Stephen Miller Gets the Top Job

Stephen Miller is Trump's new chief of staff, and Jewish groups split right on schedule. Trump named Miller to replace his boss, Susie Wiles, days after the GOP's midterm losses. Six conservative groups, among them the Zionist Organization of America, sent a congratulatory letter. Amy Spitalnick of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs tied his immigration agenda to antisemitic "replacement" conspiracy theories. ¹

Israel demolished homes belonging to relatives of a Bedouin bus driver who helped rescue about 30 people from the Nova festival. Authorities called the houses of Youssef Ziadna's family in al-Ziadna, an unrecognized village near Rahat, "new and illegal construction." Ziadna lit a torch at Israel's 2024 Independence Day ceremony. Asked whether his rescue improved Bedouin-state relations, Ziadna said: "The opposite happened." ²

Stanley Zabar, co-owner of Zabar's, died at 94. He left Penn to help his brother Saul run the Upper West Side store after their father died, and later pioneered its prepared foods and cheese counters. Per The New York Times, the store sells about 2,000 pounds of smoked fish a week. ³

Israel wants to fund more Jewish schooling in America. Federations should take the money. The Israeli cabinet approved NIS 100 million ($31.5 million) to enroll more North American students in Jewish education, matched 50% by the Jewish Federations of North America and other non-governmental sources. ⁴ Our view: more seats in Jewish classrooms is a good use of anyone's shekels. Stronger ties to Israel, the plan's other goal, are harder to buy. In a JFNA survey in February, a third of American Jews aged 18 to 34 called themselves Zionists, yet nearly nine in 10 backed Israel's right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state. ⁴ Our bet is that the gap is about Israel's government. This plan is Netanyahu's, and it passed while he fights to keep his job.

Today is 2 Kislev. This week's parsha is Toldot, where a famished Esau trades his birthright to Jacob for bread and lentil stew, after Jacob makes him swear to it. He asked for "that red stuff," which is how he got his other name, Edom. ⁵⁶