This great physical universe we inhabit never stays the same, nor can our human world remain the one of our youth. Things change, whether we believe that history repeats itself, or that the arc of the moral universe is long but bends toward justice, or we simply don’t think about human progress at all. But you are reading Moment, so we know you are pondering the substantial changes to come on and after Inauguration Day.
Most likely the great rift within the American Jewish community (not to mention the parallel one in Israel) will continue to expand, and maybe someday end up breaking the continent of American Judaism apart. Most likely, the antisemitism (and the accompanying anti-Israel activism) that have infected the mainstream will continue to fester. Most likely, even “winning” the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East won’t resolve the conflicts. Most likely, there will be major geopolitical realignment, less NATO, more Putin, increased friction with China and Iran. But then again, given the unpredictability of the new-old president, even with a very different support team, it is all TBD.
Our POTUS-to-be-again has long modeled his leadership style on that of the strongman. As we explored in the last issue, this style is trending worldwide, and many Americans—particularly men of every race and ethnicity but women too—are drawn to it. To understand the dangers inherent in this style of leadership, please revisit Moment’s “Big Question Project” in the Fall issue. With the cover line “The Return of the Strongman,” it came out weeks before the election. No, we didn’t consult a soothsayer; we suspected correctly that the appeal of the strongman was strong.
I would argue that the world is more complex to think our way through today than at any previous time in human history. There are just so many factors to consider, and finding your way through complexity is always hard. Soon AI may take over our thinking duties, but for now, we need to remember, and teach, that there is no one human construct through which to view history and current affairs. We will need to draw on more tools and concepts than identity, colonialism, race, gender and class, although all of these can add value. People talk a lot about the multiverse; well, it’s time to start laying the ground for multi-thinking, including much more emphasis on pragmatic bridge-building, trust-building, diplomacy and common sense. Science too, misunderstood as it has been lately, is a powerful analytical tool, although it always opens the door to additional questions. That’s hard, because our nervous systems crave simple answers. Nevertheless, we’ve got to push ourselves to lean into complexity.
American Jews and all Americans need to gather in a new center to find a fresh set of shared values and develop a less divisive, more authentic language to summon them. And we have to do this at a time when social media and technology have changed how we and our brains interact with one another and the world. It’s become natural to reside in reassuring bubbles and see the world as black and white. But it’s our responsibility to do the hard work—to rediscover the curiosity necessary to really learn, to search for nuance together, to build trust. This is best done at or near the center, not at the extremes.
This leads me to our November/December 2024 issue. Adding to my earlier list of most-likelies, expect that our political, linguistic and social taboos will continue to erode and fall. Donald Trump is a taboo breaker who has helped shatter many of the norms that American society has relied on for decades. In a provocative new essay, “The Vanishing Antisemitism Taboo,” Moment Opinion and Books Editor Amy E. Schwartz traces how one of the most sacrosanct taboos has eroded—the taboo against antisemitism, which was forged in the ashes of World War II. After probing the elusive nature of taboos (at their best, they can function to protect societies from some of the most odious ideas), Schwartz explores how this happened and reflects on what we can do about it.
A connected but more openly contentious battle in today’s culture wars is censorship. Banning books is not a new phenomenon—however, the past few years have seen the attempts to challenge books in schools and public libraries skyrocket in the United States. In this moving edition of Moment’s “Big Question Project,” eight scholars and writers, including Robert Alter, Pamela Paul and Sherman Alexie—and a college student—discuss the banned books that changed their lives and helped make them who they are. They also ponder the even bigger question: What does society lose when readers can’t find their way to such books?
Our 2024 Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative story is “No Room for Dissent in the Newsroom?” by Tom Gjelten, a Moment contributor and longtime NPR correspondent. Gjelten spent months delving into how American college publications covered campus unrest in the wake of October 7 and the ongoing Israel–Hamas war, speaking with Jewish student reporters and editors across the country. Many of them were uncomfortable sharing their thoughts with him and/or going on the record, but he persevered, and in this piece he finds that student concerns that reporting was uncritical and biased often went ignored. He also steps back to explore whether Jewish student journalists’ experiences are a result of a move toward advocacy and opinion journalism affecting the entire media industry.
As always, our columnists, book reviewers and departments offer an array of insights into the world’s complexities, whether it’s Marshall Breger arguing that “Jewish unity” can be a form of ideological policing, Letty Cottin Pogrebin finding a worldwide Jewish network to support her search for a Yom Kippur service in Lisbon, Robert Siegel tracing the failure of “Aryan physics” under the Nazis, or Megan Naftali preparing for Hanukkah with an existential question: “When is a latke not a latke?”
There are so many questions to dive into as the world enters a new era, and Moment promises to remain vigilant in a way that elevates the conversation to where it should be today, both in the Jewish world and beyond. We do this by being unafraid to speak truth, by providing history, perspective and context, by being thoughtful and aware of ramifications, and, above all, by keeping the big picture in mind. And by having conversations calmly, without the anger, shrillness, hyperbole, pettiness and fear that permeate so much of our discourse today. We will always take you beyond the headlines and add new dimensions that get you thinking. And laughing! To that end, we have a critical endorsement to announce: “The Moment Latke of the Year” award goes to…S’mores latkes! Really!
So stay calm, keep thinking and Happy Hanukkah. And don’t forget to sign up for our digital newsletters such as Moment Minute and for MomentLive! public affairs programs to keep abreast of what we are writing and talking about between issues.