Big Game Bet; Female Clergy; Settlement Confusion

In Case You Missed It

• Congregation Beth Jacob has a $5,000 bet riding on the Falcons in the Super Bowl.

From The Times of Israel

• After White House spokesman Sean Spicer sparked concern and confusion with a statement that Israeli settlement construction “may not be helpful,” Israel’s deputy foreign minister and U.N. ambassador emphasized the first part of Spicer’s comment: “We don’t believe the existence of the settlements is an impediment to peace.”
• Jewish day schools in the United States are beginning to add Arabic to the curriculum.
• Israelis removed from the illegal Amona outpost aren’t optimistic about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to build them a new settlement. (Here’s a roundup of videos from the evacuation, collected by New Jersey’s Jewish Standard, a Times of Israel local partner.)

Also in the News

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• We’ve complained in the past about the state’s $58 million annual cap on the tax credits for private schools through student scholarship organizations such as the ALEF Fund. Now The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that multiple General Assembly bills propose to raise the cap to $150 million.
• The Orthodox Union has issued a ruling that its 400 member congregations may not hire female clergy, regardless of title, The Forward reports, adding that at least four OU shuls do have women in clerical roles. The issue is complex enough that the 17-page ruling has led to a 15-page explanatory letter.
• The Anti-Defamation League and the Reut Institute, which formed an initiative last March, issued a report Thursday that calls for fighting delegitimization of Israel by welcoming critics of Israeli policies without denying its right to exist as a Jewish state and by working from the Diaspora to encourage Israel’s government to adopt policies that are friendly to pluralism and peace, JTA says.
• Expect more Japanese investment in Israel under a treaty JNS says was signed Wednesday.
• A 10-year-old who learned to cook in the kitchen of kosher HK Nola restaurant in the Mintz Center for Jewish Life just off the Tulane University campus was the big winner on Food Network’s “Chopped Junior” this week.

To Do This Weekend

• Both Chabad Intown’s YJP Atlanta group and Chabad of North Fulton have special Shabbat dinners Friday night. For YJP Atlanta, a 6:30 p.m. service is followed by happy hour at 7 and a Chinese dinner at 7:30 at Chabad Intown, 928 Ponce de Leon Ave., Midtown. Tickets are $20 (no tickets at the door); www.yjpatlanta.org. Chabad of North Fulton, 10180 Jones Bridge Road, Alpharetta, is holding Shabbat in the Shtetl, with dinner at 7 p.m. after services at 6. Dinner is $25 for adults, $18 for kids, and free for children 4 and under; RSVP to admin@chabadnf.org or 770-410-9000.
• The NFTY chapter at Temple Kol Emeth, 1415 Old Canton Road, East Cobb, holds KEFTY Kasino, its annual fundraiser for Camp Jenny, from 7 to 11 p.m. for any ninth- to 12th-graders. Admission is $25, with a $15 entry fee to play in the poker tournament; sign up at keftykasino2017.eventbrite.com.
• Get an early jump on Tu B’Shevat with the Intown Jewish Preschool, which holds a free celebration from 10 a.m. to noon at 604 Cooledge Ave., with arts and crafts, a discovery area, snacks and more. RSVP to admin@intownjewishpreschool.com or 404-898-0438.

Opinions

• The Times of Israel’s Raphael Ahren says Donald Trump might wind up reminding people of George W. Bush when it comes to policy on Israel and the Palestinians.
• Ottomans and Zionists’ Michael Koplow, who has spent the past half-year in the West Bank, studying the settlement layout and topography, makes an urgent plea for Israel to identify, clearly define and limit building to the settlement blocs it envisions as part of the nation under any two-state solution.
• Al-Monitor’s Akiva Eldar shines a light on the strong, grass-roots bonds between Israelis and Palestinians despite the growing divide between their national leaders.

Finishing on a Positive Note

• Scarlett Johansson has a sci-fi movie, “Ghost in the Shell,” coming out March 31, and, as Variety reports, a new teaser, appropriate for a Super Bowl ad, dropped via Twitter on Thursday. If you need more, here’s the first full trailer from the fall.

Everything they told her was a lie.

Get a first look at the new #GhostInTheShell spot before it debuts in the Big Game on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/cOotXvXA9h

— Ghost In The Shell (@GhostInShell) February 2, 2017