Amos Hochstein, born in Israel, and a senior White House official and top Biden national security advisor, is the President’s official mediator in Lebanon. He has made at least five trips to Israel and Lebanon since the war in Gaza prompted Hezbollah to launch rocket attacks on northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas.

His mission is to find a diplomatic alternative and bring calm to the Israel-Lebanon border so that the conflict does not escalate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a joint session of Congress on July 24 for the fourth time, speaking of “the deep historical ties between Israel and the U.S.” He centered his remarks on the Hamas-led attack that took place on Oct. 7 in southern Israel, which killed around 1,200 people and resulted in hundreds more taken hostage. Meanwhile, outside the Capitol, thousands protested, voicing frustration and outrage at the government’s military campaign into the Gaza Strip and Netanyahu’s failure to bring the hostages home.    AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz has quit Israel’s three-person war cabinet, repositioning himself as a potential replacement for his longtime rival Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to The Forward. Gantz’s departure from the coalition on Sunday, June 16, along with that of Gadi Eisenkot and another six Knesset members, came one day after an Israeli operation freed four hostages held by Hamas.

Professor Rebecca Kobrin, the Russell and Bettina Knapp Associate Professor of American Jewish History at Columbia University, was a special guest at Congregation Tifereth Israel’s Tikkun Leil Shavuot event, held on Tuesday, June 11. Professor Kobrin joined Rabbi Gadi and two other speakers, all of whom connected their remarks to receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, the focus of the Shavuot observance.

Professor Kobrin talked about the protests and violence on the Columbia campus in the aftermath of the brutal Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on many scores of Jews in Israel. Encampments by Palestinians protesting Israel’s retaliation were common on college campuses across the U.S.

Rabbi Gadi tops the Jews In The News column this month. Our rabbi has successfully completed his final project, “Jews From Arab Countries,” and has earned a master’s degree in Modern Jewish Studies from a joint program sponsored by the Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia University. A graduation ceremony was held on May 16 at JTS. In addition to his rabbinical ordination, Rabbi Gadi now holds two master’s degrees and two undergraduate degrees.

 The Shofar joyfully shares the news that Rebecca Rothman,  daughter of shul members Ron and Madelyn Rothman of Peconic, and John Divoll, son Richard and Barbara Divoll of Key West, were married on May 4, 2024, at the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden. The couple will live in Key West.

Mazel tov to all.

The actor Jesse Eisenberg has applied for Polish citizenship. In a recent interview with the Polish publication Glos Wielkopolski, he said his family and his wife’s family are from Poland, and that he was looking for a way to create better relations between Jews and Polish people.

He applied for citizenship nine months ago and is now “waiting for the final signature.”