Sheeran's Band Just Quit On Him

Ed Sheeran's entire opening lineup just quit his tour. Macklemore was cut from the Loop Tour after shouting "Free Palestine" at MetLife Stadium, and Robert Kraft said he wouldn't play Gillette. Sheeran's backing band and three openers walked too, one citing the "silencing of Macklemore by zionist lobbies." ¹

The Supreme Court will hear a living-room minyan case. Daniel Grand, an Orthodox Jew in University Heights, Ohio, was threatened with fines and jail for holding Saturday prayer services in his own house, since no synagogue nearby is within walking distance. The justices hear arguments Dec. 9. ²

A top House Democrat is holding up a $2.8 billion bomb sale to Israel. Rep. Gregory Meeks wants proof the 40,000 bombs won't be used in dense parts of Gaza and Lebanon before he'll clear it. He calls himself "firmly committed to Israel's security." ³

Mamdani's answer says more than his presence would. Ramaz and SAR, two Modern Orthodox high schools, are sending students to pray outside Gracie Mansion Friday, since the mayor says he'll probably be elsewhere. ⁴ The real tell came days earlier, when a reporter asked if he'd join protests of Netanyahu's UN speech. He didn't say no. He said he'd "never encouraged" anyone to protest, then added that New Yorkers "have the right to do so." That's a lawyer's sentence, built so nobody can quote him saying yes. A mayor who wants Jewish New Yorkers to trust him should be able to answer a direct question about his own city's synagogues directly. This week he had the chance and hedged instead.

This Shabbat is Shabbat Shuva, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. ⁵ It used to be one of only two Shabbatot a year when a rabbi actually gave a sermon, the other before Passover. Every rabbi gives one weekly now. ⁶