Hats off to our veterans
May 22 (24 Iyar 5785)
💔 The Jewish community and the world are reeling after two Israeli embassy staffers were shot to death in Washington D.C. last night as they left a Jewish event focused on humanitarian aid in Gaza. The alleged shooter, Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, shouted “Free, free Palestine” as he was taken into police custody. Rodriguez has been active in PSL, which has an Atlanta chapter.
🎖️ The National Museum of American Jewish Military History, located in Washington, D.C., is showcasing Jewish military heroes as Memorial Day approaches.
🪖 In August, the Jewish War Veterans will hold its 130th annual national convention in Henderson, Nevada. The event is the biggest gathering of Jewish American military personnel and veterans in the nation. Hundreds gather to network within the Jewish American military and veteran community and to put their mark on the organization’s legislative agenda.
The staff of Y’alla wishes you a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.
Logan
✡️ Join us for New Israel Fund Atlanta‘s 8th Annual Tzedek Awards on June 8 at Ahavath Achim Synagogue, honoring Ambassador Stu Eizenstat! Help promote equality, democracy, and a peaceful shared society in Israel. Click here for more info! SPONSOR MESSAGE
Mazel tov, JKG
🥳 On Sunday, May 18, 17 Atlanta teens became Jewish adults during the Jewish Kids Groups B Mitzvah ceremony in Inman Park.
JKG’s B Mitzvah students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade experience Jewish learning, friendship, and community service to prepare for the milestone together. The ceremony includes Havdallah prayers, student speeches, and parent blessings.
Afterward, guests viewed the students’ Personal Interest Projects, displaying their personal passions from Hollywood to siblings to food. Mazel Tov!
Mythic creatures meet modern art!
SPONSORED BY FERNBANK MUSEUM
✨ Step into a world where mythology and art collide! “Spirit Guides: Fantastical Creatures from the Workshop of Jacobo and María Ángeles“ brings vibrant, hybrid animal sculptures to life in Fernbank’s WildWoods.
These whimsical sculptures blend Zapotec culture and contemporary art, each representing spirit guides tied to personality and destiny. Designed by renowned Oaxacan artists, this exhibit offers a soulful journey through indigenous culture, identity, and the natural world.
➡ Open now through August 3 with special after-hours viewings on select nights. Don’t miss this magical experience!
JWFA awards social change
👏🏼 The Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta (JWFA) awarded $230,000 in grants to Jewish organizations in the US and Israel for projects that align with JWFA’s mission to invest in solutions that drive social change for Jewish women and girls.
This marks the 13th year JWFA has distributed grants with a total allocation of more than $2.6 million. The 2025 recipients include:
· Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel
· ATZUM (Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution)
· BeNetivey Udi (Nitzanim)
· Israel Hofsheet
· Jewish Fertility Foundation
· MATI Jerusalem
· Mavoi Satum
· Moving Traditions
· Physicians for Human Rights Israel
· SOJOURN
· The Rackman Center
· The Schreiber LevTech Entrepreneurship Center at JCT
· WePower
· Women’s Rabbinic Network
· Yeshivat Maharat
JWFA also awarded Women’s Leadership Grants, in partnership with the Zalik Foundation, to Jewish women serving in non-profit leadership positions, totaling $51,500.
Pictured: JWFA founders Ilene Engel, Sara Franco, and Carol Cooper
In memory of the Bibas boys
🧡 Wearing orange bucket hats, MJCCA Schiff School preschoolers planted orange flowers in memory of the Bibas brothers who were kidnapped and killed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
The event happened thanks to a donation by John and Calee L’hommedieu, a Christian family who has stood with the Jewish community following antisemitic incidents, brought joy during the Jewish holidays, and donated the flowers for the students to plant.
💮 The ceremony concluded with a presentation of the White Rose Society award to the L’hommedieus. The White Rose recognizes individuals who show moral courage and friendship toward the Jewish people.
Grad season
🧑🏼🎓 New York University withheld the diploma of an anti-Israel student who used his graduation speech to condemn Israel and the United States for complicity. His remarks prompted cheers and jeers from the audience.
NYU stated he misrepresented his planned speech and violated university policies. “NYU is deeply sorry that the audience was subjected to these remarks and that this moment was stolen by someone who abused a privilege that was conferred upon him,” said spokesperson John Beckman.
The ADL commended the school for its strong response.
✡️ Join us for New Israel Fund Atlanta‘s 8th Annual Tzedek Awards on June 8 at Ahavath Achim Synagogue, honoring Ambassador Stu Eizenstat! Help promote equality, democracy, and a peaceful shared society in Israel. Click here for more info! SPONSOR MESSAGE
Celebrating untold, queer Jewish stories
🏳️🌈 Rachel Sussman, the Tony-winning producer of “Suffs” and Alex Edelman’s “Just for Us,” was the inaugural recipient of the Queer Jewish Icon award from JQY, a Manhattan-based organization serving young queer people from Orthodox and Conservative communities with mental health support and a place to be themselves.
The gala event at Lincoln Center boasted a kosher sushi conveyor belt and Broadway stars belting showtunes.
To a packed house of over 250, some in kippot and many in bright, floral suits and dresses, Ben Ross Levi and Zachary Noah Piser – both veterans of the title role in “Dear Evan Hansen” – sang a duet of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
➡ Read the full story on the Forward.
The secret Jewish history of Alcatraz
🚨 A reported White House plan, announced May 4, to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the former prison on an island off San Francisco that has been closed for over 60 years, has been dismissed by Izzy Gardon, spokesperson for the California governor.
Yet Alcatraz, for all its cruelty and bad karma, has been a recurrent theme in American Jewish history and culture.
➡️ Read the full story on the Forward.
Look & Listen
🎤 Oct. 7 survivor Yuval Raphael placed second in the Eurovision singing competition. At the end of her performance, she proclaimed “Am Yisrael Chai.”
🎨 Ramah Darom is hosting a new Jewish arts retreat called Ignite.
What’s doin’ around town
SPONSORED BY CONGREGATION OR HADASH
💦 May 30: Dive into Shabbat at MJCCA.
🥾 June 1: Shavuot hike up Kennesaw Mountain.
👩🏻⚖️ June 5: Federation’s 119th annual meeting.
🍷 June 8: Kibbutz and Konnect’s third anniversary.
✡️ The next Jewish holiday is Shavuot on June 1.
🕯️ Light Shabbat candles this week at 8:19 p.m.
🗓️ “We all stood at Sinai…” This Shavuot, come closer to that moment. Join the Or Hadash Torah on the Mountain hike—reflection, community, and sacred connection await. Sunday, June 1 at 9:00 a.m. Details & RSVP.
Before you go…
Indy 500 rookie wins
🏎️ The 25-year-old Israeli-Russian racecar driver, Robert Shwartzman, in his qualifying round at the Indy 500, was the first debut driver since 1983 to qualify as polesitter – the driver who will start the official Indy 500 race in the best position.
Schwartzman represents Prema Racing, also making its IndyCar debut this season. Schwartzman has driven in the F2 championship, but moved to IndyCar in 2025 due to his age and prior performance.
