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 What does Jewish law say about the war between Israel and Hamas? Depends where you look.
For both hawks and doves, there's a lot that's troubling about the Jewish law of war
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Opinion Spare us your explanations about what’s happening in Israel — now is the time for grief
Nearly every Jew knows someone directly affected by the violence in Israel, and in a sense, we're all sitting shiva
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Opinion Dianne Feinstein was tenacious and contradictory — just like American Jews
Sen. Feinstein’s combination of views reflected the general center of the American Jewish community
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Culture Why Sukkot is my favorite Jewish holiday
Shaking a lulav, finding the most fragrant etrog, eating outside with no patriarchal judgment — what's not to love?
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Opinion For Lauren Boebert and her appalling ‘Beetlejuice’ antics, the season of repentance is at hand
The Colorado representative's words and actions have gone well beyond mere hypocrisy
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Opinion Why do Trump and Netanyahu hate liberal Jews and cozy up to antisemites?
For the former US president and current Israeli prime minister, any friend of nationalism is a friend of theirs
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Opinion Why carrying Narcan is a mitzvah
Saving lives with this overdose-reversing medication takes precedence over fears of drug normalization
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Opinion With the latest staggering indictment, Donald Trump may finally face his personal Yom Kippur
As we enter Elul — the Jewish month for penitence and reflection — all eyes are on Georgia and the man who was just indicted there
Most Popular
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News Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors
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Music For Bob Dylan’s biographer, ‘A Complete Unknown’ is a dream come true — even if it’s mostly fiction
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Culture In Peter Yarrow’s legacy, an uneasy blend of Jewish values and personal transgressions
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News ‘Do you have the Torahs?’ Synagogue races LA wildfire to rescue its past and future
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Their Pacific Palisades synagogue is standing, but all three rabbis lost their homes
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Fast Forward House votes to sanction International Criminal Court leaders over Israel charges
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Opinion Jews excel at collective organizing. The LA fires are a call to rally resources to fight climate change
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Yiddish אַ זום־שמועס אויף ייִדיש מיט איציק האָרן, טאַטע פֿון צוויי ערבֿניקעס אין עזהOnline chat in Yiddish with Itsik Horn, father of two hostages in Gaza
איתן און יאיר האָרן זענען פֿאַרכאַפּט געוואָרן דעם 7טן אָקטאָבער פֿון קיבוץ ניר עוז
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