Jeff Jacoby
@jeffjacoby.bsky.social
I'm a husband, a father, a Jew, a reader, a writer, a politically homeless conservative, and a longtime columnist at The Boston Globe.
Reach me at https://www.bostonglobe.com/about/staff-list/columnist/jeff-jacoby/
Reach me at https://www.bostonglobe.com/about/staff-list/columnist/jeff-jacoby/
For too long, the MAGA right has tolerated the rise of Jew-hatred within its ranks. But last week, something encouraging happened: A chorus of leading conservatives said 'Enough'.
Here's my column in today's Boston Globe.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/09/o...
Here's my column in today's Boston Globe.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/09/o...
The right’s immune system is finally fighting back against antisemitism. Maybe. - The Boston Globe
A backlash from conservatives against right-wing influencers is a rare sign of hope.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:14 PM
For too long, the MAGA right has tolerated the rise of Jew-hatred within its ranks. But last week, something encouraging happened: A chorus of leading conservatives said 'Enough'.
Here's my column in today's Boston Globe.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/09/o...
Here's my column in today's Boston Globe.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/09/o...
The death of Dick Cheney was greeted with gleeful "rest in hell" messages from critics. But they won't get the last word.
As I write in my Boston Globe column today, Cheney was a statesman and a patriot of deep conviction and seriousness. May he rest in peace. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/04/o...
As I write in my Boston Globe column today, Cheney was a statesman and a patriot of deep conviction and seriousness. May he rest in peace. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/04/o...
Dick Cheney’s unfashionable virtues - The Boston Globe
The former vice president embodied qualities Washington no longer prizes.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The death of Dick Cheney was greeted with gleeful "rest in hell" messages from critics. But they won't get the last word.
As I write in my Boston Globe column today, Cheney was a statesman and a patriot of deep conviction and seriousness. May he rest in peace. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/04/o...
As I write in my Boston Globe column today, Cheney was a statesman and a patriot of deep conviction and seriousness. May he rest in peace. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/04/o...
I don’t begrudge anyone their shivery fun. But when did #Halloween decorations become so grisly? How did corpses in agony and dismembered skeletons become appropriate lawn displays? What kind of society finds scenes of violent death so amusing?
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/28/o...
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/28/o...
The 12-foot skeleton next door - The Boston Globe
The old memento mori left people with this reminder: Life is fleeting, and character matters. When the fake gravestones and giant bones go back to the basement, what will we be left with?
www.bostonglobe.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:00 AM
I don’t begrudge anyone their shivery fun. But when did #Halloween decorations become so grisly? How did corpses in agony and dismembered skeletons become appropriate lawn displays? What kind of society finds scenes of violent death so amusing?
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/28/o...
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/28/o...
Doctors revise mistaken diagnoses. Engineers correct blueprints that won’t hold. By the same token, as I write today in a new column, Supreme Court justices have always overturned precedents that were wrongly reasoned or inconsistent with the Constitution.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/26/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/26/o...
On the Supreme Court, overturning bad precedents is part of the job - The Boston Globe
Good doctors don’t cling to mistaken diagnoses; good jurists fix mistaken rulings.
www.bostonglobe.com
October 26, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Doctors revise mistaken diagnoses. Engineers correct blueprints that won’t hold. By the same token, as I write today in a new column, Supreme Court justices have always overturned precedents that were wrongly reasoned or inconsistent with the Constitution.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/26/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/26/o...
Under Biden & Trump, the pardon power has degenerated into a partisan weapon. It is almost always used not to promote justice or healing, but to shield allies and settle scores.
As I write in a new column, presidential clemency today does more harm than good. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/22/o...
As I write in a new column, presidential clemency today does more harm than good. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/22/o...
It’s time to end presidential pardons - The Boston Globe
A tool meant to fix miscarriages of justice now routinely produces them.
www.bostonglobe.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Under Biden & Trump, the pardon power has degenerated into a partisan weapon. It is almost always used not to promote justice or healing, but to shield allies and settle scores.
As I write in a new column, presidential clemency today does more harm than good. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/22/o...
As I write in a new column, presidential clemency today does more harm than good. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/22/o...
Republicans once mocked the vanity of self-adoring politicians like Barack Obama. But under Donald Trump, the GOP embraces what it used to condemn. So Team MAGA is sure to cheer this latest travesty — a $1 coin with the president’s face on both sides.
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/19/o...
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/19/o...
Heads Trump. Tails Trump. - The Boston Globe
A planned 2026 coin with the president’s face on both sides flouts one of America’s oldest civic taboos.
www.bostonglobe.com
October 19, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Republicans once mocked the vanity of self-adoring politicians like Barack Obama. But under Donald Trump, the GOP embraces what it used to condemn. So Team MAGA is sure to cheer this latest travesty — a $1 coin with the president’s face on both sides.
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/19/o...
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/19/o...
Reposted by Jeff Jacoby
"THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6." As you know, Biden wasn't president on that day. Trump was. Don't you think Trump should know it? And doesn't his message, below, suggest that he is unfit for the office?
October 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
"THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6." As you know, Biden wasn't president on that day. Trump was. Don't you think Trump should know it? And doesn't his message, below, suggest that he is unfit for the office?
#YomKippur is here. Ahead lies a day of fasting, prayer, and repentance. We all have wrongdoing to atone for — above all, perhaps, for the terribly destructive sins we commit with words. May we deserve forgiveness, and be kinder next year.
גְּמַר חֲתִימָה טוֹבָה
www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/15/o...
גְּמַר חֲתִימָה טוֹבָה
www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/15/o...
The sins we commit with words - The Boston Globe
Yom Kippur teaches the importance of seeking forgiveness from those we have hurt.
www.bostonglobe.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:06 PM
#YomKippur is here. Ahead lies a day of fasting, prayer, and repentance. We all have wrongdoing to atone for — above all, perhaps, for the terribly destructive sins we commit with words. May we deserve forgiveness, and be kinder next year.
גְּמַר חֲתִימָה טוֹבָה
www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/15/o...
גְּמַר חֲתִימָה טוֹבָה
www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/15/o...
Erika Kirk was widely praised for declaring that she "forgives" her husband's murderer. But as a Jew heading into #YomKippur, I found her words deeply troubling. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 has the right to forgive someone else’s killing—not even his widow.
My new essay explains why: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/30/o...
My new essay explains why: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/30/o...
Erika Kirk, Yom Kippur, and the limits of forgiveness - The Boston Globe
Forgiveness is too sacred to be automatic, and too serious to be presumed on behalf of others.
www.bostonglobe.com
October 1, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Erika Kirk was widely praised for declaring that she "forgives" her husband's murderer. But as a Jew heading into #YomKippur, I found her words deeply troubling. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 has the right to forgive someone else’s killing—not even his widow.
My new essay explains why: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/30/o...
My new essay explains why: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/30/o...
There's no end to the ways the Trump administration finds to be odious.
First it insisted names linked to Confederate traitors be restored to US military bases. Yet now it insists exhibits about slavery must be 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 from national historic sites. Shameful.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
First it insisted names linked to Confederate traitors be restored to US military bases. Yet now it insists exhibits about slavery must be 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 from national historic sites. Shameful.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
National park to remove photo of enslaved man’s scars
The Trump administration is ordering the removal of information on slavery at multiple national parks in an effort to scrub them of “corrosive ideology.”
www.washingtonpost.com
September 18, 2025 at 6:44 PM
There's no end to the ways the Trump administration finds to be odious.
First it insisted names linked to Confederate traitors be restored to US military bases. Yet now it insists exhibits about slavery must be 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 from national historic sites. Shameful.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
First it insisted names linked to Confederate traitors be restored to US military bases. Yet now it insists exhibits about slavery must be 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 from national historic sites. Shameful.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
The Trump administration is deporting Russian dissidents back to Putin’s control. Russian defectors who escaped to avoid the war in Ukraine were rounded up and turned over to Moscow — together w/ details of their opposition. A truly shocking betrayal.
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/14/o...
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/14/o...
We betrayed Russians in 1945. We’re doing it again in 2025. - The Boston Globe
America is deporting dissidents straight into the Kremlin’s grasp.
www.bostonglobe.com
September 15, 2025 at 6:05 PM
The Trump administration is deporting Russian dissidents back to Putin’s control. Russian defectors who escaped to avoid the war in Ukraine were rounded up and turned over to Moscow — together w/ details of their opposition. A truly shocking betrayal.
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/14/o...
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/14/o...
It's not a mistake; it's a deliberate deception. The term 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦 was coined specifically to mean hatred of Jews.
In case anyone does imagine in all sincerity that "antisemitism" includes hostility to Arabs, there is an easy way to check: Just look the word up in a dictionary.
In case anyone does imagine in all sincerity that "antisemitism" includes hostility to Arabs, there is an easy way to check: Just look the word up in a dictionary.
I've seen a lot of people on here in the past day or so repeat the line of "Arabs are Semites, too, so anti-Arab racism is also a form of antisemitism." This is and understandable mistake, given how weird the word is, but it's a misunderstanding of the word.
September 15, 2025 at 6:02 PM
It's not a mistake; it's a deliberate deception. The term 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦 was coined specifically to mean hatred of Jews.
In case anyone does imagine in all sincerity that "antisemitism" includes hostility to Arabs, there is an easy way to check: Just look the word up in a dictionary.
In case anyone does imagine in all sincerity that "antisemitism" includes hostility to Arabs, there is an easy way to check: Just look the word up in a dictionary.
Reposted by Jeff Jacoby
The online ghouls who are celebrating and/or justifying the shooting of Charlie Kirk have no idea how much damage they are doing…
September 10, 2025 at 8:39 PM
The online ghouls who are celebrating and/or justifying the shooting of Charlie Kirk have no idea how much damage they are doing…
Most politicians treat scandal as a speed bump. For some it's a badge of honor. A rare few treat it as a turning point. As I write in my Boston Globe column today, the most uncommon kind of political comeback is remorse, humility, change — what Jews call teshuvah.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/10/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/10/o...
The rarest political comeback: repentance - The Boston Globe
Most politicians treat scandal as something to be brazened through. An uncommon few choose a different path.
www.bostonglobe.com
September 10, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Most politicians treat scandal as a speed bump. For some it's a badge of honor. A rare few treat it as a turning point. As I write in my Boston Globe column today, the most uncommon kind of political comeback is remorse, humility, change — what Jews call teshuvah.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/10/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/10/o...
Reposted by Jeff Jacoby
New at Media Nation: Disability-rights activists oppose physician-assisted suicide. We need to listen to them. dankennedy.net/2025/09/03/d...
Disability-rights activists oppose physician-assisted suicide. We need to listen to them.
Jeff Jacoby has a sharp column up at The Boston Globe on the dangers of physician-assisted suicide, writing that “a decent society does not enlist physicians to end lives; it strives to relie…
dankennedy.net
September 3, 2025 at 11:52 AM
New at Media Nation: Disability-rights activists oppose physician-assisted suicide. We need to listen to them. dankennedy.net/2025/09/03/d...
OTD in 2008, Barack Obama became the 1st black American nominated for the US presidency by a major party. His GOP opponent, John McCain, released a video to mark the occasion and congratulate Obama. "Truly a good day for America," he said.
What a class act he was.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4KI...
What a class act he was.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4KI...
Convention Night
YouTube video by John McCain
www.youtube.com
August 27, 2025 at 4:43 PM
OTD in 2008, Barack Obama became the 1st black American nominated for the US presidency by a major party. His GOP opponent, John McCain, released a video to mark the occasion and congratulate Obama. "Truly a good day for America," he said.
What a class act he was.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4KI...
What a class act he was.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4KI...
Unlike Sen. Ed Markey, who refuses to retire from Congress even though he's 80, Tip O'Neill had no qualms about stepping down when it was time. How long will voters keep reelecting geriatric lawmakers long past their sell-by date?
My new @bostonglobe.com column: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/24/o...
My new @bostonglobe.com column: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/24/o...
What Tip O’Neill understood that Ed Markey doesn’t - The Boston Globe
The former House speaker knew how to retire with dignity, unlike so many other politicians today.
www.bostonglobe.com
August 25, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Unlike Sen. Ed Markey, who refuses to retire from Congress even though he's 80, Tip O'Neill had no qualms about stepping down when it was time. How long will voters keep reelecting geriatric lawmakers long past their sell-by date?
My new @bostonglobe.com column: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/24/o...
My new @bostonglobe.com column: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/24/o...
Trump Derangement Syndrome? Look in the mirror, MAGA.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/17/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/17/o...
Who really suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome? - The Boston Globe
MAGA cultists brandish a repressive accusation.
www.bostonglobe.com
August 17, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Trump Derangement Syndrome? Look in the mirror, MAGA.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/17/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/17/o...
The Toronto International Film Festival is refusing to show a documentary about the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre on the morally insane grounds that the terrorists didn't give filmmakers permission to use the video they took as they committed their atrocities.
www.timesofisrael.com/toronto-film...
www.timesofisrael.com/toronto-film...
Toronto film fest nixes Oct 7 doc screening, cites Hamas ownership of massacre clips
Organizers say filmmakers did not legally clear all footage, also cite 'threat of disruption' to event; producer adamant no legal impediment to screening; filmmakers 'shocked and saddened'
www.timesofisrael.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:26 PM
The Toronto International Film Festival is refusing to show a documentary about the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre on the morally insane grounds that the terrorists didn't give filmmakers permission to use the video they took as they committed their atrocities.
www.timesofisrael.com/toronto-film...
www.timesofisrael.com/toronto-film...
Exactly 20 years ago, Israel destroyed 21 Jewish communities in Gaza, evicted 9,000 residents, and handed the whole territory to the Palestinians. Israelis believed their withdrawal would pave the way to peace. It paved the way to the horror of Oct. 7.
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/12/o...
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/12/o...
When Israel left Gaza, everything got worse - The Boston Globe
It is worth looking back to reflect on another fateful, anguish-filled Israeli decision in Gaza — one that began the descent into the nightmare the Jewish state now faces.
www.bostonglobe.com
August 12, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Exactly 20 years ago, Israel destroyed 21 Jewish communities in Gaza, evicted 9,000 residents, and handed the whole territory to the Palestinians. Israelis believed their withdrawal would pave the way to peace. It paved the way to the horror of Oct. 7.
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/12/o...
My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/12/o...
Born 100 years ago today.
Survived Auschwitz.
Immigrated to America.
Married and raised a family.
Built a life of hard work, humility, and faith.
Earned a reputation for integrity and gentleness.
Mark Jacoby, my father, my teacher. His memory remains an enduring blessing.
Survived Auschwitz.
Immigrated to America.
Married and raised a family.
Built a life of hard work, humility, and faith.
Earned a reputation for integrity and gentleness.
Mark Jacoby, my father, my teacher. His memory remains an enduring blessing.
August 12, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Born 100 years ago today.
Survived Auschwitz.
Immigrated to America.
Married and raised a family.
Built a life of hard work, humility, and faith.
Earned a reputation for integrity and gentleness.
Mark Jacoby, my father, my teacher. His memory remains an enduring blessing.
Survived Auschwitz.
Immigrated to America.
Married and raised a family.
Built a life of hard work, humility, and faith.
Earned a reputation for integrity and gentleness.
Mark Jacoby, my father, my teacher. His memory remains an enduring blessing.
My son was making minimum wage when an activist urged him to sign a petition to 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚 the minimum wage. He declined — and he was right. Time after time, when lawmakers hike the minimum wage, vulnerable workers lose their jobs.
My latest for @bostonglobe.com:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/05/o...
My latest for @bostonglobe.com:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/05/o...
In the real world, minimum-wage hikes cost people their jobs - The Boston Globe
The workers politicians claim to be helping are often the first to be laid off.
www.bostonglobe.com
August 6, 2025 at 8:54 PM
My son was making minimum wage when an activist urged him to sign a petition to 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚 the minimum wage. He declined — and he was right. Time after time, when lawmakers hike the minimum wage, vulnerable workers lose their jobs.
My latest for @bostonglobe.com:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/05/o...
My latest for @bostonglobe.com:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/05/o...
To ensure that Jews can live in safety is not only to defend a targeted minority, but to uphold the ideals that made America a light among nations. The US has been blessed because it blessed its Jews. May it never learn what happens if it stops doing so. #TishaBAv
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/29/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/29/o...
A day of mourning in a time of fear - The Boston Globe
Tisha B’Av is a day of mourning for the Jewish people — but it ought to be a moment of reckoning for all Americans.
www.bostonglobe.com
July 29, 2025 at 8:32 PM
To ensure that Jews can live in safety is not only to defend a targeted minority, but to uphold the ideals that made America a light among nations. The US has been blessed because it blessed its Jews. May it never learn what happens if it stops doing so. #TishaBAv
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/29/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/29/o...
The scientific marvels of my lifetime — computers, the internet, mapping the genome, heart transplants — are wondrous. But for me, nothing can ever match the audacity of July 20, 1969, when Americans walked on the Moon.
The memory still gives me chills.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzAp...
The memory still gives me chills.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzAp...
WATCH: Footage from the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing
YouTube video by Associated Press
www.youtube.com
July 20, 2025 at 2:27 PM
The scientific marvels of my lifetime — computers, the internet, mapping the genome, heart transplants — are wondrous. But for me, nothing can ever match the audacity of July 20, 1969, when Americans walked on the Moon.
The memory still gives me chills.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzAp...
The memory still gives me chills.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzAp...
Actually, the only people who say "it takes a village to raise a child" are left-wingers, who are perfectly fine with a welfare state that never stops metastasizing.
July 14, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Actually, the only people who say "it takes a village to raise a child" are left-wingers, who are perfectly fine with a welfare state that never stops metastasizing.