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Lily Henley, 31, Ladino singer/songwriter
Lily Henley, 31, is a Brooklyn-based folk singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose most recent release, an album of new Ladino songs, “Oras Dezaoradas” (“Hours Without Hours”), was named the album of the year by our partners at Hey Alma. “I grew up playing fiddle and singing often at home with my family in English, Hebrew and Ladino, and listening to a wide palette of music from all over the world,” Henley tells us. Influenced by traditional Sephardic songs and culture, along with Celtic, folk and pop music, the album, which was recorded in Brooklyn during the pandemic, “is an exploration of transience, heartbreak, autonomy and change, and includes both completely original songs and also new melodies which I wrote to cradle traditional lyrics as Sephardi singers have done throughout our history,” she says.
For the full list of this year’s 36 to Watch — which honors leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers who are making a difference in New York’s Jewish community — click here.
Who is your New York Jewish hero?
There are so many, but I’m going to say my father, Eric Henley. It will surprise him, because he’s one of those rare people who never really looks for any sort of congratulations from anyone. He loves to be part of a team, and what he cares most about is having a meaningful effect in what he does every day. He’s an MD and MPH who has worked in public health for his entire career. He’s someone who is always educating themselves and who almost never gives advice without being asked. When he finally retired from full-time work a little while ago there were so many people I had never met who cried and said he had been their most important mentor. There’s almost nothing he enjoys more than music, and he’s always been supportive of the winding and uncertain path I’ve been on as an artist.
What’s a fun/surprising fact about you?
I am the proud owner of pet snails (not kosher, but very beautiful).
How does your Jewish identity or experience influence your work?
As a singer working in both English and an endangered Jewish language, Jewish identity is both a source of continued inspiration at the heart of everything I do artistically, and something which has caused a great deal of complicated self-examining. It is important to me to shine a light on underrepresented Jewish culture, history and experience, to connect to the wider Jewish world, and at the same time to continue to use my music and my voice to bridge the divide between Jewish and non-Jewish culture in a way that rejects assimilation and monolithic expressions of identity and creativity. I see pathways and parallels between my own complex Jewish experience and the experiences of people from a myriad of identities and backgrounds, and I see my music as an expression of my desire to connect to people regardless of our differences.
Was there a formative Jewish experience that influenced your life path?
When I was 8 my mother helped organize a community Pesach seder in Crestone, Colorado. It was attended by nuns from a local Carmelite monastery, the caretakers and attendees of the Hindu ashram, monks from the neighboring Buddhist temple, members of a nearby Protestant church and a myriad of community members. The seder was lead by a 70-year-old Holocaust survivor from Germany, and in preparation, our Hebrew-speaking neighbor taught my sister and me the four questions along with a handful of beautiful Hebrew songs, many with Sephardi melodies. My sister and I still sing these on Shabbat with our family.
What is your favorite place to eat Jewish food in New York?
Historically, all the best Jewish food has been found on my grandmother’s table!
How can people follow you online?
@lilyhenley on Instagram or at lilyhenley.com
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The post Lily Henley, 31, Ladino singer/songwriter appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Dollar Struggles to Rebound as Fragile US-Iran Ceasefire Keeps Markets Wary
U.S. $100 bills. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
A fragile calm reigned across currency markets on Thursday as traders kept their eyes fixed on whether the ceasefire between the US and Iran would hold, a day after its announcement sent the dollar tumbling across the board.
The deal appeared to be on thin ice, as Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon, and there was no sign Iran had lifted its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the worst disruption to global energy supplies in history.
Iranian negotiators were expected to set off later on Thursday for Pakistan for the first peace talks of the war, but Tehran said there would be no deal as long as Israel was striking Lebanon.
President Donald Trump said all US ships, aircraft, and military personnel would stay in place in and around Iran until it fully complied with a deal.
The uncertainty left currency markets on edge.
The euro was up 0.17 percent at $1.1683. It had gained 0.6 percent on Wednesday, but retreated late in the day having touched a one-month high of $1.1721 earlier in the session.
Sterling similarly was 0.21 percent higher at $1.342, after gaining 0.77 percent on Wednesday, but retreating from as high as $1.348.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen lost some ground, with the dollar up 0.3 percent at 159.055 yen, having briefly dropped below 158 on Wednesday.
With the Strait of Hormuz closed, “the entire ceasefire remains tenuous,” said Derek Halpenny, head of research global markets EMEA at MUFG. But, he added, “while the US dollar has rebounded, the moves in general have been modest.”
He said the fact that further talks scheduled in Pakistan were still going ahead was keeping any retracement of Wednesday’s moves in check.
Elsewhere, new personal spending data released on Thursday showed that US inflation increased as expected in February and likely rose further in March amid the war with Iran, a trend that is expected to discourage the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates for a while.
The personal consumption expenditures price index climbed 0.4% after an unrevised 0.3 gain in January, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Thursday.
Japan’s consumer confidence worsened in March for the first time in three months, a government survey showed on Thursday, adding to a recent string of data pointing to the potential economic hit from the Middle East war, which would complicate the Bank of Japan’s rate-hike decision. The yen showed little reaction to the data.
Speaking in parliament, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said real interest rates were clearly negative and were keeping the country’s financial conditions accommodative.
Other currencies were also broadly steady. The Australian dollar was 0.15 percent higher at $0.7054, while the New Zealand dollar was 0.46 percent higher at $0.585. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was last down 0.97 percent at $70,680.
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Opposition Leader Lapid Calls the Ceasefire with Iran a ‘Political Disaster’
FILE PHOTO: Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid delivers a statement at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament,, in Jerusalem, February 13, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
i24 News – Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the ceasefire agreement reached between the United States and Iran, calling it a “political disaster” and directly blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a post on X, Lapid said the agreement sidelined Israel from critical decisions affecting its national security. “Never in our entire history have we experienced such a diplomatic disaster,” he wrote, adding that “Israel wasn’t even at the table when decisions were made regarding the core of our security.”
Lapid accused Netanyahu of failing to translate military achievements into strategic gains, despite praising the performance of the Israeli military and the resilience of the public during the conflict. “The army has accomplished everything that was asked of it, and the citizens have shown remarkable strength,” he said.
However, he argued that those efforts were not matched by political leadership. “Netanyahu has failed politically, failed strategically, and has not achieved any of the goals he set for himself,” Lapid added.
The opposition leader also warned of long-term consequences stemming from the agreement, saying the fallout could take years to repair. He criticized the government’s handling of the crisis, citing what he described as “arrogance, negligence, and a lack of strategic vision.”
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A Toll for Using Hormuz Would Be a ‘Dangerous Precedent’, UN’s Ship Agency Says
A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Imposing a toll on ships sailing through the critical Strait of Hormuz would “set a dangerous precedent” and countries should not impede freedom of navigation, the UN’s shipping agency said on Thursday.
Iranian officials have raised the idea of charging a toll for using the Strait after a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Tehran was agreed this week.
“There is no international agreement where tolls can be introduced for transiting international straits. Any such toll will set a dangerous precedent,” a spokesperson with the UN’s International Maritime Organization said.
IMO countries adopted the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas, or UNCLOS, which outlines the rules that govern straits used for international navigation.
“According to UNCLOS, ships enjoy the right of transit passage through international straits. States bordering straits shall not hamper that right or suspend the transit passage,” the IMO spokesperson said.