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How New York is celebrating Shavuot 2023
(New York Jewish Week) — Bring on the blintzes and cheesecake!
Heading into Memorial Day Weekend this year, Jewish New Yorkers have even more reasons to celebrate: Thursday night is the beginning of the major Jewish holiday of Shavuot. The annual festival marks the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai and signifies the conclusion of counting the omer, a 49-day period that begins on the second night of Passover and “reminds us of this process of moving from a slave mentality to a more liberated one,” according to My Jewish Learning.
Shavuot traditions include staying up all night to learn Torah and to explore other Jewish texts and ideas, as well as eating dairy meals and desserts (like cheesecake, of course).
From comedy shows to dairy dinners to learning centers to park picnics, here are nine ways New Yorkers are celebrating Shavuot in the city this year.
May 24
A Shavuot comedy show with Hey Alma
Our partner site Hey Alma presents “Get Cheesy, Bitch! A Shavuot Comedy Show” featuring Jewy stand-up comedy by a line-up that includes Alison Leiby, Josh Gondelman, Max Gross and Freddie Shanel. Hey Alma’s Evelyn Frick will host. Get tickets for the show, which starts at 9:30 p.m. at Caveat NYC (21A Clinton St.) here. Starting at $15. Livestream is available for $10.
May 25
Shavuot dinner at The Brownstone
Join Jewish events hub The Brownstone (224 East 12th St.) for a Shavuot cocktail hour and dairy dinner starting at 6:30 p.m. Described as “a place to experience New York City from a Jewish perspective and meet like-minded Jewish millennials,” The Brownstone directs its programming towards “young professionals” and welcomes Jews of all denominations. Tickets start at $60. RSVP here.
Discover the Book of Ruth with My Jewish Learning
Rabbi Moshe Steigmann and our partner site, My Jewish Learning, come together to host a virtual learning event exploring how the story of Ruth — who is considered the first convert to Judaism, and whose story is traditionally read on Shavuot — can teach us about self-doubt and belonging in Judaism. Beginning at 8 p.m., the event is free and online. Register for the Zoom link here.
Explore technology and the Torah with Manhattan Jewish Experience
Manhattan Jewish Experience (131 W 86th St.) will explore artificial intelligence, big data, algorithms and social media during their night of learning, which begins at 8:30 p.m. and lasts until the wee hours of Friday morning. With a dairy dinner included, tickets are $50; for those coming post-dinner, tickets are free and include dessert and drinks and, following a sunrise service, a breakfast buffet with mimosas. Register here.
Celebrate Shavuot across Brooklyn
Congregations from all over Brooklyn will band together to host their annual “Shavuot Across Brooklyn,” a night of learning that will take place at Congregation Beth Elohim (274 Garfield Place). The evening begins at 9:15 p.m. with traditional egalitarian, Orthodox or “creative ritualistic” services, and continues throughout the night with dozens of classes, discussions and hands-on projects and learning. Check out the offerings here.
Study all night on the Upper West Side
Join the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan (334 Amsterdam Ave.) for their annual night of studying and celebration, which includes explorations of Jewish film, music, literature, culture and beyond. The in-person event begins the evening of May 25 at 10 p.m. Highlights include “Leopoldstadt” and “West Wing” actor Joshua Malina and Aaron Neil in conversation; Rabbi Joanna Samuels in conversation with actress Tovah Feldshuh; a book talk with Taffy Brodesser-Akner (“Fleishman Is in Trouble”) and a class, “Jewish Jokes About Arguing with God,” led by the New York Jewish Week’s very own editor at large, Andrew Silow-Carroll. Free; no registration required. Check out the full schedule here.
May 26
Drinks and learning with Chabad TechTribe
Join TechTribe, a Chabad organization for young professionals (20s to 40s) who work in the technology sector, for “A Day of Revelation and Rosé.” The evening includes a short service, an al fresco feast and learning on Friday beginning at 5:30 p.m. Located at TechTribe HQ in Brooklyn; address is provided upon registration. Free with RSVP.
May 27
Shake your groove thing with J-Vibe
On Saturday night starting at 10:00 p.m., Jewish nightlife events group J-Vibe will host their annual party celebrating both Shavuot and Memorial Day Weekend. The theme is “Layla Lavan,” or “White Night” in Hebrew, so wear your best white outfits to celebrate the official unofficial start of summer with DJs spinning Top 40, Israeli music and more. Tickets start at $18, location TBD. More information here.
May 28
Shavuot picnic in Central Park
At 2 p.m. on the Sunday post-Shavuot, hang in Central Park, meet other millennial Jews and snack on (more) cheese with Miranda Lapides, writer of The Shabbat Drop newsletter and Brent Delman, a kosher cheesemonger. Bring your own snacks and drinks to pair with the cheese. The event is free but registration is required. The exact location will be emailed prior to the event.
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The post How New York is celebrating Shavuot 2023 appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
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 – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.