Welcome aboard, Jay Homnick! Jay has become our latest senior editor.

Perhaps you read his recent piece on how President Barack Obama, working with the Ford Foundation—yes, the Ford Foundation!—and the non-political State Department, attempted a second-story job on the recent Israeli election and failed ignominiously (“Heavy Meddle: Obama in Jerusalem”). Possibly just today you read of how the nascent Israel Air Force was founded by expat Yankee Jews whose exploits in World War II on behalf of the Allies whetted their appetite to go off to Israel and fight in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. Many of the nonagenarians were still alive and kicking when Nancy Spielberg began her documentary on them in 2011. Jay has a prevenient sense for a dramatic story and he will be bringing it to AmSpec.

He has been a subscriber for 27 years, ten of which were lived in Israel. So he has the AmSpec sensibility down pat. Since 2004 he has been a regular contributor here. Now he will expand his influence. An English graduate from Al Sharpton’s Brooklyn College he has also studied the Bible and Talmud for many years at the leading Yeshivas in the United States and Israel. Over the years, Jay has written many poignant and evocative columns for us on the eve of Jewish holidays, highlighting the inspirational themes of these days. Combining a scholarly background with a journalist’s eye for detail and timeliness he brings a broad and learned touch to this page.

So welcome aboard, Jay. Your pieces on culture, politics, and religion are so welcome here. Moreover, your sense of humor never fails to enliven the drear of early twenty-first century phenomena.