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Will you help JNS speak truth to power in 5782?

Wishing all of our readers and their families a happy, healthy, peaceful and sweet New Year and to be sealed in the proverbial “Book of Life” for good. 

Apples and honey, a pomegranate and a shofar, all traditionally involved with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Credit: Tomertu/Shutterstock.
Apples and honey, a pomegranate and a shofar, all traditionally involved with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Credit: Tomertu/Shutterstock.
Jonathan S. Tobin. Photo by Tzipora Lifchitz.
Jonathan S. Tobin
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, a senior contributor for The Federalist, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to many other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, which are available on all major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won more than 60 awards for commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.

This year, we approach Rosh Hashanah with both dread and high expectations.

The past year was one that found most countries still coping with the coronavirus pandemic; what we hoped was its final months have now lingered on, thanks to the more contagious Delta variant of the virus, making the ordeal far from over.

It was also a year that saw changes at the top of governments in both Israel and the United States. And it was a year that saw a renewal of violent terrorist assaults on Israel, as well as a corresponding sickening increase in anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish violence.

That violence wasn’t limited to the Middle East or Europe but also took place in the United States. Just as depressing was the continued credence given radical ideas about race and privilege that have acted as a permission slip for Jew-hatred. If that wasn’t bad enough, we also look around the world and see radical Islamists gaining power in places like Iran and Afghanistan—something that makes the world an even more dangerous place, especially for the Jewish people.

In such times of crisis, we turn to communal institutions for support and guidance, though often find that they are too wrapped up in issues that are tangential or completely divorced from Jewish interests and concerns to be of much help, if they aren’t actually contributing to our problems. The same is true of mainstream information sources and some that are geared towards the Jewish community that may be widely respected, but have also become havens for anti-Zionist invective, delegitimization of Jewish rights and apologists for open anti-Semites and those who oppose truly liberal Western values.

An information source untainted by these anti-Jewish biases and courageous enough to confront the challenges facing both Jews and non-Jews is more important than ever. And that is why we need your help to enable JNS to go on telling the truth about what is going on in a world in which we can no longer count on traditional news sources to defend our values.

Click here to support Jewish journalism

The Jewish News Syndicate, with its JNS.org website, isn’t just an award-winning comprehensive source of reporting, analysis and opinion. It’s a news source that can be trusted to tell the truth about Jewish issues and ideas as well as about Israel.

At a time when audiences regard journalists with deserved skepticism because of highly partisan and biased reporting, relying on mainstream news media sources for up-to-date information and informed opinion about the issues that are a matter of life and death to the Jewish people isn’t always possible. Sadly, the same is true for many Jewish outlets, whose work is tainted by the skewed approach that has made so much of what passes for news unwatchable and unreadable.

JNS prides itself on maintaining the highest standards of fairness and accuracy in our news articles. Throughout 5781, coverage of the issues facing both the United States and Israel—whether it was about the coronavirus pandemic, politics, the battle over ideas that help sustain anti-Semitism, the Jewish state’s security situation and its efforts to expand its ties with its Arab neighbors—gave our readers insights they couldn’t get elsewhere.

Unlike most media outlets, it also presents the case for the justice of Israel’s cause at a time when it is still assailed by foes and an anti-Semitic BDS movement whose influential supporters dominate academia and even sit in Congress—a movement that takes aim at its destruction and the silencing of its supporters. At JNS, you get the facts not just about Israel, but about issues essential to Jewish interests everywhere.

In the past year, in addition to our array of regular columnists, including myself, we have expanded our staff and our features to podcasts and videos that offer one-of-a-kind, information-based interviews with important figures in the news and great thinkers.
But in order to continue to provide this service to the Jewish world, we need more than just your readership. We also need your financial help to keep JNS.org on target as we continue to do the job that no one else does in this same way.

As 5781 ends and 5782 begins, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to JNS.org. While many worthy causes seek financial help, especially in these challenging times, I hope you will consider supporting Jewish journalism at a time when the truth about the threats from anti-Semitism, anti-Israel bias and global terrorism makes it more important than ever.

I hope you will agree that keeping JNS going is an essential cause that cannot be allowed to fail for lack of funds. And I hope we can count on you this year and next.

To contribute, please click on this link to donate to JNS here or mail your check to:

JNS
P.O. Box 610100
Newton Highlands, MA 02461

Thank you again for your support and readership. I look forward to hearing from you in the coming year as we continue to bring you the best in Jewish journalism.

Wishing all of our readers and their families a happy, healthy, peaceful and sweet New Year and to be sealed in the proverbial “Book of Life” for good.

L’shanah tovah tikatevu!

Jonathan S. Tobin
Editor-in-chief

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