• Majorcan chef and food writer Tony Pina, whose family was forcibly converted to Catholicism during the Inquisition, completed a formal conversion to Judaism. [Jerusalem Post]
• Cynthia Ozick and Calvin Trillin’s longtime debate Trillin’s grandfather’s name—whether it was Kusel or Yekutiel—finally gets resolved. [NYT]
• On the making of Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, and whether the plot was inspired by Bernie Madoff. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Meanwhile, more than 10,000 victims of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme are now eligible for compensation from the $2.35 billion Madoff Victim Fund. [The Wire]
• Today is World Toilet Day, and friend of the Scroll Jason Kass explains the need for affordable, efficient toilets in third-world countries—and explains how we can make that a reality. [NYT]
• You can win a pair of custom Katz’s Deli sneakers in honor of their 125th anniversary. [Vanishing New York]
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.
