifelong sense of intimacy with this museum.”

Weinberg said he felt he was leaving the Whitney in good hands, having worked closely with Rothkopf for a dozen years. Weinberg will become director emeritus and an honorary trustee.