Dima and Yuliia Lytvnenko spent their entire lives in Odessa. There, the married couple owned a restaurant, Mama Cassala (Ukrainian for “Mama Said”) and a sausage factory. Both were destroyed in 2022 rocket attacks during the ongoing war with Russia.

Fearing for their safety, the Jewish family — they have three children, ages 15, 11 and 10 — fled to Spain in 2023, and then to New York City in early 2024. Today, they are the proprietors of Papa Did It, a beef jerky and cured meat company based in Staten Island.

Yuliia Lytvynenko has been surprised by how little New Yorkers seem to know about the Jewish community in her hometown. Lytvynenko describes Odessa as a “very Jewish city” with many Jewish schools and synagogues. “But a lot of people don’t know that the Jewish in Ukraine are still there,” she said. 

The Lytvynenko family’s journey of displacement, preserving their heritage and building a home on a new continent will be told this month and next in New York as part of “Diaspora,” a four-course dinner and theater experience inspired by real-life stories of the Jewish Diaspora.

Produced by a group of Broadway alumni and entrepreneurs, “Diaspora” is the latest project from StoryCourse, an immersive dining and theater collective that’s focused on telling the stories of marginalized people. Running for 13 performances throughout November and December at a studio space at 245 West 18th Street, “Diaspora” treats audiences to performances based on real-life immigration stories of Iranian, Ethiopian, Mexican and Ukrainian Jewish families, accompanied by vegetarian and nut-free food that represents the four countries. 

“I think this is an experience that will really widen people’s perspective on what Jewishness can look like, can taste like, can feel like, and it’s an experience that allows for everyone to have a seat at the table,” said Adam Kantor, the director of “Diaspora,” whose previous credits include “The Band’s Visit” and “Rent.”

“We’re in really divisive times now in terms of anti-Jewishness and anti-immigration policies,” Kantor added. “So it feels like this is sort of a latent sociopolitical act, but it’s one that does not aim to be overtly political, necessarily. It aims to bring people together over community and food and heart.”

Inspired by the Passover seder — that is, combining storytelling with a festive meal — StoryCourse was founded in 2017 by Kantor, composer Benj Pasek and Brian Bordainick, the creator of the membership-based supper club Dinner Lab, all of whom are Jewish. StoryCourse went viral with its virtual “Saturday Night Seder” in 2020 — held as a fundraiser for COVID-19 emergency relief — and has also put on shows centering the stories of LGBTQ+ chefs. 

“Diaspora” embraces the Jewish roots of StoryCourse, according to Charly Jaffe, the organization’s creative director. “In a time where so many people are feeling like they’ve lost their sense of home, whether it’s a literal home, political home, or the-earth-we-live-on home … it’s looking at what we do at StoryCourse, and what our Jewish lineage — what we have in our history — actually has so much value for us,” Jaffe said.

The three other Jewish families at the heart of “Diaspora” are Stephanie and Yvonne Ohebshalom, daughter and wife of real estate developer Fred Ohebshalom. who have Iranian roots; Beejhy Barhany, the owner of Harlem’s Tsion Café, who came to New York from Ethiopia via Sudan and Israel, and Fany Gerson, owner of Fan-Fan Doughnuts in Bedford-Stuyvesant, who hails from Mexico.

“People think: ‘Jewish New York,’ and they just think, like, Katz’s Deli, or Borough Park, or neurotic Woody Allen,” Jaffe said. “There’s so much richness in [the] global Jewish tapestry.”

Andy Hartman, StoryCourse’s head of operations, said he hopes audiences will leave with an “expanded understanding” of Jews and Jewish food. “I think so much of what we have been trying to do is sort of push back on the Ashkenormativity that exists in the United States, more broadly, but even in New York, in terms of what Jews look like and what Jewish food is,” he said. 

“Diaspora” will explore these themes over four courses adapted from the four families’ own recipes, including Persian naan-o-paneer and Shirazi salad; Ethiopian messer wot lentil stew; Ukrainian borscht, and Mexican dessert flavors like guava with cheese. They’ll be prepared for guests by two Jewish chefs, Dave Dreifus, the founder of Best Damn Cookies, and Lottie Gurvis, owner of Oh My Noshhh private dining. 

About 50 guests each night will travel the world from their dinner plate while learning about the lives of these real, New York-based Jewish families.

Ethiopian chef Barhany, who is also the author of “Gursha: Timeless Recipes for Modern Kitchens, from Ethiopia, Israel, Harlem, and Beyond” is participating in “Diaspora” because, she said, “I wanted to bring the perspective of other Jews that we have to immerse ourselves and celebrate our differences and be more inclusive.”

Barhany, 49, was born in Ethiopia; as a child, she spent three years in Sudan before her family arrived in Israel, where she eventually served in the Israel Defense Forces. After traveling the world, Barhany settled in New York, where she’s lived for more than two decades. 

“I don’t think there is much knowledge on the flavors, traditions and what Ethiopian Jews have to offer to the landscape of the deliciousness of Jewish food,” Barhany said. “Tsion Café, or myself — we’re adding to that landscape of the diverse, unique flavors that the Jewish diaspora has to offer.”

Yuliia Lytvynenko said she hopes “Diaspora” informs its New York audience about contemporary Ukrainian Jewish life. (Case in point: Her husband’s surname was not originally Lytvynenko — his father, for whom Papa Did It is named, changed the family’s surname from Rabinovich due to rising antisemitism in Ukraine in the 1970s.)

During the Lytvynenkos’ course — the third — Ukrainian borscht, a favorite dish of the Lytvynenko children, will be served, along with a few creative interpretations of traditional Ukrainian spreads.

Asked what he hopes audiences will walk away with from the show, director Kantor said: “I hope that they will be crying into their borscht.”

“StoryCourse: Diaspora” will run for 13 performances throughout November and December at 245 West 18th St. Tickets, $180, include a four-course meal and wine. 

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The post An immersive dinner takes a culinary journey through the Jewish Diaspora appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

A group of Orthodox Jewish American tourists was brutally attacked at Milan’s Central Station on Monday by a pro-Palestinian individual, the latest in a rising wave of antisemitic hate crimes across Italy, sparking outrage within the local Jewish community.

Local authorities in Milan, northern Italy, arrested a 25-year-old Pakistani man for allegedly assaulting a Jewish tourist from the United States, Italian news agency RAI reported.

The victim, who was with a group of 10 Orthodox Jewish tourists visiting Italy, was checking the departure board when the assailant began harassing him. 

The attacker then allegedly chased the victim while punching and kicking him and striking him in the head with a blunt metal ring.

During the attack, the Pakistani man reportedly shouted antisemitic insults and threats, including “dirty Jews” and “you kill children in Palestine, and I’ll kill you.”

Shortly afterward, train personnel restrained the suspect, and local police arrested him on charges of aggravated assault motivated by racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination.

Meanwhile, the victim was taken to a local hospital with a minor head injury.

According to local reports, Judge Sofia Fioretta explained that the charges were expedited due to “the seriousness of the conduct, its brutality, and the total absence of remorse.” The 25-year-old assailant admitted to the charges against him.

Walker Meghnagi, president of Milan’s Jewish community, condemned the incident, warning of the growing climate of hostility toward Jews in Italy.

“Many Jewish tourists, particularly Americans but also others, avoid visiting Milan because of the climate of hatred and the fear of being attacked,” Meghnagi told the Italian news outlet Il Giorno.

This latest incident comes amid a surge in antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment across Europe and around the world since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

In Italy, Jewish individuals have been facing a surge in hostility and targeted attacks, including vandalism of murals and businesses, as well as physical assaults. Community leaders have warned that such incidents are becoming more frequent amid growing tensions related to the war in Gaza.

In September, a Jewish couple was walking through Venice in traditional Orthodox clothing when three assailants confronted them, shouted “Free Palestine,” and physically attacked them, slapping both.

This incident followed another attack on a Jewish couple in Venice the month before, when a man and his pregnant wife were harassed near the city center by three unknown individuals.

The attackers approached the couple, shouting antisemitic insults and calling the husband a “dirty Jew,” while physically assaulting them by throwing water and spitting on them.

One of the assailants later set his dog on the couple in an attempt to intimidate them before the group stole their phones.

Earlier this summer, a Jewish man from France and his child were verbally assaulted at a gas station near Milan by a group of pro-Palestinian activists who shouted antisemitic slurs after seeing the child wearing a kippah, yelling phrases such as “Free Palestine” and “murderers” as they passed by.

In a separate incident, a masked individual targeted a synagogue in Rome, spray-painting a swastika and antisemitic slogans — “Sieg Heil” (“Hail Victory”) and “Juden Raus” (“Jews Out”) — on a sign near the entrance.

In May, a restaurant in Naples forced an Israeli family to leave, telling them, “Zionists are not welcome here.”

Earlier this year, a homeless Egyptian man in Rome attacked a Jewish boy and injured a shopkeeper who tried to intervene. 

In another incident, anti-Israel protesters defaced a synagogue with graffiti reading “Justice for a Free Gaza.”

Last year, a hotel manager in Rome canceled an Israeli couple’s reservation just one day before their trip, accusing them of genocide and telling them the hotel would “be happy to grant free cancellation.”

“We inform you that the Israeli people as those responsible for genocide are not welcome customers in our structure,” the hotel manager told the Israeli couple.

Israeli actress and producer Gal Gadot has been awarded the 2026 Genesis Prize by Israel in recognition of her strong support and advocacy for her home country amid its war with Hamas in Gaza and despite the negative impacts it had on her career, the Genesis Prize Foundation (GPF) announced on Tuesday.

The annual $1 million Genesis Prize, which has been nicknamed the “Jewish Nobel” by Time magazine, honors individuals “for their professional excellence, significant impact in their fields, and dedication to Jewish values.” It is a global award that celebrates “Jewish contribution to humanity” and all recipients donate their $1 million prize to various philanthropic causes.

Gadot called herself a “proud Jew and a proud Israeli” who loves her home country in a statement released by the GPF. The “Wonder Woman” star and mother of four is donating her $1 million prize to organizations that are helping Israelis recover in the aftermath of the Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent two-year war between Israel and Hamas. A date for the awards ceremony next year was not announced.

“I am humbled to receive the Genesis Prize and to stand alongside the amazing laureates who came before me,” the “Snow White” star said. “[I] dedicate this award to the organizations who will help Israel heal and to those incredible people who serve on the front lines of compassion. Israel has endured unimaginable pain. Now we must begin to heal – to rebuild hearts, families, and communities.”

GFP co-founder and chairman Stan Polovets praised Gadot’s “moral clarity and unwavering love for Israel.”

“The award recognizes her bravery and moral courage – her steadfast defense of Israel at great personal and professional risk, her advocacy for the hostages, her compassion for victims of terror, and her empathy for all innocent victims of this terrible war unleashed by Hamas,” he said. “Her decision to turn the Genesis Prize honor into a mission of healing embodies the very purpose of the prize – to celebrate achievement and channel it for good.”

Gadot condemned the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, immediately after the deadly attack took place in southern Israel and has defended her home country repeatedly since the start of its war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. She has called for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, met with families of former hostages, and arranged in Los Angeles private screenings for Hollywood figures to see uncensored, raw footage that documents the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. In a magazine interview earlier this year, she pleaded for an end to the Israel-Hamas war that includes a “diplomatic agreement that allows all parts of the table to live a good and prosperous life.”

In August, hundreds of anti-Israel activists signed a letter calling on the Venice Film Festival to disinvite Gadot from the event because of her ties to Israel. The festival’s director ignored the boycott efforts and Gadot was still invited, although she did not attend. Award-winning American filmmaker and artist Julian Schnabel, who cast Gadot in his film “In the Hand of Dante” that was premiering at the Venice Film Festival, also criticized the efforts by anti-Israel activists.

Gadot in March became the first Israeli to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti in May, the same week that London’s Metropolitan Police arrested five anti-Israel protesters who tried to disrupt her film set in central London solely because she is Israeli.

Gadot played the Evil Queen in last year’s live action remake of Disney’s “Snow White.” She admitted in August that she thinks “pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel” was “greatly affecting” the film and contributed to its poor box office performance after its lead star, Rachel Zegler, proclaimed “Free Palestine” on social media.

Past recipients of the Genesis Prize include singer, actor, and activist Barbra Streisand; filmmaker Steven Spielberg; founder of Blue Square Alliance Against Hate and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft; the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and human rights advocate Natan Sharansky.

The 2025 recipient of the Genesis Prize was Argentina’s President Javier Milei, who was recognized for his strong support of Israel. Milei visited Jerusalem in June to accept the award.