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Meet the woman who built a home for Latin Jewish youth in Miami
This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.
MIAMI (JTA) —After spending her early childhood in Venezuela, it was not always easy for Gabriella Koenig to feel connected to the Jewish community she grew up around in Miami.
“When I moved from Venezuela, I had to leave behind the whole community and my friends. Living in a new place, it was difficult to meet and connect with other Latin Jewish friends. That is until I found La Casa,” said Koenig, 14. “La Casa has allowed me to connect with other Latin Jewish teenagers and has inspired me to learn Torah and grow to a higher spiritual level.”
La Casa is the first Latino chapter of the Orthodox youth group National Conference of Synagogue Youth in the United States. The person responsible for building this community for Koeing and other Latino Jews in Miami is Lea Bekhar.
When Bekhar moved to Miami from Panama at the age of 29 to start working for NCSY, she had one goal in mind: to make a home for the large population of Latin American Jewish teenagers in the Miami-Dade area through La Casa.
“There were no classes for teens, everything available in the area was for young professionals — 20 and up,” Bekhar said. She noticed that the few programs that were available for teens were often tailored for those who did not keep Shabbat, having meetings every Saturday. With this in mind she began running her own events for all teens.
Each Thursday after school, La Casa hosts events mean to be both community-building and educational. The meetings include a meal, religious education and an activity — which ranges from movies to discussions to games — to end the night. There isn’t a physical building; instead, each week a teenager from the group opens their home for the gathering.
Although aimed towards the Latino audience, La Casa is open for all teenagers seeking religious studies, guidance and community. And while the staff and institution is Orthodox, the organization serves Jewish kids from many backgrounds. About 40% of individuals in attendance don’t observe Shabbat or keep kosher and about 1% are not Latino, according to La Casa membership data.
“The slogan is ‘a home for your soul.’ It’s a place where they know there is no judgment, they could ask all the questions and they could find a community of like-minded people that they’re going to feel safe to open up,” Bekhar, 31, said.
Her goals for La Casa stem from her own teenage experience in Panama.
“When I was a teenager, I found that the one thing that kept me grounded was that aspect of faith,” Bekhar said. “And that’s what I want [here]. I want them to thrive for meaning in their life and to find a Jewish family, outside of their nuclear family.”
After teaching Judaic studies at the high school level in Panama for two years and through her previous work in NCSY, Bekhar learned to recognize an engaged community in which members are eager to attend and participate in events and programs. Yet, upon her arrival to the Miami-Dade area she saw first-hand the lack of opportunities for engagement, specifically for Latino teens. The Jewish Latino teens she met that were part of other religious groups didn’t seem to actually enjoy the youth community. La Casa marked a shift in engagement and provided an opportunity which teenagers were excited to participate in, she said.
“I never thought I would see so many kids go to an optional, after-school shiur [Torah lesson] on a Thursday night. Bringing all of us together, from both religious and non-religious backgrounds, La Casa provided us an opportunity to bond and still enjoy some words of Torah,” one teen participant, Jaime Mizrahi, said. “I look forward to the La Casa events throughout the week to be able to enjoy myself with my friends while still learning. In fact, even when I have already studied Torah throughout the day, I still go to La Casa because it is a nice environment to be in.”
Creating an engaged community did not come easy, and Bekhar had to do much research before beginning her mission.
“Every community is different. This is a community of Latin Jews, so it was important to recognize the community in Miami as Latino and treat it as such,” Bekhar said. In one of her first updates to her bosses prior to the September kickoff event, Bekhar recognized that the Latino population mostly lives in the Aventura and Bal Harbor area, and “they are divided into communities according to where they came from.” Some differences she noticed were that “Argentinians are less open about religion” while “Mexicans and Colombians are more open but aren’t part of the same community.”
Bekhar was able to use this knowledge to better target her audience.
“I have had to really mold the program to my audience. Many of the kids who regularly attend are second generation Latinos, so although their parents relate to their Latin origin, many of the kids not so much,” said Bekhar. “The Latin group is very different to their American counterparts culturally. Parents want them to connect not only to their religion, but to their Latin roots.”
Bekhar also incorporated program ideas from the Latin communities in Chile and Argentina.
“Programming made for American teens tends to have a very educational base, ours is more rooted in community,” Bekhar said. “The content is always very morally oriented and is centered on character development.”
One of the biggest hurdles for her was distrust from parents in the community. New and unknown, she had to create “an open relationship with all [the] mothers” in order for them to “feel comfortable voicing any concern.” Her approach worked.
“Since meeting Lea and becoming familiar with La Casa I’ve been impressed with her incredible personality and her ability to connect not only with young people, but with people of all ages. She’s a kind and empathetic young woman who will change the future of many Jewish souls,” said Anat Garzo, a mother to a La Casa teen and former board member of the Jewish Community Services Latin Committee.
Despite troubles she faced at first, Bekhar persevered and in the six months she’s been building La Casa, she grew participation to 120 teens.
One of those teens is Sofia Wengrowsky, a second-generation Mexican teenager. She recognizes the influence La Casa has on all aspects of her life.
“La Casa has allowed me to grow as an individual and has given me the opportunity to open a door to other young teenagers who are looking to grow in Judaism,” Wengrowsky, 17, said. “I leave every activity being able to learn something of impact.”
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Stephen Spielberg wins Grammy, becoming 9th Jew in elite EGOT ranks
(JTA) — The legendary director Stephen Spielberg has become the ninth Jew to secure “EGOT” status after winning a Grammy for producing a documentary about the music of John Williams.
Spielberg was awarded the Grammy for producing “Music by John Williams,” which won best music documentary, before the televised ceremony on Sunday. The win makes him the 22nd person to win the coveted quartet of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards.
Spielberg has won three Oscars, including best picture for the 1993 Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List”; four Emmys for TV programming including two World War II dramatic miniseries; and a Tony for producing the Broadway show “A Strange Loop.”
Spielberg adds to a large proportion of Jewish artists to win all four of the top entertainment awards. Nine of the 22 EGOTs have been Jewish, including the first person to ever reach the status, composer Richard Rodgers. Rodgers and Marvin Hamlisch, who was also Jewish, are the only people to have added a Pulitzer Prize to the EGOT crown. The most recent Jewish winner before Spielberg was the songwriter Benj Pasek, who secured the status in 2024 with an Emmy.
One of Spielberg’s more celebrated recent works was a drama based loosely on his own Jewish family. “The Fabelmans,” released in 2022, earned him three Oscar nods — for best picture, best director and best screenplay — but no wins.
In promoting that movie, Spielberg said antisemitic bullying when he was a child had informed his sense of being an “outsider,” which he translated into his filmmaking.
“Schindler’s List,” meanwhile, spurred the creation of the USC Shoah Foundation, a leading center for preserving Holocaust testimonies that has also recently embraced the task of preserving stories of contemporary antisemitism, too.
“It was, emotionally, the hardest movie I’ve ever made,” Spielberg said about his most decorated movie — for which John Williams earned an Oscar for the score. “It made me so proud to be a Jew.”
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A border official mocked an attorney for observing Shabbat. Orthodox lawyers say the issue is not new.
Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol official who led immigration raids in Minneapolis, reportedly mocked the Jewish faith of Minnesota’s U.S. attorney during a phone call with other prosecutors in mid-January. According to The New York Times, Bovino complained that Daniel Rosen, an Orthodox Jew, was hard to reach over the weekend because he observes Shabbat and sarcastically pointed out that Orthodox Jewish criminals don’t take the weekends off.
The call took place at a moment of extreme tension in Minneapolis, as federal agents under Bovino’s command carried out an aggressive immigration crackdown that had already turned deadly. It came between the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, both killed during enforcement operations, and amid fierce backlash from local officials and residents.
Bovino made the remarks in a derisive, mocking tone, the Times reported, casting Shabbat observance as a point of ridicule. Bovino had already drawn national attention for frequently wearing an olive double-breasted greatcoat with World War II-era styling, leading some critics to call him “Gestapo Greg” and accusing him of “Nazi cosplay.” Bovino, who pushed back on those comparisons, has since been reassigned.
Rosen, a Trump nominee, was confirmed as Minnesota’s U.S. attorney in October 2025 after a career in private practice and Jewish communal leadership. He has said that rising antisemitism helped motivate his decision to take the job, and that prosecuting hate crimes would be a priority for his office.
For many Orthodox Jewish lawyers, Bovino’s alleged remarks were not surprising. They echoed a familiar challenge: explaining that Shabbat — a full day offline — is not a lack of commitment, but a religious boundary that cannot be bent without being broken.
In a profession that prizes constant availability, that boundary can carry consequences. Some lawyers say it shows up in subtle ways: raised eyebrows, jokes about being unreachable, skepticism when they ask for time off. Others say it has shaped much bigger decisions, including how visibly Jewish they allow themselves to be at work.
David Schoen, an Orthodox criminal defense attorney who served as lead counsel for President Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial, said he has long been mindful of how religious observance is perceived in the courtroom.
“I have made a conscious decision not to wear my yarmulke in front of a jury,” Schoen said, explaining that jurors often “draw stereotypes from what they see.”
Those concerns were reinforced by experience. Schoen said he has noticed a “definite difference in attitude” from some judges depending on whether he wore a yarmulke. In one case, he recalled, a Jewish judge pulled him aside during a jury trial and told him she thought he had made the right choice — a comment Schoen said he found disappointing.
For Sara Shulevitz, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, the Bovino episode brought back memories from early in her career.
Orthodox and the daughter of a Hasidic rabbi — now married to one — Shulevitz said her unavailability on Jewish holidays was often treated as a professional flaw rather than a religious obligation. “It held me back from getting promotions,” she said.
In court, the scrutiny could be blunt. “I was mocked by a Jewish judge for celebrating ‘antiquated’ Jewish holidays,” she said, recalling requests for continuances for Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. In another case, she said, a judge questioned her request for time off for Shavuot and suggested she had already “taken off for Passover.”
When another judge assumed Passover always began on the same day in April, “I had to explain the Jewish lunar calendar in the middle of court while everyone was laughing,” she said.
Not every encounter, Shulevitz added, was rooted in hostility. Sometimes judges simply didn’t understand Orthodox practice. When she explained she couldn’t appear on a Jewish holiday, judges would suggest she join the hearing by Zoom — forcing her to explain that Orthodox Jews don’t use electrical devices on Shabbat or festivals.
The misunderstanding often slid into a familiar assumption. “They think you’re lazy,” she said. “It’s not laziness. Any Jewish woman knows how much work goes into preparing for Passover.”
Rabbi Michael Broyde, a law professor at Emory University who studies religious accommodation, said that Bovino’s alleged “derogatory remarks” are “sad and reflects, I worry, the antisemitic times we seem to be living in.”
He added that the criticism of Rosen reflected a basic misunderstanding of how law offices operate, calling it “extremely rare” for a lawyer’s religious practices to interfere with their obligations, especially when senior attorneys delegate work and courts routinely grant continuances.
“No one works 24/7,” Broyde said.
The episode echoed a similar Shabbat-related incident during Trump’s first term. In his 2022 memoir, former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro described how a group sought to undermine Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner’s role in the 2020 campaign by scheduling a key White House meeting with Trump on a Saturday, knowing Kushner — who is Shabbat observant — would not attend. Navarro titled the chapter recounting the episode, “Shabbat Shalom and Sayonara.”
The tension between Jewish observance and public life is not new. Senator Joe Lieberman, the first observant Jew to run on a major-party presidential ticket, famously walked to the Capitol for a Saturday vote and ate fish instead of meat at receptions. His longtime Senate colleague Chris Dodd joked that he became Lieberman’s “Shabbos goy.”
Still, Schoen said, visibility can cut both ways. During Trump’s impeachment trial, while speaking on the Senate floor, he reached for a bottle of water and instinctively paused. With one hand holding the bottle, he used the other to cover his head — a makeshift yarmulke — before drinking.
The moment was brief, but it did not go unnoticed. In the days that followed, Schoen said he heard from young Jewish men and businesspeople who told him that seeing the gesture made them feel more comfortable wearing their own yarmulkes at work.
The attention, he said, was unexpected. But for some in the Orthodox community, it became a source of pride.
“I felt honored,” Schoen said.
My guess in all seriousness is that he normally wears a yarmulke and this was reflex. Schoen is modern Orthodox so that would make sense. But I defer to @jacobkornbluh https://t.co/MkKx6W03v2
— Jake Tapper 🦅 (@jaketapper) February 9, 2021
Jacob Kornbluh contributed additional reporting.
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Deni Avdija becomes first Israeli to be selected as an NBA All-Star
(JTA) — Portland Trail Blazers star Deni Avdija’s meteoric rise has officially reached a new stratosphere, as the 25-year-old forward has become the NBA’s first-ever Israeli All-Star.
Avdija was named an All-Star reserve for the Western Conference on Sunday, an expected but deserved nod after the northern Israel native finished seventh in All-Star voting with over 2.2 million votes, ahead of NBA legends LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Avdija’s breakout performance this season has earned him repeated praise from James and others across the league.
Avdija’s star turn began last year in his first season with Portland, when he further captured the adoration of Jewish fans across Israel and the U.S. But he took another step forward this season, averaging 25.8 points, 6.8 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game. His points and assists clips are by far the best of his career, and rank 13th and 12th in the NBA, respectively. He’s considered a front-runner for the league’s Most Improved Player award.
For close observers of Israeli basketball, Avdija’s All-Star selection is the culmination of a promising career that began as a teenage star with Maccabi Tel Aviv and made him the first Israeli chosen in the top 10 in an NBA draft.
“Deni Avdija being named an NBA All-Star reserve is an unbelievable achievement in the mind of every Israeli basketball fan,” Moshe Halickman, who covers basketball for the popular Sports Rabbi website, wrote in an essay for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “This is a dream come true for many — a dream that became realistic and even a must-happen during his breakout season — but something that in his first five seasons in the NBA never came across as something that was going to be real.”
Halickman, who has covered Avdija in Washington, D.C., and in Israel, wrote that Avdija is not only considered the greatest Israeli hooper of all time, but perhaps the best athlete to come out of Israel, period.
Oded Shalom, who coached Avdija on Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Under-15 and Under-16 teams, echoed that sentiment in a recent profile of Avdija in The Athletic.
“Even though he is only 25, I think he is Israel’s most successful athlete in history,’’ Shalom said. “We’ve had some great gymnasts — and I hope everyone forgives me for saying it, because we’ve had some great athletes — but I think Deni has become the greatest.”
Avdija’s ascension has also come against the backdrop of the Gaza war and a reported global rise in antisemitism, which he has said affects him personally.
“I’m an athlete. I don’t really get into politics, because it’s not my job,” Avdija told The Athletic. “I obviously stand for my country, because that’s where I’m from. It’s frustrating to see all the hate. Like, I have a good game or get All-Star votes, and all the comments are people connecting me to politics. Like, why can’t I just be a good basketball player? Why does it matter if I’m from Israel, or wherever in the world, or what my race is? Just respect me as a basketball player.”
Now, Avdija’s talents will be on display at the NBA All-Star Game, on Sunday, Feb. 15, in Los Angeles.
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