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Jewish drag queen Sasha Velour is on the cover of The New Yorker this week
(New York Jewish Week) — Subscribers of The New Yorker opened their mailboxes this week to a hard-to-miss hot pink cover with an illustration of a drag queen with a mohawk, large blue earrings and extravagant makeup.
They were looking at “The Look of Pride,” a self-portrait by a Brooklyn-based Jewish drag queen and artist named Sasha Velour. Velour, 35, is featured in the June 12 issue in an interview about how she is celebrating Pride month and why drag has been lifesaving for her.
“Drag is an antidote to shame,” she said.
Velour was the 2017 winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and is currently on tour for her new book, “The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag,” which intertwines her own personal history — including her Jewish identity — with the history of drag as both a revolutionary art form and cultural practice.
Velour’s Judaism and Jewish family upbringing is a recurring theme in her book. “For years I studied Jewish history and Hebrew language after school and on the weekends,” she writes. “I was bar mitzvahed at 13 and even taught Sunday school when I was in high school, reenacting Jewish fables with puppets that I made myself,” writes Velour, who was raised in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Chicago suburbs.
Velour, whose out-of-drag last name is Steinberg, also writes about the influence her Jewish ancestors had on her — even those who she never knew. In “The Big Reveal,” Velour writes that her great-grandmother, Goldie Rabinovitch, was working at the at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in on March 25, 1911, but was spared from the deadly fire that day because she was late to work — window shopping, as the family lore goes, or possibly buying a pickle in Cooper Square.
“This is a story about snacks!’” Velour writes. Or, as her grandmother Dina would tell her: “Remember Grandma Goldie’s lesson… window-shopping can save your life!”
That same Jewish grandmother also first put Velour in drag when she was a child. “When I visited her house as a little kid, she would always encourage me to channel my inner diva,” Velour writes. “Beating out a drum rhythm on the arm of the couch, she would coach me to walk dramatically into the room, drop my coat, and reveal the look. ‘Fabulous!’ she’d whisper, knowingly.”
“When I was a kid, I loved dressing up with my grandmothers, putting on makeup, staging shows. I didn’t even know it was ‘drag’ but it just made sense to me,” Velour tells The New Yorker in the interview published Monday. “Later, learning more about drag and understanding the existence of queer and trans people around the world quite literally saved my life.”
In her book, Velour also credits the Talmud with showing her how to hold multiple ideas — and, by extension, identities — in her mind at the same time. “According to Talmudic thought, in order to find the truth, we must be able to hold multiple possible meanings as true at the same time,” she writes in her book. “That’s the kind of book I always liked best — a scrapbook that brought many things together in conversation.”
“Both comics and drag come from strong independent traditions that enable artists and performers to develop a more unique and recognizable style, and to address a wider range of political and personal topics,” she tells The New Yorker. “All you need to make art is your own self.”
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The post Jewish drag queen Sasha Velour is on the cover of The New Yorker this week appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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US Rejects Israel’s Request to Maintain Sanctions Against Syria
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a Ministerial formation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, in Damascus, Syria, March 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
i24 News – US President Donald Trump has rejected an effort by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent the full lifting of US sanctions on Syria, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported Saturday evening.
According to the report, Netanyahu associates contacted members of Trump’s inner circle in an attempt to keep some sanctions in place as leverage for future diplomatic negotiations. The effort was unsuccessful, with Trump’s advisers reportedly opposing any partial approach and favoring a complete removal of the restrictions.
Despite the refusal, two Israeli officials told Kan that the Trump administration promised Israel some form of political or strategic compensation in response to Jerusalem’s concerns.
The report comes as the US Congress recently voted to permanently repeal sanctions imposed on Syria under former president Bashar al-Assad, clearing the way for foreign investment to return to the war-torn country after more than a decade of conflict. Trump had previously suspended the sanctions twice, following pressure from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, key backers of Syria’s new leadership.
Syria is now led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist leader who had strongly advocated for the complete repeal of sanctions. He argued that maintaining sanctions under US law continued to deter international companies from engaging economically with Syria, even after political changes.
The repeal of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, enacted in 2019, was included in the annual US defense bill and passed by a wide margin in the Senate, 77–20, after approval by the House of Representatives. The legislation, named after a Syrian military photographer who documented abuses in Assad’s prisons, had effectively isolated Syria from the global financial system and now awaits Trump’s signature.
On Friday, al-Sharaa addressed the Syrian public to welcome the lifting of sanctions, publicly thanking Trump as well as Saudi, Qatari and Turkish leaders. His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was removed from the US terrorism list in July, as the new Syrian leadership seeks to present a more moderate image and normalize ties with the international community.
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Report: Iran Advances Missile Program, Continued Arms Transfers to Regional Proxies
An Iranian missile is launched during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, Aug. 20, 2025. Photo: Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Reports indicate that Iran has resumed development of its ballistic missile program while continuing to supply weapons to allied militias across the Middle East.
According to an unnamed US official speaking to Saudi Al-Arabiya, Tehran is using “every possible means” to transfer arms via both land and sea, viewing support for its regional proxies as a top strategic priority.
The official emphasized that the United States is actively working to prevent these shipments, coordinating with regional partners including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq to secure borders and limit arms transfers.
However, challenges persist, particularly in Lebanon, where the army is heavily engaged in efforts to dismantle Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in the south, leaving border control vulnerable. Iranian shipments reportedly also rely on Lebanese ports, which authorities are struggling to monitor effectively.
Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressed the state of the country’s nuclear facilities, confirming that they suffered “serious damage” during June’s 12-day conflict with Israel. Speaking to Russia Today, Araghchi insisted that while the attacks caused physical destruction, Iran’s technical capabilities remain intact.
“Technology cannot be bombed,” he said, adding that Tehran has rebuilt what was damaged and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to its nuclear program and right to uranium enrichment.
Araghchi warned that any attempt to repeat the previous strikes would fail. “If they [Israel] want to repeat the same failed experiment, they will not achieve a better outcome,” he said, signaling Tehran’s determination to restore and continue its nuclear and military programs despite international scrutiny.
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Sa’ar Urges Diaspora Jews to Move to Israel Amid Rising Anti-Semitism
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar speaks next to High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, and EU commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica as they hold a press conference on the day of an EU-Israel Association Council with European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
i24 News – Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar delivered a sharply worded address on Sunday evening at a Hanukkah candle-lighting conference in Rishon Lezion, using the gathering to criticize Israel’s opposition leadership and call on Jews abroad to immigrate to Israel amid rising global antisemitism.
The event, attended by around 1,000 activists and supporters along with Knesset members and local mayors, marked Sa’ar’s first major public conference since announcing his return to the Likud party.
As he lit the eighth candle of Hanukkah, Sa’ar framed his remarks around national resilience, security, and leadership during wartime.
Addressing Jews in the Diaspora, Sa’ar warned that antisemitism has intensified worldwide and accused many foreign governments of failing to respond decisively. He said Israel had invested significant diplomatic effort over the past year to push back against what he described as a new wave of open antisemitism, including convening an international conference in Jerusalem earlier this year.
“Jews have the right to live safely anywhere,” Saar said, “but history teaches us to recognize danger when we see it.” He appealed directly to Jewish communities in countries including the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada, and Belgium, urging them to immigrate to Israel.
Sa’ar described Israel as the only place where Jews can fully ensure their security and identity, calling on families to “come home” to the Jewish state.
Sa’ar also launched a fierce attack on opposition leaders over their conduct during the ongoing war, singling out opposition head Yair Lapid without naming him directly. He accused opposition figures of advocating an end to the conflict on terms favorable to Israel’s enemies, even as the government pursued military operations against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran-backed threats.
According to Sa’ar, while the government was making what he called difficult and historic decisions to weaken Israel’s adversaries, the opposition was promoting what he characterized as surrender-driven policies in exchange for hostage releases. “Either way,” Sa’ar said, “they are unworthy of leadership.”