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 This Anti-BDS Video Is Pure Hilarity — and Accidental Genius
(CORRECTED BELOW) News flash: the BDS movement does not, in fact, urge supporters to shoot Dannon yogurt containers with rifles. That, however, is how it’s depicted in a four-minute video titled “BDS or the Bible.” Social media users are already having a field day with the video — Sarah Schulman dubs it “a cross between…
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Opinion Why Jewish Republicans Should Look Past Marco Rubio — to Michael Bloomberg
What’s a moderate Republican — that is, most Jewish Republicans — to do? With Donald Trump and Ted Cruz ascendant, moderate hopes have flitted from Jeb Bush to Marco Rubio and now to John Kasich. In fact, however, there’s only one hope for moderate Republicans: Bernie Sanders. Let me explain. First, Rubio is no moderate….
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Opinion The Oscars Are Too White — and That’s a Jewish Problem
“The Jews control Hollywood.” It’s one of those anti-Semitic tropes that, we all know, contains a certain grain of truth. “Control,” no — not with that ominous, conspiratorial connotation. But “helped create”? “Disproportionately populate?” Sure. From the founding of California’s motion picture industry (well documented in books like Neal Gabler’s “An Empire of Their Own:…
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Opinion Wishing Your Opponents Dead Is Not Good for Israelis or Palestinians
This column is not about the recent anti-Israel , which partially shut down a reception featuring Israeli LGBT activists. It’s about the ugly, angry way we talk about such things. And as usual, I’m going to call out both the right and the left. As journalists and Internet trolls “discussed” the events at the conference…
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Opinion Why Most Jewish Environmentalism Is Useless — on Tu B’Shvat and Every Other Day
Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish “new year of the trees,” comes again on Sunday, January 24. In recent years, the holiday has become a much-needed day for thinking about, and taking action on, environmental issues. Too bad most of those actions will be counterproductive. For an illustration, consider the Aliso Canyon methane leak, which you probably…
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Opinion How David Bowie Made It OK To Be a Wandering Jewish Misfit
Like many Jewish kids, and many more gay kids, I grew up not belonging. I was a nerd and a weirdo. What other kids seemed to know intuitively — how to dress, how to talk — I had to puzzle out somehow, often unsuccessfully. That included sex; I didn’t know I was gay, and the…
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Opinion You Think the World Is Going to Hell in 2016? It’s Actually Getting Better.
It’s 2016, and on the right and the left, it’s the worst of times. Conservatives see moral decay, loss of American leadership, the dangers of radical Islam. Liberals see environmental catastrophe, the persistence of racism, corporate control of politics, and the wealth gap. Either way, we’re going to hell in a handbasket. But are we?…
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Opinion Unlike New Year’s Eve, Judaism Makes Endings Meaningful
A few months ago, an acquaintance of mine slipped on some rocks while on vacation in Hawaii, fell into a river and drowned, dying tragically at the age of 32. Last week, her mother committed suicide. There’s no adequate response to tragedies like these — no consolations. But at times like these I’m grateful that…
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Opinion What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it
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Fast Forward Jewish students, alumni decry ‘weaponization of antisemitism’ across country
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Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history
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Opinion Why can Harvard stand up to Trump? Because it didn’t give in to pro-Palestinian student protests
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