Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on June 7, 2024

On March 29th, Jewish Currents began publishing a short commentary on the parshahthe portion of the Torah that Jews traditionally read each weekin the Shabbat Reading List newsletter. A note introducing this new feature situated it in the context of mainstream Jewish communal support for Israels war on Gaza: While it might seem strange for a historically secular magazine to embark on such a project . . . we are trying this now because many in our community have expressed an unprecedented alienation from most Jewish institutions, alongside an urgent need for spiritual fortification. While many readers have written in to express their gratitude and enthusiasm for the series, some people with long histories of close involvement with Jewish Currents have been upset by the inclusion of religious content. The range of reactions highlights an enduring dispute over the place of religion at Jewish Currents. The magazine was founded by a stridently secularist American Jewish left, which was forged in opposition to the reactionary constraints of religion and in alignment with the Communist Party. But this has given way to a movement thats more interested in religious texts and ritual as generative elements of Jewish identity, and as politically meaningful tools.

On this episode of On the Nose, editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, managing editor Nathan Goldman, JC councilmember Judee Rosenbaum, and contributing writer Mitch Abidor argue about the parshah commentaries, the meaning of secularism at Jewish Currents, and the evolving role of religion on the Jewish left.

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).

Transcript forthcoming.

Articles Mentioned and Further Reading:

Complex Inheritances, Joy Ladin, Jewish Currents

Yiddish Anarchists Break Over Palestine, introduced and translated by Eyshe Beirich, Jewish Currents

Camp Kinderland at 100, On the Nose, Jewish Currents

Zhitlovsky: Philosopher of Jewish Secularism, Max Rosenfeld, Cultural and Secular Jewish Organization (previously in Jewish Currents)

Secularism, Daniel May, Sources

Letter to the editor on religious coverage at Jewish Currents, with editors response

Secular Jewish Education, A Critique, Bennett Muraskin, Jewish Currents

Why Im Not a Jewish Secularist, Mitch Abidor, Jewish Currents

Why Im Not a Jewish Secularist: A Response to the Responses, Mitch Abidor, Jewish Currents

The Discourse on Voluntary Servitude, tienne de la Botie

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Religion, Secularism, and the Jewish Left - Jewish Currents

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