Opinion

• Opinion

  Human Rights in Wartime

  Liberals and human rights activists are loudly decrying the new anti-terrorism measure signed into law this week by President Bush as a historic assault on the American tradition of justice and fair play — “one of the worst civil liberties measures ever enacted in American history,” in the words of the American Civil Liberties Union….

  3 min read
• Opinion

  A ‘Lobby’ Prof Asks: Can We Talk?

  The brouhaha over the dark power of the “Israel Lobby” has flared into a full-scale intellectual prairie war in the past few weeks. And boy, the fireworks couldn’t be more riveting. The debate, long simmering in dank corners of Paris and London, entered the American mainstream last March with the publication of a paper by…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 14, 2006 | 6 min read
• Opinion

  In the Beginning, 13.73 Billion Years Ago

  Since the start of the Hebrew month of Elul in late August, Jews have been examining the year past in search of lessons to apply to the year ahead. Now, as the holiday season winds to a close, the weekly cycle of Torah readings offers another opportunity to examine the past as we return to…

  By Howard Smith Oct 14, 2006 | 5 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 The challah that changed everything: Tracing Jewish baking back to Poland

  

• Nora Berman The Kennedy Center canceled all its ‘woke’ programming — so why is this Jewish musical OK?

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  Don’t Play Politics With Antisemitism

  Heading into the home stretch of another bitterly fought national election, partisans on both sides aren’t pulling any punches. Democrats charge Republicans with incompetence, corruption and failed leadership. Republicans call Democrats ready to cut and run on Iraq, weak on security and, of course, tax-and-spend liberals. Name-calling and partisan attacks may turn the public off…

  By Sam Gejdenson Oct 14, 2006 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Contemplate the Contradictions and Complexities

  A provocative challenge to religious conservatives has been lodged by Time magazine blogger Andrew Sullivan in his new book, “The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back.” A very publicly gay, self-identified conservative and former New Republic editor, Sullivan thinks conservatism in general and the Republican Party in particular have been…

  By David Klinghoffer Oct 14, 2006 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Habits of the Informed Heart

  It can hardly be called a parade. Some people are frenzied, others are sluggish, the drums beat out of synch, it’s altogether a mess. But even so, some things become clear. For example, we can now state definitively that Jerusalem is neither Washington, D.C., nor Batavia, Ill. The way we know this? When the Torah…

  By Leonard Fein Oct 14, 2006 | 4 min read
• Letters

  October 13, 2004

  Scholar No Amateur In a September 22 arts article, Gal Beckerman pays lip service to my book, “Roosevelt and the Holocaust: A Rooseveltian Examines the Policies and Remembers the Times,” casually mentioning it in a few sentences and essentially quoting an article from Publishers Weekly (“Reassessing FDR’s Legacy”). At least the reviewer at Publishers Weekly…

  Oct 13, 2006 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Pyongyang’s Big Bang

  In a season of deep gloom and dark fears, no recent news has stricken more terror into more hearts than the reports this week that North Korea had conducted its first nuclear weapons test. The reports remain unconfirmed, to be sure, and the size of the tremor suggests that the bomb, if that’s what it…

  Oct 13, 2006 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Hezbollah Will Rebuild Unless Borders Enforced

  Among the ruins of south Beirut, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah hailed a massive rally a few days ago. People jammed the streets to see him, crying out his name. In many Damascus shop windows, meanwhile, the rotund little sheik, often pictured hoisting high an AK-47 in homage to the Hezbollah logo, now enjoys pride of…

  By Tom Lantos Oct 7, 2006 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  Who Says Europe Hasn’t Woken Up to Radical Islam?

  Europe is ringing these days with wake-up calls. Voices from the United States, Israel and certain European types are demanding a much tougher line on Islamic Jihadists, Middle Eastern terrorists and radical regimes like Iran. Europeans, these voices charge, is in denial about the deadly threat to Western values and civilization, or even worse, is…

  By Eric Frey Oct 7, 2006 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  You Can Take the Jew Out of Jewish… But You Probably Wouldn’t

  What is the difference between saying that “so-and-so is a Jew” and that “so-and-so is Jewish?” An admittedly unscientific poll I took recently among 18 acquaintances reached a unanimous verdict; they always spoke of themselves as Jewish, not as Jews. Would “Jew” in the same context, they were then asked, be wrong or pejorative? Again…

  By Berel Lang Oct 7, 2006 | 4 min read