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A dispute over fake IDs led a teen to accuse a 5-star hotel of Holocaust denial — and rope in Drake
(New York Jewish Week) – The Mark, a glitzy Upper East Side hotel, has become ensnared in a legal dispute with the 19-year-old scion of a wealthy Jewish family who has allegedly accused the hotel of antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
The hotel has called those accusations baseless — its general manager swore in a legal filing that the hotel recognizes the Holocaust as “one of the most horrific events in history” — and recently sued the teen, Theodore Weintraub, for defamation.
The Mark is an exclusive five-star venue that has hosted A-list celebrities for the Met Gala and rents its penthouse suite for $75,000 a night. In its lawsuit, The Mark says Weintraub began making the accusations after the hotel turned him away two years ago for using a fake ID.
Weintraub, the son of Manhattan cardiologist and art collector Dr. Philip Weintraub, started staging regular protests outside the hotel two years after he was banned in 2021 for repeatedly trying to order drinks from the bar, the suit alleges.
Those protests have escalated in recent months, according to the lawsuit and local reports. (The local news site Patch was the first to report the ongoing conflict.) Hotel staff allege Weintraub and another unidentified protester have held signs declaring “The Mark Denies the Holocaust,” have accused the hotel of spreading disease and have paid at least one other protester to make similar chants. He has also accused the hotel of aiding the late Jewish child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who maintained a residence blocks from the hotel and mentioned it in his “black book” of contacts.
In July, Weintraub allegedly took matters a step further when the Jewish rapper and actor Drake stayed at The Mark. According to the lawsuit, Weintraub first attempted to keep hotel staff from preparing for Drake’s arrival, then tried to block Drake’s entry into the hotel by yelling that The Mark denied the Holocaust, leading to a fistfight between him and the rapper’s fans. Another instance — in which Weintraub or another protester chanted “The Mark helped Epstein” while Drake exited the hotel — was caught on video.
Hotel staff thought they had resolved things with Weintraub after initially banning him from the premises when he was 17, only to find him return to the Mark with his father a month later for a dinner reservation. At first the younger Weintraub reportedly tried to beg forgiveness from staff, then pivoted to loudly accusing them of being antisemitic. His father calmed him down, but Weintraub began his harassment campaign anew two years later, the suit claims.
The lawsuit seeks to bar Weintraub from the premises, as well as keep him from publicly claiming the hotel denies the Holocaust, spread disease or supported Epstein. The charge of Holocaust denial particularly upset the hotel’s general manager, Etienne Haro, who wrote in an affidavit that the hotel “has Jewish ownership” and that “the notion that we deny the Holocaust is a spurious attempt to damage our reputation and relationships.” (The Mark is owned by Alexico Group, a real estate development company whose president Izak Senbahar is a Turkish-born Jew.)
In the affidavit, Haro elaborated that the luxury hotel “recognizes both the existence of the Holocaust as well as the fact that it was one of the most horrific events in history — including, among other things, the murder of six million Jews in an attempted genocide.”
Weintraub lives with his father, and attempts to reach him via his father were unsuccessful. For his part, Weintraub told the New York Post recently that “the truth will come out.”
After putting his picture on the front page of the paper over the headline “SORE BOOZER,” the Post interviewed Weintraub, who told them he was now sober. He claimed that he stopped drinking five months before the lawsuit says his protests started.
He added, “I got nothing against Drake.”
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The post A dispute over fake IDs led a teen to accuse a 5-star hotel of Holocaust denial — and rope in Drake appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really?
JNS.org – If I asked you to name the most famous line in the Bible, what would you answer? While Shema Yisrael (“Hear O’Israel”) might get many votes, I imagine that the winning line would be “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). Some religions refer to it as the Golden Rule, but all would agree that it is fundamental to any moral lifestyle. And it appears this week in our Torah reading, Kedoshim.
This is quite a tall order. Can we be expected to love other people as much as we love ourselves? Surely, this is an idealistic expectation. And yet, the Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. How can His Torah be so unrealistic?
The biblical commentaries offer a variety of explanations. Some, like Rambam (Maimonides), say that the focus should be on our behavior, rather than our feelings. We are expected to try our best or to treat others “as if” we genuinely love them.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, in his classic text called the Tanya, argues that the actual feelings of love are, in fact, achievable provided that we focus on a person’s spirituality rather than how they present themselves physically. If we can put the soul over the body, we can do it.
Allow me to share the interpretation of the Ramban (Nachmanides), a 13th-century Torah scholar from Spain. His interpretation of the verses preceding love thy neighbor is classic and powerful, yet simple and straightforward.
“Do not hate your brother in your heart. You shall rebuke him, but do not bear a sin because of him” by embarrassing him in public. “Do not take revenge, and do not bear a grudge against your people. You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am God” (Leviticus 19:17-18).
What is the connection between these verses? Why is revenge and grudge-bearing in the same paragraph as love your fellow as yourself?
A careful reading shows that within these two verses are no less than six biblical commandments. But what is their sequence all about, and what is the connection between them?
The Ramban explains it beautifully, showing how the sequence of verses is deliberate and highlighting the Torah’s profound yet practical advice on how to maintain healthy relationships.
Someone wronged you? Don’t hate him in your heart. Speak to him. Don’t let it fester until it bursts, and makes you bitter and sick.
Instead, talk it out. Confront the person. Of course, do it respectfully. Don’t embarrass anyone in public, so that you don’t bear a sin because of them. But don’t let your hurt eat you up. Communicate!
If you approach the person who wronged you—not with hate in your heart but with respectful reproof—one of two things will happen. Either he or she will apologize and explain their perspective on the matter. Or that it was a misunderstanding and will get sorted out between you. Either way, you will feel happier and healthier.
Then you will not feel the need to take revenge or even to bear a grudge.
Here, says the Ramban, is the connection between these two verses. And if you follow this advice, only then will you be able to observe the commandment to Love Thy Neighbor. If you never tell him why you are upset, another may be completely unaware of his or her wrongdoing, and it will remain as a wound inside you and may never go away.
To sum up: Honest communication is the key to loving people.
Now, tell me the truth. Did you know that not taking revenge is a biblical commandment? In some cultures in Africa, revenge is a mitzvah! I’ve heard radio talk-show hosts invite listeners to share how they took “sweet revenge” on someone, as if it’s some kind of accomplishment.
Furthermore, did you know that bearing a grudge is forbidden by biblical law?
Here in South Africa, people refer to a grudge by its Yiddish name, a faribel. In other countries, people call it a broiges. Whatever the terminology, the Torah states explicitly: “Thou shalt not bear a grudge!” Do not keep a faribel, a broiges or resentment of any kind toward someone you believe wronged you. Talk to that person. Share your feelings honestly. If you do it respectfully and do not demean the other’s dignity, then it can be resolved. Only then will you be able to love your fellow as yourself.
May all our grudges and feelings of resentment toward others be dealt with honestly and respectfully. May all our grudges be resolved as soon as possible. Then we will all be in a much better position to love our neighbors as ourselves.
The post Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday dismissed as nonsensical the report that President Donald Trump would endorse Palestinian statehood during his tour to the Persian Gulf this week.
“This report is nonsense,” Huckabee harrumphed on his X account, blasting the Jerusalem Post as needing better sourced reporting. “Israel doesn’t have a better friend than the president of the United States.”
Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The leader’s first trip overseas since he took office comes as Trump seeks the Gulf countries’ support in regional conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and curbing Iran’s advancing nuclear program.
However, reports citing administration insiders claimed that Trump has also set his sights on the ambitious goal of expanding the Abraham Accords. These agreements, initially signed in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. The accords are widely held to be among the most important achievements of the first Trump administration.
The post ‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Unless significant progress is registered in Sunday’s round of nuclear talks with Iran, the US will consider putting the military option back on the table, sources close to US envoy Steve Witkoff told i24NEWS.
American and Iranian representatives voiced optimism after the previous talks that took place in Oman and Rome, saying there was a friendly atmosphere despite the two countries’ decades of enmity.
However the two sides are not believed to have thrashed out the all-important technical details, and basic questions remain.
The source has also underscored the significance of the administration’s choice of Michael Anton, the State Department’s policy planning director, as the lead representative in the nuclear talks’ technical phases.
Anton is “an Iran expert and someone who knows how to cut a deal with Iran,” the source said, saying that the choice reflected Trump’s desire to secure the deal.
The post US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.