Israeli Marriage Reform; Paula Abdul’s Bat Mitzvah
Plus five Jews attacked in Australia, and more in the news
October 28, 2013
Paula Abdul on September 10, 2012 in New York City. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for American Express)
• The Israeli Knesset has passed a marriage registration reform bill known as the ‘Tzohar bill,’ which allows couples to choose the rabbinic jurisdiction in which they will register their marriage, enabling couples to avoid some of the more stringent jurisdictions. [Times of Israel]
• Five Australian Jews were attacked this weekend just outside of Sydney, Australia, in which is being called an anti-Semitic incident. [Jerusalem Post]
• Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia’s Jewish tycoon turned noble dissident (profiled by Tablet in 2011), reflects on 10 years of imprisonment. [NYT]
• So, Paula Abdul is getting bat mitzvahed at the Kotel. [JTA]
• WNYC host Jonathan Schwartz, son of composer Arthur Schwartz, lists his personal classic American songbook canon. [New Yorker]
• Attention, Seinfeld fans: Tom’s Diner, the real-life restaurant that Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer frequented on-screen, is getting the documentary treatment. [Jewcy]
Stephanie Butnick is the founder of GOLDA, a Jewish lifestyle newsletter. She hosted the Tablet podcast Unorthodox, co-authored The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia: From Abraham to Zabar’s and Everything in Between, and worked as a writer and editor at Tablet.
