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Andrew Mandel, 45, innovator and spiritual leader
Andrew Mandel, 45, is the spiritual leader of the Neighborhood, Central Synagogue’s virtual Jewish community, which has emerged as a major force in the world of online Judaism — an area that has continued to thrive post-pandemic. He is also the founder of Tzedek Box, a new Jewish ritual for those who seek to improve our world. As an innovator in Jewish communal life, Mandel, who lives in Long Island City, Queens, was selected as one of the New York Jewish Week’s 36 to Watch.
For the full list of this year’s “36ers” — which honors leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers who are making a difference in New York’s Jewish community — click here.
What’s a fun/surprising fact about you?
A number of years ago, I decided that I didn’t know enough about the city I love, so I bought one of those hefty “Blue Guide” books about the five boroughs and spent weekends going to different sections of the city. After about a year, I took the New York City tour guide exam just to see what I had learned, and I ended up using my license to give a few tours. I have loved guiding around the Lower East Side, where I’ve used an Ancestry account to find out where people’s immigrant relatives may have lived and orient my tour around those addresses.
Who is your New York Jewish hero?
Ruth Messinger. She is the exemplar of a locally-rooted, global citizen driven by Jewish values. She was our Manhattan Borough President in the 1990s, outspoken and tough in all the right ways. She was the president of the American Jewish World Service, leading campaigns against genocide in Darfur and raising hundreds of millions for non-profit organizations in developing countries. Now in her 80s, riding her bicycle around the city, she continues to advise Jewish justice organizations and leaders every day. She’s a living legend.
How does your Jewish identity or experience influence your work?
For me, Judaism is a primary lens for living. My day begins with [the prayer] “Modeh Ani,” a simple statement that expresses both gratitude and a sense of responsibility for the gift of life. I love that it ends with “Raba Emunatecha,” that there is a great faith in us and what we might do in this world. For all of the smallness I can perceive in my own existence, I am quite moved by the idea that all that is Eternal has faith in us. The question becomes: What will we do with that faith?
Was there a formative Jewish experience that influenced your life path?
I spent a year taking in Abraham Joshua Heschel’s “God in Search of Man” chapter by chapter each Shabbat. It helped me awaken to the wonder of the universe, which became a foundation for cultivating an attitude of amazement every day.
Do you have a favorite inspiring quote?
“Pursue justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God,” from Micah 6:8.
What is your favorite place to eat Jewish food in New York?
A waitress once ladled me matzah ball soup at the Second Avenue Deli while saying (in a fantastic New York accent): “I’ll be the pourer so you’ll be the richer.” I was hooked.
What is your favorite book about New York?
I love “Time and Again” by Jack Finney. Time travel through New York, plus a genius ending.
In one sentence, what was your best experience as a Jewish New Yorker?
The most meaningful Jewish experience I have had in New York was standing in the rain, protesting the Muslim ban with hundreds of other Jews at the tip of Battery Park within eyeshot of the Statue of Liberty, living our values in the public square. I felt that our ancestors would have been proud.
What are three spots in NYC that all Jewish New Yorkers should visit?
Join us on Friday night at Central Synagogue. Make your way to one of our botanical gardens for a Shabbos stroll. Then, find the time to volunteer at Rikers Island to witness what needs to change for us to live up to the motto “The Greatest City in the World.”
Anything else you’d like us and our readers to know about you?
I’m proud that I was born in Manhattan, my mom is from Queens (where my partner and I now live), my dad is from Brooklyn (where my brother and his family now live), my first job was in the Bronx, and my favorite restaurant, Enoteca Maria, is on Staten Island. At Enoteca, a different grandmother is the chef every night. Tell Joe I sent you.
How can people follow you online?
@centralsynagogue and @tzedekbox on Instagram
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The post Andrew Mandel, 45, innovator and spiritual leader appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Britain to Legislate to Tackle Threats From Hostile State Proxies After Wave of Antisemitic Attacks
Orthodox Jews stand by a police cordon, after a man was arrested following a stabbing incident in the Golders Green area, which is home to a large Jewish population, in London, Britain, April 29, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Britain will legislate to strengthen its ability to deal with proxies for malign state actors, taking powers to make it possible to ban them in light of increased activity in Britain and a rise in antisemitic attacks.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the government has to “deal with malign state actors” in the wake of a series of attacks on Britain‘s Jewish community.
In a speech outlining the government’s agenda, King Charles said it would “introduce legislation to tackle the growing threat from foreign state entities and their proxies,” and would also take urgent action to tackle antisemitism.
POSSIBLE BAN ON THE IRGC?
Several British lawmakers have called for the proscription of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The IRGC is an elite military force whose purpose is to protect Shi’ite Muslim clerical rule in Iran. It controls large parts of Iran’s economy.
While Starmer has not publicly named the IRGC as being the target of the legislation, in an introduction to the King’s Speech, he said that Britain would tackle extremism “including where it is sponsored by foreign powers that are hostile to the UK, such as Iran.”
The move comes after a spate of arson attacks on sites in London linked to the Jewish community and the targeting of Iranian dissidents, with police saying they were examining possible Iran links.
Britain‘s security chiefs have for years warned about threats from “hostile“ states such as Iran, Russia, and China, with a number of convictions of people who had been accused of carrying out spying or other offences on their behalf.
The new law would allow the government to specify state-backed organizations that threaten national security through espionage, sabotage, interference, or other means. A review last year found that Britain‘s existing framework had a legal difficulty in proscribing state entities.
There will be new offenses created for belonging to such organizations or raising support for them, and the government said that collectively the measures would create a “tougher operating environment for foreign intelligence services and their proxies.”
The king’s speech also promised a new National Security Bill which would address those who were fixated on violence and planning mass killings, but were not obviously inspired by a particular ideology.
The new law would aim to criminalize the creation and sharing of the most harmful online material.
As part of an approach to align countering state threats with addressing terrorism risks, the bill would add “polygraph testing as an available license condition for state threat offenders,” the government said.
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‘Shame on Hollywood’: Cannes Jury Member Defends Actors ‘Backlisted’ for Anti-Israel Activism Over Gaza War
Workers set up a giant canvas of the official poster featuring actors Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon from Ridley Scott’s road movie “Thelma & Louise” on the facade of the Festival palace before the start of the 79th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 10, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/ Marko Djurica
A jury member of the 79th Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday condemned the Hollywood film industry for “blacklisting” actors who have spoken out against Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip during the country’s war against Hamas terrorists controlling the enclave.
At the festival’s jury press conference, Cannes award-winning Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty mentioned Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem, and Mark Ruffalo, all three of whom have been outspoken in criticizing Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Sarandon’s character in “Thelma & Louise” is on the official 2026 Cannes poster.
“The Cannes Film Festival [and] the wonderful poster they have,” Laverty said at the end of the press conference on Tuesday, held before the opening of the film festival in France. “Absolutely iconic. Brilliant. And isn’t it fascinating to see some of them like Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem, Mark Ruffalo blacklisted because of their views in opposing the murder of women and children in Gaza? Shame on Hollywood people who do that. My respect and total solidarity to them. They’re the best of us, and good luck to them.”
“I just hope we don’t get bombed now, because we’ve got this poster in Cannes,” the BAFTA winner added in conclusion.
Sarandon was dropped by her talent agency for castigating Israel while participating in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York City in November 2023. At the protest, the Oscar winner accused Israel of war crimes, encouraged others to have the “courage to speak out” in support of Palestinians, and compared the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel just weeks earlier to hardships Palestinians endure in Gaza.
She talked about the fallout with her agency during an interview in 2024, saying: “I was dropped by my agency, my projects were pulled. I’ve been used as an example of what not to do if you want to continue to work.” Earlier this year, Sarandon further spoke about being shunned in Hollywood for her views about the Israel-Hamas war.
“I was fired by my agency, specifically for marching and speaking out about Gaza, for asking for a ceasefire. And it became impossible for me to even be on television,” she said at a press conference in February before receiving a career achievement honor at the 40th Goya Awards in Spain. “I don’t know lately if it’s changed, but I couldn’t do any major film, anything connected with Hollywood. I found agents ultimately in England and in Italy, and I work there … I know this Italian director that just hired me — he was told not to hire me, so that’s still recently. He didn’t listen, but they had that conversation. Right now, I kind of specialize in tiny films with directors who have never directed, in independent films.”
At the Cannes jury press conference on Tuesday, Laverty further talked about Gaza in remarks about this year’s film festival.
“You see so much violence, genocide in Gaza and all these terrible things,” he said. “The idea of coming to a festival – which is a celebration of diversity, imagination, tenderness — when there’s such vulgar, vicious, systematic violence. The idea of attending to a festival where there’ll be contradiction and nuance and beauty and inspiration. It knocked me out, to be honest.”
Before the start of the Cannes Film Festival last year, more than 350 members of the film industry — including Bardem, Sarandon, Ruffalo, and Richard Gere — signed an open letter condemning the festival’s “silence” over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza targeting Hamas terrorists.
Emmy-winning actress Hannah Einbinder recently criticized Hollywood’s silence about the Israel-Hamas war during a guest appearance on an episode of Zeteo’s “Beyond Israelism” podcast that was released in full on Tuesday.
“It pisses me off,” said the “Hacks” actress. “Because I’m sitting here with [Algerian-Palestinian activist] Mahmoud [Khalil], who has so much to risk and who has risked so much who has sacrificed so much … And I look at these people who have absolutely every privilege imaginable to mankind and they cannot utter a single word. I guess it makes me naive, but I cannot understand it. I really can’t understand it. And I hear people say that they don’t know enough and I — I don’t, it’s like, OK, so what do you do all day?”
“People in Hollywood, unfortunately, need these issues to affect a white person for them to see it as relating to them,” she stated. “Like, they see Jimmy Kimmel getting taken off the air suddenly, they see Stephen Colbert’s show being canceled by CBS, which is owned by the Ellisons, and they go, ‘How could this possibly happen?’ And it’s like, we know how because we saw students and professors and journalists and authors and Palestinian folks be silenced and fired and expelled and imprisoned … it took it happening to these white men for people to be like, ‘Oh my God.’”
In her acceptance speech at the Emmys last year, Einbinder declared “Free Palestine.”
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Netanyahu Held Secret Meeting With Emirati President in the UAE During Iran War, PM’s Office Says
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony commemorating Israel’s Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers, or Yom HaZikaron, at the Military Cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, April 21, 2026. Photo: ILIA YEFIMOVICH/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the United Arab Emirates and met the Emirati president during the war with Iran, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Wednesday in what would be their first confirmed meeting.
According to the statement, the meeting resulted in an “historic breakthrough” in relations between Israel and the UAE.
A source familiar with the meeting said Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) met in Al-Ain, an oasis city by the Oman border, on March 26 and that their meeting lasted several hours.
The source said that Mossad Chief Dedi Barnea made at least two visits to the UAE during the war with Iran to coordinate military actions. The intelligence chief’s visit was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Especially after coming under attack during the Iran war, the UAE has strengthened its relationships with the United States and Israel, with which it opened ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords. It views the relationship with Israel as a lever for regional influence and a unique channel to Washington.
Israel sent batteries for its Iron Dome interception system and personnel to operate them to the UAE during the war, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Tuesday.
The UAE is a regional business and financial hub and one of Washington’s most important allies. It has pursued an assertive foreign policy and carved its own sphere of influence across the Middle East and Africa.
Iran‘s strikes on Gulf states in response to the US-Israeli attacks targeted the UAE more than its neighbors, hitting civilian infrastructure and energy facilities.
Unlike several Gulf peers, the UAE has a pipeline that allows it to divert some oil exports around the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, making it more able to withstand prolonged disruption. But the war risks severely damaging its role as a global economic center that offers security and ease in the region.