Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for being a subscriber to Jewish Currents. I hope you find the magazine consistently engaging, and that the care that goes into writing, editing, and producing it is evident. I’m writing now to say a little about what it takes to ensure that level of quality, and to explain why we’re restructuring the pricing of our subscriptions so that we can thrive in the years to come.

I came to this job after a career as a community and labor organizer, and one of the laws of organizing is that building power requires independence, and independence is only possible when an organization is owned by its members. Jewish Currents is of course not a union or a community group, and as a non-profit independent media outlet we count on significant support from individuals and institutions that share our commitments and vision. But we do have a constituency: you, our community of subscribers, the people who have seen what we’re trying to build and have chosen to be part of it. To ensure that we can thrive as an independent voice, we need to be able to rely first and foremost on your support. As of now, we’re still a ways away from realizing that vision; last year, less than 10% of our budget came from subscription revenue—an amount that did not even cover the cost of printing and mailing the magazine to subscribers.

The challenge that we face is a testament to our success. Over the last few years Jewish Currents has exploded in reach and size. Since relaunching in 2018 our readership has increased more than 400% as our staff has grown from four to fourteen. That growth is evidence of the enormous appetite for a publication that can take on the central questions facing the American Jewish community and the left at a moment of profound uncertainty and transformation for both. We aim to be the home for that conversation.

We grappled for many months with the question of how to strike the right balance between maintaining our work’s accessibility and ensuring our sustainability as an independent voice. We do not want to paywall our content. This means that ultimately, to sustain and grow in the ways we know are both possible and necessary, we need our people to invest in this project. To that end, we are raising the price of our print subscription from $36 to $48 a year, a change that will be reflected in your next billing cycle. And while our work will continue to be accessible to all for free on our website, we are creating a $24 digital subscription that will enable subscribers to read our print work online at the time of publication—months before it is available for non-subscribers.

In addition, later this month, we’ll be launching a membership program of merch, online conversations, and special in-person events for those who can donate a monthly amount of $9, $18, or $36.

Thanks again for being a Jewish Currents subscriber. With your support, we will continue to grow in the years to come.

Thanks so much,

Daniel May

Publisher, Jewish Currents