 DECEMBER 26 • 2019 | 31

irony” and described the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah as 
“friends.
”
He has passionately argued that there is no place for anti-Semi-
tism in his party, but recently apologized for “everything that’
s hap-
pened” in Labour over the past few years.

#METOO HITS JEWS
Michael Steinhardt, the Jewish megadonor who helped found 
Birthright Israel and supports a wide range of Jewish institutions, 
was accused of a pattern of propositioning and sexually inappropri-
ate remarks to women.
According to an investigation by the New York Times and 
ProPublica, the journalism nonprofit, seven women alleged that 
Steinhardt made sexual requests of them while they were seek-
ing his financial support. Steinhardt denied the accusations but 
acknowledged a pattern of comments “that were boorish, disre-
spectful and just plain dumb.
”
In the wake of the accusations, the organized Jewish community’
s 
longtime focus on encouraging endogamy and child rearing — 
long among Steinhardt’
s favored philanthropic objectives — drew 
increasing scrutiny.

MEASLES OUTBREAK 
A measles outbreak that began with a trickle in haredi Orthodox 
communities in Israel and New York last year exploded into a full-
on public health crisis in 2019. Hundreds of cases were reported in 
New York and thousands in Israel.
New York officials took aggressive measures to contain the 
outbreak, declaring a public health emergency and ordering that 
unvaccinated people living in four heavily Orthodox zip codes in 
Brooklyn be vaccinated or pay fines up to $1,000. The state also 
banned religious exemptions for vaccines and at least 10 Jewish 
schools in New York City were shuttered for admitting unvaccinat-
ed students.
At least three fatalities were attributed to the disease in Israel, 
one of them a 43-year-old El Al flight attendant who contracted the 
disease on a flight from New York. By September, New York had 
declared the epidemic over.

TIFFANY’
S BAT MITZVAH
Tiffany Haddish’
s breakthrough year may have been 2017, when the 
40-year-old actress and comedian starred in the successful comedy 
Girls Trip and released her memoir, The Last Black Unicorn. But 
2019 was her Jewish breakout year.
Haddish, who only learned she was Jewish in her 20s when 
she met her Eritrean Jewish father, released a Netflix special, 
Black Mitzvah, in December on the same day she celebrated her 
bat mitzvah, with Sarah Silverman’
s rabbi sister presiding. She 
also sang “Hava Nagila” on The Tonight Show in the same week.
“I feel like a lot of African-Americans have been stripped of their 
history,
” Haddish said. “
A lot of us don’
t know [our] origins. We 
don’
t know what our origin story is because that was taken from us. 
And it talks about that in the Torah. I think it’
s so powerful.” 

TOP: Sheila Katz, now vice president of Hillel International, accused 
Michael Steinhardt of sexual harassment. 
MIDDLE: A sign warns of measles in the Orthodox Jewish community of 
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, April 10, 2019.
BOTTOM: Rabbi Susan Silverman, left, with Tiffany Haddish at Haddish’
s 
bat mitzvah at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., Dec. 3, 2019. 

 COURTESY OF KATZ/GETTY IMAGES
 SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES
EMMA MCINTYRE/GETTY IMAGES FOR NETFLIX

