Netta has the X factor In 2018, Israeli Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision song contest with the song “Toy.” Now Barzilai is not a contestant but a judge — she’s joining Simon Cowell on Israel’s own version of the talent competition show “The X Factor.” Cowell has a pretty strong connection to Israel and Judaism, although he doesn’t call himself Jewish. His father, a music executive, was Jewish, as is his partner, Lauren Silverman. Cowell has visited Israel and even donated money to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. Edelman asks Leonard over for Shabbat NFL star Julian Edelman of the New England Patriots is inviting the NBA’s Meyers Leonard over for Shabbat. Leonard, who plays for the Miami Heat, was recently called out for using an anti-Jewish slur while playing an online video game, but Edelman said he thought the problem was ignorance more than hate. “Let’s do a Shabbat dinner with some friends, I’ll show you a fun time,” he wrote on social media, addressing Leonard.