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On the Nose: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Jewish Currents
On the Nose is a biweekly podcast by Jewish Currents, a magazine of the Jewish left founded in 1946. The editorial staff discusses the politics, culture, and questions that animate today’s Jewish left.
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- 3 days ago48 min
Kol Nidre's Sacred Border Crossings
As we make our way through the Days of Awe, On the Nose is turning over our feed to an episode of Ways of Awe, an exploration of the high holiday liturgy written by artist and educator Maia Brown and writer and organizer Shelby Handler, and based on translations originally shared with the Kadima Reconstructionist Community in Seattle, WA. This episode explores the “Kol Nidre” prayer recited on Erev Yom Kippur, in which all vows from the year before are nullified. In this episode, the hosts spoke with Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg and Rabbi Xava De Cordova.This episode was edited by Maia Brown, with audio engineering by Daniel Guenther. Thank you to Ross Kirshenbaum of Levoneh for composing our show music and to Peter Lippman and Jimmy Austin for playing on the track, and to Jenny Asarnow for their field recordings. Thank you to the Jack Straw Cultural Center Artist Support Program, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture Smart Ventures Program, and Signal Fire Coop. Thank you to Hannah Epstein for design.Thank you to all those who lent their prayer-voices to the Kol Nidre episode including: Noraa Kaplan, Sharone Sayegh, Moyshe Oysher. Thank you to Jeannie Wells-Yablonsky from the Seattle Symphony for her rendition of Kol Nidre. An excerpt from “Kol Nidre,” performed by Sharone Sayegh in the Iraqi Sephardic tradition, was produced by Reboot in partnership with Hillel International for Higher Holidays 2020 and is reproduced here with permission.Links and Further Reading“Jewish Emptiness: Kavannot for Kol Nidrei,” Rabbi Xava De Cordova, RitualWell“The Case Against Kol Nidre,” Adam Soclof, JTA“Kol Nidre: Past, Present, and Future,” Richard-Steiner, Jewish Studies, an Internet JournalKol Nidre entry in the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia “A Brief History of the Kol Nidrei Prayer,” Cantor Deborrah Cannizzaro“Exploring Kol Nidre,” David Schwartz, Sefaria“The Geonim,” Eli Barnavi, My Jewish LearningThis Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared by Rabbi Alan LewRegister for JC Live!Register for the New Jewish Institutions Skill-building Boot Camp!Transcript can be found here.
- 1 weeks ago52 min
UK Sanctions Settlements
On September 8th, the UK announced sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including an import trade ban, sanctions on companies and individuals, bans on advertising the sale of stolen land, and restrictions on arms export licensing. They were joined in the adoption of these policies by France and Canada, and nine other European countries released a statement announcing intentions to support the effort. This unprecedented raft of policies was largely framed as an attempt to salvage the two-state solution and to counter planned settlement expansion into the E-1 Corridor, which would split the West Bank in two.On this episode of On the Nose, Arielle Angel speaks with Ryvka Barnard, deputy director of the UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign; Emily Hilton, international policy director at Diaspora Alliance; and Maya Rosen, associate editor of Jewish Currents, about these latest developments. They discuss the issues with limiting sanctions to the settlements in one-state reality, potential loopholes in implementation, and the reactions from the UK Jewish establishment and the Israeli settlement movement.Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further ReadingJoint Foreign Ministers’ Statement on the Two-State Solution“UK, France among 12 states backing sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements,” Al Jazeera“Trump didn't oppose UK sanctions on Israeli settlements,” Barak Ravid, Axios“The Wrong Way to Fight Antisemitism in Britain,” On the Nose, Jewish Currents“Polling reveals Palestine a major factor in progressive voters ditching Labour,” Palestine Solidarity Campaign“The Making of a Coal Boycott,” Andreas Malm and Maxy Guedes, Jewish Currents“Burnham confirms top level government meeting to bolster security for Jewish community over High Holy Days,” Lee Harpin, Jewish News“America Should Follow UK and Sanction West Bank Settlements,” New Jewish Narrative statement“J Street Welcomes UK, France and Canada’s Decision to Ban Imports From West Bank Settlements,” J Street statement“What is the Police and Crime Bill and how will it change protests?,” BBC“The Settler Community Responds to UK Sanctions,” C14Register for JC Live!Register for the New Jewish Institutions Skill-building Boot Camp!Transcript forthcoming.
- 2 weeks ago1h 3m
Fighting the Politics of Powerlessness
Organizing is hard, not just for the ways we are knocked down by our opponents, but also for the ways we often turn on our comrades in anger and despair. In the recently published book For Louder Days, Yotam Marom—a veteran of Occupy Wall Street, co-founder of IfNotNow, and movement facilitator who has worked with Sunrise, Dream Defenders, Uncommitted, and more—diagnoses how the left’s ambivalence about power leads to a number of bad habits. We tear down our leaders or pretend there are no leaders at all; we avoid conflict and hard choices, which leads to bad strategy; we draw the boundaries of belonging too narrowly. On this episode of On the Nose, Marom talks to Arielle Angel about all the ways we turn on each other instead of playing to win—and how we might shift our orientation away from the “politics of powerlessness.”Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further ReadingFor Louder Days by Yotam MaromJewish Diaspora Movement Skill-Building Boot Camp Registration“Who Speaks for Black Voters?,” On the Nose, Jewish CurrentsHate by Seyda Kurt“Why Israelis are leaving in record numbers,” Hila Amit, +972 MagazineTranscript forthcoming.
- 2 weeks ago4 min
TEASER: The Myth of the “Good Guy at the Checkpoint”
This episode of On the Nose is for subscribers and members only. Subscribe for $4/month here. If you’re already a subscriber, check your email for instructions on accessing this episode.A recent article in Haaretz announced that a left-wing youth group called Hamahanot Haolim, part of the socialist Zionist movement, is planning a kibbutz-style settlement in the Jordan Valley, in the occupied West Bank. According to the article, organization director Ilan Gazit said that “he is aware of the damage West Bank settlements do to Palestinian rights, but argued that since new settlements will be built in the Jordan Valley in any case, it’s preferable to have as many of them as possible populated by leftists.” Gazit elaborated: “We aren’t ashamed of this and we aren’t hiding it. This is in line with our worldview: A strong security border is needed in the east that will be defensible and create a necessary condition for peace. We are leftists who believe in equality between people and are guided by a humanistic, socialist, democratic worldview.”On this premium episode of On the Nose, Israeli American social worker and co-founder of the Unsettled podcast Asaf Calderon talks to Arielle Angel about the fallacy of the “good guy at the checkpoint,” and what this announcement says about the shifting relationship between Israel’s so-called left and the settlement enterprise.Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further Reading“Israeli Left-wing Youth Group Plans Kibbutz-style Settlement in West Bank,” Yair Foldes, Haaretz“What the Soldiers Did in Gaza,” On the Nose, Jewish Currents“The Anti-Politics of Disengagement,” Elisheva Goldberg, Jewish Currents“Revising the Dream,” Mari Cohen, Jewish CurrentsTranscript forthcoming.
- Aug 20, 202656 min
Repetition and Solipsism in the “Israel Debate” Play
After a few years of seeing Jewish plays “debating” Israel/Palestine, Jewish Currents editor-at-large Arielle Angel and theater critic Alisa Solomon explored the phenomenon through an exchange of letters, which were published this week. On this episode of On the Nose, they discuss the plays that fall into this category: most recently, the critically acclaimed Birthright by Jonathan Spector, but also including The Zionists by S. Asher Gelman, Giant by Mark Rosenblatt, The Ally by Itamar Moses, and Prayer for the French Republic by Joshua Harmon. They detail the compulsive repetition of these plays and they explore why Jewish hand-wringing is being consistently elevated during a moment of genocide, and why it appears so popular with critics and liberal audiences alike. Thanks to Jules Natt for editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further Reading“Birthright Stages a Tired Debate,” Arielle Angel and Alisa Solomon, Jewish CurrentsBirthright by Jonathan SpectorGiant by Mark RosenblattThe Zionists by S. Asher GelmanThe Ally by Itamar MosesPrayer for the French Republic by Joshua Harmon“Campus Politics Takes the Stage in The Ally,” On the Nose, Jewish Currents“Who Is Tom Stoppard’s ‘Jewish Play’ For?” On the Nose, Jewish Currents“Giant Gave the People What They Want,” Jessica Goldschmidt, Jewish Currents“‘Birthright’ and ‘Giant’ Tackle Jewish Identity,” Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker“‘Birthright’ Stages a Thrillingly Complex Conversation on Conversation Itself,” Helen Shaw, The New York Times“Taking the Long View, Brilliantly: Birthright and Camping,” Sarah Holdren, Vulture“Most US kids of intermarriage raised Jewish; parents want institutions to notice,” Ben Sales, The Times of Israel“Shari Redstone’s Next Act: Mogul Named Chair of ‘We Will Dance Again’ and ‘Bad Boy’ Studio Sipur,” Alex Weprin, The Hollywood ReporterMiami New Drama’s announcement of the Y6K Project“‘A Silen
- Aug 14, 202656 min
Who Speaks for Black Voters?
Progressive outsider candidate Abdul El-Sayed narrowly prevailed over establishment pick Haley Stevens to win the Democratic nomination for Michigan’s open Senate seat, though AIPAC spent tens of millions of dollars to defeat him. The narrative that has emerged before and after the primary is one that stresses El-Sayed’s weakness with Black and Jewish voters.As Jewish Currents senior reporter Alex Kane wrote earlier this month, Black and Jewish centrists are teaming up in key races to defeat progressive candidates, whom they portray as fixated on Palestine at the expense of their Black constituents. As Darius Jones—senior adviser to a Black centrist group called the National Black Empowerment Action Fund and longtime AIPAC operative—told Jewish Currents, “Focusing on a “foreign conflict” won’t “lower health care or housing costs for a Black senior in Detroit, or ensure that a path to home ownership easier for a Black constituent in St Louis or Ferguson.” These Black politicos have endeavored to link moderate Democratic policies and Black interests; reflecting on El-Sayed’s attacks on the Democratic establishment, for example, party strategist Jamal Simmons told The Hill that such “attacks on the Democratic establishment in places like Detroit are attacks on Black leaders.” Meanwhile, moderates and conservatives across the country appear intent on pushing the narrative that democratic socialism is the province of privileged white people, pointing to the demographics of the group’s membership and the class backgrounds of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s staffers and advisers. To discuss the ways that the figure of the “Black voter” is being used in the fight over the direction of the Democratic Party, host Arielle Angel and Alex Kane welcome Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor—professor of African American studies at Princeton University, author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, and a co-founder of the digital magazine Hammer & Hope—to On the Nose. They discuss the role of Israel/Palestine in Black politics, the fallacy that Black voters are more moderate on the issues, and what to do with DSA’s demographic problem.Thanks to Jules Natt for editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further Reading“The End of Black Politics,” Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New York Times“Donald Trump’s Victory, the Elitism of Democrats, and the Need to Build a Hospitable Left,” Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Daniel Denvir, Hammer & Hope“With Jewish Establishment’s Help, a Black Political Group Battles the Left,” Alex Kane, Jewish Currents“An Anti-AIPAC Insurgent Tests Her Message in a Working-Class Stronghold,” Alex Kane, Jewish Currents“The Congressional Black Caucus’s Silent Partnership With AIPAC,” Anthony Conwright, The Nation“<a href="https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/can-abdul-el-sayed-unite-dems-he-has-work-to-do-with-black-jewish-voters/" rel="noopener noreferr
- Aug 6, 202646 min
Genocide Studies Departments Still Can’t Name Genocide in Gaza
In early June 2024, the Holocaust historian Raz Segal was offered a job directing the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota after roundly impressing an academic search committee. But as soon as the offer was extended, donors, politicians, and Jewish advocacy groups mobilized against his hire due to his public advocacy against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which included his Jewish Currents article “A Textbook Case of Genocide” from October 13th, 2023. Within a week, the university’s interim president intervened to rescind Segal’s offer. Now, two years later, Segal, an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies and the endowed professor in the study of modern genocide at Stockton University, has reached a $250,000 settlement with the University of Minnesota.On this episode of On the Nose, senior editor Mari Cohen guest hosts to interview Segal about the lessons from his struggle at Minnesota and recent developments in the field of genocide studies, which Cohen reported on extensively in a 2024 Jewish Currents feature. In their conversation, Segal traces the history of genocide studies and the political contexts that have made it difficult for scholars in the field to adequately address Israeli violence, and reflects on “A Textbook Case of Genocide” nearly three years after its publication. Is genocide studies finally evolving to meet the moment? And what should we make of the fact that many liberal commentators are only now willing to accept the argument Segal made six days after October 7th?Thanks to Jesse Brennemen for editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further Reading“A Textbook Case of Genocide,” Raz Segal, Jewish Currents “Can Genocide Studies Survive a Genocide in Gaza?,” Mari Cohen, Jewish Currents“An Israeli professor lost a prestigious US job offer after speaking out on Gaza. Now the university is paying him $250,000,” Alice Speri, The Guardian“A Holocaust Scholar Called Israel’s Actions in Gaza ‘Genocide.’ It Cost Him a Job Offer,” Maggie Hicks, Chronicle of Higher Education “Many American Jews sharply critical of Israel on Gaza, Post poll finds,” The Washington Post “Bad Memory,” Jewish Currents “Israel Must Stop Weaponizing the Holocaust,” Raz Segal, The Guardian“Tenured California Professor Fired Over Gaza Protest Wins Job Back,” Alice Speri, The Guardian The Problems of Genocide by Dirk MosesIAGS Resolution on the Situation in GazaConvention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide“Museum Statement on the Attack on Israel,” US Holocaust Memorial Museum“<a hr
- Jul 23, 202652 min
Here Where We Live Is Our Country
The resounding success of Here Where We Live Is Our Country, Molly Crabapple’s vividly told and extensively researched history of the Jewish Labor Bund—a socialist group founded at the end of the 19th century on principles of internationalist solidarity, doikayt (or hereness), and Jewish national-cultural autonomy—has improbably brought the Bund, decimated in the Holocaust, into the 21st century. In this interview, Arielle Angel speaks with Crabapple about what it means to see the Bund from this vantage, from the other side of a century where Jews have gone from victims of genocide to genocidaires. What can we learn about purity politics and principled refusal, about solidarity and its failures?Thanks to Julia Natt for editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further ReadingHere Where We Live Is Our Country by Molly Crabapple“Back to the Bund,” Samuel Hayim Brody, Jewish Currents (forthcoming in the Fall issue)Transcript forthcoming.
About On the Nose
On the Nose is a biweekly podcast by Jewish Currents, a magazine of the Jewish left founded in 1946. The editorial staff discusses the politics, culture, and questions that animate today’s Jewish left.
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