By: Lieba Nesis
As the world turns against the Jews, a couple of New York nightlife honchos including Jason Strauss, Cobi Levy, Jason Pomeranc, Eugene Remm, Richie Akiva, Jon Chetrit, Will Makris, Noah Tepperberg and Danny Abeckaser decided to throw an all-out November 1st fundraiser at Al Coro restaurant on 85 Tenth Avenue at 7:30 PM during one of the coldest nights of the year. In case you weren’t sure if these guys actually ran New York I spontaneously asked TAO group hospitality CEO Noah Tepperberg why he chose this venue? I received the expected answer: we just bought the space and figured we would throw one last event before we renovate.
Yes, this group owns nearly every successful restaurant, club and hotel ever attempted in Manhattan. And while prior owners of Al Coro, Jeff Katz and Melissa Rodriguez, attempted a two-star eatery at the former Del Posto spot, Tao Group once again saved the day with its August 2023 purchase. While others hopelessly try to compete in the unforgiving Manhattan market, Tao Group has more than 70 locations around the world with 30 spots in New York City alone.
Manhattan is its own bubble with most of the Jewish community frequenting Tao’s restaurants and entertainment scene with an unmatched revelry. That was until the October 7th massacres where Hamas beheaded, raped and burned innocent Jewish children, women and men. New York Jews are grieving as a feeling of helplessness along with guilt sets in-why are 360,000 reservists putting their lives on the line for us when we continue our cushy existence without frequent runs to bomb shelters or fear of being stabbed on a Jerusalem street.
Enter Noah Tepperberg, Cobi Levy and Jason Pomeranc who within a day decided to invite 600 of their closest colleagues to a $250 per ticket event with 27 tables ranging from $5,000-$15,000. Selling out in one day without even having a website from which to purchase tickets is reflective of this conglomerate’s vast influence. Word of mouth was all this power clique needed as anxious attendees were hungry for an outlet to express grief, frustration, and anger-resulting in the raising of $1 million for United Hatzalah of Israel all the proceeds of which will be donated to the organization. Israeli comedian Modi, who is both gay and Jewish, a double target for the bloodthirsty Hamas, was the emcee as he described lounging in the Setai Tel Aviv pool on October 7th when news of the massacre broke which required fellow hotel guest Bruno Mars to be immediately evacuated.
Silent celebrities such as Mars have been the most disappointing group during this whole fiasco along with Brad Pitt, Steven Spielberg, Taylor Swift, Oprah and Selena Gomez who continue to maintain a steely silence. While worse offenders such as Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Brad Cooper, Channing Tatum, Andrew Garfield and Angelina Jolie call for an immediate ceasefire before Israel has a chance to defend itself-shame on them.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a similar turncoat after barely condemning Hamas for its nearly 2,000 slaughters he unequivocally tweeted on November 1st the need “for Palestinians to live in peace and security” and for “renewed efforts toward a two-state solution.” Mass murder should not only be tolerated but rewarded with increased territorial gains and autonomy, according to Trudeau.
I was just recovering from Queen Rania of Jordan’s horrific CNN interview on October 25th where she placed blame for the Hamas massacre squarely on Israeli hands and its 75-year-history of “occupation” while also claiming the reports of butchered Jewish children were falsified-causing even Palestinian sympathizer Christiane Amanpour to flinch.
Billionaire Rania is a descendant of West Bank immigrants, yet regularly utilizes her private jet for royal laundry and to ferry her multimillion wardrobe and jewelry collection. Despite her feigned horror at the displacement of Palestinians she has never opened her pocketbook or royal residences for those starving under the brutal Hamas dictatorship.
This evening we heard about some of Hamas’s barbarism from Deputy of Hatzalah’s Emergency volunteer operations Linor Attias who witnessed the carnage at Kibbutz Be’eri which resides three miles from Gaza-a place where 112 innocents were slaughtered. Attias who flew in from Israel for 48 hours described infants crying for their parents who had just been executed in front of their eyes as one girl in the audience burst into tears. Residents were found burned to death clutching their children with their bookbags strewn across bullet riddled fields.
Creator of Fauda and Israeli commando Lior Raz listened intently to Linor’s stories as he recently extracted a group of citizens trapped in Sderot’s shellings. The crowds started to thin by 10:30 PM and I bumped into famed DJ Samantha Ronson who donated her skills for the evening. “Why are you here,” I inquired. She looked at me incredulously and remarked, “are you kidding. I can’t believe it’s up for discussion every Jew should step up when the worst massacre since the Holocaust occurs on Jewish soil”-a tragic commentary on the widespread apathy towards Jewish suffering occurring in the year 2023.
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