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Itzhak Perlman gets personal in an intimate, anecdote-filled performance
(New York Jewish Week) — Like so many people, I feel like I’ve known Itzhak Perlman my entire life (thank you, “Sesame Street”). And now, I finally had the opportunity to see and hear the Israeli-American violin virtuoso perform in person.
And not just perform: At a fundraising event Tuesday for the nonprofit Amit Children, Perlman offered a touching, music-filled autobiographical monologue on his life on and off the concert stage.
The occasion was the kickoff campaign for a new, state-of-the-art campus in Raanana run by the education network that operates more than 100 schools in Israel. The event, which attracted some 400 supporters, was held at Sony Hall, a glamorous, Jazz Age-era event space tucked into the basement of the Paramount Hotel on West 46th St.
Augmented with photos and video, Perlman told a story that began with his Polish parents’ immigration to pre-state Israel in the 1930s. There, they lived in Tel Aviv and raised their son in a one-room apartment with a shared bath. Amid charming anecdotes — including one about enjoying his mother’s homemade gefilte fish despite befriending and losing the live carps kept fresh in their bathtub every Friday — Perlman, 77, played several pieces that launched and shaped his long career.
He detailed his bout with polio at age 4, his turn to the violin and how he auditioned and got his big break as a 7th-grader on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1958. That, he said, was his first-ever trip to the United States — a place he associated with “the Empire State Building, television sets and Polaroid cameras” — and he stayed, well, at the Paramount Hotel. At 13, he was accepted to New York’s elite Juilliard School and, to keep the family afloat, worked “the Jewish benefit circuit,” as he called it. “It’s 2022 and I’m still playing fundraisers,” he quipped. “Can you imagine that? Nothing has changed.”
Of course, many things have changed for Perlman since then: A winner of 16 Grammys, Perlman is the kind of classical music superstar known to people who don’t normally indulge in classical music (his performance on the “Schindler’s List” soundtrack has been streamed close to 40 million times on Spotify). In 1994, he and his wife Toby launched the Perlman Music Program for gifted string players, and he remains a disability rights activist.
“Mr. Perlman’s passion, creativity and drive for excellence are well known,” Audrey Axelrod Trachtman, the president of Amit, which largely serves children on Israel’s social and geographic periphery, said in a statement. “It is his unwavering commitment to Israel and mentoring young people that speaks to what Amit is all about.”
The evening concluded with the announcement that Amit is dedicating the Toby and Itzhak Perlman Music Studio in the couple’s honor, located at the Amit State Technological School, a “last-chance high school” in Jerusalem.
“Any organization that does anything for education,” Perlman said in response, “is the best and the greatest mitzvah.”
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The post Itzhak Perlman gets personal in an intimate, anecdote-filled performance appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Amid Iran Standoff, Witkoff and Kushner Pose Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier
Steve Witkoff (R) aboard the aircraft carrier Lincoln. Photo via i24 / social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law
i24 News – Special US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited on Saturday the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.
The duo, who led the US in the indirect nuclear talks with Iran on Friday, visited the aircraft carrier at the invitation of US Central Command chief, Adm. Brad Cooper.
The carrier arrived in the region last week as part of a US “armada” amid rising tensions with the Islamic regime of Iran. It is stationed in the Arabian Sea.
The visit came hours after US President Donald Trump stated that while the talks went well, “But I think Iran looks like they want to make a deal very badly, as they should. Last time, they decided maybe not to do it, but I think they probably feel differently. We’ll see what the deal is. It’ll be different than last time. And we have a big armada. We have a big fleet heading in that direction. It’ll be there pretty soon. So we’ll see how that works out.”
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Pentagon Says It Will Cut Academic Ties With Harvard University
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives to administer the oath to U.S. Army National Guard soldiers during a re-enlistment ceremony at the base of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Friday his department was ending professional military education, fellowships, and certificate programs with Harvard University, marking the Trump administration’s latest escalation against the school.
President Donald Trump’s administration has cracked down on top US universities, including Harvard, over a range of issues such as pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel’s assault on Gaza, diversity programs, transgender policies and climate initiatives.
“Starting now and beginning in the 2026-27 school year, I am discontinuing all graduate level Professional Military Education (PME), all fellowships and certificate programs between Harvard University and the War Department for active duty service members,” Hegseth, who himself holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, said on X.
The policy will apply to service members enrolling in future programs while those currently enrolled will be allowed to finish their courses, Hegseth said.
He also added that the Pentagon will evaluate similar relationships with other universities in the coming weeks.
Rights advocates have raised free speech, academic freedom and due process concerns over the government’s actions against universities.
A Harvard spokesperson directed Reuters to a page on the history of the university’s ties with the US military that says Harvard has played a “significant role” in America’s military traditions since the nation’s founding.
TRUMP-HARVARD TENSIONS CONTINUE
The university has previously sued the Trump administration over the government’s attempt to freeze federal funding.
Hegseth accused Harvard of “hate America activism,” also calling the university antisemitic in a reference to pro-Palestinian protests.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza with antisemitism and advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.
Harvard has condemned discrimination on campus. Its antisemitism and Islamophobia task forces found last year that Jews and Muslims faced bigotry after the start of Israel’s war in Gaza following an October 2023 Hamas attack.
Trump’s attempts to freeze federal funds for Harvard have faced legal resistance and the two sides have failed to reach a deal thus far.
Trump said this week his administration was seeking $1 billion from Harvard to settle probes into school policies.
Some Ivy League schools have reached agreements with the Trump administration and accepted certain government demands. Columbia University has agreed to pay more than $220 million to the government while Brown University has agreed to pay $50 million to support local workforce development.
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Netanyahu Expected to Meet Trump in US on Wednesday and Discuss Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signs the joint declaration of mutual recognition with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi, officially establishing full diplomatic relations between the two nations. Photo: Screenshot
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, where they will discuss negotiations with Iran, Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday.
Iranian and US officials held indirect nuclear talks in the Omani capital Muscat on Friday. Both sides said more talks were expected to be held again soon.
A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran on the talks told Reuters Iran insisted on its “right to enrich uranium” during the negotiations with the US, and that Tehran’s missile capabilities were not raised in the discussions.
Iranian officials have ruled out putting Iran’s missiles – one of the largest such arsenals in the Middle East – up for discussion, and have said Tehran wants recognition of its right to enrich uranium.
PRIME MINISTER SEEKS MISSILE CURBS
“The Prime Minister believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Wednesday’s meeting would be the seventh between Netanyahu and Trump since the US president returned to office in January last year.
The pair had been expected to meet on February 18, but the talks were brought forward amid the renewed engagement with Iran. A spokesperson for Netanyahu did not immediately comment on why the date was moved up.
Last June, the US joined an Israeli military campaign against Iran’s uranium enrichment and other nuclear installations, marking the most direct American military action ever against the Islamic Republic.
Iran retaliated by launching a missile attack on a US base in Qatar.
The US and Israel have repeatedly warned Iran that they would strike again if Tehran pressed ahead with its enrichment and ballistic missile programs.
World powers and regional states fear a breakdown in the negotiations would ignite another conflict between the US and Iran that could spill over to the rest of the oil-producing region.
Iran has vowed a harsh response to any strike and has cautioned neighboring Gulf Arab countries that host US bases that they could be in the firing line if they were involved in an attack.