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An Orthodox congregation in Manhattan launches a matchmaking initiative as a response to the Oct. 7 attack in Israel
(New York Jewish Week) — Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, there has been an outpouring of fundraisers and activism from New York synagogues and Jewish institutions. Some shuls are holding fundraisers, others are packing medical kits, still more are writing letters to IDF soldiers.
But at one Upper East Side congregation, a new form of activism is emerging in response to the gruesome attack, ongoing war and rising antisemitism: matchmaking.
The Altneu Synagogue — the innovative, two-year-old Orthodox congregation on the Upper East Side that began after its rabbi, Benjamin Goldschmidt, was fired from Park East Synagogue — has launched a matchmaking initiative for singles in their congregation and their immediate friends.
According to Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, who founded the synagogue with her husband, making Jewish couples is one way to ensure a Jewish future at a time when so many are worried the idea is in danger.
“Everyone’s trying to figure out what to do from here,” Chizhik-Goldschmidt told the New York Jewish Week. “I felt very much that the best way to respond to darkness and death is to bring in more light and more love and to bring people joy. Traditionally, that is the Jewish response to catastrophe.”
On the evening of Nov. 11, the Altneu sent an email to their congregants announcing the matchmaking initiative; the Goldschmidts also spoke about it after services on Shabbat and posted it on their social media. “The reception has been amazing,” Chizhik-Goldschmidt said, adding that in less than two weeks, almost 200 people have signed up. About half are members of the Altneu.
Chizhik-Goldschmidt said that the idea for a matchmaking program had come up organically among several members over the last few months — interest in Jewish matchmaking was given a pop culture boost when Netflix released their hit series “Jewish Matchmaking” earlier this spring. But as a busy rebbetzin and mother of three young children, Chizhik-Goldschmidt felt she lacked the bandwidth to launch something new.
The events of Oct. 7, however, changed all of that.
“It’s a moment where a lot of people were like, ‘Wow, it’s on me to find someone to continue our Jewish peoplehood,’” said Chizhik-Goldschmidt, who herself was set up with her husband a decade ago at the insistence of community members and mutual friends.
“It has been ringing in my head since Oct. 7 that I need to help,” she added. “We, as a community, need to help those who are looking for love and those who want to start families. This moment shook us awake and I think it sort of forced us to shed a lot of our pretenses, the artifice, all the games that I often see, especially in Manhattan around dating.”
The Altneu approach to matchmaking is, like the synagogue’s name, a combination of old and new: Interested parties fill out a Google form that asks about family upbringing, education, hobbies, passions and religious observance, as well as what they are looking for in a partner. The forms are collected by a group of “connectors,” five women ranging in age from their late 20s through 50s, who will parse the answers and suggest matches. The program is open to singles of any age — the only requirement is that the candidate must have a reference from an Altneu member.
“We did not want to be launching a new version of another dating website — that wasn’t the goal,” Chizhik-Goldschmidt said. “The goal is just to sort of leverage our network.”
Joe Piroozian, who has been attending Altneu Shabbat services and its daily minyan for about 10 months, said that because of the congregation’s strong sense of community, he feels he has a better chance of meeting his future spouse there than on dating apps.
“The best way to do it is to be set up by people who understand your lifestyle, understand where you like to spend your weekends, where you spend your days,” the 29-year-old told the New York Jewish Week. “What better group of people to get set up by than the people that you spend most of your time with?”
A 25-year-old woman in the community, who asked to remain anonymous, said that finding a Jewish partner is “the most important piece of my life,” adding that she chose to participate because of the care the congregation is putting into the process. “Especially with the state of the world, I’m hoping to find my life partner and build a beautiful Jewish home.”
“In a city like New York, there are a lot of ways to meet people. But going to big fundraisers and events and meeting hundreds of people at a time is not always the best, most conducive place to really meet your match,” said another Altneu member, Alexa Sokol, 30, who has been attending services at The Altneu since last spring. “I’m looking forward to having a little bit more of an infrastructure for dating and having an intermediary to feel like there’s more support to the dating process rather than just meeting someone and you’re on your own,” she added.
The Altneu community gathered for a celebration of Purim, March 6, 2021. (Eli Weintraub)
Synagogue matchmaking is not a completely unheard-of practice — as the rebbetzin pointed out, many couples meet at the kiddush buffet that follows services, say, or are introduced by friends and family. But Chizhik-Goldschmidt says the Altneu initiative puts matchmaking on the communal agenda. “We’ll talk about assimilation, but what are we actually doing to fight assimilation?” she said.
Eden Schonfeld Fischman, one of the matchmakers, said that the program felt different to her because it emphasizes community involvement and intergenerational connections, without feeling stuffy or formal.
“It’s not like your grandmother’s shadchan,” said Fischman, using the Hebrew word for matchmaker. She joined the congregation since it launched in October 2021. “At the Altneu, this is something that’s very organic. We have so many young professionals that are as committed to a community and their religion as they are to their careers here.”
After Oct. 7, “people have a little bit different take and feel about hopefully being with another Jewish person,” she added. “The Jewish community is clutching to our identity. We realize what’s at stake here now, so I think we’re in the right place at the right time.”
Piroozian said that actively looking for a partner has become a much bigger priority for him since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7. “Specifically during this time, I feel the need to strengthen our community. The best way to strengthen our community and to fight antisemitism is by building strong families with religious and moral values,” he said.
“There’s been a mass awakening with Jews around the world on consciously and unconsciously that their identity matters,” Sokol said. “Having places where your Jewish growth is considered and encouraged — including marriage — helps people who are on the fence push themselves to the next step.”
The first round of forms will close in a few weeks, Chizhik-Goldschmidt said.
“We have limited energy, we have limited time, we have limited resources,” she said. “If this whole initiative only results in just one pair finding one another, it’s worth it.”
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The post An Orthodox congregation in Manhattan launches a matchmaking initiative as a response to the Oct. 7 attack in Israel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Documentary About Former Hamas Hostage Abducted on Oct. 7 Wins Two Awards at Berlin Film Festival
Brandon Kramer and Lance Kramer in front of the Berlinale Palast holding the Berlinale Documentary Award for “Holding Liat” on Feb 22, 2025. Photo: Berlin International Film Festival
A documentary about a woman who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, and has since returned to Israel won the annual Berlinale Documentary Award and also an Ecumenical Jury Prize on Saturday at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival.
“Holding Liat” was directed by Brandon Kramer and produced by Darren Aronofsky, Lance Kramer, Yoni Brook, Ari Handel, and Justin Gonçalves. Aronofsky is an Oscar-winning director whose credits include “Black Swan,” “Requiem for a Dream,” and “The Whale.”
The Berlinale Documentary Award is accompanied by a prize money of 40,000 euros ($41,907), which is split between the director and producer of the winning film. Winning the award also means the film will advance and take part in the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature. “Holding Liat,” which is in both English and Hebrew, received a standing ovation when it made its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on Feb. 16.
The American film revolves around Liat Atzili, a civics and history teacher kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, and held captive in the Gaza Strip until she returned to Israel in the first ceasefire and hostage-release deal in November 2023. Her husband, Aviv Atzili, was murdered by Hamas terrorists during their deadly rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, during which they killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Brandon began filming “Holding Liat” shortly Liat’s abduction, first talking to her family members and unaware how his film would end and what Liat’s fate would be. A Washington, DC-based filmmaker, Brandon and his brother Lance co-founded Meridian Hill Pictures, which produced “Holding Liat.” They are related to Atzili and their documentary also highlights her parents Yehuda and Chaya, who were born in the US and made a number of efforts to secure their daughter’s release from captivity, such as meeting with politicians and other influential figures in the US.
“This isn’t a film that we wanted to make,” Brandon said upon accepting the award on Saturday. “After our relatives, Liat and Aviv Atzili, were taken from their home on Oct. 7, my brother Lance and I felt a responsibility to pick up the camera and document the family’s unique experience. We witnessed up close a family wrestling with different points of view on how to return their loved ones, hold onto their values, and seek a more peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians. In a complicated and polarized moment, telling a nuanced story about one family, navigating their differences, their grief, and their empathy felt universal and urgent to share. Documentaries can help us find each other’s humanity and the shared language of cinema can contribute to peace.”
“Holding Liat” was not the only documentary about the hostages featured this year in the Berlin International Film Festival. “Letter to David,” from Israeli director Tom Shovel, is about hostage David Cunio, an actor who was also abducted by Hamas from the Kibbutz Nir Oz and is still being held captive. Cunio starred in Shoval’s award-winning debut feature film, “Youth,” which was shown in 2013 at the Berlinale and focused on the relationship between brothers and, ironically, revolved around a kidnapping. “Letter to David” made its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on Feb. 14.
The 75th Berlin International Film Festival took place from Feb. 13-23.
The post Documentary About Former Hamas Hostage Abducted on Oct. 7 Wins Two Awards at Berlin Film Festival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Barnard College Expels Students Who Stormed Israeli History Class, Sources Say
Anti-Israel agitators disrupting an Israeli history class at Columbia University, New York City, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
Barnard College has expelled two students who disrupted an active class at Columbia University last month to distribute antisemitic literature and spew pro-Hamas propaganda, The Algemeiner has learned.
As previously reported, the agitators stormed into Professor Avi Shilon’s course, titled “History of Modern Israel,” on the first day of the semester. Clad in keffiyehs, which were wrapped around their faces to conceal their identities, they read prepared remarks which described the course as “Zionist and imperialist” and a “normalization of genocide.” As part of their performance, which they appeared to film, they dropped flyers, one of which contained an illustration of a lifted boot preparing to trample a Star of David. Next to the drawing was a message that said, “Crush Zionism.”
Another flyer proclaimed, “Burn Zionism to the ground.”
News of the expulsion was shared with The Algemeiner on Sunday by a knowledgeable source. However, the college has so far declined to confirm the validity of the report, saying only that expulsion is an immense disciplinary sanction it is willing to impose on any student whose conduct infringes on the right to learn in an environment that is free from discrimination. Until now, it was not widely known that Barnard students had participated in the January demonstration.
“Under federal law, we cannot comment on the academic and disciplinary records of students. That said as a matter of principle and policy, Barnard will always take decisive action to protect our community as a place where learning thrives, individuals feel sage, and higher education is celebrated,” college president Laura Rosenbury said in a statement. “This means upholding the highest standards and acting when those standards are threatened.”
She continued, “When rules are broken, when there is no remorse, no reflection, and no willingness to change, we must act. Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but so too is our commitment to respect, inclusion, and the integrity of the academic experience. At Barnard we fiercely defend our values. At Barnard, we always reject harassment and discrimination in all forms. At Barnard, we always do what is right, not what is easy.”
Columbia University and Barnard College’s chapter of Hillel International, the largest campus organization for Jewish students in the world, has since praised the college for enacting a policy which other higher education institutions have largely eschewed since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, an event which precipitated an explosion of antisemitic hate incidents, property destruction, and other illegal conduct on campuses across the US.
“We applaud Barnard College for taking decisive action and hope Columbia follows suit with the other perpetrators who have infringed on student rights in the past year — from the encampments to the takeover of Hamilton Hall,” said Brian Cohen, executive director of Columbia/Barnard Hillel. “This will send a clear message that the harassment of Jewish students and faculty will not be tolerated at Columbia.”
Elisha Baker, a junior who was present in Professor Shilon’s class during the January incident, welcomed the news as well, telling The Algemeiner via iMessage that he is a “strong believer in accountability.”
He continued, “In this case, the disruption targeted Jewish and Israeli students including myself inside the classroom, which is supposed to be a sacred place of learning on a college campus. These protestors undermined the very purpose and function of the university. I am curious to see what Columbia will do following Barnard’s strong actions.”
Columbia University has said in a previous statement that it suspended one student and banned from campus several others who participated in the demonstration, punishments that it says will hold until a “full investigation and disciplinary process.”
It added, “The investigation of the disruption, including the identification of additional participants, remains active. Disruptions to our classrooms and our academic mission and efforts to intimidate or harass our students are not acceptable, are an effort to every member of our university community, and will not be tolerated.”
However, Columbia has a history of amnestying violent and destructive anti-Israel protesters. In August, a US congressional education committee report revealed that only a few students who were involved in occupying the Hamilton Hall administrative building in April 2024 were ultimately punished despite the university’s threatening to expel them. Meanwhile, its faculty recently called on administrative officials to do more to combat antisemitism on campus. Writing in a letter which amassed over 200 signatures, the professors called for adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which is widely used by governments and private entities around the world, banning the wearing of face masks which conceal the identities of those who commit violence and destroy school property, and expelling students who, for the purpose of furthering an extremist political agenda, pollute the learning environment.
Today, Columbia must operate in a new political and legal landscape, as the re-election of US President Donald Trump to a rare, nonconsecutive second term in office brought to Washington, DC a chief executive who has vowed not only to purge antisemitism from American schools but also to go as far as taxing the endowments of colleges and universities which refuse to aid the effort. So far, Columbia has remained high on the list of the Trump administration’s priorities, and earlier this month it announced that the university is one of five higher education institutions which will be subjected to an exhaustive investigation of antisemitism that will be led by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Barnard College Expels Students Who Stormed Israeli History Class, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Kanye West Wears Swastika Shirt in X Video, Hints at New ‘Swasticoin’ and Wearing Nazi Symbol at Next Super Bowl
Kanye West walking on the red carpet during the 67th Grammy Awards held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA on February 2, 2025. Photo: Elyse Jankowski/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, wore a swastika shirt in a video he posted on his X account over the weekend, and it closely resembled the shirt with the Nazi symbol he recently sold on his website.
In the clip, which has since been deleted, the 47-year-old “Runaway” singer wore a black long sleeve shirt that was emblazoned on front with a large white swastika, the symbol of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party during World War II that is still used today by extremists.
The Yeezy founder wore the offensive shirt while responding to an accusation made by Barstool Sports founder and owner Dave Portnoy, who claimed Ye’s meme coin is a scam. On Saturday, Portnoy – who is famous for his Barstool pizza review videos – called Ye the “worst human alive” in a post on X while claiming the rapper’s meme coin is fake.
“Rumor is Kanye (worst human alive) may be launching a scam meme coin and morons will buy it,” wrote Portnoy, who is Jewish. “Snipers will get rich. Normal people will get crushed. People will cry. I fear I was the only honest man to ever exist in celeb coins.”
A meme coin is a type of cryptocurrency that is often inspired by internet memes or other trends.
Responding to Portnoy’s claims, the “Flashing Lights” rapper said in a now-deleted video, while wearing the swastika shirt: “Dave Portnoy, I don’t know you. I saw you was tweeting… I have no idea who you are, we’ve gone back and forth joking. But when you start telling people that my coin is not real and you try to play with my money, that is the last time that we’ll be talking online.”
“Never mention money,” West wrote in the caption of his video.
Portnoy re-posted the clip on this X account and continued to attack Ye. “I thought Adam Sandler cured him of being a Nazi,” he wrote.
Sandler wrote and performed a song celebrating 50 years of “Saturday Night Live” earlier this month, and the lyrics included a mention of the Jewish actor discovering 50 years later that his favorite musician – Ye – is antisemitic. Portnoy also said of Ye, “I f–king hate this guy so much.”
On Friday, Ye took to X to explain his affinity for the swastika symbol. “The swastika to shows n—as that we don’t have to be afraid of white people,” he wrote in the since-deleted message. “When I grew up in Chicago there were gang bangers who were scared to go downtown where the white people were.” The rapper – who has four children with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian – also talked on X about possibly launching a new meme coin called “Swasticoin.”
Ye said in a separate, and now-deleted, post on Thursday that he will wear his swastika shirt at next year’s Super Bowl. “Next year I’m performing at the superbowl wearing my wittle T shirt,” he wrote. “People with money bought my wittle t shirt.”
He also posted a photo of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. In the picture of the infamous punk rock couple, Vicious is wearing a shirt that features a swastika in the center. Spungen was murdered in 1978 and Vicious was arrested for her murder, but before his case when to trial, he died of a heroin overdose in 1979. In the photo’s caption, Ye posted an emoji of a goat, which is most likely a nod to the acronym GOAT (greatest of all time). The photo has since been taken down.
Since the early morning of Feb. 7, Ye has continued to make a series of antisemitic and offensive comments on X, all of which he deleted shortly after posting. He talked about disliking Jews, praised Hitler, and called himself a Nazi and a racist – comments which he said he is “never apologizing” for. He also sold on Yeezy.com a t-shirt featuring a swastika and bought a commercial that aired during Super Bowl LIX this month to direct viewers to his Yeezy website to purchase the item. The website was then shut down by Shopify, the e-commerce platform that the Yeezy website uses to sell its products. Yeezy.com is back online but only features a message on the home page that says “Yeezy stores coming soon.”
Ye said on X this month he would never “trust or work with Jewish people” again, he doesn’t “like or trust any Jewish person,” “I love Hitler”, and “Me loving Hitler is old news.” He insisted that he was “completely sober” while writing the series of antisemitic posts and said, “This is how I really feel how I really felt and how I will always feel.”
“Some of my best friends are Jewish, and I don’t trust any of them,” Ye added. In some of his other deleted comments this month, the rapper claimed, “I stand on everything I said And nobody finna ever make me apologize again.” He additionally shared a screenshot of a search he did on Google that read “in 2025 how do you apply to become a Nazi.”
More recently, Ye contradicted some of his previous statements. On Feb. 19, he wrote on X, “after further reflection I’ve come to the realization that I’m not a Nazi” and wrote on Feb. 21 that he does like Jewish people “very much.”
Portnoy called Ye “one of the absolute greatest pieces of s–t of all time” while speaking to the Daily Mail shortly after the rapper’s Feb. 7 antisemitic rant on X.
“I am Jewish and proud of it, so anyone who is pro-Hitler and says he is a Nazi, I have no room for in my life,” he said. “I think the people who prop him up, surround him and say he’s not a jerk — if he’s sick, put him in a hospital. I have no room for people like Kanye in my world. Kanye is one of the worst humans of all time … Kanye may be sick. In which case, get him his meds and put him in a mental institution.”
Ye also went on an antisemitic rant on X in 2022. He later apologized for his remarks and said he “definitely was drinking” when he made the comments.
The post Kanye West Wears Swastika Shirt in X Video, Hints at New ‘Swasticoin’ and Wearing Nazi Symbol at Next Super Bowl first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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