Elliot Jager
Elliot Jager (born November 3, 1954) is an American-born Israeli journalist, political scientist, and author of The Pater: My Father, My Judaism, My Childlessness. He is a former editorial page editor of The Jerusalem Post and a former senior contributing editor at The Jerusalem Report. His book The Balfour Declaration Sixty-Seven Words – 100 Years of Conflict was published by Gefen in fall 2017. He now works mostly as a non-fiction manuscript editor and lecturer.
Biography
Jager was born and raised on New York City's Lower East Side. His father was a Rumanian-born Holocaust survivor who left for Israel when Jager was eight. Raised by his mother Yvette, Jager received a strictly Orthodox Jewish education at Yeshiva Chasam Sofer and Mesiftha Tiffereth Jerusalem. He obtained a BA in Judaic Studies (cum laude) from Brooklyn College in 1977, and completed his MA (1988) and Ph.D. (1994) in political science at New York University.
He worked for the New York City Department of Health from 1973 until 1997 while attending college and university in the evening. Jager headed the control unit of the agency's lead poisoning program and was office services director for the Bureau of Operations before he left the agency. From 1984 until 1997 he regularly taught political science as an adjunct visiting professor at NYU, Baruch-CUNY, Hofstra, and Rutgers. In 1997, Jager moved to Israel where he met his wife, Lisa Clayton, a writer and editor.
Dissertation
Jager's dissertation,[1] examined the activities of the organized American Jewish community in regard to the 1988 decision by the United States to enter into a diplomatic dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization. In 2015, Jager made the dissertation available in a digital form[2] under the title "Leverage: How U.S. Presidents Use the American Jewish Community to Pressure Israel".
Journalistic and literary career
Between 1997 and 1999 Jager was a contributor to The Connecticut Jewish Ledger [3] and The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.[4] He joined the staff of The Jerusalem Post in 1999 holding various editorial positions at the paper including literary editor, week-in-review editor, op-ed editor, and— taking over from Saul Singer—editorial page editor reporting to editor-in-chief David Horovitz. Jager left the Post to become the founding managing editor of Jewish Ideas Daily (now Mosaic). He became a freelance writer in 2013 contributing regularly to such outlets as Newsmax and Israel My Glory magazine. In November 2015, The Toby Press published Jager's memoir, The Pater: My Father, My Judaism, My Childlessness, which is arguably the first meditation by a Jewish man on what it means to be childless written from the perspective of Jewish civilization. The book has been favorably received in Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Commentary, Huffington Post, Jewish News Service and referenced in various other outlets including Tablet, Mosaic, Contact, and the NY Jewish Week.
Political activism
Jager became a community activist in high-school serving as a fixer[5] for Paul Cowan [6] whose exposé series in The Village Voice called attention to the neglected plight of New York City's 10,000 elderly Jewish poor. In 1969, he was appointed deputy lower Manhattan youth coordinator of the Jewish Defense League [7] under the late Eugene Singer. In 1973, he co-founded with William Rapfogel Lower East Side People newspaper.[8] Jager went on to serve on the boards of Americans for a Safe Israel,[9] the Manhattan Region of the Zionist Organization of America, and became advertising director of the Coalition for Israel.[10]
References
[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]
- "UMI Dissertation Express - Welcome!". Dissexpress.umi.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- Elliot Jager. "Leverage: How U.S. Presidents Use the American Jewish Community to Pressure Israel eBook: Elliot Jager: Kindle Store". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "In God They Trust?". Jewish Ledger. 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "13 Years After the Assassination, Wounds Still Fester". Jewish Exponent.
- "An Orphan in History: One Man's Triumphant Search for His Jewish Roots". Jewishlights.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- Berger, Joseph (1988-09-27). "Paul Cowan, Village Voice Writer And Author of 5 Books, Dies at 48". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "My militant husband". The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com.
- "Fogel sentenced for Stealing from Charity". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "Soul-Searching". Middle East; Israel, State Of: NYTimes.com. 1988-06-12. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "Coalition of Groups Launches Drive to 'redirect' Mideast Peace Process". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
- Jager, Elliot (2000-08-10). "Another Holocaust Lesson - Perhaps It's Time to Pause". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "Soul-Searching". Middle East; Israel, State Of: NYTimes.com. 1988-06-12. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "Israelis United on Gaza War as Censure Rises Abroad". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "Watch Jerusalem Post Editor Elliot Jager | JBS Episodes | Videos | Blip". Blip.tv. 2011-01-28. Archived from the original on 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "American Presidents, the Jews and Israel". Voice of Israel. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "Front Page Jerusalem". Front Page Jerusalem. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "MidPoint | Elliot Jager to discuss the latest news from Israel". YouTube. 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- Jager, Elliot (2007-07-31). "Power and Politics: 'Perfidy' revisited - Opinion - Jerusalem Post". Jpost.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- Jager, Elliot (2013-05-24). "Daily Features » Christianity: Good for the Jews?". Jewish Ideas Daily. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- Jager, Elliot (2012-05-03). "Daily Features » A Vote Not Cast". Jewish Ideas Daily. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "Daily Features » Into the Muck; or, Trials of the Diaspora". Jewish Ideas Daily. 2010-05-11. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "Israeli Geologist Reignites Debate on 'Burial Tomb' of Jesus". Newsmax.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "Sheldon Adelson Draws GOP Standard-Bearers to 'His Primary'". Newsmax.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "THE JAGER FILE. On Jewish Civilization, Politics, and the Arab-Israel Conflict". Elliotjager.blogspot.co.il. 2015-07-19. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "Jewish, Male and Childless". Childlessjewishman.blogspot.co.il. Retrieved 2015-07-29.