Black and Jewish Unity Event in Atlanta

👀 Lots of Jewish content coming from Hollywood this week.

📺 HBO’s medical drama “The Pitt” starring Noah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch aired the final episode of its second season. Apple TV has debuted the trailer for the Israeli drama, “Unconditional.”

📚 Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s interview by Anderson Cooper on “60 Minutes” is a stunning account of her motherhood. Her new book is titled “When We See You Again.”

💻 The Strokes’ rock musician Julian Casablancas said that “American Zionists get the benefits of white privileged people, but talk like they are Black people during slavery.”

🎥 A new mahjong movie is getting heat for the lack of Asian representation.  

📰 Read on for reporting on the Black and Jewish unity event that took place this week in Atlanta. Thanks for reading! 

Y’alla,
Logan

👨‍🌾 Bring the farmers market to your doorstep this Earth Week! Shop with Fresh Harvest and support Georgia farmers, easily order online, and enjoy organic produce and groceries delivered in sustainable packaging. Take $15 off your first order with code FRESHDRAFT15. SPONSOR MESSAGE

Black and Jewish unity dinner

🕊️ Dr. John Eaves, pictured, opened the Black and Jewish unity event at The Temple on April 22.  

A fireside chat about the relationship between Black and Jewish communities was held with Dr. Michael L. Lomax and his longtime friend, Harvard professor, distinguished scholar, and documentarian Henry Louis Gates Jr., and was moderated by WABE’s Lisa Rayam. 

Gates is the host and producer of a four-part documentary, “Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History,” which is now streaming on PBS. But the evening was focused on the two communities banding together to fight one common enemy. 

➡ Read Logan C. Ritchie’s reporting here.

Take Flight at Fernbank Museum

🦋 Experience spring in a spectacular way with Flight of Butterflies at Fernbank Museum.

Twenty-five larger-than-life butterfly sculptures transform the nature paths in WildWoods into a breathtaking outdoor gallery.

➞ Let your imagination take flight at Fernbank.

JCRC to discuss hunger 

📅 Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta is hosting the Community Council at 8:30 a.m. on Thurs., April 30, at Congregation Ohr HaTorah in Toco Hills. 

A panel of Jewish healthcare and advocacy leaders will discuss how communities are responding to food insecurity at home and abroad. Originally scheduled for March, this program was postponed as JCRC pivoted to a war briefing.

JCRC brings together individuals and organizations to discuss critical public policy issues and advocate for solutions grounded in Jewish values. JCRC welcomes anyone interested in lending their voice to help shape a communal response to this important issue. 

👋🏽 Registration is required. 

Deborah Lipstadt, Brendan Murphy talk at JCC

🔈On April 26, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, a leading authority on antisemitism and former U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, will present “Antisemitism in America Today – Reality, Risk, and Response” at the MJCCA. She will be joined by Brendan Murphy, a nationally recognized Holocaust educator and founder of the Bearing Witness Institute.  

From social media to global discourse, antisemitic incidents in the U.S. have reached record highs, underscoring the urgency of informed dialogue and collective response. 

“Antisemitism is often described as the oldest hatred, but what we are seeing today is not simply a continuation of the past — it is an escalation that challenges the very foundations of democratic society,” said Lipstadt. “When antisemitism rises, it is a warning sign for all. We cannot afford silence or complacency. Each of us has a responsibility to confront it with clarity, courage, and an unwavering commitment to truth.”

🎫 Tickets are required.

Opinion: Alabama is forcing the Ten Commandments into my children’s classrooms. As a rabbi, I’m horrified

BY RABBI PJ SCHWARTZ | TEMPLE B’NAI SHOLOM, HUNTSVILLE, AL

🎒 As of this month, many public schools in Alabama are required to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, libraries, lunchrooms, and all other common spaces. 

Proponents of Senate Bill 99, signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey on April 10, have claimed that these enforced displays are historical, educational, and religiously neutral. As an Alabama rabbi — and a father of two future public school students — I see that defense as not just incorrect, but also deceitful, especially because the version of the Ten Commandments that the law endorses is, itself, not historically accurate. 

The Ten Commandments are a sacred Jewish text. They were given to the Jewish people, written in Hebrew, and rooted in a specifically Jewish story of liberation and covenant. This law takes that text, strips it of its context, and reshapes it using a Christian lens.  

🗞️ Read the full story on The Forward.

👨‍🌾 Bring the farmers market to your doorstep this Earth Week! Shop with Fresh Harvest and support Georgia farmers, easily order online, and enjoy organic produce and groceries delivered in sustainable packaging. Take $15 off your first order with code FRESHDRAFT15. SPONSOR MESSAGE

Look & Listen

🥇The first group of Birthright Israel students since the outbreak of the war with Iran landed on Tuesday at Ben Gurion Airport. The 120 young adults from Australia officially opened the summer season of Birthright.

🤣 Comedian Zach Margs is performing on May 7 at City Winery Ponce City Market.

What’s doin’ around town

📖 April 25: SciFi Book Club at Or Hadash. 

🎤 April 29: Book talk on The Art and Practice of Living Wondrously. 

🔥 May 1: Lag B’Omer Kabbalat Shabbat and dinner 

✡️ The next Jewish holiday is Lag B’Omer on May 4. 

🕯️ Light Shabbat candles this week at 7:58 p.m.

🔥 Celebrate Lag B’Omer with Or Hadash on May 1—musical Kabbalat Shabbat at 6:30 p.m., then a joyful, family-friendly BBQ dinner. We’ll bless our graduates and celebrate together. Come sing, connect, and savor community. RSVP for dinner here. All are welcome!

👨‍🌾 Bring the farmers market to your doorstep this Earth Week! Shop with Fresh Harvest and support Georgia farmers, easily order online, and enjoy organic produce and groceries delivered in sustainable packaging. Take $15 off your first order with code FRESHDRAFT15. SPONSOR MESSAGE

Before you go

🥳 Mazel tov to the 18 Atlanta teens who celebrated their journey to Jewish adulthood on Sun., May 19, during the Jewish Kids Groups (JKG) B Mitzvah group ceremonies at The Trolley Barn in Inman Park. After the ceremony, students displayed personal interest projects.