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Jay Michaelson

@jaymichaelson.bsky.social
2.7K followers 60 following 71 posts

Writer, journalist (Rolling Stone, Forward, CNN), rabbi, professor (Emory Center for Psychedelics & Spirituality, Harvard Law School [2025]). Former lawyer & LGBTQ+ activist jaymichaelson.substack.com

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Reposted by Jay Michaelson
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Honored to be quoted here, where @jaymichaelson.bsky.social is totally on point re: the unacceptable silence of Jewish orgs wrt Epstein + war.
forward.com
Epstein and Iran are an antisemitism mega-crisis. Here's what Jewish organizations should do about it.
Nothing will make antisemitism go away, but we can work together to mitigate its severity.
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Reposted by Jay Michaelson
rak @raksky.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
"First of all, I don’t answer to you, and I don’t answer to you." There's always a tweet. Scott Jennings gets his finger in the face of Michael Eric Dyson @michaelericdyson.bsky.social & Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social 🔗 via @acyn.bsky.social on 8 Oct 2024 t.ly/Geebk
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Tom Carter @thcarter123.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
@jaymichaelson.bsky.social - July 2018 Leonard Leo “figured out twenty years ago that conservatives had lost the culture war. Abortion, gay rights, contraception—conservatives didn’t have a chance if public opinion prevailed. So they needed to stack the courts,” said Tom Carter archive.ph/6ow1B
thedailybeast.com
The Secretive Puppetmaster Behind Trump’s Supreme Court Pick
A Catholic fundamentalist who controls a network of right-wing groups funded by dark money has put three justices on the court. He’s about to get a fourth.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
After the Epstein Files release and the Iran war, there has been a huge spike in antisemitism. But the institutions who focus on these things seem completely oblivious, or silent, or both. In @jdforward , I analyze this crisis and what might be done to respond to it. forward.com/opinion/8188...
forward.com
Epstein and Iran are an antisemitism mega-crisis. Here's what Jewish organizations should do about it.
Nothing will make antisemitism go away, but we can work together to mitigate its severity.
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Reposted by Jay Michaelson
David Weinfeld @davidweinfeld.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Excellent article by @jaymichaelson.bsky.social about the terms genocide and blood libel that resonates with a lot of what i’ve been thinking over the past two and a half years. forward.com/opinion/8056...
forward.com
Tragically, 'genocide' has become a meaningless word
In calling accusations of genocide 'blood libel,' a new pro-Israel petition mirrors the Left in draining an important term of its meaning.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Nihilism is abundant in online culture, politics, celebrity culture, and perhaps above all, in the high rates of hopelessness reported by Gen-Z Americans -- often for very good reasons. Conservatives have an answer to it. But do progressives? jaymichaelson.substack.com/p/maybe-nihi...
jaymichaelson.substack.com
Maybe Nihilism is the Real Enemy?
And if so, what non-oppressive things can be done about it? (Trigger warning: somewhat uplifting ending.)
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
The Good shooting and the threatened Greenland operation are mirror images of one another. Both invite us to disregard what is obviously true — the president is mad, the mom was innocent — and somehow believe the preposterous instead. open.substack.com/pub/jaymicha...
open.substack.com
The Nakedness of the King
We have entered a new phase of madness and cognitive dissonance.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
"Once you strip away the false claims of criminality or violence or the stealing of American jobs, what you’re left with is the truth: that some mostly-white people don’t like the way the country is changing." jaymichaelson.substack.com/p/the-real-a...
jaymichaelson.substack.com
The Real America is Not About Blood and Soil
Ethnonationalist Garbage vs. Six Flags Great Adventure
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Reposted by Jay Michaelson
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action @bendthearc.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
The Trump admin has vowed to go after organizations it vaguely (and falsely) claims support violence. The list includes several Jewish groups. Despite their insistence and smokescreen tactics, Trump and his allies do not care about Jews — only crushing dissent. from @jaymichaelson.bsky.social
forward.com
The Trump administration is targeting Jewish organizations — what are we prepared to do?
Even if you're not a fan of organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace or IfNotNow, you need to stand with them nonetheless.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Are We All Conspiracy Theorists Now? open.substack.com/pub/jaymicha...
open.substack.com
Are We All Conspiracy Theorists Now?
When questioning the right-wing conspiracy theory about a left-wing conspiracy sounds a lot like a conspiracy theory.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
To understand Charlie Kirk's political legacy, one must understand his religious beliefs. open.substack.com/pub/jaymicha...
open.substack.com
The Faith of Charlie Kirk: A Guide
To understand Charlie Kirk's political legacy, one must understand his religious beliefs.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Just asking questions...
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Abby Chava Stein @abbystein.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
It's not just that the administration never cared about antisemitism, rather, they used us for their own authoritarian goals. And that, that's antisemitic 😡 From Rabbi Dr. @jaymichaelson.bsky.social: "It is now obvious that antisemitism was never the real reason..." forward.com/opinion/7564...
forward.com
American Jews were played — now what?
Antisemitism was never the reason for the Trump administration’s attacks on universities. What can we learn from this great exploitation?
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
What do MAGA nationalists see when they look at the Statue of Liberty? jaymichaelson.substack.com/p/what-to-th...
jaymichaelson.substack.com
What, to the Nationalist, is the Statue of Liberty?
Right and Left live in different nomic countries.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
I'll be on #CNN tonight from 10p-11p ET talking about... all of this.
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jonnygarf.bsky.social @jonnygarf.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
I usually look to @jaymichaelson.bsky.social for his brilliant application of Jewish insight to current politics. This piece in the Forward 2 days ago comes close... forward.com/opinion/7110... We need something like the Declaration of Independence in listing the crimes of despotisim we're facing.
forward.com
Stephen Miller's cavalier cruelty misses the whole point of Passover
With his cavalier cruelty, Miller, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, seems to have forgotten that we, too, were once strangers in Egypt.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
The deep truth of Jesse Watters' conception of fragile masculinity: open.substack.com/pub/jaymicha...
open.substack.com
Opportunism, Madness, Nihilism, & Terror
Jesse Watters is really, really worried about men spontaneously turning into women.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Honored to be part of this amazing anthology.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
The Torah vs. Stephen Miller forward.com/opinion/7110... @forward.com
forward.com
Stephen Miller's cavalier cruelty misses the whole point of Passover
With his cavalier cruelty, Miller, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, seems to have forgotten that we, too, were once strangers in Egypt.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Letting go of anxiety and embracing grief -- a reflection on the last few months, entitled The Glass is Already Broken open.substack.com/pub/jaymicha...
open.substack.com
The Glass is Already Broken
What happens when you accept that the worst might happen?
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Mr. Beast meets Citizen Kane.
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Reposted by Jay Michaelson
Will Sommer @willsommer.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Right-wing YouTuber Tim Pool has made it to the White House pool — someone from his “Timcast” channel will be part of today’s pool duty covering the president. Last year, DOJ revealed Pool was receiving millions of dollars from the Russian gov. Pool says he didn’t know where it was coming from.
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Interfaith Alliance @interfaithalliance.org · 26/03/2025
What does the future hold for gay marriage in the US and what would Rabbi @jaymichaelson.bsky.social say to the MAGA gays? "We will lose most of the rights which we worked hard to get, even if we retain marriage in some form or fashion," Rabbi Dr. Michaelson predicts.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Here's a vaguely optimistic perspective — as long as “optimism” includes economic devastation, massive human rights abuses, and clear violations of the constitution. I call it “Waiting for Midnight.” jaymichaelson.substack.com/p/waiting-fo...
jaymichaelson.substack.com
Waiting for Midnight: A Quasi-Optimistic Take
Things are yet not as bad as they need to be. But we're getting there.
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Reposted by Jay Michaelson
Interfaith Alliance @interfaithalliance.org · 23/03/2025
Rabbi Dr. @jaymichaelson.bsky.social returns to The State of Belief this week for a deep dive into the rule of law and the chaos of MAGA, including the weaponization of antisemitism accusations and the rise of the "woke right."
stateofbelief.com
The Rule of Law and the Chaos of MAGA: Jay Michaelson
The State of Belief Host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson to discuss the role of the courts as a check on the powers claimed by the executive, tools for resilience,...
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Trump admin official admits there's no due process. No due process at all. They "determined" these people were terrorists and deported them without trial of any kind. www.instagram.com/reel/DHjg9G0...
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Reposted by Jay Michaelson
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
New, from @pamherd.bsky.social at Can We Still Govern: NIH grants are being screened for forbidden words. Breakthrough techniques (like mRNA) are now off the table. Do you want scientific funding awards to be determined by political appointees or scientists? donmoynihan.substack.com/p/politicizi...
donmoynihan.substack.com
Politicizing Science: The National Institutes for Health
A merit-based and competitive process will be politicized - or eliminated
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
A Letter to a Trump-Supporting Technologist friend: open.substack.com/pub/jaymicha...
open.substack.com
Letter to a Trump-Supporting Technologist
Why the costs of Trump outweigh the benefits
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Reposted by Jay Michaelson
steven monacelli @stevanzetti.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
"A new bill filed in the Texas House would prevent students from behaving like anything other than a human being at schools in the state." Well there go the theater and band programs www.kvue.com/article/news...
kvue.com
FURRIES Act filed by Texas lawmakers targets non-human student behavior in schools
The bill aims to ban students from non-human behavior with exceptions for days designated for costumes like Halloween.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
"The symposium was called Psychedelics and Monotheistic Religions: Sacramental Practice and Legal Recognition, and responded to the dramatic increase, in recent years, of psychedelic use in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities...." Read more at jaymichaelson.substack.com
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Understatement of the year: these are challenging times. Over at Dan Harris's 10% Happier podcast, I shared the meditative practice of recalling and re-embodying past altered states of consciousness (whether psychedelic or not) to experience them anew.. now. www.danharris.com/p/reliving-a...
danharris.com
Meditation: Reliving altered states
By Jay Michaelson
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
It's good to talk with the folks at @judaismunbound.bsky.social about the insane hall of funhouse mirrors that is the American Jewish community right now. www.judaismunbound.com/podcast/epis...
judaismunbound.com
Israel-Palestine Echo Chambers: Judaism Unbound Episode 471 - Jay Michaelson — Judaism Unbound
Jay Michaelson , an award-winning journalist, professor, rabbi, and author, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation exploring centrism and radicalism, misinformation that circulates f...
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
We're in Phase One of a constitutional crisis: the president is doing manifestly illegal, unconstitutional things. In Phase Two, the courts will rule against him. In Phase Three, he will tell them to go to hell. What then? Read more at jaymichaelson.substack.com/p/the-most-i...
jaymichaelson.substack.com
The Most Important Sentence Donald Trump Has Ever Said
The Three Phases of Constitutional Crisis, and How to Prepare for Them
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
This aged perfectly.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Tragically, complaining about "fascism" is not persuading anyone. Progressives need to get more specific, and tell more stories, instead of talking about abstract concepts. jaymichaelson.substack.com/p/whats-so-b...
jaymichaelson.substack.com
What’s so bad about fascism?
And why this is not a rhetorical question.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Memo to all so-called "anti-woke" "Contrarians" from Serena Williams's husband & founder of Reddit Alex Ohanian:
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Jake @ HUBhistory @hubhistory.com · 05/02/2025
President Trump wants to send YOUR kids to die in Gaza so HIS kids can get rich there
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
This is not a time to panic and catastrophize. It's a time to fight for the rule of law -- and the fight is already notching victories. jaymichaelson.substack.com/p/the-fight-...
jaymichaelson.substack.com
The Fight for the Rule of Law is On
Don't be deceived by carnival hucksterism. The Trump Train is already derailing.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Millions of people now believe a false claim about USAID. Elon Musk has amplified an obvious lie, here clearly debunked. www.cgdev.org/blog/no-90-p...
cgdev.org
No, 90 Percent of Aid Is Not Skimmed Off Before Reaching Target Communities
A viral claim, spread and amplified by Elon Musk, suggests that only 10 percent of USAID money reaches its intended beneficiaries. This is a wildly incorrect and misleading interpretation of a differe...
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Hakeem Jeffries is Right About God -- or, why I liked the tweet that many progressives hated. open.substack.com/pub/jaymicha...
open.substack.com
Hakeem Jeffries is Right About God
Progressives need to reclaim the language of faith for moral clarity, effective communication, and solace.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Really says it all.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
I had some surprising feelings on Inauguration Day. jaymichaelson.substack.com/p/a-surprisi...
jaymichaelson.substack.com
A Surprising Inauguration Day Emotion
Not anger, not anxiety, but something more intimate and more generative.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Remind me again: There's no difference between Biden/Harris and Trump on Israel/Palestine, right? Oh.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
In case anyone's wondering why the war didn't end months ago. What a vile human being, with a vile ideology that is deadly for Palestinians and Israelis alike. Imagine being the parent of an Israeli hostage or Palestinian child -- and this is why you must live with your worst fears every day.
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Skimp Dog @skimpy.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Rabbi @jaymichaelson.bsky.social bringing the koan game jaymichaelson.substack.com/p/psychedeli...
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René Smits 🇪🇺🇺🇦🇬🇱🇮🇸🇨🇦(🇻🇦) @rs-lawsociety.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
'if you look at the last few hundred years of history, the arc of the moral universe has still bent, overall, toward justice' - hopeful words by @jaymichaelson.bsky.social in dark times open.substack.com/pub/jaymicha...
open.substack.com
Check In on Your Elephant
Hey there, how are you doing?
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
My substack newsletter is about the intersection of our public and private lives: spirituality and politics, our inner worlds and shared world. Nowhere is this intersection more painfully visible than in the response to the devastation in Los Angeles. jaymichaelson.substack.com/p/what-we-do...
jaymichaelson.substack.com
What We Do in a Nightmare
The fires this time.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
And municipalities, and weather reporters, and all the other mundane stuff that made Twitter useful.
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
"Stop exaggerating!" people told me. "No one is coming for marriage equality."
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Jay Michaelson @jaymichaelson.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
I am utterly unpersuaded by the arguments being made against President Biden's pardon. Here's a thread refuting them.
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