Opinion

• Opinion

  Wide-Ranging Interests

  When it comes to the question of what constitutes “Jewish art” or “Jewish music,” there is not and likely never will be a definitive and satisfying answer. Is any art by a Jewish artist “Jewish art”? Was Felix Mendelssohn a “Jewish composer”? Mahler? Similarly, there is no final answer to what it is that makes…

  By Leonard Fein

  4 min read
• Letters

  February 20, 2004

  Harsh Tone of Bible Not Reserved for Gays Columnist David Klinghoffer, it seems to me, adds to the confusion he so scorns when he cites Leviticus and “ancient Jewish midrashic tradition” to argue that Judaism condemns homosexuality (“Communal Confusion,” February 13). Yes, the Lord is alleged to have said, by the writers of Leviticus, “You…

  Feb 20, 2004 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  Intelligence and Wisdom

  President Bush got one thing right in his February 8 television interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Responding to the mounting furor over intelligence failures leading up to the Iraq war, Bush said there would be “ample time for the American people to assess whether or not I made good calls, whether or not I…

  Feb 20, 2004 | 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 I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  A Double Standard on Suicide Terrorism

  At the recent conference of world business and government leaders in Davos, Switzerland, Jordan’s foreign minister, Marwan Muasher, declared that suicide attacks against Israeli citizens are morally wrong. His statement was extraordinary because Arab leaders rarely, if ever, have forthrightly labeled such killing immoral. Acknowledging as much, Muasher suggested that Arab states should have “publicly,…

  By Leonard A. Cole Feb 20, 2004 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Joe Lieberman’s Historic Run

  A decade ago, I found myself in a hotel lounge in a mid-sized American city chatting with a local Jewish leader. He spoke loudly, but every time he used the words “Jew” or “Jewish,” he lowered his voice. For an instant, I experienced an urge — similar to one I had felt in a Moscow…

  By Blu Greenberg Feb 20, 2004 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  A Modern-Day Mordecai

  Senator Joe Lieberman would have made a wonderful leader for this country. He is an authentic American statesman, a brilliant craftsman of public policy (witness the primary role he played in drafting the Homeland Security Act) and a serious and loyal Jew. Ruefully, support from the Jewish community, which should have been sustained and generous…

  By Menachem Genack Feb 20, 2004 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Communal Confusion

  There seems to be more confusion than ever in the Jewish world over the word “Jewish.” The lack of clarity is exemplified nowhere more obviously than in the debate over homosexuality — not that there is much debate going on among our Jewish communal leaders. Leading Jewish groups overwhelmingly favor erasing the marks of disapproval…

  By David Klinghoffer Feb 13, 2004 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Rebuilding Trans-Atlantic Ties

  Call me hopelessly, irredeemably naive, but I remain convinced that Americans and Europeans are umbilically bound by common fundamental values and common existential threats, and thus, ipso facto, a common agenda. This was not necessarily obvious in 2003, with demonstrators filling the streets of Europe to protest George W. Bush’s, and to a lesser extent…

  By David A. Harris Feb 13, 2004 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  The Good That Could Come From Sharon’s Gaza Gambit

  Supporters of Israel, not to mention Israelis themselves, are trying to make sense of Prime Minister Sharon’s recent announcement about plans to dismantle Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. At first glance, it’s easy to be unenthusiastic about such a unilateral step. But a deeper analysis reveals a range of benefits, prominent among them that…

  By Scott Lasensky Feb 13, 2004 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  To Bolster Muslim Moderates, Add Democracy and Stir

  Hadi Ali is not the stereotypical face of political Islam. His beard is cropped close to his face. He wears sweater vests instead of clerical robes. His formal education is in physics, not theology. All in all, he looks more like a professor of literature at a small Midwestern college than the No. 2 official…

  By Vance Serchuk Feb 13, 2004 | 4 min read
• Letters

  February 13, 2004

  Poll Presents Geneva In a Misleading Light In her opinion article Debra DeLee, president of Americans for Peace Now, reports that 50% of American Jews polled by Peace Now said they were more likely to support the Geneva Understandings (the Israeli far left’s proposal for a full-scale Israeli territorial surrender and creation of a Palestinian…

  Feb 13, 2004 | 5 min read