On the Nose

Last week, a group calling itself The Jewish Majority published a “Rabbinic Call to Action” aimed at New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in the last weeks of the campaign. “We cannot remain silent in the face of rising anti-Zionism and its political normalization throughout our nation,” the letter reads. Signed by over 1,100 rabbis, the letter quotes New York rabbis Ammiel Hirsch and Elliot Cosgrove, who had each issued their own anti-Zohran sermons and videos, insisting that Mamdani poses a danger to the safety of the city’s Jews and that Zionism is an inextricable part of Jewish identity.On this episode of On the Nose, Jewish Currents editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, editor-at-large Peter Beinart, senior reporter Alex Kane, and advisory board member Simone Zimmerman discuss this rabbinic campaign, what it means for the sizable Jewish minority who supports Mamdani, and what it says about the priorities of institutional Judaism at a moment of profound political instability.Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Articles and Media Mentioned and Further ReadingRabbi Cosgrove’s sermon on MamdaniRabbi Ammiel Hirsch on Mamdani“Why Mamdani Frightens Jews Like Me,” Bret Stephens, The New York TimesThe Jewish Majority, “A Rabbinic Call to Action”“Brad Lander’s Campaign of Solidarity,” On the Nose“Tax the Rich” post on X by Maria DanziloHalachic Left High Holidays reader“Zohran Mamdani is not antisemitic, Satmar’s Brooklyn leadership says,” Jerusalem Post“Jewish New York’s reckoning with Zohran Mamdani,” Noa Yachot, The Guardian“Many American Jews sharply critical on Gaza, Post poll finds,” Naftali Bendavid, Scott Clement, and Emily Guskin, The Washington Post“‘The Issue is Not the Issue’ – The Free Speech Movement 1964 - The Anti-Mamdani Craze,” Shaul Magid on SubstackMamdani’s video “My Message to Muslim New Yorkers—and Everyone Who Calls This City Home”“The racism and Islamophobia behind many of the attacks on Zohran Mamdani,” Richard Luscombe, The Guardian“Religion, Secularism, and the Jewish Left,” On the Nose“The Anti-Soros Strategy at the Heart of Trump’s War on Progressive Nonprofits,” Alex Kane, Jewish Currents“Trump’s war on the left: Inside the plan to investigate liberal groups,” Nandita Bose, Jana Winter, Jeff Mason, Tim Reid, and Ted Hesson, ReutersBeyond Israelism with Simone Zimmerman on ZeteoTranscript forthcoming. 

For the second year in a row, Rabbis for Ceasefire held a Yizkor service on the streets of Brooklyn, using the traditional Yom Kippur memorial service as a means to mourn the dead in Gaza, to atone for American and Jewish communal participation in the genocide, and to refuse further complicity. After the Yizkor service—attended by 1,500 people and watched online by ten times that number—rabbis and others blocked the Brooklyn Bridge while performing the Ne’ilah service that closes the holy day; dozens were arrested. In this episode, Jewish Currents editor-in-chief Arielle Angel speaks with Rabbis for Ceasefire organizers Alissa Wise and Elliot Kukla about their experience planning and carrying out this ritual action, and what it revealed about the nature of the tradition itself. They also discuss the power of collective grief, and the difference and interrelation between Palestine solidarity work and the work of building a Judaism beyond Zionism. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Articles Mentioned and Further ReadingRabbis for Ceasefire Yizkor service on Instagram“Jewish activist and leader Rabbi Arthur Waskow dies at 92,” Deena Prichep, NPR“‘Chronic traumatic stress disorder’: the Palestinian psychiatrist challenging western definitions of trauma,” Bethan McKernan, The Guardian“Can the Palestinian Mourn?,” Abdeljawad Omar, Rusted Radishes“‘They Destroyed What Was Inside Us’: Children with Disabilities Amid Israel’s Attacks on Gaza,” Human Rights Watch Report“The Right to Grieve,” Erik Baker, Jewish Currents“Synagogue Struggles,” On the Nose“We Need New Jewish institutions,” Arielle Angel, Jewish CurrentsTranscript forthcoming. 

Last week, President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had reached a ceasefire deal. A series of momentous events followed the announcement: First, Israel halted its military assault on Gaza—widely considered by international legal experts to be a genocide. Then, 20 Israeli captives who had been held by Hamas for two years were returned to Israel, while Israeli authorities released around 2,000 Palestinians from prison, 1,700 of whom had been detained without charge or trial. The events led Trump to declare that the “war is over.”  But Israeli troops are still stationed deep in Gaza, controlling over half of the enclave, and many questions remain about the future of Gaza.In this episode, senior reporter Alex Kane talks to Middle East experts Khaled Elgindy and Daniel Levy about the ceasefire. They discuss why Trump forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the ceasefire, why former President Biden failed to stop Israel’s bombardment, whether Hamas will disarm, and how the deal impacts efforts to hold Israeli officials accountable for genocide.Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Articles Mentioned and Further Reading“How Fury Over Israel’s Qatar Attack Pushed Netanyahu on Gaza,”  Mark Mazzetti, Adam Rasgon, Katie Rogers and Luke Broadwater, The New York Times“Read Trump’s 20-point proposal to end the war in Gaza,” Associated Press“Why Hamas Agreed to Release the Hostages,” Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker“Arab Mediators Believe Hamas Could Be Open to Partially Disarming,” Adam Rasgon and Ronen Bergman, The New York Times

As media figures reacted to the assassination of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk last month, a movement to purge those critical of President Trump and his MAGA movement found success. The most prominent censorship case came when ABC, bowing to pressure from the head of the Federal Communications Commission, pulled late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air for his anti-MAGA remarks during his opening monologue. This clampdown on speech critical of Trump comes amid a broader attempt to reshape mainstream media in the right’s image. In this episode, senior reporter Alex Kane discusses the media’s right-wing turn with Karen Attiah—a journalist fired by the Washington Post for her comments following Kirk’s assassination—and Mehdi Hasan, a former MSNBC host and founder of independent news outlet Zeteo. They spoke about whether Kimmel’s removal signifies full-blown autocracy, the takeover of TikTok by pro-Trump and pro-Netanyahu billionaires, and the role of independent media in this moment. Articles Mentioned and Further Reading“The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced,” Karen Attiah, The Golden Hour Substack“Matthew Dowd’s firing begins flood of people facing consequences for their comments on Kirk’s death,” David Bauder and Ali Swenson, The Associated Press“Disney reportedly lost 1.7 million subscribers during Kimmel's suspension,” Amanda Yeo, Mashable“The Billionaire Trump Supporter Who Will Soon Own the News,” William Cohan, The New York Times“CBS Taps Conservative Policy Veteran for New Ombudsman Role,” Benjamin Mullin and Michael Grynbaum, The New York Times“Israel wins TikTok,” Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, Responsible StatecraftNet Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom, Evgeny Morozov“Jared Kushner’s firm and the Saudis are taking video game maker EA private in a massive deal,” Jordan Valinsky, CNN

Charlie Kirk, influential right-wing commentator and founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated on September 10th. Since then, he has been made into a martyr on the right, and the Trump administration has vowed to crack down on the left, despite details about the shooter’s motivation remaining hazy. Among liberals, there has been a baffling rush to hold Kirk up as a paragon of democracy—despite his participation in the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election—and to demonstrate their own grief at his death. In this episode, editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, contributing editor David Klion, assistant editor Maya Rosen, and contributor Ben Lorber, a researcher of antisemitism and white nationalism, discuss reactions to Kirk’s assassination across the political landscape, the mostly imagined specter of left violence versus the reality, the meaning of Kirk’s deification in Israel, and the ways reactions to his death have become a proxy for conversations about the genocide in Gaza. Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Articles Mentioned and Further Reading“Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way,” Ezra Klein, The New York Times“How to mourn in our polarized age,” Rachel Cohen Booth, Vox“Charlie Kirk’s Murder Is a Tragedy and a Disaster,” Ben Burgis and Meagan Day, Jacobin“JD Vance threatens crackdown on ‘far-left’ groups after Charlie Kirk shooting,” Rachel Leingang, The GuardianSarah Schulman on the sublimation of the Palestinian genocide into mourning for Charlie Kirk on X“Light Among the Nations,” Suzanne Schneider, Jewish Currents“The Group Forging a ‘Judeo-Christian’ Zionism for the New MAGA Age,” Ben Lorber, Jewish Currents“A Jewish clothing brand is making Charlie Kirk yarmulkes,” PJ Grisar, The Forward“In Israel, public tributes to Charlie Kirk include a street naming, a mural and a missile in Gaza,” Grace Gilson, JTA“The Measure of the World,” Claire Schwartz, Jewish Currents“Since the Hamas attack, Israelis have begun arming themselves the American way,” Jonathan M. Metzel, The Los Angeles TimesTranscript forthcoming.

In this episode, Jewish Currents editor-at-large Peter Beinart interviews the philosopher, activist, author, and educator Angela Davis, whose writing and organizing have shaped Black liberation, feminist, queer, and prison abolitionist movements for more than 50 years. In a wide-ranging conversation, the two discuss how Jews shaped Davis’s formative years, analyze the Jewish role in the civil rights movement, compare the campus activism of the 1960s to today’s college protests, and explore why Palestine is central to the global left.This conversation first appeared in The Beinart Notebook on Substack.Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further ReadingFreedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement, Angela DavisAngela Davis: An Autobiography, Angela Davis“How the 1960s Civil Rights and Black Power Movements Split on Israel,” Michael R. Fishbach, MondoweissThe Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon

In this episode, Jewish Currents editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, editor-at-large Peter Beinart, associate editor Mari Cohen, and senior editor Nathan Goldman answer reader questions. They discuss the challenge of sustaining Jewish social reproduction outside of Zionism; the attachment to putting out a print magazine; the difficulties of comparing genocides; the discomforts of subscribing to the free Jewish children’s book service PJ Library; and the perils of regarding Zionism as a singular, unparalleled evil. Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further Reading“Reclaiming a Minor Literature,” Maya Rosen, Jewish Currents“We Need New Jewish Institutions,” Arielle Angel, Jewish Currents“What We Talk About When We Talk About ‘Intermarriage,’” Jewish Currents staff roundtable, Jewish CurrentsThe Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance by Shaul MagidThe No-State Solution: A Jewish Manifesto by Daniel Boyarin“Against Analogy,” Ben Ratskoff, Jewish Currents“The Law Cannot Let Itself See the Nakba,” Joshua Abramson Cohen’s interview with Rabea Eghbariah, Jewish Currents“Living with the Holocaust: The Journey of a Child of Holocaust Survivors,” Sara Roy, Institute for Palestine Studies“Can Genocide Studies Survive a Genocide in Gaza?”, Mari Cohen, Jewish CurrentsSammy Spider’s First Yom Kippur by Sylvia Rouss“Tell PJ Library: Zionism is Not Judaism!” petition“Rhetoric Without Reckoning,” Simone Zimmerman, Jewish Currents“History Lesson,” Laleh Khalili, Jewish Currents“A Logic of Elimination,” Abe Silberstein’s interview with Lorenzo Veracini on settler colonialism, Jewish Currents

In this episode, editor-in-chief Arielle Angel speaks with filmmaker Sarah Friedland and feminist scholar and activist Lynne Segal about aging through a feminist lens, on the occasion of the digital release of Friedland’s award-winning film Familiar Touch. The film follows cookbook author Ruth Goldman (Kathleen Chalfant) as she transitions to a memory care unit in an assisted living facility and struggles with a shifting sense of self and a different relationship to dependence and care.Friedland was inspired to tell this story by watching the fiercely independent women in her grandmother’s Jewish Communist milieu as they aged, as well as by Segal’s book Out of Time: The Pleasures and Perils of Ageing—particularly its description of how aging renders the elder at once “all ages and no age,” and capable of experiencing time in less linear ways. Angel, Friedland, and Segal discuss what it would mean to embrace, rather than fear, the experience of aging; to center a politics of care and interdependence over a neoliberal idea of self-sufficiency; and to allow for elder desire.  Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further ReadingOut of Time: The Pleasures and Perils of Ageing by Lynne SegalLean on Me: A Politics of Radical Care by Lynne Segal The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence by The Care Collective“How the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' Impacts Older Adults,” AARPThe Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie KatzenSarah Friedland’s speech about Gaza at the Venice Film Festival“Why We, 18 Elder Jewish Women, Chained Ourselves to the White House,” Jewish Voice for Peace“Exodus From Now,” Arielle Angel, Jewish Currents Transcript forthcoming. 

In this episode, editor-at-large Peter Beinart speaks to children’s television star Rachel Griffin Accurso, better known to her fans as Ms. Rachel, about her advocacy for Palestinian children in Gaza, tens of thousands of whom have been maimed or killed by Israel over the last 22 months, with many more enduring a relentless campaign of starvation. Ms. Rachel, who has been called this generation’s Mister Rogers, began speaking out in May 2024, when she participated in a Save the Children fundraiser for kids in conflict zones, including Gaza. The backlash from the pro-Israel camp was so pronounced that Ms. Rachel soon posted a teary video discussing the bullying she was facing. The Zionist backlash has continued, with the doxxing outfit Stop Antisemitism formally requesting in April that the Department of Justice investigate Ms. Rachel to determine if she was “being remunerated to disseminate Hamas-aligned propaganda to her millions of followers.” But Ms. Rachel has not stopped insisting that Palestinian children, like all children, deserve safety and care. In May, she invited a three-year-old double amputee from Gaza named Rahaf onto her show. Beinart spoke to Ms. Rachel about her advocacy for Palestinian children and the pro-Israel backlash, the role faith and prayer have played in her decision to speak out, and why more celebrities haven’t followed suit.This conversation first appeared on The Beinart Notebook on Substack.Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further Reading“Pro-Israel group asks DoJ to investigate Ms. Rachel over posts on Gaza children,” Joseph Gedeon, The Guardian“Ms. Rachel’s emotional plea for the lives of Palestinian children,” Christiane Amanpour, CNNMs. Rachel’s fundraising page at the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund“A year of tears: 12 months of war on children,” UNICEF Report

In 2020, Jewish Currents editor-in-chief Arielle Angel and University of Washington professor of Sephardic studies Devin Naar, both descendants of Ladino speakers from Salonica (Thessaloniki) in Greece, had a conversation about what meaningful Sephardic representation might look like in the wake of near-total erasure. In this week’s episode, Angel and Naar join community leader and singer of Arab Jewish music Laura Elkeslassy and professor of Hebrew literature and Mizrahi studies Oren Yirmiya to deepen the discussion about Sephardi and Mizrahi reclamation work. What are the practical entry points to this identity today? What is the use of catchall caucuses that bring together Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews from many different countries and linguistic lineages, and does this identity have to homogenize in order to survive? What does it mean to do this work amid the genocide in Gaza? And how do we make sure reclamation work is not only backward-looking, but responsive to the present?Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further Reading“Are We Post-Sepharadim?,” Arielle Angel in conversation with Devin Naar, Jewish CurrentsYa Ghorbati: Divas in Exile by Laura Elkeslassy, live in concert and the artist’s reflections in Ayin on the songs she performsShirei Yedidut, book of Moroccan piyyutim and bakashot Translations of the writings of Hayyim Ben-Kiki by Moshe Behar and Zvi Ben-Dor Benite in Modern Middle Eastern Jewish Thought: Writings on Identity, Politics, and Culture 1893–1958“Before the Law,” Franz Kafka“Going Out on a Limb: Joha,” Jane Mushabac The story about Djohá and the land can be found in Bewitched by Soli­ka and Oth­er Judeo-Span­ish Tales by François Azar.Devin Naar discusses Djohá in his introduction to the Moabet column in Ayin.