Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 1h

Basically I hope you will use this as a way to think and talk through what's not working and why and, instead of staying stuck in the brokenness, think and talk through how we might imagine something better
nexusproject.us/nexus-resour...

The Shofar Report: A Call to Defend Democracy and Confront Antisemitism

Explore how defending democracy and confronting antisemitism ensures safety for all. Discover actionable steps inside this report.

nexusproject.us

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Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 1h

I hope you'll read Irwin Kula on generational differences on approaching antisemitism, fear, and security, and why the current modes are not working
nexusproject.us/nexus-resour...

Between Power and Peril: The Fracturing of Antisemitism

Explore the generational divide on antisemitism, trauma, and Jewish identity. Debates over power and safety fracture today’s community

nexusproject.us

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Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 1h

I hope you'll read Joshua Shanes on antisemitic tropes and their evolutions (and exploitations)
nexusproject.us/nexus-resour...

The Shifting Uses of Antisemitic Tropes

Explore the changing tactics of antisemitic tropes, from historic myths to modern conspiracies—learn what to watch for and how to push back.

nexusproject.us

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Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 1h

I hope you'll read @itamann.bsky.social and @lihiyona.bsky.social on how attempts to chill speech around Israel are also attempts to legislate/rule on Jewish identity
nexusproject.us/nexus-resour...

Governing Jews: Antisemitism, Pluralism, and the Role of Law in the Trump Era

Discover how US law shapes Jewish identity and why legal responses to antisemitism must also protect pluralism, free speech, and diversity.

nexusproject.us

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Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 1h

I hope you'll read @lilacb.bsky.social on the myth of the Golden Land and why the story we tell ourselves about antisemitism in America past and present is wrong
nexusproject.us/nexus-resour...

Antisemitism in the “Golden Land”?

Examine how the ‘Golden Land’ myth shaped American Jewish history—and why recognizing antisemitism is vital to justice and progress today.

nexusproject.us

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Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 1h

I want to draw your attention to the second half: all new essays by some of the smartest thinkers on Jewish history and antisemitism. It's my hope it will help us articulate how we got here and how we might find a way out nexusproject.us/nexus-resour...

A Language for and From Here: Introducing the Shofar Report, Part II

Explore how the Shofar Report redefines antisemitism and democracy for American Jews. New language for understanding today’s challenges

nexusproject.us

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Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 2h

Proud to have played a part in The Shofar Report, @nexusproject.bsky.social's response to Project Esther, the Trump administration, and the idea that Jews should abandon liberal democracy. You can read about it in this thoughtful @arnorosenfeld.bsky.social write up 1/?
forward.com/news/antisem...

Project Esther created a blueprint for Trump to fight antisemitism. The ‘Shofar Report’ is a liberal response.

Sign up for Antisemitism Decoded, the Forward’s guide through the news and noise about Jewish safety, brought to you biweekly by investigative journalist Arno Rosenfeld.Most American Jews have taken a...

forward.com

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Reposted by Emily Tamkin

Betsey #NoNewWomensPrison Chace @betseychace.bsky.social · 21h

“[We can’t] we delude ourselves into thinking of this as a victory or a kind of tabula rasa, as though the lives lost and hate spewed are all behind us, forgotten, atoned for. The last two years will never not have happened. What happens next depends on all of us fully appreciating that.”

Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 3d

I’ve seen some accuse those who protested for a ceasefire as being disingenuous by not celebrating this one so for @forward.com I wrote about the difference between relief and joy and what the ceasefire can’t do

forward.com/opinion/7754...

I know exactly why leftists aren't celebrating this ceasefire

Why not celebrate the ceasefire? Because, while it's a relief, it won't undo all the suffering and death of the past two years.

forward.com

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Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 21h

Before you yell at me, consider I explicitly put “don’t yell at me” in my bio

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Nikki McCann Ramírez @nikkimcr.bsky.social · 21h

not a problem, pete will just text them the state secrets directly.

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Emily L. Hauser (she/her) ❌👑 @emilylhauser.bsky.social · 22h

"Of course it’s a relief that the families of hostages don’t need to live one more day in torment & anguish. Of course it’s a relief that more bombs will not fall on Gaza.

But celebration implies, to me anyway, that this is a positive w/out caveats. And in this situation there are so many caveats."

Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 3d

I’ve seen some accuse those who protested for a ceasefire as being disingenuous by not celebrating this one so for @forward.com I wrote about the difference between relief and joy and what the ceasefire can’t do

forward.com/opinion/7754...

I know exactly why leftists aren't celebrating this ceasefire

Why not celebrate the ceasefire? Because, while it's a relief, it won't undo all the suffering and death of the past two years.

forward.com

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Reposted by Emily Tamkin

Alona Ferber @aloner.bsky.social · 1d

Trump: "That's all I do in my life, I make deals. I'm good at it"

Meanwhile.... lots of very moving footage has come out of hostages being reunited with their families

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Reposted by Emily Tamkin

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 1d

These are people who are protesting against a synagogue, and yet have somehow convinced themselves the other side are the antisemites.

Noah Shachtman @noahshachtman.bsky.social · 1d

Zohran is speaking at my synagogue. These folks are outside.

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Reposted by Emily Tamkin

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 1d

Not sure I've ever seen a headline that more screams "Leopards eating faces" than this one.

"'A conspiratorial Right is rising' in America, Ben Shapiro tells 'Post'
US political commentator Ben Shapiro in candid conversation with The Jerusalem Post: 'You get a lot more likes and clicks if you are promoting an anti-Israel, anti-Jewish agenda.'"

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Reposted by Emily Tamkin

The Nexus Project @nexusproject.bsky.social · 1d

This is the Project Esther playbook: targeting a liberal Jewish philanthropist and left wing Jewish groups. It’s ostensibly to fight antisemitism. In reality, it’s authoritarian overreach and harmful to our democracy and the Jews in it.

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Reposted by Emily Tamkin

The Nexus Project @nexusproject.bsky.social · 1d

Further, given that their Jewish identity is the very thing that leads many Jews to speak up around Israel, the administration’s approach will necessarily catch many Jews in its draconian net.

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Reposted by Emily Tamkin

The Nexus Project @nexusproject.bsky.social · 1d

The Trump administration is suggesting that Jewish groups critical of its foreign policy vis a vis Israel are engaging in terrorism.

This is appalling politicization of the term and gross executive overreach.

Trump’s war on the left: Inside the plan to investigate liberal groups

The threatened crackdown is a multi-agency effort with Stephen Miller playing a central role.

www.reuters.com

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Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 2d

This is how everyone should have talked about this farce for every city from the beginning

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Pritzker: "If the Constitution means anything -- and I guess we all are questioning that right now -- the Insurrection Act cannot be invoked ... they just want troops on the ground because they want to militarize especially blue cities in blue states."

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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 2d

The deportation order derives from the crime of which he has now been exonerated.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 3d

It’s this multiple times a day

They don't even bother to lie badly anymore.
I suppose that's the final humiliation.

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Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 3d

I’ve seen some accuse those who protested for a ceasefire as being disingenuous by not celebrating this one so for @forward.com I wrote about the difference between relief and joy and what the ceasefire can’t do

forward.com/opinion/7754...

I know exactly why leftists aren't celebrating this ceasefire

Why not celebrate the ceasefire? Because, while it's a relief, it won't undo all the suffering and death of the past two years.

forward.com

3 23 74

Reposted by Emily Tamkin

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 4d

MIT President Sally Kornbluth just issued a statement to the campus community saying NO to Trump’s authoritarian compact

“And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”

Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges. We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit.
Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute
was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.

• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available
to any American with an internet
connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly
10%.
• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.

These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific
funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that tree marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences.
Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.

As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the
U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people.
We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth
CC
Ms. May Mailman
Mr. Vincent Haley

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The Nexus Project @nexusproject.bsky.social · 4d

The health secretary, who has mused that COVID was designed to spare Ashkenazi Jews, is now alleging that a tradition practiced by Jews is linked to autism.

x.com/factpostnews...

FactPost on X: "RFK Jr: Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. Trump: There's a tremendous amount of of proof or evidence. I would say as a non-doctor, but I've studied this a long time https://t.co/9g8U6oWIiL" / X

RFK Jr: Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. Trump: There's a tremendous amount of of proof or evidence. I would say as a non-doctor, but I've studied this a long time https://t.co/9g8U6oWIiL

x.com

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Reposted by Emily Tamkin

Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 5d

New from me in @foreignpolicy.com: how the US has gone from leading a global push against transnational repression, to proactively supporting it:

foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/08/t...

Trump Is Supporting Transnational Repression

Instead of sheltering pro-democracy dissidents, America is now returning them for arrest.

foreignpolicy.com

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Reposted by Emily Tamkin

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 7d

Breaking News: Saul Zabar, who over seven decades made the Upper West Side food emporium Zabar’s a New York institution, is dead at 97. nyti.ms/42qGl2n

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