Herzog Called the Reform Shul Twice
Five attacks on a Jerusalem synagogue since August. Three minors are under arrest.
California put a buffer around its houses of worship. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2664 Friday inside Wilshire Boulevard Temple, which pro-Palestinian protesters blockaded in December. Within 100 feet of a house of worship's entrance, nobody may come within eight feet of a congregant, without consent, to protest in a way meant "to harass, obstruct, threaten or intimidate." CAIR opposed it on free-speech grounds. 1
Ireland beat Israel 3-0 and skipped the handshakes. Irish players wore black armbands and bowed their heads during the Israeli anthem at Sunday's match, played in a mostly empty stadium in Hungary. The rematch is Oct. 4 in Serbia, where Ireland is the home team. 2
Adam Brody called the war in Gaza "a genocide." "Put me down as wanting a free Palestine," the actor who plays a rabbi on "Nobody Wants This" told GQ, the first time he has said so publicly. Israel rejects the charge, and the International Court of Justice has not ruled. 3
Hero: Isaac Herzog. Kol HaNeshama, a Reform synagogue in Jerusalem, has been targeted five times since August. On Yom Kippur morning, two youths showed up asking to book a bar mitzvah for their dog. Police arrested three minors. Israel's president called the rabbi Friday and again Sunday, after checking with police. A president phoning a Reform shul should not be news. 4
Villain: Bo French. The Republican running for Texas Railroad Commissioner once polled followers on whether "Jews" or "Muslims" pose "a bigger threat to America." CNN found deleted posts in which he called for public executions of Barack Obama and Adam Schiff. Karl Rove is voting for Jon Rosenthal, the only Jew in the Texas House, Rove's first Democratic vote in over 30 years. The job regulates oil and gas. 5
Today is 18 Tishrei, the fourth day of Sukkot. 6 On Simchat Torah, Sunday, Oct. 4, shuls read the end of Deuteronomy and then start Genesis over the same morning. 7 Moses dies at 120 on Mount Nebo, and then it is back to "In the beginning." 8
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