Rabbi Jay Michaelson is a contributing columnist for the Forward and for Rolling Stone. He is the author of 10 books, and won the 2023 New York Society for Professional Journalists award for opinion writing.
Jay MichaelsonContributing Columnist
By Jay Michaelson
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Opinion A Leaked Copy of Trump’s Speech at the National Prayer Breakfast
The following is purportedly a leaked transcript of President Trump’s speech from the National Prayer Breakfast. Welcome everyone. It’s prayer time, so we’re going to have our little breakfast — we have some of the best pastries, really the best and pray. I love God — really do. Great guy, God, and a big supporter…
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Culture Why Andrew Ramer Is One of Our Most Righteous Men
Having spent 20 part-time years in the Jewish professional world, I’ve come to appreciate the Kabbalistic concept of the lamed-vavniks, the 36 righteous people who, hidden from view, are secretly maintaining the world by their good deeds. What I mean is, the Jewish teachers, leaders, innovators, and mensches who inspire me are mostly lesser known…
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Culture Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’ Explores Faith When God Keeps Quiet
When do you hear the voice of God? Contemporary believers are caught in a conundrum. If they never hear God speaking, or even acting in ways consonant with theology, then surely they must doubt God’s very existence. And yet if they do claim to hear a bat kol – a Divine voice – surely they…
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Opinion 50 Things To Fear From the Trump Administration
Looking toward 2017 can be overwhelming. The coming Trump administration presents so many potential risks, it’s hard to know which to feel anxious about. When I feel overwhelmed, I find that it helps to make lists. Here, then, in a rough order of danger, but also grouped by category, are 50 things for American Jews…
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49 Reasons Why 2016 Wasn't as Bad as You Think You Want It Darker
The musical year of 2016 was bookended by dark valedictories: David Bowie’s “Blackstar” and Leonard Cohen’s “You Want It Darker.” Both Bowie and Cohen knew that their ends were near, and both passed on to the next realm just as their last brilliant works were released. Cohen’s final album — in particular its haunting title…
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Opinion Three Reasons Why the Electoral College Must Reject Trump
A month ago, the Electoral College blocking Donald Trump was a Democratic pipe dream. Now, the electors who will convene across the country on December 19 have a sacred duty to withhold their votes from Trump, and three constitutional reasons to do so. Such an action would be unprecedented, and our shared religious, ethical and…
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Opinion Sorry, Jews. Steve Bannon Is Not an Anti-Semite, and This Story Is Not About Us.
We’ve got Steve Bannon wrong. Among American Jewish progressives, the consensus is that Bannon, Donald Trump’s “strategic adviser,” is anti-Semitic. The website he managed, Breitbart.com, called itself “the platform for the alt-right,” and the “alt-right” contains within it some extreme anti-Semites, neo-Nazis and so forth. And besides, according to court documents, Bannon didn’t want his…
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Letters More Shortsightedness From Orthodox Groups on Betsy DeVos
Rabbi Nathan Diament’s response to my column about Betsy DeVos perfectly reflects the short-sightedness of the Orthodox Union’s approach to this issue. The column in question was roughly 1,200 words long. Only 64 of those words addressed Orthodox organizations. Yet from Rabbi Diament’s response, you’d think the whole piece was an attack on them. In…
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