Editor | Arielle Angel |
---|---|
Frequency | Daily (website), quarterly (print) |
Founded | 1946 |
Company | Association for Promotion of Jewish Secularism |
Country | United States |
Based in | Valley Stream, New York |
Language | English |
Website | jewishcurrents |
ISSN | 0021-6399 |
Jewish Currents is an American progressive Jewish quarterly magazine and news site whose content reflects the politics of the Jewish left. It features independent journalism, breaking news, political commentary, analysis, and a "countercultural" approach to Jewish arts and literature.
The magazine was first published in November 1946 by the Morning Freiheit Association under the name Jewish Life [1] and was associated with the Communist Party USA. In 1956 it broke with the Party and took its current name. From 1959 to 2000, it was edited by Morris U. Schappes. [2] Following Schappes' retirement in 2000, Editor Emeritus Lawrence Bush grew and sustained the magazine for almost two decades, writing columns such as "Religion and Skepticism," contending playfully with many manifestations of the "spirituality" of contemporary American culture. Other regular columns under Bush's tenure included "Jewish Women Now," "It Happened in Israel," "Inside the Jewish Community," "Our Secular Jewish Heritage," "Around the World," and "Mameloshn: Yiddish Poetry." From March–April 2005 until the March-April 2009 issue, Jewish Currents was distributed to all members of the Workmen's Circle as a benefit of membership. [1] [3]
In 2018, the magazine hired a new editorial team composed entirely of millennial Jews. [2]
As of 2022, the magazine had 5,200 print subscribers and more than a million online readers each year. [4] Its budget is $1.6 million, drawing on its $1 million endowment as well as contributions from individuals and foundations to support 12 full-time staffers. [4] Arielle Angel is editor-in-chief. [4]
In 2021, the magazine apologized to readers for running a advertisement for the Dorot Fellowship, a leadership training program in Israel for American Jews. Some on the left said the ad was proof that the magazine was secretly Zionist. [5]
Concentrating on breaking news, analysis, culture, art and more, the magazine is aimed at progressive Jews, and to be the voice of that community in the broader American left. Jewish Currents' relaunch in 2018 resulted in the rapid growth of the magazine and its community across the US and internationally. [2] Bernie Sanders wrote an essay for the revamped magazine on his relationship with Judaism. [6] Alongside a book review by Judith Butler, the magazine drew attention with pieces by these high-profile individuals. [7]
The magazine emerged as a leader voice of the American Jewish left. Its editorial voice, led by contributors such as Peter Beinart, is strongly critical of Israel and advocates positions such as the Palestinian right of return, and boycotting businesses in the West Bank. [5]
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. One of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the United States, AIPAC states that it has over 100,000 members, 17 regional offices, and "a vast pool of donors". In addition, the organization has been called one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States.
Tikkun is a quarterly interfaith Jewish left-progressive magazine and website, published in the United States, that analyzes American and Israeli culture, politics, religion, and history in the English language. The magazine has consistently published the work of Israeli and Palestinian left-wing intellectuals, but also included book and music reviews, personal essays, and poetry. In 2006 and 2011, the magazine was awarded the Independent Press Award for Best Spiritual Coverage by Utne Reader for its analysis of the inability of many progressives to understand people's yearning for faith, and the American fundamentalists' political influence on the international conflict among religious zealots. The magazine was founded in 1986 by Michael Lerner and his then-wife Nan Fink Gefen. Since 2012, its publisher is Duke University Press. Beyt Tikkun Synagogue, led by Rabbi Michael Lerner, is loosely affiliated with Tikkun magazine. It describes itself as a "hallachic community bound by Jewish law".
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Lawrence Bush is the author of several books of Jewish fiction and non-fiction, including Waiting for God: The Spiritual Explorations of a Reluctant Atheist and Bessie: A Novel of Love and Revolution.
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The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is a New York–based international Jewish non-governmental organization and advocacy group.
Leonard J. Fein, also known as Leibel Fein, was an American activist, writer, and teacher specializing in Jewish social themes.
Morris U. Schappes was an American educator, writer, radical political activist, historian, and magazine editor, best remembered for a 1941 perjury conviction obtained in association with testimony before the Rapp-Coudert Committee and as long-time editor of the radical magazine Jewish Currents.
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