JCRC's Boston Jewish Now

What happens when voters reject a government but can't agree on what should replace it?

That may be the defining question emerging from Israel's election. Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition appears to have lost its majority, but the opposition faces its own challenge. Now, the country's political future could depend on negotiations that challenge long-standing divisions and assumptions about who can — and should — govern together.

On this episode of Boston Jewish Now, we explore what the election reveals about a changing Israel. From the remarkable political mobilization of Arab citizens to the possibility of the country's first Mizrahi prime minister, the preliminary results offer a window into the competing visions shaping Israeli democracy.

Recorded October 28, 2026, at noon ET, while election results are still being counted.

Read more: Israel's New Center of Gravity by Mijal Bitton from the Wall Street Journal

Three issues are drawing our attention this week, from Cambridge City Hall to the West Bank and Israel's upcoming elections.

Following a contentious Cambridge City Council hearing on two proposals targeting businesses connected to Israel, JCRC CEO Jeremy Burton discusses what happened, what comes next, and how Jewish residents are working to make their voices heard.

Then, we turn to escalating violence by Jewish extremists in the West Bank, why the Israeli government's failure to protect Palestinian civilians demands condemnation, and how criticism of Israeli policies on this issue still come from a deep commitment to Israel and its founding values.

Finally, with Israeli elections approaching, we talk about Israel's parliamentary system, why election night won't necessarily produce a new prime minister, and what JCRC's longstanding commitments mean for the next Israeli government — whoever leads it.

The Cambridge City Council has not yet voted on these proposals, and there's still time to make your voice heard. Submit written comments to citycouncil@cambridgema.gov urging councilors to reject them.

Israel’s Declaration of Independence promised political and social equality to all its citizens. What will it take to make that promise a reality for Jewish and Arab Israelis?

On this episode of Boston Jewish Now, Jeremy Burton speaks with Mohammad Darawshe, Director of Strategy at Givat Haviva’s Center for Shared Society, about what it means to move beyond coexistence and build a country in which Jewish and Arab citizens can thrive together.

From bringing thousands of Jewish and Arab students together, to placing Arab teachers in Jewish schools and Jewish teachers in Arab schools, creating partnerships between neighboring municipalities, and opening pathways into higher education and tech careers, Givat Haviva is putting that vision into practice.

Jeremy and Mohammad explore why these efforts matter and what both communities must do to realize Israel’s founding promise.

Read the article Mohammad references here.

Massachusetts created the Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism to take a statewide look at how antisemitism is affecting Jewish life and what institutions can do about it. The Commission’s final report lays out recommendations across a range of sectors, including K–12 schools.

In this segment, we break down the K–12 recommendations and walk through what schools and districts can do to better recognize, prevent, and respond to antisemitism — and how students and parents can press for action when those practices aren’t in place.

If you’re a school or district leader, the included PDF guide makes it easier to get started. You don’t have to sort through the entire Commission report or figure out which recommendations apply to your school or district — the guide pulls together the relevant steps in one place.

If you’re a student or parent and you see a gap in your school, the guide can help you identify what may be missing and make a specific ask. These recommendations are endorsed by the governor, the attorney general, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, and backed by the Massachusetts Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism. You can bring them to school and district leadership with the credibility of the state behind them.

Ready to get started?

Get the guide here, and reach out to JCRC or CJP if you need help putting the recommendations into practice.

Election Day is November 3. Are you ready to vote?

With nine statewide ballot questions, races up and down the ballot, and important decisions about how Massachusetts conducts its elections, there's a lot voters need to know before heading to the polls.

In this episode of Boston Jewish Now, Jeremy Burton is joined by our partners at Common Cause Massachusetts and JCRC's new Director of Government Relations, Ian Mackey, to help you prepare.

From voter registration deadlines and mail-in ballots to what to do if something goes wrong at the polls, we cover the essentials of casting your vote. We also break down some of the consequential ballot questions, and the future of Massachusetts' gun safety law (Question 9), which JCRC supports preserving.

And beyond the mechanics of voting, Jeremy reflects on why it's important to look beyond party labels, examine candidates on their merits, and recognize leaders willing to stand up to extremism.

Before you vote, do your homework. This episode is a place to start.

Register to vote/check your registration status here.

2026 MA Ballot Questions (red book).

Common Cause's election protection work.

Three years after October 7, many of us can still remember exactly where we were when we first understood what was happening. We remember who we called, what we saw, and how the day unfolded around us.

And only three years later, we are already confronting questions about how October 7 ought to be remembered, commemorated, and taught. So what can earlier experiences teach us about that process?

Spencer Cronin joins Jeremy Burton on Boston Jewish Now to look at what we can learn from the evolution of Holocaust and 9/11 commemoration and education as new generations encounter these events differently than those who experienced them firsthand — and as those with no firsthand memory or relationship to the events become responsible for teaching them.

They discuss how communities develop rituals of remembrance and the challenge of figuring out how to teach traumatic history while its meaning is still being shaped and contested.

And this is the challenge of October 7: the need to explain and teach what happened began almost immediately, even while the memories of that day remained firsthand for so many of us. Watch the full conversation as Jeremy and Spencer consider what it means to remember October 7 now, and what we owe the generations who will know it only as history.

The controversy over Macklemore’s removal from the Ed Sheeran concert at Gillette Stadium was quickly framed as a fight over two words: “Free Palestine.”

But was that really the whole story?

Jeremy Burton looks at what much of the public conversation left out, including the lyrics and context of Hind’s Hall and Macklemore’s broader track record.

He also takes on the larger free speech question: What does freedom of speech actually protect? Is a private venue declining to provide someone a stage the same thing as censorship? And how should we think about those questions at a moment when the government itself is facing a far more consequential First Amendment challenge over access to the White House press corps?

It’s a conversation about what gets lost when complicated stories become simple headlines, and why precision matters when we talk about speech, antisemitism, Israel, and Palestine.

State Senator John Velis joins Jeremy Burton for a wide-ranging conversation about the experiences that first moved him to confront antisemitism in Massachusetts and ultimately helped lead to the creation of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism.

Senator Velis reflects on hearing from Jewish constituents, including young people experiencing antisemitism; asking Jewish colleagues what they needed from an ally; and what he learned through the Commission’s work from students, families, educators, critics, and others across the Commonwealth.

Jeremy and Senator Velis also talk about how his military service has shaped his approach to public life, and the issues he is focused on today, including behavioral health, substance use, housing, affordability, and keeping Massachusetts a place where people can build their lives.

It is a conversation about what we owe one another as allies, as neighbors, and as people invested in the future of the Commonwealth.

We’re grateful for Senator Velis’ partnership with JCRC and the Jewish community over more than a decade, and look forward to many more years of working together in service of a stronger Commonwealth.

The Massachusetts primary results are in, and some of the results have made national headlines. But how are the polls shaping up for Jewish life in Massachusetts?

In this episode of Boston Jewish Now, CEO Jeremy Burton takes a closer look at what the results reveal about Massachusetts voters and the state’s political landscape. From the U.S. Senate and House races to the road ahead to November, Jeremy unpacks what, if anything, changed — and how progressive today’s Democrats really are.

We also discuss the elections ahead, what to look for on the ballot, and how changing the way we vote could shape Massachusetts politics.

Massachusetts created the Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism to take a statewide look at how antisemitism is affecting Jewish life and what institutions can do about it. The Commission’s final report includes instructions for cities and towns, and gives residents something concrete to bring into conversations with their own local government.

In this segment, we break down what this means at the local level: what your city or town should be doing, where gaps may exist, and how residents can advocate for change in their own communities.

If you’re a resident, the included PDF guide can help you understand what your local government should be doing and identify where it may be falling short. Instead of having to make the case from scratch, you can point to recommendations from the Massachusetts Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism and ask what your city or town is doing to put them into practice.

And if you’re a municipal leader or local official, you don’t need to sort through the entire Commission report to figure out how to better ensure that Jewish residents and institutions feel welcome in your town. The guide pulls together the relevant recommendations and makes it easier to understand how to take concrete steps.

Massachusetts created the Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism to take a statewide look at how antisemitism is affecting Jewish life and what institutions can do about it. The Commission’s final report lays out recommendations across a range of sectors, including colleges and universities.

In this segment, we break down the campus recommendations and walk through how university leaders can recognize and address antisemitism more effectively, and how the Commonwealth recommends Jewish students press for action.

If you’re a college or university, the included PDF guide makes it easier to get started. You don’t have to sort through the entire Commission report or figure out which recommendations apply to your area — the guide pulls together the relevant steps in one place.

If you’re a student, faculty member, or staff member and you see a gap on your campus, the guide can help you identify what may be missing. These recommendations are endorsed by the governor and backed by the Massachusetts Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism. You can bring them to campus leadership with the credibility of the state behind them.

Get the guide here, and reach out to JCRC or CJP if you need help putting the recommendations into practice.

Massachusetts created the Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism to take a statewide look at how antisemitism is affecting Jewish life and what institutions can do about it. The Commission’s final report lays out recommendations across a range of sectors, including the workplace.

In this segment, we break down the workplace component and walk through how employers can put practical policies and resources in place to be more inclusive of their Jewish employees, and how the Commonwealth recommends Jewish employees press for action.

If you’re an employer, the included PDF guide makes it easier to get started. You don’t have to sort through the entire Commission report or figure out on your own which recommendations apply to your workplace — the guide pulls together the relevant steps in one place.

If you’re an employee and you see a gap in how your workplace is addressing antisemitism, the guide can help you identify what may be missing and point to recommendations endorsed by the governor, supported by a broad swath of Boston business leaders, and backed by the Massachusetts Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism. You can bring those recommendations to your employer with the credibility of the state behind them.

Get the guide here, and reach out to JCRC or CJP if you need help putting the recommendations into practice.

The Massachusetts Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism has given our community something we have long needed: a clear set of recommendations for what the Commonwealth, as well as school districts, colleges, workplaces, and local governments should be doing to address antisemitism.

Now we need to know how to use it.

In this episode of Boston Jewish Now, JCRC CEO Jeremy Burton speaks with Melissa Garlick of CJP’s Center for Combating Antisemitism about how community members can take this report into the institutions they are already part of and use it to make meaningful, credible asks.

What should you be asking of your child’s school district? What should students and faculty expect from a university? What can Jewish employees and allies ask their workplace to put in place? And what should residents expect from municipal leaders and law enforcement?

This episode gives parents, students, employees, advocates, and allies an intro to the roadmap that is the Commission’s final report: a way to identify what is missing, understand who is responsible for addressing it, and a credible way to ask for concrete action backed by and embraced by civic leadership across all sectors of the Commonwealth.

For anyone who wants to get started doing this work, and for the school leaders, administrators, employers, municipal officials, and others responsible for putting those recommendations into practice, CJP’s Center for Combating Antisemitism has developed practical, sector-specific resources to help you take the first step.

Listen to the conversation, then explore the resources here.

Much of American politics now runs on telling people who to blame for what has gone wrong in their lives. Congressman Jake Auchincloss thinks we need to offer something more compelling: a politics of opportunity that gives people a fair chance to get a good education, own a home, build a secure life, and ensure that the circumstances of their birth do not determine their future.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Auchincloss explains what his Majority Democrats organization is trying to build, how folks can break with party orthodoxy and embrace good ideas from across the political spectrum, and why the political center needs authenticity AND swagger to win.

He also argues that TikTok is “a bigger enemy to Israel than Hezbollah,” pointing to the platform’s influence on how younger Americans understand Israel and to the broader role social media plays in distorting people’s sense of self, country, and one another.

The conversation turns to the war with Iran and the difference between operational military success and strategic failure. Auchincloss describes where he believes a growing consensus is headed: continued commitment to Israel’s security, less reliance on the existing model of direct military financing, and greater emphasis on the Abraham Accords.

Jeremy and Congressman Auchincloss also discuss the hard work Congress actually does when the cameras are off, the work he is proudest of that rarely makes headlines, and why Americans may be better served by spending less time scrolling and more time talking to people — outdoors.

The U.S.–Israel relationship has long rested on certainassumptions: that America would remain a reliable ally, that support for Israel would remain bipartisan, and that American Jews could talk about Israel without reducing the Jewish people to the politics of any one Israeli government, anyone politician, or any one view on how Israel prosecutes wars.

Those assumptions feel far less stable today.

In this episode of Boston Jewish Now, Jeremy reflects on the changing American-Israeli relationship. We go beyond Washington politics into liberal Israeli voices and the danger of letting slogans replace the harder work of listening to the people who actually live with the consequences.

Read Ariel Beery's "Goodbye, America. Hello world" in the Times of Israel.

What happens when Jews are told they have not gone far enough — and what happens when we tell imperfect allies the same thing?

First, we discuss the antisemitic harassment of State Senator Scott Wiener in San Francisco, and what it says about whether Jews can ever meet far-left activists halfway when the demand always seems to be that Jews give up one more piece of ourselves or risk being pushed out of the very spaces we helped show up for.

At the same time, Jeremy argues that we cannot let the worst people in a movement decide whether we still sit at the table with others in that broader movement.

Then, we turn to Lexington, where an alarming school communication sparked national outrage before many local leaders had time to understand what actually happened. Jeremy reflects on the need for facts, relationships, and the discipline to take a breath, especially when people are trying, however imperfectly, to address antisemitism.

Finally, we discuss the Supreme Court rulings on birthright citizenship and Temporary Protected Status, including the threat now facing TPS holders in Massachusetts. For the Jewish community especially — TPS holders are our neighbors, coworkers, caregivers, and part of the human-service system our families and institutions rely on.

As the United States of America approaches its 250th anniversary, Jeremy Burton asks a simple but important question: What are we really celebrating on the Fourth of July?

Not the first battle. Not the final victory. Not even the vote for independence.

The Fourth of July marks the adoption of the Declaration. The text that gave America its civic promise and called future generations to keep working toward it.

In this episode of Boston Jewish Now, Jeremy reflects on the Declaration, the American project, and why hope requires action.

The group chat is not just a group chat.

For young people, it is where friendships are built, plans are made, social status is negotiated, identity is tested, and harm can spread quickly. It is also one of the places where students encounter cruelty, exclusion, disinformation, antisemitism, and other forms of identity-based targeting — often away from adult view, but with real consequences for how they feel, learn, and show up in school and in life.In this episode of Boston Jewish Now, Spencer Cronin, JCRC’s Director of Educational Partnerships, speaks with Dr. Jill Walsh, sociologist, researcher, Boston University lecturer, and founder of Digital Aged. They unpack the social dynamics and parts of digital culture parents may not realize are shaping their children’s daily lives online.This conversation is part of JCRC’s broader K–12 work: helping schools understand the online culture shaping students’ lives, respond to antisemitism and identity-based targeting, and build safer, more inclusive school communities for Jewish students alongside all students.Digital spaces can help young people find belonging and connection, especially when they feel isolated offline. But chats, algorithms, viral content, and peer pressure can also normalize cruelty and make it much harder for students to push back when hate shows up.This episode offers families and educators a clearer way to understand the digital world young people are navigating, and practical guidance for talking with them about it so we can help shape healthier school communities and healthier teens.

In this episode of Boston Jewish Now, we unpack two verydifferent fights that raise a similar question: what happens when decisions are made about Jewish safety and belonging without the people most affected beingfully heard?

The conversation begins in Somerville, where Jeremy recently testified before the City Council as it considered an ordinance tied to Israel divestment. Jeremy explains why JCRC showed up, what Shalom Somerville and local Jewish residents have been facing, and why local campaigns around Israel are more than just symbolic foreign policy debates. In Somerville, many Jewish residents have experienced these fights as a sustained climate of hostility, intimidation, and exclusion from public life in the city they call home.

We also cover the possibility of a new agreement over Iran’snuclear program. Rather than rush to call it good or bad before the details are public, Jeremy argues for a more basic standard: release the agreement, brief Congress, and allow serious review by lawmakers, foreign policy experts, andnuclear nonproliferation experts.

We discuss why Congress has to be part of any long-termforeign policy commitment, why American global credibility depends on commitments that can outlast a single administration and simply be overturned, and why Israel’s security interests cannot be treated as an afterthought indecisions involving Iran and its proxies.

In this episode of Boston Jewish Now, JCRC CEO Jeremy Burton discusses what Jewish communities should expect from civic leaders — in moments of celebration, in moments of pain, and in moments when antisemitism and public Jewish life are being tested.

The conversation covers Toronto’s March with Israel, Mamdani and New York’s Israel parade, and the question of what it means for civic leaders to show up for Jewish communities. Jeremy also discusses Graham Platner, Ralph Northam, Jake Auchincloss, and the double standard around racism and antisemitism in public life.

The episode also covers Clover Food Lab and kosher food access in Boston, why consumer data privacy is a Jewish safety issue, and the importance of nonprofit security funding in the Massachusetts state budget.

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