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Opinion

Reform Judaism Needs an Identity Beyond Israel

A major conference proposes to “re-charge” the movement by strengthening ties to the Jewish state, neglecting an opportunity to develop its unique religious vision.

David Regenspan
Photo Essay
Our Catastrophe
A photo essay to mark the 75th anniversary of the Nakba.
Nadia Saah
Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts rockets from the Gaza Strip on May 11th, 2023.
Newsletter
Iron Dome Is Not a Defensive System
The Iron Dome cannot meaningfully be considered “life-saving” in any value system that recognizes Palestinian humanity.
Dylan Saba
Review
Who’s Afraid of Absurdity?
A revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s last play, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, captures its author’s wry rejection of political nihilism.
Alisa Solomon
Comic
Yentl Meltdown
A trans writer wrestles with the classic Barbra Streisand movie Yentl.
Jett Allen
Music
A Shabbat for All Creation
Selections from Perek Shirah set to music testify to the holiness in all beings.
Nathan Salsburg
Newsletter
Even the Survivors Are Poisoned
A diary of wartime in Gaza
Kholoud Balata
Newsletter
How Would You Feel, Senator Rosen?
Jewish responses to a recent event commemorating the Nakba reveal a communal narcissism, which sees Palestinians’ very identity as being first and foremost about Jews.
Arielle Angel
Poetry
covering
“in the broadest conception / of black music, which is the / truest conception of black / music, black music can’t be / conceived.”
Fred Moten
Correspondence
The Nothing Letters
What might bloom in non-being?
Nathan Goldman and Claire Schwartz
Jewish Currents is seeking applicants for our 2023–2024 fellowship, which will begin in September. See our Careers page for more information on how to apply by June 23rd!
From the Newsletter
Why Are Progressive Legislators Opposing New York’s First Anti-Settlement Bill?
The “Not on our dime” act would ban tax-deductible donations to Israeli settlements, but centrists and progressives alike say the proposed law is “a ploy to demonize” Jewish nonprofits.
Alex Kane and Mari Cohen
The Palestinian Village in Smotrich’s Sights
Destroying the hamlet of Khan al-Ahmar has become a priority for Israel’s settler right, which aims to “cut the West Bank into two.”
Elisheva Goldberg
The Intentional Cruelty of “Conflict Management” in Gaza
Successive Israeli governments have embraced a paradigm that all but guarantees perpetual war.
Joshua Leifer
Palestinian Hunger Striker Khader Adnan’s Death: An Explainer
Responses to common questions about Adnan’s death while on hunger strike against Israeli detention, the increasingly violent aftermath, and what Adnan meant to Palestinians.
Alex Kane
Current IssueSpring 2023
Table of Contents Sold Out
Editor’s Picks
  1. 1
    The Trap of Palestinian Participation
  2. 2
    How a Giant of Responsible Investing Agreed to an Israel Exception
  3. 3
    Attention Must Be Paid
  4. 4
    Under the Hood
  5. 5
    Understanding Apartheid
  6. 6
    The Right to Grieve
  7. 7
    The Fight for the Future of Israel Studies
  8. 8
    Beyond Grievance
  9. 9
    Playing Jewish
  10. 10
    What Is Debt and When Can We Refuse to Pay?
From the Rest Issue
Days of Rest
On anti-work politics and the meaning of Shabbat
The Editors
Shmita Means Total Destroy
A manifesto from the threatened Atlanta forest
Fayer Collective
Edifice Complex
Restoring the term “burnout” to its roots in landlord arson puts the dispossession of poor city dwellers at its center.
Bench Ansfield
Upcoming Events

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Podcast / On The Nose
On the Nose, A Jewish Currents Podcast
On the Nose is our biweekly podcast. The editorial staff discusses the politics, culture, and questions that animate today’s Jewish left.
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Illustrated Essay
Activestills
Palestinian Homes Destroyed by Israeli Airstrike
Photographer:

Anne Paq/Activestills
A destroyed house in Gaza City on May 27th, which Palestinians recently began repairing. The building was one of several that was damaged when Israeli forces bombed the home of the neighboring Tafeesh family earlier this month, killing 400 chickens... more
Newsletter
Israel Strains Its “Cold Peace” with Jordan
Israel’s far-right government is undermining a longstanding treaty that many Jordanians already oppose.
Dalia Hatuqa
Analysis
Could Israel Carry Out Another Nakba?
Expulsionist sentiment is common in Israeli society and politics. To ignore the warning signs is to abdicate responsibility.
Peter Beinart

Letters from Our Readers

On “What Comes Next for Jews of Color Activism?”
While we applaud Arielle Isack’s article for calling out the failures of American Jewish institutions to become truly anti-racist, the piece significantly understates both the role of Palestine solidarity in Jews of color organizing and the way that efforts to silence anti-Zionist ideas have impeded anti-racist work in Jewish spaces... more

On “Attention Must Be Paid”
Thank you for Alisa Solomon’s wonderful review of Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, and for the rich podcast discussion about the play, as well. Solomon perfectly articulates a feeling I had about the play when she writes that the character Hermann’s realization of his own horrible fate—as a Jew in Vienna in... more
Hillary Miller
Brooklyn, NY
Memoir

In the Hole

Five incarcerated men on the minute-by-minute experience of solitary confinement.

Christopher Blackwell, Aaron Edward Olson, Antoine Davis, Raymond Williams, and Jonathan Kirkpatrick Illustrated by Hector Ortiz
Spring OfferCode POPUP23