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Jewish Nominees for 2025 Golden Globes Include Adam Brody, Jesse Eisenberg, Adam Sandler
A scene from “Nobody Wants This.” Photo: Adam Rose/Netflix
The nominees for the 82nd annual Golden Globes were announced on Monday and a number of performances by Jewish actors and Jewish-themed stories received nominations.
Jesse Eisenberg was nominated for Best Screenplay and also Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Musical or Comedy for “A Real Pain,” a film he directed, produced, wrote, and starred in alongside Kieran Culkin. The duo play estranged cousins who reunite for a Holocaust tour through Poland to honor their grandmother who survived the Nazis. The film itself, which is based on Eisenberg’s own family ties to the Holocaust, is nominated for Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy. Gabriel Labelle was also nominated for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Musical or Comedy for his role in “Saturday Night.”
Adam Brody was nominated for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy for his starring role in “Nobody Wants This,” a Netflix series also starring Kristen Bell. Jason Segel was nominated in the same category for his role in “Shrinking.”
Brody stars in “Nobody Wants This” as a rabbi named Noah who falls in love with a non-Jewish woman, Bell’s character Joanne. The couple want to make their relationship work, but the biggest obstacle standing in their way is Noah’s Jewish faith. The series, which has been renewed for a second season, received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy. The show was co-created by Erin Foster and is loosely based on her own personal life. Her husband is Jewish and Foster has said that the series is based on the “only good decision I ever made: falling for a nice Jewish boy.”
Jake Gyllenhaal’s role in “Presumed Innocent” garnered him a nomination for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series –— Drama. Adrien Brody’s performance in “The Brutalist” and Timothée Chalamet’s starring role in “A Complete Unknown,” as American Jewish singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, garnered them nominations for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama.
“The Brutalist” follows the life of Hungarian-born Jewish architect and geologist László Tóth (played by Brody), after he survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the US. Tóth became notorious for taking a hammer to Michelangelo’s Pietà in 1972. The film received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture — Drama and its contenders in the category include “A Complete Unknown” and “September 5.” The latter film is a historical drama that follows an American sports broadcasting crew as they report live from on the ground in Munich about the Palestinian terrorist attack and hostage crisis targeting the Israeli delegation at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Mikey Madison, who was born into an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Los Angeles, was nominated for best performance by a female actor in a musical or comedy for her role in the film “Anora.” In the category of Best Original Score, Daniel Blumberg was nominated for “The Brutalist” and renowned German-Jewish composer Hans Zimmer received a nomination for “Dune: Part Two.”
Jewish actress and comedian Hannah Einbinder was nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role on Television for her role in “Hacks.” Harrison Ford, whose mother was Jewish, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach were both nominated in the category of Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television for their roles in “Shrinking” and “The Bear,” respectively. Adam Sandler was nominated for Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television for “Adam Sandler: Love You” and in the same category, Seth Meyers, who discovered his family’s Jewish lineage in a 2019 episode of “Finding Your Roots,” was nominated for “Seth Meyers: Dad Man Walking.”
The 82nd Annual Golden Globes, hosted by Nikki Glaser, will air live on Jan. 5, 2025, at 8 pm ET on CBS and stream on Paramount+ in the US.
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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.
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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.
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