Opinion

• Letters

  November 6, 2009

  On Abuse, the Catholic Church’s Progress Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s representative to United Nations organizations in Geneva, noted that the Catholic Church has been “cleaning its own house” and that other institutions “could do the same” (“Vatican’s New Defense on Child Molestation Charges: Finger-pointing,” October 16). There is validity to his statement. While the…

  3 min read
• Opinion

  Why Bibi Is Considering an Independent Gaza War Inquiry. Why Labor Leader Barak Is Against It.

  Israel is softening its early hard line against creating an independent commission of inquiry into the army’s conduct during the Gaza war. Typically, though, the debate is being conducted via name-calling and exchanges of invective and ultimatums. The floodgates were opened when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Lally Weymouth of the Washington Post in a…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 25, 2009 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Reforming the Vatican II Reforms: More on Benedict’s Vision

  A very intriguing piece by Politico’s David Gibson in the Washington Post Sunday Outlook section claims, much as I argued in a column back in August (but in greater depth), that Pope Benedict XVI is engaged in a sweeping campaign to remake the church. In large part what he’s trying to do is to roll…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 25, 2009 | < 1 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel is not deliberately killing journalists in Gaza. But it does bear responsibility for their deaths

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s attack on George Soros is ludicrous. It also endangers Jews (and everyone else)

  

The Latest

• Letters

  October 30, 2009

  Putting Victims First I am writing this letter to correct any misimpressions that may arise as a result of quotes from me that were published in your October 23 article “Rabbis Still Want Role in Abuse Cases.” I fear that the context in which my quotes were presented in the article may cause my views…

  Oct 22, 2009 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Love Is Not Blindness

  Since the publication of “How I’m Losing My Love for Israel,” a personal essay describing my fatigue as a liberal Zionist, the most disturbing responses have not been the vitriolic e-mails or online comments, nor the thoughtful and well-reasoned replies from the likes of Daniel Gordis and Jonathan Sarna. Rather, I have been most troubled…

  By Jay Michaelson Oct 22, 2009 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Where Is the Love for Israel?

  In the September 25 issue of the Forward, we published an essay from columnist Jay Michaelson titled, “How I’m Losing My Love for Israel.”  In it, he wrote that defending Israel’s actions in his liberal social circles had grown “exhausting.” Michaelson explained that he has begun to “second-guess” his love for Israel, a love that…

  Oct 21, 2009 | 7 min read
• Opinion

  The Rope Goldstone Threw to Israel

  Like sharks entering a cove teeming with frenzied fish, loathers of Zion have opened their jaws wide and then, with delight, gripped their prey. For them, the Goldstone report is delectable, albeit it merely whets but does not satisfy their appetite. It confirms what they have known all along, that Israel is a criminal state,…

  By Leonard Fein Oct 21, 2009 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Brain Behind Ahmadinejad

  On December 14, 2005, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became the first senior Iranian official to deny the Holocaust. “They have created a myth today that they call the massacre of Jews and they consider it a principle above God, religions and the prophets,” he said in the city of Zahedan. Until that date, leaders of the…

  By Meir Javedanfar Oct 21, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Straight-Talk About Assimilation: An Exchange

  In an October 2 opinion article, “Time for Straight-Talk About Assimilation,” Jewish Theological Seminary historian Jack Wertheimer weighed in on the controversy over an Israeli television commercial that warned of high rates of assimilation among young Diaspora Jews. The ad, produced for the Jewish Agency’s Masa program, which brings young Jews to Israel for educational…

  By Adam R. Bronfman and Jack Wertheimer Oct 21, 2009 | 6 min read
• Opinion

  Reframing Liberal Judaism

  The Union for Reform Judaism convenes early next month in Toronto for its Biennial Convention, and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism will follow with its biennial in December. These gatherings are opportunities for the two largest denominations in North American Judaism to take stock of the big picture. Looking at the big picture should…

  By Ben Dreyfus Oct 21, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  An Israel Espionage Drama, Sans Israel

  Fans of Israeli espionage melodrama are having a hard time digesting the latest episode, the October 19 arrest of scientist Stewart David Nozette on charges of trying to spy for Israel. From what’s known so far, the case seems to defy traditional understandings of Israel as either victim or menace. For that sub-group of Israel-boosters…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 21, 2009 | 4 min read