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
America Must Stay Focused on Pakistan
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been one of the most tragic confrontations in history, and last week’s summit in Annapolis was long overdue. But coming as it does at the end of a second-term presidency and involving two leaders deeply unpopular with their own people, the renewed peace process is likely to be an exercise in…
-
Opinion My Parents Barely Knew About Shabbat
My introduction to the world of Judaism began soon after my family moved to the United States, when I was enrolled in an Orthodox school for Russian immigrants. I was young, and the lectures seeped in quickly. Within months, I had learned all about the Torah, High Holy Day rituals and the importance of mitzvot…
-
Opinion Breaking the Code of Ritual Observance
In a widely reproduced 1994 article, novelist and semiotician Umberto Eco famously argued that “Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant.” In that spirit, and with apologies to the maestro, imagine for a moment the technological backbone of Jewish communal worship. The vast majority of it looks remarkably consistent, but around the edges there…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion No Alternative Destiny Less Complicated
In the aftermath of last week’s surprisingly upbeat Annapolis meeting, all the talk’s about a two-state solution. The unwary may suppose that as soon as the domestic problems within Israel and among the Palestinians are resolved, the movement toward such a solution will be quite rapid. After all, we’ve been repeatedly told that the essential…
-
Opinion Note to Our Readers
The Forward newspaper and its editor in chief, J.J. Goldberg, announced this week that Goldberg is scaling back his editorial duties and assuming the newly created position of editorial director. Goldberg will continue to write the Forward’s editorials and oversee its overall editorial content, while other staff members will assume many of the management and…
-
Opinion Why Annapolis Worked
In the end, the Annapolis peace conference proved to be far less than the cataclysmic, watershed event that its sharpest critics had predicted. It unfolded, to everyone’s surprise, with very little upheaval. And for that reason, it might yet turn out to be far more than the pointless flop anticipated by the world-weary wise men….
-
Opinion Screaming Silence
No discussion of Annapolis can be complete without considering the roles of the minor players inside and outside the assembly hall. These are the folks commonly spoken of as the supporting cast. A better term this time might be unsupporting cast. One of the most important roles was reserved for the foreign ministers of Arab…
-
Letters November 30, 2007
Israel Faces Difficult Decision on Refugees The dramatic headline and conclusion to a November 16 article ignores the very positive ongoing dialogue between Israel and American Jewish organizations (“Israel Turns Down Help on Darfur Refugees”). The article correctly notes that the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and a number of American Jewish organizations have offered their…
-
Opinion Grasp the Promise of Annapolis
Even the most hardened of Middle East cynics could be excused for momentarily feeling a fluttering of hope after witnessing the scenes at this week’s peace conference in Annapolis, Md. Israel’s much-maligned prime minister, Ehud Olmert, conducted himself with consumate dignity, displaying a rare capacity to combine unabashed national pride with sincere empathy for the…
-
Opinion An Unsightly Challenge to Israeli Sovereignty
Generally speaking, once a week is plenty. But now and then the pace of things quickens, and I find myself wishing this newspaper were published three times a week, there being more than enough happening to warrant not one but three columns. This is one such week. What follows, therefore, is three scrunched up columns….
-
Opinion Securing the Future of the Center for Jewish History: NYU Has Resources for Growth
During the last half of the 20th century, the center of Judaic scholarship and teaching in the United States moved from Jewish institutions, rabbinical seminaries, Hebrew teachers’ colleges and the independent Dropsie graduate school to secular colleges and universities. This shift took place for a number of reasons, among them the ability to raise money,…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel
- 2
Film & TV In ‘Disclosure Day,’ Steven Spielberg finds himself at odds with Jewish thought about aliens
- 3
Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
- 4
News New Jewish-Arab political party debuts in Israel, aiming to topple Netanyahu
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Mamdani calls AIPAC ‘monsters’ in rally ahead of NY primaries
-
Fast Forward Jewish groups push back against Trump’s Iran deal — but more quietly so far than in 2015
-
News Who is Gadi Eisenkot, the Israeli politician who could dethrone Netanyahu?
-
Culture My father was my hero and, when he was dying, I wrote this song for him