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The Jewish holiday of Purim has gone to the dogs
(New York Jewish Week) — The American Kennel Club’s Museum of the Dog, just two blocks south of Grand Central, can boast many things, including an extensive library about dog breeds and one of the world’s largest collections of dog-themed art.
As of this past weekend, it’s also a place where dogs and their owners can celebrate Jewish holidays together.
As part of the museum’s “Furry Fridays” program — a biweekly-ish event in which four-footed friends are welcomed inside the galleries — Sarah Moshenberg, the museum’s manager of learning and engagement, created the institution’s first-ever Jewish event: A “Pawrim” party for Purim, in which humans and canines were invited to dress up in costumes, socialize with one another and eat hamantaschen (yes, there were hamantaschen for dogs).
“Being Jewish myself, I was really excited to do a Jewish event,” Moshenberg, dressed in a bright pink homemade flamingo costume, told the New York Jewish Week. “I would love to do more holidays; more opportunities for all sorts of folks who celebrate all different types of holidays to come here and enjoy them with their their dogs — that’s the excitement.”
“I have three human children,” she said. “My oldest is 8, so I love taking them to the Purim celebration at shul, and then getting to do the parade, watching them in their costumes, showing off… Being able to do that here, but with your dog, is really fun.”
The Purim party, Moshenberg explained, was an outgrowth of an upcoming Furry Friday that happened to fall on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. In planning the events calendar, Moshenberg had the idea for a “St. Pawtrick’s” party and, from there, the punny themes came easily — Feb. 17, for example, was “Mardi Paws” in honor of Mardi Gras.
Pawrim, as it happens, was inspired by my best girl Shayna Maydele, the adorable Upper East Side-dwelling white coton de Tulear with a charming Instagram account whom the New York Jewish Week called “possibly the most Jewish dog in New York” last year.
“I saw the article on Shayna Maydele and I really wanted to do something with her,” Moshenberg said. With a Furry Friday scheduled just three days ahead of Purim (which begins tonight!) — and once Shabbat availability was cleared with Shayna Maydele’s “manager,” Heidi Silverstone — the party was a go.
On Friday evening, Shayna Maydele, dressed as an aviator for the occasion, took to her first-ever party hosting duties with aplomb. She and her pal Vito, a shih-poo dressed in a penguin costume, gamely posed for the “paw-parazzi” on the museum’s stairs.
“We came for Shayna Maydele!” said Vito’s owner Mina Kim, a dentist who lives in Midtown. “She’s just the sweetest dog.”
Kim, who is not Jewish — “I grew up in Bergen County; I’ve been around Jewish people my whole life!” — added that “doggie hamantaschen” was the second major draw.
Henry, a mixed-breed pup wearing a bark mitzvah outfit, enjoys the Purim festivities. (Courtesy The AKC Museum of the Dog)
As Kim and I chatted, an adorable mutt named Henry — dapper in a very “Wall Street”-esque pinstriped suit — entered the scene and immediately demanded belly rubs. “I couldn’t find his costume,” his owner, Robyn, who declined to provide her last name, told me. “I just grabbed a shirt — he wore it to a bark mitzvah.”
Robyn, who lives in Murray Hill, said she and Henry had previously been to a Furry Friday event before. “He needs to learn his Jewish roots,” she said, adding, “it’s something to do.”
Upstairs, in the museum’s spacious third-floor gallery, klezmer music played quietly in the background as dogs sniffed one another’s tushes and owners gushed over the adorable panoply of costumed canines. Among them was Finley, a papillon who was dressed as an airplane — unintentionally twinning with the dog of the hour! — and Loli, a tiny shih-poo who was dressed as was Sulley from “Monsters, Inc.”
Liz Karpen and her sister, Rebecca, were there with their Havanese, Allen Bader Ginsberg, who was dressed in a homemade hamantaschen costume. “I was already going to make her a costume, but it was just going to be to wander around in the house — maybe I would strut her around the street in it,” said Liz, who learned about the party from Shayna Maydele’s Instagram. “This gave me an excuse to make something that people are going to see.”
The sisters have additional plans for the holiday, but this was their only opportunity to celebrate Purim with Allen. “I tried finding other things for dogs, but there’s not much,” Liz said. “I also didn’t want to assume this costume would last more than one night.”
Sisters Rebecca, left, and Liz Karpen with their Havanese, Allen, in a homemade hamantaschen costume. (Courtesy The AKC Museum of the Dog)
Shara Safer, a law school student who lives in the Village, had learned about the party while at a dog park with her shih tzu, Clem, and immediately knew they had to attend. “I really need to get more involved in Jewish events,” she said, adding that she’s “not super practicing” right now. For Purim itself, Safer said she may visit her family and make some hamantaschen.
“I would love it if I could bring him to shul,” she said of Clem, who was dressed as Cerberus — the three-headed dog that guards the underworld in Greek mythology. (The clever costume, handmade by Safer, took “too long” to make, she said.)
Indeed, much like Moshenberg pointed out, being able to celebrate the Jewish holiday with their dog — instead of having to leave him or her at home — was a draw mentioned by several partygoers. Upper West Siders Andres and Nicole Gannon said they came to the party because they were excited by “the opportunity to have him in costume and celebrate Purim,” said Andres Gannon. Their pug, Monster, had been dressed as the Beast from “Beauty and the Beast,” but they had removed his costume before heading out into the drizzly evening.
When asked about other plans they had for the holiday, they said: “This is our Purim celebration.”
As for Shayna Maydele, Silverstone said in an email after the event that her pup “loved interacting with the other dogs. It was very different than her regular playing in a dog park — all of the dogs were leashed, and it was in a museum setting. Since it was new to her, she had so much fun exploring.”
“It definitely made me feel good about what I am doing on social media, since sometimes I wonder whether it is a productive use of my time, posting photos of my dog,” Silverstone said. “However, when I see the happiness it brings to people, and the awareness it brings about the goodness of Judaism, I realize that it is definitely worthwhile.”
As for future Jewish events at the museum, Moshenberg said she’s open to departing from the Furry Fridays routine. “I would love to do this again,” she said. “I also think I wouldn’t have it on Shabbos next year — I would plan something around it so we wouldn’t have a conflict in that case, and we could definitely invite more of the Jewish community.”
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The post The Jewish holiday of Purim has gone to the dogs appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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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.