Opinion

• Opinion

  Torturous Questions

  Amidst the debate on whether the Obama administration was wise to release Justice Department legal opinions on torture, and whether former Bush administration officials should be held accountable — and, if so, how — there is one uncomfortable question we must ask: How did this happen on our watch? How did we become a nation…

  2 min read
• Opinion

  Irish Lessons

  The violence that tore into Northern Ireland last month seemed sadly, infuriatingly familiar. First, two British soldiers were killed in County Atrium, then only 48 hours later, a policeman was gunned down in County Armagh, the first murder of a Northern Irish police officer in more than a decade. A dissident Irish Republican group appeared…

  Apr 15, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Seder With the Obamas

  Four is a fine number when it comes to discussing a Passover Seder. Four questions. Four children. Four cups of wine. So here are four reasons why the Seder held in the White House on the second night of Passover 5769 was notable: This was the first time a president of the United States attended…

  Apr 15, 2009 | 2 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 Charlie Kirk and Alan Berg: 2 murders, 41 years apart, show the painful perils of polarization

  

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

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s strike in Qatar: An audacious bid for victory, or just another foolhardy provocation?

  

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

  

The Latest

• Letters

  April 24, 2009

  40% Foolish on Iran Your account of the J Street poll that reports 40% of American Jews would favor an American attack on Iran if it were on the verge of going nuclear is no less disturbing than any other bad news we’ve heard recently (“Israel, U.S. Pursue Divergent Path on Iran,” April 3). Does…

  Apr 15, 2009 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Netanyahu’s Second Chance

  It’s not every day that a prime minister who squandered his first term gets a second chance. Between 1974 and 1977, the inexperienced and anxious Yitzhak Rabin stumbled and failed, bringing to an end 29 years of Labor rule in Israel. Fifteen years later, he returned to power, vowing not to repeat his past blunders….

  By Uri Dromi Apr 15, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Omer in America

  With its roots ostensibly in seasonal farming routines, the Jewish ritual of counting the Omer between Passover and Shavuot doesn’t at first seem ripe with contemporary significance. But I often remember Rabbi David Lapin’s comment that he is surprised at how previous generations found as much meaning in Jewish observances as they did, when the…

  By David Klinghoffer Apr 15, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  The State of the Two-State Solution

  Perhaps you’ve noticed, but what with all the spring cleaning, Obama’s 24/7 whirlwind and Pesach, it may have escaped your attention: Our world is upside-down. In the context of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, the term “hard-liner” is used to refer to a person who opposed the idea of an independent Palestinian state. There were such people…

  By Leonard Fein Apr 15, 2009 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Shifting From Myth To Function

  There was once a prisoner who yearned for freedom. One day, the prophet Mohammed appeared to him, and gave him a set of keys to his cell, saying “Your piety has been rewarded. Allah has set you free.” So the prisoner took the set of keys, mounted them on the wall, and prayed to them…

  By Jay Michaelson Apr 15, 2009 | 7 min read
• 
  Opinion

  For Students, A Spiritual Journey Through the Wilderness

  Nearly two dozen teenagers looked out over the ravine at Bear Mountain in New York, pausing from their hike to take in the vista of treetops spreading out in front of them. Their guide and group leader, Jordan Rosenberg, quieted the eighth graders so that they could say the traveler’s prayer*, t’filat haderech*, asking for…

  By Devra Ferst Apr 15, 2009 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Making Jewish Beliefs Accessible To More

  At a time when many pulpit rabbis have fewer congregants to attend to, a Jewish institution is urging them to turn their attention to a larger flock — American society. Rabbis Without Borders aims to bring Jewish wisdom into the public sphere by translating the beliefs and traditions of Judaism into an accessible and usable…

  By Lana Gersten Apr 15, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Portrait of the Rabbi as an Artist Explaining Another Artist’s Portrait

  I stand in the gallery pointing out to them the play of light and dark, lines curved and straight, cubes and angles, all alluding to the Artist’s ardor, as I coax their adoration. Some half doze and politely yawn. Others dismiss with candor the painted objects of veneration. And others get entranced with how He…

  By Rabbi Dan Ornstein Apr 15, 2009 | < 1 min read