Daily Kickoff
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2026
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the reaction by Jewish conservatives to a fundraiser for Vice President JD Vance hosted by Tucker Carlson ally Omeed Malik, report on pleas by a group of Jewish staffers at Vox Media to address anti-Israel bias at the company and its subsidiaries that have largely gone unheeded and talk to observant Jews in Baltimore who, following the decision to move the Preakness from Saturday to Sunday, will for the first time be able to attend the annual horse race at Pimlico Race Course. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mary Peltola, Amy-Jill Levine and Alex Luxenberg.
Curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod.
The Weekly Print
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: Socialist surge happening in under-the-radar local and state legislative races; Foreign policy experts wary of Trump administration’s Gaza diplomacy; and Amar’e Stoudemire details journey to Israel and Judaism in Hall of Fame induction speech. Print the latest edition here.
Today's Agenda
President Donald Trump is traveling to Myrtle Beach, S.C., today for an evening rally with Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) ahead of Tuesday’s runoff that will pit Graham against Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC). The rally comes days after a debate in which Graham’s answers on foreign policy — in which she acknowledged being “not that informed on national security” — were widely panned, including by GOP operatives.
The USS Abraham Lincoln and the 5,000 servicemembers aboard are en route back to San Diego, having departed their position in the Gulf following a nine-month deployment in the Pacific and the Middle East. The aircraft carrier was relieved earlier this week by the USS George Washington.
One Thing to Know
A fundraiser hosted by Vice President JD Vance in the Hamptons on Wednesday is raising red flags among some Jewish Republicans who continue to harbor concerns over his likely intention to run for president in 2028.
The event, first reported by Axios, was notably held in the home of Omeed Malik, the Iranian American investor who was an important early backer of Tucker Carlson’s media company. The fundraiser highlights Vance’s ongoing ties to Carlson’s network — even as the far-right commentator has faced backlash for his regular promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jews and Israel.
The event underscores the anxieties among some traditional Republicans who are skeptical of Vance’s indulgence of antisemitic forces on the far right and commitment to a strong relationship with Israel that has long been a key GOP value but is now waning among the party’s younger voters. Jewish conservatives voiced their concerns about the fundraiser on social media as the invitation surfaced online Thursday.
The Big Reads
MEDIA MOMENT
‘Recognize our humanity and our fear’: Jewish employees’ 2023 plea to Vox Media went unanswered
Not long after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, members of a Jewish employee resource group at Vox Media, known as the Tribe, circulated a lengthy memo alleging several instances of bias against Israel in coverage by New York magazine, which was then a subsidiary, and Vox, the explanatory journalism site, and offering editorial guidance for staffers writing about the attack and ensuing war in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. The pleas went unheeded, as New York magazine now faces fresh outside scrutiny from critics who say its recent cover issue, dedicated to celebrating New York City’s burgeoning Middle Eastern cultural scene, erased the Jewish perspective from its narrative, suggesting the Tribe memo likely faded from institutional memory.
NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Peltola campaign mum about whether she stands by her pro-Israel record in the House
Alaska’s closely watched Senate race, which will help determine the balance of power in the Senate, is set to pit a consistent — if rarely prominent — Democratic supporter of Israel against a prominent Republican national security hawk. Unlike in some other battleground races, the issue of Israel has rarely come up in the campaign, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Though she was a reliable supporter of Israel in the House, even breaking with most Democrats at times, Peltola’s campaign did not provide comment in response to repeated inquiries from JI about whether her stance has changed since leaving the House.
Bonus: The Cook Political Report, which already rated the Alaska Senate race as a “Toss Up,” on Thursday moved the Texas and Iowa Senate races from “Lean Republican” to “Toss Up.”
AIN'T GONNA RACE ON SATURDAY
As Preakness moves to Sunday, the 153-year-old race could see first-time Orthodox attendees
For more than 150 years, Baltimore’s Orthodox Jews have walked to synagogue on Preakness Saturday and listened to the roar of the Pimlico Race Course crowd less than a mile away, never able to join it. That will change next year, following an announcement from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and the Maryland Jockey Club that the 152nd Preakness Stakes will run Sunday, May 23, 2027, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. “Growing up, I would walk to synagogue every Shabbat of Preakness and I’d be able to hear the crowd roaring. I always felt like I was missing out,” Alex Friedman, a member of the Baltimore City Democratic State Central Committee, told JI.
The Rundown
The rest of today’s original stories from Jewish Insider — full stories, all published on the site.
PROGRESSIVE PREVAILS
AIPAC-backed Hernandez loses to progressive Wahab in California special election
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
A U.S. official said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will be barred from attending the U.N. General Assembly in New York next month, a year after he was first denied a visa over U.S. claims that the PA had engaged in efforts to undermine peace efforts…
Michigan Democratic congressional nominee Jeremy Moss declined to endorse his party’s Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, in an interview with Slate: “Abdul’s going to have to demonstrate some serious outreach to Oakland County’s Jewish community,” Moss said. The two candidates have “had an ongoing dialogue,” Moss added, as he said Democrats must ensure that “the liberal Jewish community is not politically homeless”...
Our Time NYC, a nonprofit founded by allies of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to back the mayor’s policies, will close down following the departure of all of its staff, nine months after the group launched…
In Newsweek, former White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt lauds Jared Kushner’s diplomatic efforts, noting that Kushner operates “knowing the region’s leaders, and the ground beneath them, better than almost anyone else Washington could send”...
German investigators said they had identified the alleged perpetrator of a 1970 arson attack on a Jewish community center in Munich in which seven Holocaust survivors were killed; the man, who was not named, was a German neo-Nazi who died in 2020…
A researcher testifying before Australia’s royal commission into antisemitism in the country clashed with a commissioner after saying she did not consider Israel to be a “legitimate state” and believed Zionism to be a “violent extremist” movement…
The Israeli government advanced plans to build an additional 1,200 housing units in the West Bank, prompting the U.K., France, Germany, Canada and Italy to condemn the move…
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee warned against efforts by Israeli settlers to take property owned by Palestinian Americans, telling Reuters such moves constituted “a violation of God's law” and could be met with U.S. sanctions…
The Catholic Biblical Association of America elected Old and New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine, who is Jewish, to serve as the body’s next president; Levine, who previously served as the CBA’s vice president, is the first Jewish person to lead the group…
Meta’s Alex Luxenberg was named the next CEO of Sefaria, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…
JI Live Briefing · Free preview
You’re seeing a snippet of the Live Briefing.
The Live Briefing is JI’s real-time feed — breaking news, notable content from across the web, video clips, images and more, all day. The items above are just a taste.
Community Comms
Brandeis University — President (Waltham, Mass.) Seeking a decisive, forward-looking president to lead the institution at a defining moment for higher education. $1M+ annually. Apply
Be featured: Community Comms are paid — email us to reach the JI readership with your upcoming event, job opening or other communication.
Houthi Havoc: In The New York Times, RAND’s Alexandra Stark posits that the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen are likely to continue to pose a challenge to Western interests in the region, regardless of the situation between the U.S. and Iran. “Highly attuned to their own interests and pragmatic in the international arena, the Houthis have proved savvy at choosing when to enter or escalate conflicts. … While the United States looks to wind down the war with Iran, the Houthis are threatening to resume their war in Yemen, which would likely draw in Saudi Arabia, menace the global oil trade and keep the region unstable.” [NYTimes]
On Guard in Gotham: In The Wall Street Journal, Queens native Tevi Troy reflects on the increasing threats facing Jewish New Yorkers amid rising antisemitism. “In my weekly teaching visits to New York from Maryland, I choose — for now — to continue taking the subway, going to synagogue, eating at kosher restaurants. But other Jews may make different choices. They may stop being observant, or may stop doing things that identify them as Jewish. They may move to Florida or Texas or out of a Jewish neighborhood. Put all those individual choices together and we lose the things that for more than a century made New York such a Jewish city.” [WSJ]
Wine of the Week
JI wine columnist Yitz Applbaum reviews the Noah Estate Cabernet 2023:
Once a year, a few of us from our Oakland, Calif., synagogue fly somewhere far removed from our weekly routines. This week it was Buenos Aires, Argentina, and I arrived with the ambition to find a great malbec. What came to the table instead was a rack of asado de tira, charred dark at the edges and rendered gold along the bone, with bife de chorizo and matambre behind it. Standing equal to all of it, in the end, was not a malbec but the Noah Cabernet 2023, a wine from the Judean foothills outside Jerusalem.
It is 100% cabernet sauvignon, and it opens with the muskiness of aged tobacco leaf. The mid-palate is deep cherry, dark and unhurried, with tannin enough to cut the fat without ever talking over the meal. The finish, carried on the tango from the next room, is lively and stays with you well after the plates are cleared. A wine for the Shabbat table, and no less at home on a Tuesday night. Pour it alongside short ribs, a rib roast, or anything that has spent hours over coals.
Birthdays
Stephen Joffe, actor best known for his role as Alex in the television series “Timeblazers,” turns 35 on Sunday
VALERIE MACON/AFP
FRIDAY
Irwin Wecker, retired owner of Effective Strategy Consultants, South Florida resident
Ilana Rovner, senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, turns 88
L. Rafael Reif, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology until the end of 2022, turns 76
Eric S. Brown, former chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, he was the first Jewish chief justice in Ohio history, turns 73
Yossi Dina, Israeli-born pawnbroker and star of the reality television series “Beverly Hills Pawn,” turns 72
Sabina Berman Goldberg, Mexican writer, playwright and journalist, turns 71
Mitchell Rales, businessman and collector of modern and contemporary art, he is the owner of the NFL's Washington Commanders, turns 70
Jon Tester, former U.S. senator (D-MT), turns 70
Yehiel Lasri, Israeli physician who was a member of the Knesset, he now serves as mayor of Ashdod, turns 69
Jerry Avenaim, photographer best known for his fashion and celebrity images, turns 65
Ido Aharoni, Israeli career diplomat who served for six years as consul general in New York, turns 64
Scott Bessent, secretary of the Treasury, turns 64
Mark Stuart Charendoff, president at Maimonides Fund
Jack Weiss, co-founder of BlueLine Grid, he was previously an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles and a member of the Los Angeles City Council, turns 62
Chavie Kahn, member of the philanthropic leadership group for the UJA-Federation of New York
Ken Mehlman, global head of public affairs at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts-KKR, turns 60
Rachel Hirschberg Light, president of Berger Hirschberg Strategies
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, both Bloomberg and Forbes rank him as one of the ten wealthiest people globally, turns 53
Jason Marquis, former MLB pitcher for nine teams, he was the starting pitcher in three of Team Israel's first four games in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, turns 48
Chesa Boudin, former district attorney of San Francisco, turns 46
Adam Fisher, head coach of the Temple University Owls men's basketball team, turns 42
Adam Rosenblatt, founding partner of Bold Decision, turns 41
Erica Miller, missions manager for domestic and overseas travel at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
David Abadian Heifetz, communications director at Breakthrough Energy
Madeline Fuhrman, pop singer and songwriter, turns 33
Tzippy Baitch, associate editor at Simon & Schuster
Noa Rakel Perugia, an Argov fellow at Reichman University
Lynn Sharon
James Barton
Get the Jewish Insider App
Account or login help? Contact our team → or Visit my Account
Manage email preferences · Manage tracking preferences · View in browser · Advertise with us
© 2026 Jewish Insider. All rights reserved.
228 Park Ave S • PMB 40660 • New York, NY 10003