Vigilance and hope in the Jewish New Year

It’s been many months since I last shared a Jewish Media Review. My travel schedule disrupted some work rhythms. I also became overwhelmed with the news. The Israel-Hamas War still smolders as do hostilities with Hezbollah. The United States continues in its hot-cold-hot again conflict with Iran. People who blame Israel for these things continue to harass and attack our Jewish neighbors here in the U.S. and in other Western countries. For months, it has been a lot of the same news, and most of you who are savvy readers get that information elsewhere.

This month, the headlines below jumped out to me. They tell news I haven’t seen anywhere but in Jewish media. I share these as a reminder to you to read Jewish media. If you care about our Jewish neighbors, read what they’re writing. You’ll find things you agree with and others that perhaps rub you the wrong way. Above all, you’ll learn things.

A sign of friendship is that we listen to the thoughts and feelings of the other. We listen to the joys and sorrows of those we care about, and we ask questions because we really want to know our friend. We must do that with our Jewish neighbors. We must want to know them and, in that way, love them.

One headline not listed here became its own blog post. Check out the Forward’s piece on the history of the Great Isaiah Scroll, currently on display at the Israel Museum.

For now, Jewish Media Review will remain an occasional feature of our newsletter. CMJ USA does not necessarily agree with the opinions expressed in these articles.

‼️ ‘We are in a time of biblical proportions’: What survivors of past attacks want Central Synagogue to know (Forward)

Audrey Glickman survived the 2018 Tree of Life shooting. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker was held hostage in his own sanctuary in 2022. Both reflect on the attack at Central Synagogue — and the hard balance between welcoming strangers and staying safe

🚨American synagogues are spending more than ever on security. How much is enough? (Forward)

As Jews prepare for the High Holidays amid formidable threats, rabbis and security experts are confronting another question: How do you protect an open religious community without turning it into a fortress?

✡️‘I hope that next year we will be in better circumstances’ (Times of Israel)

The Rosh Hashanah card my mother made in a Nazi transit camp is a simple object filled with hope – and unanswered questions

⏩Christian lawmakers want Trump to fast-track Jewish Canadians to the U.S. Tulsa says it’s ready. (Forward)

As antisemitism rises in Canada, a Christian group is pushing Trump to consider a potential fast-tracked immigration pathway.

🤔 Jews safer in Mississippi than Canada, says Jewish prof who left Montreal for Ole Miss (JNS)

“In Canada, my right to survive has been subcontracted to the government,” Gad Saad told JNS.

💻 Online study tracks antisemitic language from fringe forums to mainstream platforms (Jewish Chronicle)

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue tracked the process by which extremist vocabulary enters mainstream discourse while retaining its original meaning among insiders and becoming more “deniable” to outsiders.

⚖️Jews have long fought antisemitism in court. Is the law built for the fight? (JTA)

Historian James Loeffler’s new book, “Exceptional Hatred,” traces how America came to treat antisemitism and its Jewish victims as special cases.

🏫Jews at US teachers unions subject to discrimination, forced to self-censor: report (Times of Israel)

Anti-Defamation League survey finds antisemitism, hostility to Israel’s existence in union spaces, leading to alienation and fear among Jewish educators

🤕Little things mean a lot (Jewish Chronicle)

Antisemitic microaggressions are verbal, behavioral or environmental indignities that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative slights about Jewish identity, culture or religion.

🫤Why antisemites are shopping in the kosher aisle (Forward)

Talk about ‘goyslop’ has led conspiracy theorists to believe hechshers are a secret Jewish symbol for healthy food

👏🏻‘Long overdue’: Henry Ford home to confront his antisemitism (Forward)

Fair Lane, the historic home of Henry and Clara Ford, says it will discuss the Dearborn Independent in 2027

🛣️Don’t believe it just because you see it: Messianic Jews put disingenuous billboards on Route 4 (Jewish News)

• ‘Jews.com’ is posted on billboards across NYC — meet the Messianic Jewish preacher putting them up (Forward)
    Kirt Schneider calls himself a rabbi, but his website instructs Jews to believe in Jesus
  
  
• Editor's note: I share these stories to highlight that sometimes the things we do out of our deepest sincerity and faith are perceived as a deception. Kirt Schneider is a Jewish follower of Jesus. He is among many Jewish believers who share their faith with other Jews. But because he follows Jesus, some say Kirt is no longer a Jew, and so his keeping Jewish appearances is seen by some as some sort of rouse. A reminder that, just like Jesus, we will be misunderstood.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏽Meet the first Jewish president of a Catholic university (Forward)

Greg Weiner, president of Assumption University, sees a natural affinity between Jewish and Catholic approaches to learning

Quote from another academic scholar: “To my surprise as both a scholar and a Jew,” Holocaust scholar Mary Jane Rein wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “I feel a warmer welcome and more commonality of purpose at a Catholic institution than at Clark, a secular one.”

⁉️She was elected the first Jewish president of the Catholic Biblical Association. Then came the hate. (Forward)

Amy-Jill Levine’s election is drawing congratulations, but also fury from an increasingly schismatic church

🫱🏽‍🫲🏽‘Cunningham? That doesn’t sound very Jewish’ (Times of Israel)

What does it mean to stand with the Jewish people even though I am not Jewish — and why is that responsibility mine, too?

🫱🏽‍🫲🏽They’re not Jews, but Jewish orgs can’t run without them (Jewish News of N. California)

😢Only 541 Christians remain in Gaza, leaders warn of an uncertain future (All Israel News)