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Jewish Currents

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jewish Currents
Jewish Currents logo
Cover of Summer 2024 issue
Editor-in-ChiefArielle Angel
Former editorsMorris Schappes, Lawrence Bush
CategoriesJewish arts, literature, politics
FrequencyDaily (website), quarterly (print)
Circulation5,200
Founded1946
CompanyAssociation for Promotion of Jewish Secularism
CountryUnited States
Based inValley Stream, New York
LanguageEnglish
Websitejewishcurrents.org
ISSN0021-6399

Jewish Currents, formerly known as Jewish Life, is an American progressive Jewish quarterly magazine founded in founded in 1946. It features news, political commentary, analysis, and Jewish arts and literature. Its content is reflects the politics of the Jewish left.

History

[edit]

Communist Party USA

[edit]

The magazine was first published in November 1946 by the Morning Freiheit Association under the name Jewish Life and was associated with the Communist Party USA. The magazine covered issues concerning Jews from a communist perspective.[1]

According to The New York Times, the magazine was an organ of the Communist Party. Its editorial stance aligned with Soviet Union, calling Jews who opposed Joseph Stalin fascists.[2] Jewish Life was known to strongly deny the existence of antisemitism in the Soviet Union.[1] In 1956, when new information surfaced about the 1952 execution of 14 Soviet Jews, Jewish Life lost three-fourths (75%) of its subscribers after publishing these revelations. Editor Carol Jochnowitz said the reason behind the decline was subscribers of the magazine believing that it had "Jewish blood on its hands".[2]

Following the incident, the magazine's editor, Louis Harap, renamed Jewish Life to Jewish Currents and promised for it to be more critical of the Soviet Union and Soviet antisemitism.[2] The magazine also began to identify itself with the liberal faction of the Communist Party USA, led by John Gates.[3] The magazine eventualy broke away from the party in 1956.[4]

Jewish Currents fully stopped being alligned with the Soviet Union in 1967, when it supported Israel in the Six-Day War.[2] The magazine later abandoned its communist editorial position, and became a publication for the Jewish left.[5]

Writer Morris U. Schappes edited Jewish Currents from 1959 to 2000. After Schappes retired, Editor Lawrence Bush took his position in 2002.[5] Bush worked for Schappes as an assistant editor from 1979 to 1983.[2]

The Worksmen's Circle

[edit]

For a long time, communist editors of Jewish Currents have clashed with the liberal socialist leaders of the The Workmen's Circle on issues such as antisemitism in the Soviet Union and the execution of Czech politician Rudolf Slánský. Many communist editors of the magazine became disillusioned with the Soviet Union after Stalin's purges and the dissolution of the country in 1991, changing their political views and moving closer to the reformist position of The Workmen's Circle.[2]

In 2006, when readership of Jewish Currents began to decline, the magazine decided to merge with The Worksmen's Circle.[2] The magazine became the official publication of the organization.[6] Jewish Currents grew afterwards, gaining 13,000 new subscrbers. The Communist Party USA congratulated the magazine on the merger. Some leaders of The Worksmen's Circle were against the merger, with one of them saying; "Don't trust those old Commies".[2] The Workmen's Circle published the magazine untill 2009.[7]

Relaunch

[edit]

According to Le Monde, after breaking with CPUSA, the magazine operated in obscurity and became "dormant" at the beginning of the 21st century, becoming active in the late 2010s.[8]

In 2017, Lawrence Bush transfered control of the magazine to a team of young journalists due to his old age.[8] In 2018, Jewish Currents was relaunched with the support of the Puffin Foundation. The magazine redesigned its website and hired a new editorial team composed entirely of millennial Jews, which included writer Arielle Angel as literary editor.[5] She became editor-in-chief of Jewish Currents that same year.[9] In November 2019, Senator Bernie Sanders wrote an essay in the magazine on his relationship with Judaism.[10]

In January 2020, Jewish Currents expanded and hired five new writers, including columnist Peter Beinart, a left-wing Zionist.[11] Beinart said he had been in talks with the magazine since 2019 about becoming editor-at-large.[12] In 2021, the magazine apologized to readers for running an advertisement for the Dorot Fellowship, a leadership training program in Israel for American Jews. Some people said the ad was proof that the magazine was secretly Zionist.[13]

In 2022, the magazine had 5,200 subscribers, 12 full-time employees and was read by more than a million people annually. Its budget was $1.6 million, drawing on its $1 million endowment as well as contributions from individuals and foundations.[9] In October 2023, the magazine's popularity rapidly increased, with the number of weekly views increasing tenfold since October 7, 2023. The number of paid subscribers also increased by 1,000.[14] In 2024, Wikipedia editors decided to downgrade credibility rating of Anti-Defamation League as a source based on investigations conducted by Jewish Currents.[15]

Editorial position

[edit]

In 2018, Jewish Currents was described as a non-zionist publication that supported Israel’s right to exist.[5] In 2021, The Jerusalem Post described the magazine as a "leading voice of the American Jewish left". The magazine became highly critical of Israel and supported Palestinian right of return and boycotts of Israeli businesses in the occupied West Bank.[16] According to Sublation Magazine, under its new leadership, the magazine has shifted from Progressive Zionism to anti-Zionism.[17]

BuzzFeed News said the magazine wants to appeal to "young, progressive American Jews" who "don’t identify with communal institutions’ consensus on Israel".[11] Journal Sapir referred to the magazine as a "far-Left publication".[18] The People's World described the magazine as anti-imperialist.[19]

Intelligencer said Jewish Currents "brings together in its pages the aspirations of the Jewish left and the Palestinian liberation movement".[20] The New Yorker said that the magazine has extensively documented evictions of Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank by Israeli authorities and employs many Palestinian contributors.[15] Columbia Journalism Review said that Jewish Currents "embraces an anti-Zionist stance".[21] Le Monde said that Jewish Currents aims to "amplify the voice, worldview, and legacy of anti-Zionist left-wing Jews". It also said that the readers of the magazine are anti-capitalist, anti-racist and pro-Palestinian rights.[8]

In a 2023 interview, Editor Arielle Angel described Jewish Currents as a "magazine for a community, not a party”. She said that despite it being left-wing, the magazine does not endorse candidates or support any political parties. She said Jewish Currents is a progressive magazine that continues the legacy of the Communist Party by "fighting for economic justice and racial justice".[4] Jewish Currents did not condemn October 7 attacks on Israel. Arielle Engel told The New Yorker that the reason behind this decision was that the magazine was not interested in political responses or mobilizing people.[3]

Reception

[edit]

In December 2020, Richard Kuper of Jewish Voice for Liberation criticized Jewish Currents for publishing an "unbalanced" analysis of Jeremy Corbyn's performance as Labour Party leader.[22]

In 2023 Jewish Currents came under criticism of a Liberal Zionist intellectual Yehuda Kurtzer writing for The Forward. Kurtzer said that the magazine became “entirely disinterested in the claims of Jewish peoplehood and solidarity”.[15] He said there had been a change in the American Jewish political landscape since the October 7 attacks, and it has been foreshadowed when Jewish Currents published an article in 2021 that suppored resistance against Israel “by any means necessary”. Kurtzer also noted how one Jewish Currents contributor tweeted “Glory to the resistance” after the attacks.[23]

Arash Azizi of Liberties: Journal of Culture and Politics criticized the magazine in 2024. According to him, Jewish Currents is hostile to Israel and its society, including the Israeli left, viewing Israel's existence as "ethnonationalist". Azizi said such views contradict Marxism, which allows ethno-national communities to create their own countries and have self-determination.[3]

In October 2025, The Times of Israel blogger Ralph Zelinger said that the magazine had turned "virulently anti-Zionist" after it changed leadership in 2018. He called this a "profound disappointment".[24] In December 2025, journalist and columnist M. Gessen praised Jewish Currents, noting that the magazine offers "mix of reporting and commentary, all executed with the highest journalistic standards". He also said that it has "more courage than most mainstream outlets" for publishing a self-induced abortion guide and internal documents of Anti-Defamation League.[25]

Further reading

[edit]
  • Cohen, Debra (February 6, 2020). "'Jewish Currents' relaunch puts the Puffin Foundation in the spotlight". Jewish Insider.
  • Wallach, Van (January 9, 2023). "The Odd Couple: Jewish Currents and Jewish Press". The Times of Israel.
  • Lewis-Kraus, Gideon (March 26, 2026). "'A Critical Mass of U.S. Jews Is Now Disgusted With Israel'". Haaretz.

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 "Jewish Life (1946-1957)". Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved August 1, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Berger, Joseph (April 13, 2006). "Jewish Currents Magazine and a Longtime Adversary Decide to Merge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  3. 1 2 3 Azizi, Arash (October 2024). "Jewish Feelings, Vibes, and Currents". Liberties: Journal of Culture and Politics.
  4. 1 2 "Jumpstarting Jewish Currents". Berman Jewish Policy Archive. September 28, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Dolsten, Josefin (April 17, 2018). "Jewish Currents, a 72-year-old left-wing magazine, wants to appeal to millennials". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
  6. ↑ Seliger, Ralph (November 13, 2008). "The Progressive Politics We Need". The Forward.
  7. ↑ Bush, Lawrence (September 11, 2009). "'I want to see our fences become fringes'". The Jewish Standard.
  8. 1 2 3 Goldszal, Clementine (September 18, 2025). "Dans les colonnes du «Jewish Currents», la voix des juifs propalestiniens". Le Monde (in French).
  9. 1 2 Goldberg, Emma (December 30, 2022). "She's Building a Little Jewish Magazine on Big Ideas". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  10. ↑ Kampeas, Ron (November 12, 2019). "Bernie Sanders writes essay on antisemitism for Jewish publication". The Jerusalem Post.
  11. 1 2 Gray, Rosie (January 27, 2020). "Leftist Magazine Jewish Currents Is Expanding — And Hiring A Leading Writer On American Jewish Politics". BuzzFeed News.
  12. ↑ Dolsten, Josefin (January 29, 2020). "Prominent liberal writer Peter Beinart leaves Forward for progressive Jewish Currents". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
  13. ↑ Harris, Ben (December 25, 2021). "Jewish Currents magazine apologizes for running ad for Israel fellowship". The Jerusalem Post.
  14. ↑ Tameez, Hanaa (November 20, 2023). ""Everybody's sense of emotion and devastation is heightened": How Jewish Currents is covering the Israel-Hamas war". Nieman Lab.
  15. 1 2 3 Lewis-Kraus, Gideon (September 9, 2024). "The Angst and Sorrow of Jewish Currents". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X.
  16. ↑ Harris, Ben (December 23, 2021). "Jewish Currents apologizes for running an ad for an Israel fellowship, saying it 'is not in line with our values'". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  17. ↑ Silberstein, Abe (June 30, 2025). "The Millennial Jewish Left: An Insider's History". Sublation Magazine.
  18. ↑ Stephens, Bret (October 16, 2023). "'We Are Alone': Reflections on the Jewish-American Response to October 7". Sapir.
  19. ↑ Gordon, Eric (September 1, 2021). "Healing old wounds on the left: My brief interaction with Ed Asner". People's World.
  20. ↑ Spaeth, Ryu (November 20, 2023). "Israel, Gaza, and the Fracturing of the Intellectual Left". Intelligencer. Archived from the original on November 20, 2023.
  21. ↑ Nelson, Jacob (January 3, 2025). "A Front-Row Seat to Polarization". Columbia Journalism Review.
  22. ↑ Kuper, Richard (December 13, 2020). "Where Jewish Currents got it wrong". Jewish Voice for Liberation.
  23. ↑ Kurtzer, Yehuda (November 30, 2023). "How Oct. 7 is reshaping the Zionist — and anti-Zionist — left in the US". The Forward.
  24. ↑ Seliger, Ralph (October 8, 2025). "The Blogs: Jewish Mag's Extreme Anti-Israel Turn". The Times of Israel.
  25. ↑ Gessen, M. (December 3, 2025). "Help a Magazine That Dares to Tell the Truth". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jewish_Currents&oldid=1367388840"