Opinion

• Opinion

  The Evolving Involvement of American Jews

  An essay by a newly Orthodox Jewish writer provoked plenty of ire not so long ago, when she criticized the fictional characters created by various authors whom she said had “renounced Orthodox Judaism.” Leaving aside questions about her literary judgment, what intrigued me was the writer’s own new-found religion, pointing as it does to something…

  By Bethamie Horowitz

  4 min read
• Opinion

  My Self-imposed Exile From Israel

  I am not always welcome in Jewish circles here in Chicago. A handful of people won’t talk to me; some won’t even look at my children. I was told by one Jewish communal official that I’ve supplied weapons to the enemy, and a prominent member of my community accused me, in a letter sent to…

  By Emily Hauser Mar 11, 2005 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  An Island of Empowerment

  From the air, the many islands off the Andaman Sea coast of southern Thailand’s Trang Province look like Shangri-La: luxuriantly green, white beaches, aqua sea. Last week I visited the small village of Koh Muuk on one of them, Muuk Island. Early and misleading reports following the tsunami of December 26 — a date referred…

  By Kathleen Peratis Mar 4, 2005 | 4 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 Americans keep getting killed in the West Bank. Here’s how the US could fight that awful trend

  

• Nora Berman First Camp Auschwitz, now Alligator Alcatraz — why the right is obsessed with commodifying brutality

  

• Dan Perry What exactly is going on between Israel and Syria — and is the prospect of peace dead?

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

The Latest

• Letters

  March 4, 2005

  ‘Tug of War’ at Y.U. An Imagined Conflict The February 18 Viewpoint news analysis column posits that Yeshiva University President Richard “Joel stands at the center of a theological tug of war” between left and right at the university (“Y.U. Chief’s Quiet Gambit Creates Space for Change”). The Forward, however, omits reference to two innovative…

  Mar 4, 2005 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  Democracy and Peace In the Middle East

  Those who have been wondering when the worldwide march of democracy would finally reach the Middle East got the beginnings of an answer this week. In a scene reminiscent of the velvet revolutions that swept Eastern Europe more than a decade ago, the people of Lebanon took to the streets last Monday to protest Syrian…

  Mar 4, 2005 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  If It’s Saturday, This Must Be America

  Of the Ten Commandments, the Fourth — Sabbath observance — had until recently received less respect than any of the other nine, among Jews and Christians alike. One joker has called it “the Rodney Dangerfield of the Decalogue.” America, however, is due for a Sabbath revival, and there is evidence in the culture that one…

  By David Klinghoffer Mar 4, 2005 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  The Struggle To Reinvigorate The Zionist Ethos

  As the Israeli government moves to eliminate the Jewish presence in Gaza and in four settlements in northern Shomron, opponents of its plan would do well to keep things in perspective. The battle is not over homes and hothouses; it is over the hearts and minds of our brothers and sisters. Even if we lose…

  By Moshe Dann Mar 4, 2005 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  When Academic Freedom Is Kicked Out of Class

  New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein should pay a visit to the City University of New York Graduate Center this week to see a telling and chillingly timely exhibit called “Activism and Repression: The Struggle for Free Speech at CCNY, 1931-42,” which closes March 6. Contemplating this chronicle of shameful blacklists against City College…

  By Alisa Solomon Mar 4, 2005 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Discard the Outmoded Taboo Against ‘Evenhandedness’

  In responding to recent Republican ads that linked Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean to masked terrorists, Jewish Democratic leaders justifiably criticized gutter politics and cited pro-Israel statements from Dean. But they also should have refuted the assumption implicit in those ads — namely, that those who advocate that the United States not “take sides”…

  By Dan Fleshler Mar 4, 2005 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  …And the Debate It Sparked Among American Jewish Advocates

  Last year, Prime Minister Sharon put forward a plan to withdraw Jewish settlements from Gaza and the northern West Bank. His plan was approved by his government and was supported by nearly three-quarters of Israel’s citizens. It subsequently won the endorsement of the Bush administration, and clearly has the support of the great majority of…

  By Eric Yoffie Feb 25, 2005 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  …And the Debate It Sparked Among American Jewish Advocates

  Among his activities, uninformed criticism of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations appears to be one of Rabbi Eric Yoffie’s most frequent (“Confront the Extremists in Our Midst,” February 11). In his latest missive, his ignorance of the Presidents Conference’s statements of support for Israel’s policies, including for its disengagement plan, has…

  By James Tisch Feb 25, 2005 | 3 min read