Ki Tov Tuesday: Wine, Women & Song – July 22, 2025

Dear Chevralah,

While the Jewish faith doesn’t necessarily prescribe Wine, Women, and Song, we’re going to make an exception this time around.

From incredible wine tastings with Israeli grown wine, to the powerful women in Billy Joel’s orbit who shaped his career and life (and new documentary), to the Israel Supreme Court ruling that the Chief Rabbinate must open up its rabbinic exam to women, and a new exhibit about legendary Israeli singer, Yehoram Gaon, it’s been a heck of a week for the aforementioned wine, women, and song.

Let’s start with wine

Israeli Wine Producers Association ( IWPA) Wine Pairing Dinners

Wine has been making people happy for thousands of years.

יַיִן יְשַׂמַּח לְבַב אֱנוֹשׁ (V’ya-yin y’sa-mach l’vav e-nosh) Wine gladdens the heart of man (Psalm 104:15)

Last week, I attended a fabulous wine pairing dinner at Malka in DUMBO, and I’m not gonna lie, my heart was indeed gladdened.

The event highlighted the wines of Domaine du Castel, founded by Winemaker Eli Ben Zaken. Domaine du Castel is one of 40 wineries throughout Israel that are part of The Israeli Wine Producers Association (IWPA), which connects Israel’s world-class wines with the U.S. demographic.

If you subscribe to the idea of terroir (literally a sense of place) popular in wine growing parlance, you’ll understand the deep connection to wines from Israel. Sure, you can plant the same grape variety in Napa and Bordeaux, but there’s something truly special about wine made from grapes grown in Israel.

IWPA Executive Vice President Josh Greenstein explained to me that while international wine sales have slowed down slightly, sales of wine from Israel have increased significantly.

While the dinner was fantastic (I rarely eat meat, but the celeriac and short rib combo was divine), the experience was even better. In a time that antisemitism is part of our daily conversations, it felt great to be in a roomful of (mostly) Jewish people there to connect while enjoying a moment and some incredible wine and nibbles.

Notable: IWPA produces monthly wine tasting dinners at different restaurants.

You can read my rave about C Blanc du Castel from Israeli winery Domaine du Castel on Hello Gorgeous!

Billy Joel Documentary on HBO

While wine brings joy, the new Billy Joel documentary And So It Goes reveals his struggles with the darker side of alcohol.

And So It Goes (named after his favorite song) is a glorious new two-part documentary about Billy Joel airing exclusively on HBO.

Joel mentions being Jewish in the first part; in the second part, he explains wearing a yellow Star of David in concert in August 2017. He also talks about his family’s experience during the Holocaust.

While it’s a relief to hear one of the most famous Jews in the world discussing issues we all face, it’s the music and backstory that make this a magical (and exhausting!) experience. Hardcore Joel fans will also love the parts about his first wife, former muse, and business manager Elizabeth Weber. Notably, Joel spent his life surrounded by strong women, including his mother Rosalind Nyman, who recognized his genius and ensured that no matter how poor the family was, he’d always have piano lessons, sister Judy Molinari who shared his difficult childhood, to the documentary’s co-directors Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin.

Interestingly enough, having other music icons like Bruce Springsteen (almost grudgingly) extol the virtues of Joel felt distracting. Though it was wonderful to hear Sir Paul McCartney say he wishes he’d written Just the Way You Are.

Come for the music, stay for the trivia and trip down Billy’s memory lane.

Joel was diagnosed with a brain disorder affecting his vision, hearing and balance earlier this year. We wish him a refuah shelaymah – a full recovery and swift healing.

Jerusalem museum celebrates actor-singer Yehoram Gaon

You’d be forgiven for not being familiar with the name (and voice) of Israeli legend Yehoram Gaon. Born a decade before Billy Joel, Gaon was described by Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion as “being the soundtrack of Israeli life.” And diaspora Jews as well.

In my house, growing up, you could have easily heard Billy Joel’s music or that of Yehoram Gaon.

Born a decade before Joel, of Turkish and Bosnian Jewish descent, Gaon symbolized the other Israeli, especially in the 1970s musical Kazablan, which was about Mizrahi Jews. Though one of his most poignant songs is HaMilchama HaAcharona, The Last War. A love song of a different variety, promising that this is the last war. We’re still hoping this will be the last one.

Yehoram Gaon: The Exhibition is currently at the Tower of David museum in Jerusalem.

Women in the Rabbinate

At one point in my life, I studied to be a rabbi. I gave that up for many (MANY) reasons (though I did become a certified chaplain first responder after the pandemic).
Israel’s Supreme Court recently ruled that it was unconstitutional to block women from taking rabbinic exams.

In the ruling, Justice Ofer Grosskopf wrote “The exclusion of women from these exams constitutes illegal discrimination,” later saying “A public authority in Israel cannot deny services based on gender.” The Chief Rabbinate previously proposed a separate program for women, but the court declared it inherently unequal.

It seems almost odd that thousands of years after Deborah the Prophetess sat under her date tree dispensing justice, women still have to fight for their right to be included in the conversation.

Short and Sweet

• Passover Coke to be available year-round

Speaking of beverages that bring joy, Ashkenazi Jews understand the glee of seeing yellow cap bottles of Coca-Cola AKA Mexican (or Israeli) Coke, on grocery shelves during Passover.

Coke is sweetened with corn syrup and corn is considered to be kitniyot (literally, legumes), an ingredient verboten to Jews of Eastern European heritage during Passover. As reported by NBC News – the cane sugar version of the drink will hit shelves later this year.

• Drink coffee. Enjoy the moment.Former hostage Eliya Cohen was a captive for 505 days in Gaza. His advice for those going through hard times? Hug your mom or your son. Drink coffee. Enjoy what you have instead of focusing on what you don’t.
• Jewish Country MusicForget Cowboy Carter. Omer Netzer is an Israeli country music singer who sounds like the love child of Garth Brooks and Darius Rucker. Midnight Blue is his newest single, out now.
• And just because:
• Knish, pleaseLove Yiddish pop culture? The Tourist’s Guide to Lost Yiddish New York City by Peabody Award-winning coproducer of NPR’s Yiddish Radio Project Henry H. Sapoznik tells the stories of theater, music, architecture, crime, Blacks and Jews, restaurants, real estate, and journalism through a Yiddish lens. He culled the info from over 5,000 Yiddish and English newspaper articles. The book also has 50 images, many of which have never been previously published.
• Am Yisrael Chai. 🎗️Bring them all home now.
• Have some great news to share? Drop us a comment or respond to this email.