… a journalist on CNN Tonight and at Rolling Stone, having been a columnist for The Daily Beast for eight years. Jay has written over 1400 articles on the Supreme Court, religion, LGBTQ issues, climate change, and other topics. He just won the 2023 New York Society for Professional Journalists ‘Deadline Club’ award for opinion writing.

… a rabbi and meditation teacher who has written several books on meditation, religion, and spirituality. Jay was also an editor and podcast host for Ten Percent Happier for four years.

… an affiliated assistant professor at Chicago Theological Seminary and visiting fellow at the Center for LGBTQ Studies in Religion. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Jewish Thought from Hebrew University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. His tenth book, The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth, published by Oxford University Press, won the 2022 National Jewish Book Award for scholarship.

Newest articles are here.  Recent video and audio are here.  Information about bringing Jay to your community is right here.  And you can follow Jay on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as well. Welcome!

Recent work on politics & law

Breaking the Rule of Law to Defend Donald Trump

April 5, 2022 in Rolling Stone

There are a Lot of Jews in Hollywood.  Let a Rabbi Explain Why.

December 11, 2022 in Rolling Stone

It Looks Like the Supreme Court Will Not Blow Up Our Democracy (for Now)

December 7, 2022 in New York

Recent work on religion, spirituality, & meditation

The Paradoxes of Ethical Mysticism
Mystics’ Summit, August 2022

Nonduality and Spirituality

B’nai Keshet, November 2022

Newest Book

Dr. Michaelson’s tenth book, The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth, has been awarded the 2022 National Jewish Book Award for scholarship. The book is about the innovative theology of Jacob Frank (1726-1791), who combined a humanistic critique of repressive religion with an Western esoteric mythology about the pursuit of immortality. Notorious in his day for leading the largest mass apostasy in Jewish history, Frank is little known today. Yet his startling teachings anticipated trends that would come to prominence decades and even centuries later. More information here.