Opinion

• Opinion

  Marching on Umm al-Fahm

  Pesach seems at first (and second, and third) blush to be about Big Things. You don’t get much bigger than slavery and freedom, than exodus and liberation. But reading the story reminds us that most, if not all, big things are composed of an array of little things. The happenstance witness of an injustice leads…

  By Leonard Fein

  3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Regime Change Israel Needs

  It is difficult for Israelis not to be a little bit envious as we watch the early days of Barack Obama’s term as president. From the economy to foreign policy, America’s new president is taking bold actions aimed at addressing the formidable challenges facing his country and the world. Israel also faces critical challenges. Unfortunately,…

  By Yehezkel Dror Apr 8, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Making Hebrew a Priority

  Florida’s Ben Gamla Charter School may be America’s only Hebrew charter school — with another on the way in New York — but the fledgling movement to create more such schools across the country is spurring vigorous debate within the Jewish community. At issue are the relative merits of publicly funded charter schools and private…

  By Reuven Kalifon Apr 8, 2009 | 3 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

• Opinion

  Progress, But Not Equality

  The ground shook beneath the Jewish world a few weeks ago at a synagogue in the Bronx. It happened quietly, not part of any noisy revolution — the person at the center of this historic change hardly looks or sounds like a rabble-rouser, not with her covered hair and modest demeanor, and her frequent praise…

  Apr 8, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Freedom From Hunger

  This Passover reminded us again of how food and freedom are inextricably linked. It’s not just that, around day six or seven, one wishes to be liberated from yet another meal of fried matzo and Seder leftovers. It’s that we are commanded to eat differently to better understand exodus, deprivation, longing and the need not…

  Apr 8, 2009 | < 1 min read
• Letters

  April 17, 2009

  An Ungenerous Epitaph An otherwise useful article on the problems facing United Jewish Communities unfortunately misrepresents American Jewish communal organizational history (“UJC’s Future at Stake as Local Charities call for Dramatic Cuts,” April 10). Your article characterizes UJC’s predecessor agency, the Council of Jewish Federations, as merely a “trade organization, convening the federations’ General Assembly…

  Apr 8, 2009 | 5 min read
• Letters

  April 10, 2009

  The Delicate Dance Of Muslim-Jewish Dialogue As a sometimes skeptical participant in dialogue, I was pleased to read of the recent vote by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs in support of strengthening Muslim-Jewish ties (“JCPA Approves Effort To Build Dialogue With Muslim Groups,” March 13). To be honest, most Muslims and Jews will continue…

  Apr 1, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  A Responsive Community

  First, there was the stump speech, delivered without amplification from a makeshift podium. Then the fireside chat. Then the televised press conference. And now this — Barack Obama, a creature of the Internet age, recently conducted the first online town hall meeting ever hosted by a sitting president. Nearly 93,000 people submitted more than 104,000…

  Apr 1, 2009 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Hearing Their Pain

  The tale of the Palestinian youth orchestra players from the Jenin refugee camp who performed for Holocaust survivors in Israel is a classic illustration of the way giddy hope is squashed by political reality in today’s Middle East. It began with warm feelings and good intentions — bring Palestinian teenagers from one of the West…

  Apr 1, 2009 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  True Freedom

  This isn’t the most difficult Passover in Jewish history, but for many, the awful combination of economic collapse and global unrest will make it a challenge. Consumerism too often takes a seat at the Seder, corrupting the holiday’s central mission, which is not to spend, but to imagine. Passover is about doing with less for…

  Apr 1, 2009 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Bursting the ‘Bubble,’ as Tel Aviv Turns 100

  Every few weeks, gay Arab men from all over Israel gather for a party at a rented nightclub on Tel Aviv’s Herzl Street. The highlight of the evening is a drag show, with heavily made-up amateur performers dressed as sexy, pouting Arab pop stars. They are followed by Raafat, a performance artist from Jaffa, who…

  By Lisa Goldman Apr 1, 2009 | 5 min read