Opinion

• Opinion

  Not Free To Desist

  Not much remains to be said about Agriprocessors, the giant kosher meat company whose Iowa slaughterhouse has been the object of so much public scrutiny. Allegations were made — credible ones, we believe — of abusive working conditions, grossly inadequate worker safety measures, health and environmental violations and much more. Religious authorities who have gone…

  3 min read
• Opinion

  On the Jewish Agenda(s), Part 1

  The next occupant of the Oval Office will help set the national agenda on a wide range of issues of importance to the Jewish community. While our collective concern for the security and well-being of Israel has featured prominently in discussions of our community’s stake in the upcoming presidential election, Jewish groups are also vigorous…

  By Abraham H. Foxman, and Barbara Weinstein, and David Zwiebel, and Jaime Rapaport, and Kenneth Bandler, and William C. Daroff Aug 22, 2008 | 7 min read
• Opinion

  All of Lebanon Is Not Hezbollah

  In a very significant and potentially dangerous move, Israel’s security Cabinet recently decided to reverse its long-standing policy of distinguishing between Hezbollah and the democratically elected Lebanese government. Instead, Israel has threatened to respond to actions by the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah by attacking Lebanese state institutions and the Lebanese national army — on which…

  By Firas Maksad Aug 21, 2008 | 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

• Opinion

  Did the Decider Lose Iran?

  We Bushies are in legacy mode. With the final months of the presidency upon us, we are thinking about what we did, what we didn’t do and what we could have done. We pay little heed to the insta-history being produced by academic left-wingers and other provocateurs, who never agreed with us to begin with….

  By Noam Neusner Aug 21, 2008 | 4 min read
• Letters

  August 29, 2008

  Train Teachers To Talk About Torah Authorship How to improve supplementary schools (“Study Provides Snapshot of Struggling Supplementary Schools,” August 22)? I recommend encouraging and training educators and rabbis to discuss authorship of the Torah, including archaeological findings, in order to listen to the theological beliefs and doubts of their congregants. And they shouldn’t forget…

  Aug 21, 2008 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Shifting Ground

  A major shift is under way in the politics and power balance of the Islamic world, and it calls for a fundamental change in American and Western strategic thinking. Handled well, the shift holds out the possibility of a lasting thaw in the tensions that now dominate relations between the West and Islam. But if…

  Aug 21, 2008 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Let the Olympics Ring in a New Era for Modern China

  A rising economic and military power that stages the Olympic Games in its capital to demonstrate its superiority while jailing dissenters and repressing ethnic minorities. The description could just as well apply to Beijing this year as it did to Berlin in 1936. And indeed, many have drawn parallels between Communist China and Nazi Germany,…

  By Eric Frey Aug 14, 2008 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  To Engender Real Change, More Women Must Vote

  One hundred and sixty years ago, an intrepid group of feminists gathered in Seneca Falls, N.Y., to issue a manifesto modeled on the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Sentiments detailed the oppression and denial of rights suffered by women at the time. The Seneca Falls Convention, as it came to be known, also declared…

  By Nancy Ratzan Aug 14, 2008 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  What We Saw in Postville

  In an August 15 editorial the Forward attempts to apply to the Rubashkin family the talmudic principle of mu’ad — the proclivity of an animal to follow previous behavior — claiming that Agriprocessors has a checkered past and therefore cannot be trusted in the future (“Judging Character — And Kashrut”). The editorialist uses the argument…

  By Pinchos Lipschutz Aug 14, 2008 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  We Are All Implicated in the World’s Repair

  There’s considerable talk these days about Jewish peoplehood. Is the sense of it sustainable? For that matter, is it still alive? And on what foundation does it rest? What is it that connects one Jew to another? And what connects the two largest communities of Jews, here in America and there in Israel, to one…

  By Leonard Fein Aug 14, 2008 | 4 min read
• Letters

  August 22, 2008

  What Did Kosher Plant Do for Migrants’ Kin? It’s difficult not to be cynical about Agriprocessors’ effort to improve its image in the Jewish community by hosting a contingent of Orthodox rabbis, supposedly for them to see first hand how the plant treats its animals and its employees (“Orthodox Leaders Tour Agriprocessors, Give Plant Clean…

  Aug 14, 2008 | 4 min read