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Houston Astros star Alex Bregman celebrated Hanukkah at a local synagogue
(Houston Jewish Herald-Voice via JTA) — One month after lifting the World Series trophy at Minute Maid Park, Alex Bregman was at Houston’s Congregation Beth Yeshurun lifting a candle to lead the Hanukkah blessing.
On the fourth night of the holiday, the Astros star third baseman sat down with hundreds of congregants and talked about a wide range of topics, from his bar mitzvah speech to his favorite Hanukkah gifts, his not-yet kosher line of beef jerky and the potential bar mitzvah of his son.
The evening started with Bregman joining his wife, Reagan, and infant son, Knox, at the front of the sanctuary to light menorah candles with Beth Yeshurun Rabbis Sarah Fort and Steven Morgen, who ended the blessing with the words, “Play Ball!”
The special ceremony rekindled memories from Alex’s own childhood.
“We would go to Temple Albert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then we’d come home, invite my cousins over, light the menorah and open up presents,” Bregman said. “It was mostly just family time for us, but it was always a blast.
“My mom would cook latkes, and we still use her recipe to this day. She actually sent it to Reagan, and I think Reagan might make better latkes than my mom, but don’t tell her that.”
Bregman then shared his thoughts for more than an hour in a Q&A with Ari Alexander, a sports anchor on Houston’s KPRC TV news channel.
The program was put together by many in the congregation, including Beth Yeshurun President David Stein and Chair Lori Herzog.
“We pulled everything together in eight days,” Herzog said. “It was a Hanukkah miracle.”
Bregman shared his bar mitzvah speech from 2007, which focused on using his love of baseball to make a difference in the world.
“I hope I have been able to live up to a little bit of what that 13-year-old wanted the older version of me to be,” Bregman said. “He would probably say you still have a lot of work to do and keep going.”
At 28, Bregman, who was drafted by the Astros in the first round of the 2015 MLB draft, has already achieved more than most players: he is a two-time World Series champion and two-time All-Star.
During the Q&A, he answered questions submitted by audience members, including one about his favorite Hanukkah gift growing up.
“When I got a little bit older, it was baseball cards and a Mark McGwire baseball card. When I was younger it was definitely Legos.
“One year during Hanukkah our house was broken into and robbed. The only room they didn’t take anything from was mine because my Legos were spread out across the floor.”
Decades removed from the Legos, Bregman now is a national star and takes his opportunity as a Jewish role model seriously.
“In this position, you have a platform and you’re able to reach a lot of people,” Bregman said. “I want Jewish kids who dream about playing baseball to believe that they can play in the big leagues and live out their dream, too.”
Bregman noted he has not experienced any antisemitism in his baseball journey.
“Growing up, my mom and dad always told me to stand up for what you believe in and to speak up for it,” he said. “I want to stand up for what is right and stand up against hate.
“Personally, I think we all need a little more togetherness in the world and need to be kinder to one another.”
Alex Bregman stayed after the event to sign autographs, take pictures and meet hundreds of kids and adults at Beth Yeshurun. (Daniel Bissonnet/Houston Jewish Herald-Voice)
After the Q&A session, Stein presented the Astros star with several gifts from Beth Yeshurun, including an Astros kippah, a menorah, candles, gelt and an autographed baseball from Rabbis Brian Strauss, Steven Morgen and Sarah Fort.
Beth Yeshurun also had gifts for Knox, including a plush dreidel and a “Future Beth Yeshurun Day School Graduate” onesie. Also presented to Alex and Knox were lifetime memberships to Beth Yeshurun.
“Alex and his family truly set an example of living with Jewish values and serve as incredible role models for us all,” Stein told the JHV.
“We knew we would have a large crowd, and everyone that attended left our sanctuary with feelings of great happiness and pride.”
Beth Yeshurun also presented a $5,000 check to Bregman’s charity, Bregman Cares, which focuses on autism awareness, food insecurity and several other local causes.
“Alex fulfills the mitzvah of tzedakah and tikkun olam through his Bregman Cares foundation,” Stein said. “He is a shining star of not only the Houston community but the Jewish community, as well.”
Bregman threw out a curveball at the end of the evening, asking for the microphone and offering to take pictures with all the kids in attendance, which led to photos, autographs and plenty of high-fives.
“This was a really fun night,” Bregman said. “Hopefully, we can win a few more World Series and celebrate more Hanukkahs together.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the Jewish Herald-Voice, Houston. It is reprinted here with permission.
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Australia PM Albanese ‘Profoundly Sorry’ for Failing to Prevent Bondi Beach Attack
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at the Sydney Opera House during a National Day of Mourning for the victims of the Dec. 14, 2025, mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, Jan. 22, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jeremy Piper
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday he was “profoundly sorry” for his failure to prevent the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as the country observed a day of mourning for the victims of the attack.
Police say a father and son opened fire at an event celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah on Dec. 14, killing 15 people in Australia‘s worst mass shooting in decades.
They say the two men were inspired by Islamic State to carry out the attack, which the government has called an act of terrorism against Jewish people.
Flags were flown at half-mast across the country ahead of a memorial event at Sydney’s iconic Opera House, where Albanese apologized to the relatives of the victims in the audience.
“You came to celebrate a festival of light and freedom and you left with the violence of hatred. I am deeply and profoundly sorry that we could not protect your loved ones from this evil,” Albanese said to sustained applause in his speech at the event.
Last month, the prime minister said he was “sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced” – an apology that some relatives said was insufficient.
A minute’s silence, including on the country’s main television channels, was held across the nation just after 7 pm in Sydney (0800 GMT) as the memorial event began.
Event attendees lit candles and heard speeches from other lawmakers, as well as Jewish prayers and video tributes.
Buildings across the country, including cricket stadiums in Melbourne and Perth, were also illuminated, while play was paused during the Australian Open tennis tournament to observe the minute’s silence.
The Bondi attack shocked the nation and led to calls for tougher action on antisemitism and gun control, with critics of Albanese saying he had not done enough to crack down on a spate of attacks on the Jewish community in recent years.
The government disputes this, and has already passed legislation tightening background checks for gun licenses, as well as separate legislation that would lower the threshold for prosecuting hate speech offenses.
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US Pitches ‘New Gaza’ Development Plan
A drone view shows Palestinians walking past the rubble, following Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, Oct. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
The United States on Thursday announced plans for a “New Gaza” rebuilt from scratch to include residential towers, data centers, and seaside resorts, part of President Donald Trump’s push to advance an Israel-Hamas ceasefire shaken by repeated violations.
Trump has parlayed the ceasefire into a broader “Board of Peace” initiative aimed at resolving conflicts globally.
After hosting a signing ceremony for the board in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Trump invited his son-in-law Jared Kushner to present development plans for Gaza, its densely populated cities and towns now in ruins from two years of war.
“In the beginning, we were toying with [building] a free zone, and then [having] a Hamas zone,” Kushner told an audience in Davos of Trump’s early plans to rebuild Gaza, where nearly the entire 2 million population is internally displaced.
“And then we said, you know what? Let’s just plan for catastrophic success.”
‘MASTER PLAN‘
Kushner presented the audience with a slideshow depicting a “master plan” for what he termed a “New Gaza,” displayed on a color-coded map with areas reserved for residential development, data centers, and industrial parks.
The slides included an image of a Mediterranean coastline packed with glittering towers akin to those in Dubai or Singapore. They suggested redevelopment would begin in Rafah in the south, an area under complete Israeli military control.
But they did not address key issues such as property rights or compensation for Palestinians who lost their homes, businesses, and livelihoods during the war. Nor did they address where displaced Palestinians might live during the rebuilding.
Kushner did not say who would fund the redevelopment, which would first require clearing an estimated 68 million tons of rubble and war debris.
A conference will be held in Washington in the coming weeks “where we’ll announce a lot of the contributions that will be made … from the private sector,” Kushner said, without elaborating.
The slides shown by Kushner were nearly identical to slides leaked to the Wall Street Journal in December. The newspaper reported then that the US had offered to “anchor” 20% of the redevelopment project, without going into detail.
Trump has floated the idea of transforming Gaza, ruled for years by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” an idea that has drawn criticism from Palestinians.
RAFAH CROSSING
Kushner’s presentation in Davos followed remarks by Ali Shaath, the Palestinian technocrat leader backed by Washington to administer the enclave under Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza.
A key unfulfilled element of the ceasefire has been the reopening of Gaza’s key Rafah border crossing with Egypt for the entry and exit of Palestinians. Shaath, speaking by video link, announced the Rafah crossing would open next week.
“Opening Rafah signals that Gaza is no longer closed to the future and to the war,” Shaath said.
Israel, which controls the Gaza side of the crossing, has rejected reopening it until Hamas fulfills its ceasefire obligation of returning the remains of the last hostage held in the territory.
After Shaath’s announcement, an Israeli political source said a special effort was being made to return Ran Gvili’s remains and that Israel would discuss reopening the crossing starting next week.
The next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan would see Hamas disarm and international peacekeepers deploy in the crowded, coastal enclave as Israeli troops withdraw further. The first phase left Israel in control of well over half of Gaza, with Hamas holding a sliver of territory along the coast.
Israel has continued to carry out air and artillery strikes in Gaza, often accusing Hamas terrorists of preparing attacks on its troops or encroaching into areas it controls.
Israel launched its air and ground war in Gaza after a Hamas-led cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people. Palestinian terrorists also kidnapped 251 hostages during the massacre.
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Israel Selects Noam Bettan to Compete in 2026 Eurovision Song Contest
Noam Bettan, Israel’s representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, poses in this undated handout photo. Photo: Courtesy of Kan, Timor Elmalach/Handout via REUTERS
Noam Bettan will represent Israel in the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, in May, after winning the Israeli singing competition “Hakochav Haba” (“The Next Star”) this week.
This year will mark the first time since 2022 that Israel will be sending a male contestant to the Eurovision contest. For the last few years, Israel has been represented in the Eurovision competition by women: Yuval Raphael in 2025, Eden Golan in 2024, and Noa Kirel in 2023.
Bettan will participate in the first semifinal of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna on May 12. There will be a second semifinal on May 14 and based on the results of the audience and jury vote, the top 10 countries from both semifinals will advance to compete in the grand final on May 16.
Bettan, 27, was raised in Ra’anana, Israel, to French parents who immigrated to Israel with their two older sons. Bettan, who was also born in Israel, is fluent in French. He released his debut album in 2023, “Above the Water,” and a number of his songs have become hit singles in Israel including “Madame,” which he used as his audition song for “Next Star” this year. He has performed across Israel with his band. In 2018, he competed on the Israeli singing talent show “Aviv or Eyal,” where he finished in third place.
The finale of this year’s “Rising Star” aired on Israeli television on Tuesday night and the four finalists included Bettan, Gal De Paz, Shira Zloof, and Alona Erez. In the final they performed covers of songs, with Bettan performing a Hebrew track, before the top three advanced to the superfinal, where Bettan performed a rendition of the French song “Dernière danse.” The song that Bettan will sing in the 2026 Eurovision will be selected internally by a committee convened by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, which organizes Israel’s participation in the Eurovision. The song is expected to be announced in March.
Bettan previously auditioned for “Next Star” as a teenager, but failed to make it on to the show. After being crowned the winner on Tuesday night, he thanked the Israeli public for selecting him to represent his country in the Eurovision.
“I will give it my all, I’ll do everything I can to represent our country. It’s such a huge f–king privilege,” he said.
Israel has participated in the Eurovision 46 times and won the contest four times, most recently in 2018 with Netta Barzilai and her song “Toy,” which gave Israel the opportunity to host the contest in Tel Aviv in 2019.
In December, members of the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the Eurovision, voted that Israel will be allowed to compete in the contest this year despite demands from several countries to ban the Jewish state because of its military actions in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war. Following the EBU’s announcement, Spain, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Slovenia announced their decision to pull out of this year’s Eurovision in protest. Other countries are facing increasing pressure to withdraw from the song contest because of Israel’s involvement, and two past Eurovision winners have returned their trophies to the EBU in protest of Israel’s participation this year.