Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 8h

"This commandment to love our neighbor is not so much about a feeling that we’re supposed to just feel in our hearts... It’s made real through action." religionnews.com/2025/10/07/i...

Religious protesters say ICE threatens religious freedom in Chicago

(RNS) — Despite potential danger, religious leaders and faith activists have been a visible presence at Chicago-area ICE protests, some waving signs with slogans such as ‘Love thy neighbor’ and ‘Who w...

religionnews.com

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 8h

"Dozens of rare Jewish religious books, some believed to have belonged to the legendary Library of the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva, were recently discovered in the basement of a Jewish-owned building near the Nożyk Synagogue in Warsaw." www.ynetnews.com/jewish-world...

Rare pre-Holocaust Jewish books found in Warsaw basement

Books bearing stamps from the legendary Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva—lost during the Holocaust—were found in poor condition in Warsaw; Polish experts are working to preserve the mold- and fungus-damaged te...

www.ynetnews.com

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 15h

“How does one mourn and commemorate an atrocity against your people in the midst of an atrocity done to another people in your name?”

I feel this very keenly today.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 22h

The Zionist consensus among US Jews has collapsed. Something new is emerging | Shaul Magid

Two years after the 7 October massacre and the onset of Israel’s slaughter in Gaza, American Jewry has been profoundly transformed

www.theguardian.com

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 15h

The person who wrote this article is a Jewish scholar, rabbi, and IDF veteran. Fine to disagree with him - I know he welcomes disagreement, in the best tradition of Jewish history - but this is not a case of non-Jews defining Jewish terms for us, which admittedly is something that happens too often.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 15h

Instead of "Smoked Fish Czar," what about "Liege Lord of the Lox"?

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 18h

Breaking News: Saul Zabar, who over seven decades made the Upper West Side food emporium Zabar’s a New York institution, is dead at 97. nyti.ms/42qGl2n

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 15h

"We find ourselves at a moment where the compatibility of “liberalism” and “Zionism” feels increasingly untenable... The permanent occupation, to say nothing of the destruction of Gaza, has undermined any plausible claim to Israel as a “liberal” country." www.theguardian.com/world/commen...

The Zionist consensus among US Jews has collapsed. Something new is emerging | Shaul Magid

Two years after the 7 October massacre and the onset of Israel’s slaughter in Gaza, American Jewry has been profoundly transformed

www.theguardian.com

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 16h

Every faculty and staff meeting in higher education since the beginning of 2025.

two men are sitting in a car with the words `` damage report ! '' written on the screen .

ALT: two men are sitting in a car with the words `` damage report ! '' written on the screen .

media.tenor.com

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 16h

Every faculty and staff meeting in higher education since the beginning of 2025.

two men are sitting in a car with the words `` damage report ! '' written on the screen .

ALT: two men are sitting in a car with the words `` damage report ! '' written on the screen .

media.tenor.com

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 16h

Maybe don’t call a Jewish icon a “czar” in your headline.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 18h

Breaking News: Saul Zabar, who over seven decades made the Upper West Side food emporium Zabar’s a New York institution, is dead at 97. nyti.ms/42qGl2n

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 16h

End of an era in American Jewish history.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 18h

Breaking News: Saul Zabar, who over seven decades made the Upper West Side food emporium Zabar’s a New York institution, is dead at 97. nyti.ms/42qGl2n

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19h

Grief is a pure feeling. It's immediate. It's visceral. And now I can never feel it in this context without it being associated with feelings of guilt. That does not in any way make me the primary victim of what happened on October 7, 2023. But it does feel violating and wrong.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19h

I think that's fair but I also think it's noting that his rhetoric on these issues has moderated somewhat and a lot of his most extreme supporters online seem disappointed in him - which I personally consider a plus.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19h

There are not many Jews on earth. We are a small, tightly-knit community. Many of us have close friends and family in Israel. Most of us were grief-stricken. And now the Israeli government has ensured that grief will forever feel tainted, because of how it was politically used against my will.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19h

And whatever you think of Mamdani's Israel-Palestine views, whether you agree or disagree, it seems undeniable that he didn't highlight them as the primary issue for voters in the Democratic primary for NYC mayor - especially voters who aren't extremely online.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19h

The comments are bad, but I don't think we should assume that a few loud people online - many of whom are increasingly angry at him for statements like this - represent the bulk of Mamdani's support. You don't overwhelmingly win an NYC Democratic primary just with online tankies.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19h

October 7, 2023, was genuinely a traumatic day for Jews around the world, who are a small and tightly-knit community with many of us having close ties in Israel. Now my grief for that day is always going to be tinged by the knowledge it was used to launch a genocide. My grief feels impure and wrong.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19h

I don't think we should make the mistake of assuming that a few loud people online - many of whom are increasingly angry at him for statements like this - represent the bulk of Mamdani's support. You don't overwhelmingly win an NYC Democratic primary just with online tankies.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19h

Obviously Palestinians are far and away the primary victims of Israel's genocidal war undertaken in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks. And no one should take that away. But there is a part of me furious at the Israeli government for stealing away my ability to just grieve as a Jew.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19h

It's rare and refreshing to see a politician who views Palestine-Israel through the lens of universal values of human rights, and not as two opposing teams of exclusionary ethnonationalisms that you have to choose between.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 21h

My statement on the two year anniversary of October 7, 2023.

“Two years ago today, Hamas carried out a horrific war crime, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and kidnapping 250 more. I mourn these lives and pray for the safe return of every hostage still held and for every family whose lives were torn apart by these atrocities.

In the aftermath of that day, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government launched a genocidal war: adeath toll that now far exceeds 67,000; with the Israeli military bombing homes, hospitals, and schools into rubble. Every day in Gaza has become a place where grief itself has run out of language. I mourn these lives and pray for the families that have been shattered. Our government has been complicit through it all.

This must end. The occupation and apartheid must end. Peace must be pursued through diplomacy, not war crimes, and our government must act to end these atrocities and hold those responsible to account.

These last two years have demonstrated the very worst of humanity. We must answer it by modeling the very best: a relentless pursuit of our higher ideals and an unwavering commitment to universal human rights.”

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19h

Good column about the looming civil war over Israel brewing on the MAGA right: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/o...

Opinion | Megyn Kelly Knows Which Way the Winds Are Blowing

www.nytimes.com

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 21h

"How does one mourn and commemorate an atrocity against your people in the midst of an atrocity done to another people in your name?" www.theguardian.com/world/commen...

The Zionist consensus among US Jews has collapsed. Something new is emerging | Shaul Magid

Two years after the 7 October massacre and the onset of Israel’s slaughter in Gaza, American Jewry has been profoundly transformed

www.theguardian.com

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 21h

This is an excellent statement, but he is going to get criticism both for saying (rightly) that the war is genocide and that Israel is committing apartheid, AND he is also going to get criticism for saying (rightly) that Hamas committed atrocities and war crimes.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 21h

My statement on the two year anniversary of October 7, 2023.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 21h

This is maybe the best statement a politician has made on this horrific anniversary.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 21h

My statement on the two year anniversary of October 7, 2023.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 21h

"For all the talk of fostering open debate, the goal appears to be the creation of safe spaces for the fragile egos of Maga students suffering from universities’ supposed culture of “negativity”." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

US universities must reject Trump’s ‘compact’. It is full of traps | Jan-Werner Müller

The administration is trying to make nine universities an offer they seemingly cannot refuse

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Joel S.

Standing Together @standing-together.bsky.social · 22h

(4/4)

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