Chag Urim Sameach! This year we are celebrating Hanukkah by introducing our readers to a new member of our incredible staff each night as we reflect on the work we’re most proud of from 2022.

We believe something amazing is happening here at Jewish Currents, but we can’t make miracles without your help. We don’t depend on venture capital to fund our work and we don’t accept paid advertising. Rather, it’s your engagement and support that makes the labor of our writers, editors, artists, and fact-checkers possible, and allows us to continue exploring the questions that are most vital to today’s Jewish communities. We’re excited to shine a light on the people behind Jewish Currents, to share with you exactly who and what you are supporting when you read, listen, donate, and subscribe to our magazine.

I’m David Klion, the newsletter editor for Jewish Currents, and a writer for Jewish Currents and various other publications.

At Jewish Currents, my primary role for the past few years has been to build up our email newsletter program; especially given the ongoing turmoil at certain leading social media platforms, the newsletter has become one of the best ways for us to reach our audience directly. I’m particularly proud of our Tuesday News Bulletin, which includes fresh reporting on Israel/Palestine that hits your inboxes before it goes anywhere else. In 2022, the News Bulletin has featured uncompromising beat reporting by our senior reporter Alex Kane and a few other rotating contributors on everything from the murder of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to the fracas over Ben & Jerry’s boycott of West Bank settlements, alongside weekly aggregation of stories we’re following in the region and photos of the occupation from our partners in the Activestills collective. In addition, every Thursday we send out an original newsletter on any of a wide range of topics; some memorable ones this year included Naftuli Moster holding progressive politicians in New York to account for denying Haredi children access to a basic education, Aparna Gopalan’s guide to inflation from a left perspective, and Nathan Goldman’s conversation with Dan Sinykin about corporate consolidation in the publishing industry.

Perhaps most of all, I’m proud to have launched the Shabbat Reading List, which has become a beloved end-of-week ritual. Every Friday, a selection of Jewish Currents staff, board members, and friends sends out short reflections on what we’ve been reading, watching, and listening to. The original concept was to let readers get to know the staff a little better; it’s because of the Shabbat Reading List that Arielle Angel’s UFO obsession, Mari Cohen’s love​​–hate relationship with Taylor Swift, and Ari Brostoff’s discovery of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Pumping Iron are matters of public record. But it has also become a space for serious short-form criticism of art that wouldn’t otherwise get covered in our magazine. I’ve spent the final months of 2022 on parental leave (I only recently took my daughter home from the NICU), and I look forward to getting it every week.

To continue publishing thoughtful newsletter dispatches like the ones David mentioned above, we rely on our community of supporters and subscribers. Please consider sustaining our work by making a donation or subscribing to Jewish Currents today. Our subscriptions also make great gifts!

As a small token of our appreciation for our community of readers and contributors, we are also offering newsletter subscribers 36% off of anything in our online store if you use the code GELT2022. Shop Jewish Currents gifts—like our tote bags, back issues, and special editions—for your friends and family (or yourself!).

Thank you for your continued support, and we wish you a relaxing and peaceful holiday season, no matter what you celebrate.