Shabbat Dinner In Heaven

My favorite Substacks of 2025

I am certainly not a jihadist. I think those of you who subscribe are clear about that by now. I do not expect to be rewarded for any of my earthly efforts with any number of virgins anywhere - on earth, in heaven, on Mars… I’m all set, thanks!

My idea of heaven is a bit different. In heaven, or an earthly paradise that is possible to create, with some logistical work, I would have Shabbat dinner with all of my Substack friends!

That leads me to a round up of my favorite Substacks. I was surprised and honored to make Jill the Liberal Jew’s list of her favorites - wow! Jill is definitely on my list of top ten Substacks. Jill is one of the Substackers whom I consider a real friend. I have no doubt that we’d have a great time hanging out in person. She was extremely kind to me when my dad passed away last year, and even when we disagree, it’s always polite and with humor. Imagine if everyone interacted that way? I imagine that Jill and I were actually college friends, just separated by a few years and a few miles that wouldn’t really matter. We could go back to college and probably hang with the same crowd.

Jewish women Subtack writers are among my favorite writers and members of what has become a community. EKB and Rivka are writers whom I always read as soon as they publish. Some might find it odd that I, as a not Jewish mother of only a cat, identify a lot with two Jewish mother bloggers, but it’s really not surprising at all. We share actual family values - not the twisted 1980’s mean to single mothers version - and support Israel, speak out against antisemitism. Rivka and I are just a couple of years apart in age, which always makes me wonder if my life might have been much more like hers if I had been born and raised Jewish. I love how these women stand up for motherhood, without making it sound terrible. I suspect that a lot of my positive identification with teaching has been influenced by these women. The next generation is really, really important.

Of course there is Eve Barlow, in so many ways the mother of all pro-Israel bloggers. What would we have done without her in those early days of the war… or the later days… or now? I met so many of you through Eve’s blog. When I was truly scared for my safety in this wacko pro-Pali neighborhood, Eve’s work and all of you kept me going.

Each Substack I read seemed to be a gateway to others. I found Eve from The Free Press. While there are plenty of legitimate criticisms of the FP, I’ve found it very helpful and illuminating. Perhaps less so now than early on, when I was first discovering what it was like to peek my little nose outside the liberal media bubble. Funny… two close friends recommended the FP to me at the same time, and I’m now way more conservative than either of them. The FP’s coverage of Israel was one of my only ways in the very dark days just after October 7 that I could follow what was going on, before I met many real Israelis. Bari’s brave coverage of Israel helped a lot of us, both get through the times and get to know each other. I also appreciate how the FP covers issues like the massacre of Nigerian Christians, which you don’t hear about in the liberal media. They have their annoyances, to be sure, but I will be nice and not mention my least favorite of their contributors.

If I remember correctly, Jotting In Purple by Celia started as a place for FP readers to go when the FP started to censor their comments. I’ve even written a guest post for JIP. The community there is fabulous, and though Celia is not Jewish, she is a person of faith like many of us. I’m sure she could add something delicious to our Shabbat dinner, as she often writes about cooking.

I got started reading The Aeon Chronicle, which I now write for, after meeting Stephanie Burgundy, who is a friend of Josh Slocum. Here is my most recent from Aeon, about Romi Gonen's account of how she was raped in Hamas captivity.

Josh Slocum is an interesting fellow, and I really enjoy a lot of his writing. I also had the opportunity to meet with him on Zoom, and he was very helpful to me with an issue I was dealing with in my offline life. He has beautiful cats and is clearly a great cat father. Intentionally a lightning rod, Josh often offends, but I think that’s a lot of the point.

Mr. Chris Arnell is definitely on my top ten list. Chris says a lot of things that accurately reflect what I see in an urban neighborhood, and he manages to do it in a way that is authentic, not hateful. We have not met or spoken, but I get the feeling that Chris is a good guy. He is definitely invited to Shabbat dinner.

I’m also a huge fan of Unwoke in Indiana. How can you not love that title? In addition to some great cultural observations, Thomas Gregg shares a lot of fascinating stories about military history. Like Chris Arnell, he is straightforward and honest about race and culture in a way that a lot of white liberals would find very uncomfortable.

I love Annie who changes her blog name a lot, and who is also a good cat person. Holly the Math Nerd is still on my reading list, though I am disappointed that she no longer allows comments. Her choice of course, but commenting and engaging in discussion is one of the main reasons why I read Substack.

Let’s not forget my favorite badass Jewish men writers: Joshua Hoffman and Gadi Taub. Joshua Hoffman is that tell it like it is Jewish man I always wish I could go on a date with, but he lives in California or Israel (I’m never sure which) and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t date non Jewish women. He works tirelessly to publish up to date and important things in Future of Jewish.

Gadi Taub… maybe we should not invite him to the mythical Shabbat dinner because I’d just stare at him the whole time! Nah, with my sensible girlfriends around to keep me in check, I’m sure I could act relatively normal. I first read Gadi in Tablet, and became obsessed with Israel Update. So much of my political evolution can be traced back to Gadi. And he has cats!!! If you watch Israel Update you’ll catch a glimpse of them. I’m attaching a screen shot to save you the trouble of finding the cat.

All of you readers are invited to the mythical Shabbat dinner! Ari in Jerusalem too… he’s a food critic and a kosher vegetarian from Israel so we’d better all do our best cooking.

What will you bring to Shabbat dinner in heaven? I’m not Jewish and I don’t know how to cook anything traditionally for Shabbat. My home tradition is Methodist from North Carolina. Are deviled eggs kosher? I know the ham biscuits would not be!

No doubt I’ve forgotten some of my favorite Substacks, but those are a few. Mostly I’m just grateful to start the year with all of you - friends from near, far, and very far.

Stay safe, as we say in the hood. And as Gadi and Mike say in Israel Update, stay as sane as possible under the circumstances!

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