In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
Opinion
-
Opinion
What the Women of the Wall Want
One recent afternoon, while I was riding on a gender-segregated bus in Jerusalem, an Orthodox woman told me she didn’t mind sitting in back and out of sight, because it helped the men “keep cleanliness of the eyes.” Her reasoning was familiar to me; it followed a logic similar to the rationale behind a men-only…
-
Opinion Egypt Ups the Ante in Gaza, But What Are the Stakes?
The border separating the Gaza Strip from the Sinai Peninsula has in recent weeks become a Middle East hotspot as Egypt ratchets up its pressure on Hamas. Egypt is building an underground steel wall, reported to extend somewhere between 18 and 30 meters deep, to cut off the tunnels through which Gazans smuggle in everything…
-
Opinion The Lesson of Tu B’Shvat: A Judaism for Every Season
Tu B’Shvat is once again on the horizon. The holiday marks the winding down of winter and the arrival of spring in the Land of Israel. The different seasons remind us that change is the way of the world. Change and adaptation also happen to be among the keys to the longevity and vitality of…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion What Harry Reid Said, and What He Meant
If you’re like me, you probably just spent a weird stretch of January staring at your television, vainly trying to figure out what our national leaders could be talking about this time. Political gibberish is nothing new, but lately the nonsense has reached new heights. Here’s what I got: It had something to do with…
-
Letters January 22, 2010
Where Health Care Reform Went Wrong You should be ashamed to endorse the so-called “right to health care” that emerges from the Senate’s December 24 vote (“A Right to Health Care,” January 8). Beginning with the laudable aim to establish affordable universal health care for all citizens, the Democratic majority has instead settled for a…
-
Opinion Minority Rule
In a nation that clings to the ideals of majority rule and fair play, the filibuster can seem like a poke in the political eye. Allowing a single lawmaker to talk on and on, bringing the nation’s business to a halt, may have seemed like a good idea when Mr. Smith went to Washington. But…
-
Opinion Stifling Our Artists
The fourth annual Schmooze conference took place at the hip City Winery in Lower Manhattan on January 11 and 12, bringing together Jewish artists and presenters to debate, discuss and, well, schmooze. There was talk of a “sea change” this year, and not just because of the financial meltdown or the growing popularity of Fox…
-
Opinion U.S.-Israel Ties: Pressure Doing Business With You
Judging by appearances, relations between Obama’s Washington and Netanyahu’s Jerusalem are getting a mite testy as pressure grows for movement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, or what’s left of it. The administration wants the sides to agree on a formula to allow reopening negotiations. Israel has partially frozen settlement construction, but with some big exceptions…
-
Opinion Vatican and the Jews: The Pius Spat, The Pious Spit
A new blog post by John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter, routinely described as the most authoritative English-language journalist covering the Vatican, reports on a seldom-discussed irritant in Catholic-Jewish relations: Haredi youth spitting on robed Catholic clerics on the streets of Jerusalem. Here’s an excerpt: Jews move to halt spitting at Christians in Jerusalem…
-
Opinion Return Conversion to the Rabbis
For centuries, rabbis steeped in Torah and Halacha have served as the gatekeepers of the Jewish people. They have determined which non-Jews may join the Jewish people as converts. Halachic literature provides a wide array of opinions and attitudes relating to conversion. In recent years, however, the more extreme views espoused by the Haredi rabbinic…
-
Opinion Making King’s Dream a Reality
The morning after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, my high school history teacher asked, “How many of you think Dr. King’s work for civil rights was important?” Most of us raised our hands. “If you really believe that, then why weren’t you working with him yesterday?” he challenged. I had no answer….
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
- 2
Opinion The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel
- 3
Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
- 4
Film & TV In ‘Disclosure Day,’ Steven Spielberg finds himself at odds with Jewish thought about aliens
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward In Britain, a Jewish Culture Month aims to move the conversation beyond Oct. 7
-
News This Jewish activist was arrested and deported for her book ‘Lesbian Love.’ 100 years later, will NYC apologize?
-
Culture Ever the restless spirit, Tel Aviv-born architect and designer Ron Arad is still reinventing himself and his art
-
News New Jewish-Arab political party debuts in Israel, aiming to topple Netanyahu