Good Thursday morning, which is, if you needed a reminder, one day away from Friday. Almost there.
Writing this daily missive has made me, if not smarter, at least better informed about a whole slew of random subjects. Sometimes I feel a little ashamed about what I don’t know – especially when it comes to basic things related to Judaism, which, ostensibly, I learned a long time ago in Sunday school.
For example, I didn’t know until today that there’s not one, but FOUR New Years days observed on the Jewish calendar. They are: Rosh Hashanah (the first of Tishrei – this is the big one everyone knows about), the first of Nisan (when the Exodus started), the first of Elul (Rosh Hashanah La’Behemot, AKA the new year of animals), and Tu BiShvat or Tu B’Shevat (the fifteenth of Shevat).
Tu BiShvat happens this year to fall on the Georgian calendar date of Jan. 25, which is, of course, today. (Actually, the holiday officially started last night and runs through this evening).
This holiday lands pretty much smack in the middle of winter, when the ground is (at least in this neck of the woods) frozen solid and nothing is growing, which is why it’s pretty ironic – and not the least bit confusing – because it’s the new year of trees, and sometimes is referred to as the original Earth Day or Jewish Earth Day.
The holiday was established in part to help farmers mark the age of trees, because Jewish law forbids the picking of fruit from trees that are, so to speak, underaged.
Apparently, right about now (late January/early February) is the midpoint of winter, which is an important – though perhaps not visible to humans – turning point because soon the sap will start rising, marking the start of the growing season and, more importantly, spring.
(Also, Israel only has two primary seasons – a wet and rainy winter that lasts through April, followed by a hot and dry summer. Between mid-January and mid-April, the desert bursts into bloom).
It’s traditional to mark the holiday by planting a tree, though, as mentioned above, the conditions might not be too terribly favorable for this sort of activity at the moment. Another option is to have a seder (apparently NOT reserved just for Passover), with fruit and fruit products – including, by the way, olives and olive oil, as well as grapes, figs, and pomegranates – serving as the focus.
Personally, I could use a little pick-me-up in the form of a reminder that winter won’t last forever. It’s helpful that it’s going to be unseasonably warm today – in the mid-to-high 40s – though the skies will be cloudy and there will be areas of patchy fog about, so be careful on the roads.
In the headlines…
The United Auto Workers union endorsed President Joe Biden, delivering an influential boost as he faces a battle against former president Donald Trump to win the support of labor groups.
“Today, I’m proud to stand up here with your International Executive Board and announce that the UAW is endorsing Joe Biden for President of the United States,” UAW President Shawn Fain said. “We will reelect Joe Biden.”
Fain specifically took issue with Trump’s handling of the union’s 2019 strike, arguing that Trump didn’t do a “damn thing” while UAW members confronted General Motors at plants across the U.S.
The union’s endorsement of a Democratic presidential candidate shouldn’t be surprising; however, it comes after months of apparent resistance by Fain, who said politicians, including Biden, would have to earn UAW endorsements.
The president is hoping to cut into the advantage that Trump has enjoyed with white voters who don’t have a college degree. Labor experts said that the UAW usually endorses candidates later as it has a mix of Democratic, Republican and unaffiliated voters.
Biden’s reelection team took Trump’s win over Nikki Haley as the starting gun for what will now be the longest and most grueling general election campaign in modern American political history.
Biden’s advisers and Democratic Party leaders have been preparing for more than the usual political protests on the campaign trail, from both the left and right, and recently began crafting a plan to address it, according to four people familiar with the planning.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris continued their reelection campaign’s push to put abortion rights front and center in the 2024 election with a rally in Virginia — although the event was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.
Trump can remain on Maine’s primary ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the 14th Amendment case in Colorado, the top court in Maine declared yesterday, dismissing an appeal from Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court unanimously voted to dismiss Bellows’ appeal of the order requiring her to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision before withdrawing, modifying or upholding her decision to keep Trump off the Super Tuesday primary ballot.
Haley renewed her challenge to Trump to get on stage and debate her, after he has repeatedly declined to debate his primary rivals.
Haley, facing growing doubts and pressure to drop out, has winnowed the race to a one-on-one contest and is looking to make her case on her home turf of South Carolina.
Trump said that anyone who donates to the campaign of his only 2024 Republican rival, Nikki Haley, “will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp.”
Biden vetoed a Republican-led effort that could have thwarted the administration’s plans to invest $7.5 billion to build electric vehicle charging stations across the country.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell floated the possibility to Senate Republicans of splitting Ukraine funding from border security reforms that are coming under heavy criticism from Senate conservatives.
Several Senate Republicans argued during a press conference on Capitol Hill that the bipartisan spending package, which seeks to tie together border programs and aid to Ukraine, would not actually increase the president’s ability to slow migration to the U.S.
An overwhelming majority of Biden’s fellow Democrats in the Senate backed a statement reiterating U.S. support of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The only two senators who did not support the amendment to a forthcoming national security bill were Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Israel has declassified more than 30 secret orders made by government and military leaders, which it says rebut the charge that it committed genocide in Gaza, and instead show Israeli efforts to diminish deaths among Palestinian civilians.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has said it will announce tomorrow whether it will order emergency measures against Israel after South Africa filed a case accusing Israel of genocide in its assault on Gaza.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) laid out the process to return the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft to service after they were grounded earlier this month following a midair blowout during an Alaska Airlines flight.
The FAA announced it approved a “thorough inspection and maintenance process” that will be performed on each of the 171 grounded Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft. Once this process is complete, the planes will be returned to service, the agency said.
Nearly three weeks after a hole blew open on a Boeing 737 Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight, terrifying passengers, new details about the jet’s production are intensifying scrutiny of Boeing’s quality-control practices.
Days after the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York’s legislative leaders rallied to reiterate the state’s commitment to protect abortion access and to assist out-of-staters seeking care.
Hochul spoke at an annual Planned Parenthood event at the Capitol, drumming up support for a key Democrat-led constitutional amendment on the ballot for November that would enshrine abortion rights in New York.
“The right to an abortion will be enshrined forever after this November’s election because it’s on the ballot and I’ve called on the governors of other states to do the same,” Hochul said.
‘Hochul’s executive budget would cut $419 million from school aid in New York, which would affect nearly 700 school districts and significantly harm rural schools.
The governor’s executive budget wouldn’t cover mandated salary increases and scheduled rent hikes at the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, the commission’s administrator said.
Hochul has proposed legislation to recreate a new waterfront commission to fight the kind of Mafia corruption made famous in Marlon Brando’s 1954 flick “On The Waterfront.” The union representing the dockworkers are seeking to kill the measure.
The sudden cancellation of a state cannabis licensing board meeting scheduled for yesterday – apparently at Hochul’s request – left applicants hoping to run weed businesses fuming.
The motivation behind the board’s decision to cancel a key monthly meeting, rather than just the agenda item they said prompted the delay, remains unclear
State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid is departing the Hochul administration to replace the longtime head of the nonprofit Open Space Institute.
After facing mounting challenges in his second year in office, Mayor Eric Adams used his third State of the City address to deliver a rah-rah overview of his tenure, highlighting improvements in public safety and jobs while playing down the migrant crisis.
Adams’ 45-minute address focused more on quality-of-life issues than a signature policy, though new proposals were announced, including a program to build some 12,000 affordable housing units on city land and declaring social media a public health crisis.
The mayor pledged that the remainder of his term will be focused on boosting job creation, education, housing development and public safety — but he acknowledged that he needs help from Albany lawmakers to achieve several of those goals.
Instead of dwelling on issues that plague the city, Adams turned the page to new items for his 2024 agenda, including establishing a new, wide-ranging agency that will oversee everything from e-bike safety to the lithium-ion batteries that power the devices.
Adams announced a plan to partner with skateboard legend Tony Hawk’s organization The Skatepark Project to renovate two existing skateparks and build two new ones.
The mayor said that Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan has declared social media a public health threat, and called on state and federal lawmakers to do more to curb some allegedly predatory practices of certain social media companies.
The advisory issued by Dr. Vasan recommends that young people develop “healthy habits” for social-media usage, including placing certain time limits on social-media and tech use as well as sharing their concerns about mental health with adults.
The subtext throughout Adams’ upbeat speech was an unmistakable message for would-be rivals: A politically powerful coalition is still in his corner.
The city has finalized a nearly $77 million emergency contract to shelter migrant families at 15 hotels in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, officials said.
Bracing for the start of congestion pricing this spring — state lawmakers grilled MTA officials about their ability to charge driving customers fairly during a joint legislative budget hearing in Albany.
The MTA is putting its fancy new “open gangway” subway cars on the slow track.
The State Liquor Authority has opened an investigation into a popular Bronx restaurant and bar owned by a brother of the New York City police commissioner following THE CITY’s reporting on fire safety and building code violations there.
Three white female executives who worked for the city Department of Education (DOE) and claimed they were demoted in favor of less-qualified people of color have been handed a momentous victory in their $90 million blockbuster lawsuit.
Former Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden, 98, who served as a medic during World II, died Tuesday night, his family announced.
NJ Transit said it plans to raise fares statewide for its bus and train services by 15% starting July 1 — the transit agency’s first proposed fare hike in nine years.
Kevin Monahan’s conviction Tuesday for shooting and killing 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis when she and friends mistakenly turned into his driveway last year brought a wave of relief for her family, her father said.
Cohoes City Councilman Thomas Fiffe said he will resign after serving one month representing the Sixth Ward rather than be removed by the Democratic Common Council and to avoid an expensive court battle.
A 66-acre tract in Glenmont once owned by an Albany mayor that features a mature hardwood forest — rare for the Capital Region — will be preserved under an agreement announced this week.
The Rensselaer County Legislature has unanimously enacted a drug dealer registry law to combat drug sales and prevent drug overdoses in what may be the first of its kind legislation at the county level in the state.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
