Need to Know for June 5

Roseanne sobs, Starbucks CEO steps down and Enoch Pratt forgives fines

Members of the Ugandan Jewish community praying in synagogue. (Courtesy of Be’chol Lashon)

Israel reportedly will not recognize Uganda’s Jewish community

Israel has ruled that it will not recognize Uganda’s Jewish community, according to an Israeli newspaper report. The Interior Ministry denied the request of a Ugandan Jew, Kibitz Yosef, to immigrate to Israel, Haaretz reported May 31. The ministry said Yosef, who is staying at a kibbutz in southern Israel, had to leave the country by June 14, according to the report. A representative told Haaretz that the decision represented Israel’s stance on the Ugandan Jewish community, not just the applicant in question. The ministry said Yosef could challenge its decision in the High Court of Justice. The Uganda community, also called the Abayudaya, numbers approximately 2,000 and traces its roots to the early 20th century, when a former leader read the Bible and embraced Judaism. Most members were converted under the auspices of U.S. Conservative rabbis and thus are not recognized as Jewish by Israel’s mostly haredi Orthodox Chief Rabbinate. In 2016, the Jewish Agency for Israel recognized the community, seemingly opening a path for its members to immigrate to Israel. However, the Abuyudaya have struggled to obtain recognition to do so. In December, Israel denied a visa application by a member of the community to study at a yeshiva in Israel, leading to accusations of racism. This week, the Chief Rabbinate published a list of draft criteria for religious courts in the Diaspora to have its conversions accepted in the Jewish state. If enacted, Jewish converts in America may face additional hurdles in being recognized as Jewish by the Chief Rabbinate, which controls Jewish marriage, divorce, conversion and burial in the Jewish state. However, it does not have authority over who can immigrate to the country. –JTA

Also see: Ugandan rabbi: ‘We as a Jewish community need to be treated like any other Jewish community’

Roseanne Barr’s reboot of “Roseanne” was cancelled by ABC because of the star’s racist rants on Twitter (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for SiriusXM/Courtesy of JTA)

Roseanne sobbed about racist tweet in interview with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Roseanne Barr reportedly cried and apologized for her racist tweet in a podcast interview with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. Barr “was sobbing and very apologetic about the whole thing,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, which cited an unnamed source. Boteach did not air the interview. The call in to the podcast came two days after ABC canceled her show last week over the tweet mocking Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser to President Barack Obama and an African-American. The tweet said the “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” The reboot of Barr’s immensely popular late 20th-century sitcom had drawn high ratings. Barr later deleted the tweet about Jarrett, which drew widespread criticism, and issued an apology, saying she had made “a bad joke about her politics and her looks.” Barr, who is Jewish, and Boteach, a rabbi to several stars, have been friends for 20 years. She has not given any in-depth interviews on the tweets and her firing. Boteach tweeted about the interview: “I did record a podcast with my friend @therealroseanne & I have decided not to release it out of respect for Roseanne. I want to give her space to reflect on the recent events and releasing the recording is a decision she will make at the appropriate time.” He also tweeted: “I have known @therealroseanne for 20 years. She has apologized for what she acknowledges is a violation of Torah values & in the spirit of Jewish repentance. It is time America learned to forgive so that we may together affirm the image of God, and equal dignity of all humankind.”–JTA

Bill Clinton says public apology was enough in Lewinsky affair

Former President Bill Clinton said his public apology for his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky was enough. NBC’s “Today” show correspondent Craig Melvin asked Clinton in an interview aired June 4 if he had ever apologized to Lewinsky, who was 22 and Clinton’s subordinate when they began an affair more than two decades ago. “I apologized to everybody in the world,” Clinton said of his public apology. Melvin followed up by asking Clinton if he had ever apologized privately. “I have never talked to her. But I did say publicly on more than one occasion that I was sorry. That’s very different. The apology was public,” he said. Clinton made his public apology in 1998 during the National Prayer Breakfast. “I don’t think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned,” he said there. “It is important to me that everybody who has been hurt know that the sorrow I feel is genuine — first and most important, my family, also my friends, my staff, my Cabinet, Monica Lewinsky and her family, and the American people.” Clinton told Melvin that at the time the affair became public, “I felt terrible then and I came to grips with it.” He said later in the interview: “I dealt with it 20 years ago plus … I’ve tried to do a good job since then with my life and my work.” Clinton also said that he did not regret his decision to fight impeachment, and noted that he left the White House $16 million in debt from his defense. Clinton and author James Patterson appeared on “Today” to promote their co-authored novel “The President is Missing.” In an apparent response to the “Today” interview, Lewinsky tweeted June 4 that she is “grateful to the myriad people who have helped me evolve + gain perspective in the past 20 years.” She also tweeted a link to a personal essay she wrote in February for Vanity Fair on the 20th anniversary of the investigation into the affair, in which she admitted that she suffers from PTSD over the fallout from the investigation and publicity, and that the #MeToo movement had changed her perspective on the affair and its aftermath. —JTA

Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz to step down

Starbucks’ founder and executive chairman Howard Schultz is stepping down. Schultz, who previously served as the coffee giant’s CEO, is leaving his position at the end of June, The New York Times reported on June 4. In an interview with The Times, Schultz, a Democrat who has publicly criticized President Donald Trump, did not deny speculation that he was considering a political career. “I want to be truthful with you without creating more speculative headlines. For some time now, I have been deeply concerned about our country — the growing division at home and our standing in the world,” said Schultz, 64. “One of the things I want to do in my next chapter is to figure out if there is a role I can play in giving back,” he added. “I’m not exactly sure what that means yet.” Under Schultz, Starbucks became a vocal part of the national conversation on issues such as gun violence, gay rights, race relations, veterans’ rights and student debt.

Enoch Pratt Free Library does away with fines

The Enoch Pratt Free Library is joining a small but growing list of library systems in major cities that are doing away with fines for patrons, according to Baltimore Fishbowl. The Pratt is restoring borrowing privileges to more than 13,000 patrons with overdue fine balances on their accounts, according to a release. And from here on out, the library will forgive all fines for overdue items—as long as you eventually return them in good condition and without any damage. “As a public library, our top goal is to provide equal access to information, services and opportunities for all,” library system president and CEO Heidi Daniel said in a statement. “We know fines are a barrier to access for thousands of Baltimore city residents. We want to break down that barrier for them.” More than 26,000 patrons have overdue fines, Enoch Pratt spokeswoman Meghan McCorkell said in an email. Enoch Pratt collects roughly $100,000 each year from overdue fines, McCorkell said, which represents about a quarter of a percent of Enoch Pratt’s annual budget of about $40 million. The outstanding total over three years is $186,000. “We spend more trying to collect the fines,” Gordon Krabbe, Enoch Pratt’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “This is a policy that just makes sense.”

Actor Danny Gavigan — Everyman Theatre resident company member Danny Gavigan portrays Joseph in “The Book of Joseph.” (Photo by Steve Ruark)

‘The Book of Joseph’ becomes Everyman’s highest-grossing show

Having previously broken Everyman Theatre’s all-time advance sales record, “The Book of Joseph” unseated August Wilson’s “Fences” as the theater’s highest-grossing play in 28 years, according to a press release from Everyman Theatre. The play, directed by Everyman Theatre Associate Artistic Director Noah Himmelstein, is based on the life of Joseph A. Hollander and his family. The cast includes Megan Anderson, Danny Gavigan, Beth Hylton, Wil Love and Bruce Randolph Nelson. Also featured are Helen Hedman, Bari Hochwald, Elliott Kashner and Hannah Kelly. The show runs through June 10, 2018. Go to everymantheatre.org for tickets.

Also see:

J-Word of the Day:
Fartshadet (Yiddish)
Meaning: Dizzy, stunned, smitten
Usage: She was fartshadet when her cute classmate asked if he could copy her notes.

JBiz

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