✡️🎧Your Cholent Year: Wrapped
What this year's top stories say about us...as a T Swift playlist.
What were the top stories of 2025, and what do they say about us as Jews and Jewish community allies? With a little help from AI and all its glorious m-dashes, here is your Cholent year: wrapped.
You care about truth — especially when it’s inconvenient
You’re skeptical of dominant media narratives, particularly when they flatten Jewish experiences or avoid naming antisemitism directly. You notice when academic, political, or cultural institutions talk around Jewish concerns instead of addressing them head-on. You’re less interested in moral posturing and more interested in whether a story actually reflects lived reality.
#1 top story of 2025:
You want antisemitism named clearly — not diluted or debated away
You’re frustrated by endless nuance when Jewish safety and dignity are at stake. You believe Jews don’t need permission from outside groups to define what antisemitism looks like. You care about what happens when institutions hesitate, hedge, or hide behind process instead of acting.
#2 top story of 2025:
#3 top story of 2025:
You’re pragmatic about politics
You want guidance rooted in real outcomes, not party loyalty or ideological purity. You’re asking: Who shows up for the Jewish community when it counts? You care about local elections, policies, and leadership decisions that affect day-to-day safety and civic life.
#4 top story of 2025:
You reject the weaponization of Judaism
You push back when Jewish identity is reduced to a political tool — by critics or by Jews themselves. You want Judaism treated as a living culture, faith, and peoplehood — not a talking point. You’re wary of anyone using “Jewish values” as shorthand for shutting down honest debate.
#5 top story of 2025:
#6 top story of 2025:
You’re watching institutions closely — especially schools and universities
Campus climates matter to you, whether you’re a student, a parent, or an alum. You care when Jewish students speak up — and whether administrators and faculty actually listen. You expect accountability from leadership, not platitudes or task forces that lead nowhere.
#7 top story of 2025:
#8 top story of 2025:
Jewish identity matters — deeply, personally, and imperfectly
You’re thinking seriously about what it means to “keep Jewish” right now. You’re navigating internal tensions around tradition, belief, Zionism, and belonging. You’re interested in diverse Jewish voices — including those that don’t fit neat communal narratives.
#9 top story of 2025:
You value community — but not at the expense of honesty
You care about inclusion, but not performative unity. You’re willing to wrestle with disagreement if it leads to stronger, more resilient Jewish life. You believe hard conversations are part of continuity, not a threat to it.
#10 top story of 2025:
The Big Picture
At the core, readers of The Cholent are asking for agency — the ability to define ourselves, protect our communities, and engage the world without being boxed into false choices. You want Jewish life that is grounded, thoughtful, and unapologetically real.
And now for the fun part.
🎧 Your Cholent Wrapped (Taylor’s Version)
🔁 Top Track on Repeat: “You’re On Your Own, Kid”
“I looked around in a blood-soaked gown…and I saw something they can’t take away.”
You trusted your own clarity — even when consensus was nowhere to be found.
🚨 Most Skipped Track: “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”
“They said, ‘Babe, you gotta fake it till you make it’ and I did.”
Performative allyship. Smile through it. Keep the show going.
🏫 Breakout Track: “Mad Woman”
“Now I breathe fire every time I talk.”
You recognized what happens when Jewish voices speak up — and are minimized instead of heard.
🗳️ Top Political Track: “The Man”
“When everyone believes you, what’s that like?”
You noticed who holds power, who avoids consequences, and who’s expected to stay grateful anyway.
🤝 Surprise Community Hit: “Long Live”
“I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you.”
Not perfect unity — real community, forged through shared struggle.
✡️ Most-Played Mood Track: “Exile”
“I think I’ve seen this film before…and I didn’t like the ending.”
You reject being pushed out of spaces that claim inclusion.
📊 Listener Personality Track: “You’re Losing Me”
“The air is thick with loss and indecision. I know my pain is such an imposition.”
The loss of institutional support and trust. It’s not sudden — just painfully obvious over time.
🎶 Final Vibe:
You didn’t just listen. You heard.
This was a lot of fun, and even ChatGPT said it had a good time:
This is elite newsletter culture and I am fully seated. 🎤✨
How did we do? What’s on your playlist?
I admit, I am not the biggest Swiftie, but after listening to these songs through the lens of reporting on Jewish issues in 2025, my Swiftiemeter lurched up a few degrees.
Writing these stories nearly every week is taxing. I frequently wonder if I’m crazy, if I’m going crazy, if you will think I am crazy, and if this enterprise has any value at all or if it’s just — as my favorite Biblical character Kohellet says — shepherding the wind.
Thank you for your support and continual validation.
One last note:
💌“Dear Reader”
“When you aim at the devil, make sure you don’t miss.”
Choose private clarity over public approval.