A New Year’s call to responsibility: Suggested resolutions for 2026

While 2025 had its share of bad news, it was also marked by stories of resilience and compassion. Our local community, and the Jewish community more broadly, had many reasons to celebrate this past year, from the quiet care of Pittsburgh neighbors stepping up to support a Jewish woman displaced by an apartment fire, to the long-awaited release of the last living hostages from Hamas captivity.

But still, we can all feel it. Antisemitism is increasing. In the past year, we saw it in the form of artistic and athletic boycotts, libels against Israel, online harassment and physical assaults, some deadly.

It’s happening in the Middle East, in Europe, in Australia and on our own shores. It’s happening in Pittsburgh.

We feel it escalating. Each day brings disheartening news, from our vice president failing to condemn antisemites in the Republican Party, to various Democratic politicians tacitly or explicitly endorsing anti-Zionism, presenting it as an admirable social justice cause rather than a form of dangerous Jew-hatred.

There’s no point in rehashing the plethora of stories we ran in 2025 about antisemitism, or cataloging them one by one. Anyone paying attention knows we are living through an alarming period for our people.

The articles and opinion pieces in national publications urging action are plentiful. Many of them call for the formation of a unified Jewish front, the creation of an organization or think tank devoted to strategizing ways to reverse the trend.

That concept is admirable. We hope it happens and we hope it helps.

But in the meantime, we all need to do our part as concerned citizens. When our children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren look back at this time, we hope they find strength in learning we did not sit idly by.

In that spirit, we urge you to consider adopting the following New Year’s resolutions for 2026:

1. Vet political candidates before you donate funds to campaigns or head to the polls. Check their social media accounts for signs of anti-Jewish hate. Google their name along with “Israel” or “Palestine” or “genocide.” Know where they stand on issues important to the Jewish people. The Beacon Coalition can be a helpful resource. While there are many national Jewish organizations and secular local organizations that research candidates, the Beacon Coalition does so locally through a Jewish lens. Vetting should be done for candidates of all offices — city, county, state and federal. Your vote carries power. Use it.

2. Do your part to educate others about Israel. If you don’t know the history of Jews’ presence in the land, educate yourself. Noa Tishby’s “Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth,” is a good place to start. Many local organizations offer educational programming about Israel throughout the year. Attend those programs. In order to counter libels about the Jewish state, you need facts. While there are haters who have no interest in hearing the truth, there also will be good people who are.

3. Show pride in being Jewish. Don’t hide or denounce who you are. Celebrate your heritage with joy, and pass that joy on to the next generation. Take a cue from our ancestors: Our people did not survive for millennia by repressing their Jewishness; to the contrary, they kept it alive by continuing to gather as a community with dignity, love and common bonds.

We pray for encouraging headlines in 2026. We look forward to the day when this paper is filled with mostly good news.
In the meantime, we wish you, our readers, a peaceful and better new year. PJC