Welcome back to this abbreviated Labor Day edition of Jane Looking Forward. Remember: If you wish to continue reading this weekly newsletter, sign up here. And spread the word!


Today is Labor Day, ostensibly a holiday to celebrate the workers who have always made America great, but in practice, a time for bargains and backyard barbecues marking the unofficial end of summer.

What I find disconcerting this year is the way the calendar has been superficially accelerated to feed commercial interests, so that Halloween candy and Thanksgiving cards (cards for Thanksgiving?) already populate store aisles, pushing us into fall when we haven’t yet brushed the sand off our sandals or put away the bathing suits.

This is when I appreciate how Jewish tradition more sensibly foreshadows the next season by focusing on spiritual behavior, not shopping exercises. As Abby Pogrebin reminds us in her terrific exploration of the Jewish calendar, “18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew,” this month of Elul is the time for soul-searching and accountability. We don’t wait until beating our breasts on Yom Kippur to do the hard work of self-scrutiny; it is supposed to begin long before, so that you give yourself a real chance to change.

In addition to scrutinizing my own faults, I’ve been pondering what the media — my beloved profession — has done to contribute to the coarsening of our public discourse and the fracturing of civic comity. What can a (relatively) small publication like the Forward do to repair the damage? How do we give voice to the deep passions engendered by our politics while still making sure that genuine dialogue is possible?

I invite you to help me think this through by sending your thoughts to JaneEisnerEIC@forward.com Constructive criticism is most welcome. Lengthy diatribes and attacks, not so much. Thanks for appreciating the difference.


What I’ve been writing. After Sebastian Gorka used friendly media last week to claim that the Forward and other “liberal Jews” championed his departure from a top position in the White House because we are “anti-Israel,” I felt compelled to respond. It hasn’t stopped certain critics from carrying water for Gorka, but I keep hoping that the facts will prevail.


Looking forward. My staff is already hard at work on the 2017 edition of the Forward 50, our annual compilation of American Jews who have had the greatest impact on the Jewish story in the last year. If you have someone to nominate, please let me know at JaneEisnerEIC@forward.com


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