My top 25 postings and 25 quotes for '25 - and a pledge for 2026

Combining the most popular and a few hidden gems, here are my key messages for 2025 and a pledge for '26

Dec 24, 2025

2025 was a Whack-a-Mole kind of year. Just when we think Trump can not go any lower, another spite-filled atrocity pushes up from the ground somewhere nearby and we have to address yet another moral emergency.

But this game goes both ways. Just as Trump thinks he’s applied a coup de grâce to democracy in one place, sanity reasserts itself in some new and unexpected way.

Texas gerrymanders? I’ll raise you California and Virginia.
Subversion of the media? Well, in the nick of time, a vast network of independent journalism emerges, fueled by Substack and social media, producing the largest protests in American history.
Alienating allies? Help is on the way, in the form of the first American pope, chosen expressly to counter the worst American president.
Demoralized, exhausted opposition? How about an off-year electoral resurgence of sanity?
CBS and Congress succumb to the soulless Trumpian body snatchers? Well, somehow a killed “60 Minutes” story pops up in more places than a Whack-a-Mole, and a few female Republican reps grow a pair, forcing a massive Epstein files release.

We are witnessing a resurgence of true patriotism, just in time for the most important year since 1776, the 250th of America’s existence. And yes, I’ve noticed that the football Patriots are resurgent too, just as they were in 2001, in the aftermath of another 21st century catastrophe.

The atrocities mount by the day, but so does the evidence of guilt. And as the bespotted presidency becomes increasingly corrupted by the day, the trail of stains becomes more indelible. And as this week the drip-drip-drip of Epstein revelations turned into a torrent, it seems inevitable that what Trump did to the East Wing is going to be a metaphor for his entire presidency, as this despicable House of Cards collapses completely, its foundation undermined by a plethora of holes and unwhacked moles.

Here are my top 25 postings for the year, including some of the most popular, along with some of my personal faves, in no particular order. I follow that with a selection of quotes from my work that have had particular resonance to me, and I hope to you.

And if you are in the mood to listen or watch something, rather than just read, here are some podcast suggestions from this past year:

I want to thank all of you for coming on this journey with me. I really sense that we are in this together, and I think you for your readership and support. Over the course of 2025, this Substack’s base of subscribers has gone from 3,400 to 8,500, with 44,000 followers. Over the coming year I plan to do more live events, conversations, lectures and classes - and just some old-fashioned “meets.”

And now, the Top 25….. but first, a pledge for 2026

Last January, days before the inauguration, I wrote an essay on this Substack entitled, A Kinder and Gentler Religion, where I discussed our struggles to find a God of love and compassion in light of what we see before us, using the book and film Life of Pi as my jumping off point.

We continue to struggle with that God, the one who allowed Jonah to be thrown to the waves, who allowed 6 million to die in the Holocaust, who allowed 20 children to die in Newtown, 1127 people to die in a decrepit Bangladesh clothing factory, who allowed Moore, Oklahoma to be flattened by a twister. We accept the reality of all that.
And we look for signs of the better story of how God’s kindness emerges in these storms, through acts of human courage and dignity. We saw it in those exhausted runners on Patriots Day in Boston in 2013, who ran toward the explosion, and in those Israelis who, upon seeing that their government was stuck in a state of paralysis, ran toward the Gaza Envelope to save lives on October 7. We saw it in hordes of volunteers who poured into Long Island and New Jersey after the flood waters of Sandy receded. We see it every day in our own communities. We see it at every shiva. We see it while we wipe every tear. That is OUR better story. It is the story we tell – and the story we write – even when God seems so far away.

Kindness and innocence have never seemed further from our grasp. Trump has indeed deranged us, perverted our media, corrupted our very language, f’d up democracy itself (did I just say that?) with r-word laced vitriol. He may not cause every campus murder, every act of hate, every shooting of an innocent girl named Matilda in Sydney - but he has contributed to a world where innocence is expendable and all that matters is blame, self-aggrandizement and the appearance of winning. Where, yes, cruelty is the point.

For 2026 I pledge to try to restore a degree of gentility and kindness to our world - never letting a favor slip past without expressing gratitude and never ignoring the suffering of the many at the hands of the few. Still, gentility has its limits. With the democracy in the balance as elections approach, while practicing menschlichkeit, I also pledge to, journalistically-speaking, continue to kick-butt!1

For the coming year, I reiterate a pledge I made in a prior posting, The Peacemaker’s Task:

I am not going to try to defend the indefensible, nor will I abandon the unabandonable - the countries, peoples and faiths traditions that I will always love unconditionally, though not without moments of questioning and candor.
I am not going to forgive my enemies or leave innocents defenseless, concoct excuses, disseminate fake “gotcha” videos amidst real talking points and manufactured whataboutisms.
There is so much that is unclear right now, but what is beyond doubt is that the forces of death - of cynicism, anger and lies - are pulling at my soul while love and life tug at my heart.
I will not let the darkness win. And my job is to help you in that fight too.

Yes, it could get worse - but 2025 was pretty bad. As Eleanor Roosevelt said in an era that was even more horrible, yet one in which the White House was not violated and there was not yet a Kennedy Center to desecrate:

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”

We have lived through this horror of ‘25. As for 2026? Bring it on!

And now, 25 from ‘25…

How to be happy when things are so rotten

Visiting my happy place, strolling among the shells and boulders, and being reminded that we’re all just walking each other home. Dec. 3, 2025

Of Medicine, Miracles and Media

I hate to get political (not really!) but I wish some people who call themselves religious would appreciate that miraculous partnership of the healing process and modern medicine.

MARCH 25, 2025

After Mamdani’s victory, vigilance is called for. “Resistance” is not.

Hold his feet to the fire but understand that there can just be one pharaoh at a time.

NOV 07, 2025

Harvard’s “Shot Heard Round the World”

After an antisemitic attack in Pennsylvania nearly triggered martial law, Harvard fires the shot that could save democracy and now finds itself as the…

APR 17, 2025

“No Kings” misses the point. Trump doesn’t think he’s king - he thinks he’s God.

On June 14, we should call them “No Kings - and No Messiah” rallies. For Trump is not a messiah. He is the worst form of idolator.

JUN 6, 2025

Trump’s “defense” of Jews on campus is really a protection racket, aimed at destroying the academic integrity Jews hold most sacred

Favored treatment is always temporary and, for Jews, it always comes at a steep cost. And now, with the attack on Brown, Trump’s use of Jews as tools for nefarious ends really hits home

APR 4, 2025

Jane Goodall’s advice on this Substack last March taught us how to fight Big Lies / Plus - Thoughts on Gaza

Goodall stated: “Don’t call them fascists, as it implies that they have power. Express disgust, but don’t engage; refer to their claims as tantrums and rages. Keep it simple, shout it loud and often.”

OCT. 9, 2025

The MAGA obsession with the R-word used to be a way to “own the libs.” Now it’s much more dangerous.

Cruelty is not the point. Removal is. Eugenics is. Which is why this is much more serious than simply a chance to trigger the libs. And that’s why it has got to stop

MAY 14

Can an executive order condemning antisemitism ever be a bad thing? Yes, when its purpose is not to defend, but to divide.

It’s bad enough to face hatred. But it’s worse to be both hated and isolated. Misery, after all, loves company, so let’s combat antisemitism by fighting all hate

JAN 31

Pope Leo, the man for the moment, was chosen to inspire fellow Americans to stand up to unprecedented evil.

The new pope may be woke on immigration, but what’s really driving MAGA crazy right now is that Trump’s suddenly become the world’s second most powerful American. And Leo is America’s John Paul II

MAY 9

What does it mean when the man killed in one of the worst antisemitic attacks in US history…was Christian?

He worked for the Israeli embassy, where he “identified as Jewish,” but also was an active member of a Messianic congregation. Should that matter?

MAY 23

What June 14 will mean for America, as the National Mall becomes Red Square

Desecration, disgrace and despondency will weigh on us but also trigger a national survival instinct. Not since Antiochus brought a pig to Jerusalem has sacred ground been so brazenly violated

JUN 1

Bill Moyers’ death, my recovery and why setting back a nuclear Iran must not be allowed to set back democracy here.

Virulence requires vigilance, as we are engaged in both a marathon AND a sprint. Introducing the Hammerman Doctrine: Never give Trump credit, even when he may deserve it

JUN 29, 2025

Blowin’ in the Wind

Wind, water and sun. While Trump flails at what he calls “windmills,” the natural forces that have sustained us for millennia can save us now.

Sept. 7, 2025

It’s not easy being mean. But mockery is the point. For now.

Mock, demean and “own” to your heart’s content. But it’s liberating to recall that in the end we are all the same - even those who claim to have the “best” genes.

August 11, 2025

Thank you, Donald! You’ve quelled all the animosity toward Jews at campus rallies. Because it’s now all directed against you!

A “comprehensive national civic uprising” requires dropping grudges and forming new alliances. Protests opposing the Trump coup, including on campus, are assembling a coalition of strange bedfellows

APR 21, 2025

Thank you, Donald. You reminded me how my grandmother escaped TO Alcatraz - and was welcomed in America.

Plus, you’ve helped to highlight the fact that other groups, particularly Asians, were treated terribly at that immigration gateway. But even Alcatraz…

MAY 6, 2025

Thank you, IRS! You’ve Just Unleashed Democracy’s Secret Weapon: Activist Clergy.

Progressive Clergy can now say the quiet stuff out loud. If only they can summon the courage to stand up to their lay leaders.

JUL 15, 2025

Thank you, NYT, for calling a lie a lie.

And you’re welcome for taking my advice!

FEB 23

Trump’s worst nightmare: a transactional God who demands justice, love and humility as payment for saving his life

Now that Trump has overplayed the “I was chosen by God” card, time for God to collect on the quid pro quo. And time for clergy to step up to deliver that message

JAN 23, 2025

The East Wing and the Western Wall: A tale of two obsessive builders, ego-driven mad kings who smashed their nation’s most sacred sites

We’ve seen this before. An obsessive builder, paranoid, impulsive, thirsting for adoration but universally despised, wanting to make his nation great again. What can be learned from Herod’s madness?

OCT. 27, 2025

Nixon saved Israel in ‘73 and some Jews loved him for it. Until he tried to end democracy. Don’t make the same mistake now.

Trump has become Nixon 2.0. Nixon believed he was above the law and tried to upend American democracy. He was also a bully who assisted Israel in its darkest hour, when no one else could.

OCT. 10, 2025