Dershowitz Sells Out (Judaica), Drake Sings Out Ashkenazy, and More News Timbits

The Wall Street Journal reports that famed defense attorney, author, and former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz (pictured above) is selling out of many of his Judaica holdings. Downsizing in retirement. You can bid on his items HERE.

Speaking of Art… the University of Oklahoma is OK and has come to an agreement over an item of stolen Nazi art. It has reached a settlement with the Parisian Meyer family over the ownership of a stolen painting at the Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art. Leone Meyer sued OU two years ago in the hopes or recovering the painting “Shepherdess Bringing In Sheep,” an 1886 work by French Jewish artist Camille Pissarro. The title will be given to Meyer, and the painting will reside in France for the next five years.

And speaking of shepherdesses… The New York Times Vows – Weddings column highlighted the wedding of Scott Birnbaum and Tracy Podell. Just like in the book DATA: A LOVE STORY, Scott placed various profiles on Match.com and Jdate; they didnt work, but his fondness of data analysis and math helped him to find a way to create a perfect profile to attract the person he hoped to meet. His research showed that his height was the issue. Women were not as attracted to a 5’5″ man, but 5″8″ was the sweet spot. If he kept increasing his height, he could get more page views. Lucky for him… no matter what height he typed in, Tracy was still shorter. Okcupid was just right for them. Both of Jewish Texas heritage, they were married in a “Jew-ish” ceremony, sans rabbi.

And speaking of Jew-ish, Canadian-bred rapper/singer/entertainer Drake was seen at Manhattan’s Rainbow Room at the Saturday evening Bat Mitzvah celebration for Gigi Ashkenazy, daughter of pink limo loving real estate mogul Ben Ashkenazy. TMZ reported that Drake charges upwards of $300K to perform privately, but the Ashkenazy’s probably got a deal. The Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. manages a portfolio of properties worth about $7 billion. The firm recently bought the New York Marriott for $290 million and the building housing Hermes on Madison Avenue for $115 million (plus tax). In October 2013, when the company sold its portion of the 650 Madison Avenue for $1.295 billion, it reportedly doubled its investment after just five years of ownership. Ben, as you may recall, and his wife, were principals in the re-creation or renovation of the Limelight nightclub over a dozen years ago and Limelight Marketplace, so they are not newcomers to the nightlife and celebrity filled events.