Opinion

• Opinion

  The Spirit of Giving

  To people who believe in giving from the heart, New York at holiday time can feel more like a series of parallel universes than a city in the midst of celebration. Outdoor malls and Madison Avenue boutiques are filled with people who want for nothing, gift-shopping — busily, joyfully, even crabbily — for people who…

  By Sharon Glassman

  4 min read
• Letters

  December 12, 2003

  ‘Beyond Walls’ Editorial Is Beyond the Pale The November 28 editorial “Beyond the Walls” is aptly titled; it crosses a journalistic barrier that has, until now, allowed the Forward to be perceived as a neutral forum with regard to different expressions of Judaism. “Protesters” within the Orthodox community unhappy with what they perceive as abuses…

  Dec 12, 2003 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  Let Courts Give Closure To Holocaust Victims

  At the end of “Schindler’s List,” film director Steven Spielberg included footage of some of the surviving “Schindler Jews” he had portrayed in his movie. With their children and grandchildren, they placed stones on a grave in Israel. Spielberg wanted to show that even though the Nazis killed 6 million Jews, they could never destroy…

  By Simon Rozenkier Dec 12, 2003 | 6 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

  Can America Afford Not To Provide Universal Health Care?

  As a nation, we do many things to reduce societal risk and promote health. We regulate the safety of cars, enforce standards to make our workplaces safer and set limits on exposure to toxic chemicals. Fewer fatal car crashes and healthier work and home environments allow people to live longer and healthier lives. We need…

  By Arthur Kellermann and Wilhelmine Miller Dec 5, 2003 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  A Study In Vibrancy

  As against the conventional lamentations regarding the state of American Jewish life, I am pleased to inform you that on December 21, a rather large miracle is scheduled to begin. It falls under the heading “Who would have thunk?” The background: The Association for Jewish Studies, founded in 1969, is the learned society for professors…

  By Leonard Fein Dec 5, 2003 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  The Truths of Geneva

  For all its theatrics, its celebrity cast and high-concept special effects, the “launch” this week in Switzerland of the so-called Geneva Understandings did not usher in a new era in Israeli-Palestinian relations. The document’s authors and architects did not have the power to do anything of the sort. Private citizens all, they could hug and…

  Dec 5, 2003 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Changing Georgia

  Last week’s bloodless revolution in the former Soviet republic of Georgia is a reminder that change can come about peaceably, even in a region with a history as violent and turbulent as the Caucasus. What is needed is for all the players to rise to the occasion and play their parts resolutely, but responsibly. Three…

  Dec 5, 2003 | 2 min read
• Letters

  December 5, 2003

  Abuse Issue Examined Ten years ago, the UJA-Federation of New York convened a group of human services professionals to determine what needed to be done about spousal abuse in the Jewish community — a long-denied issue that is a stark reality for far too many Jewish women and children (“Open Our Communal Eyes to Spousal…

  Dec 5, 2003 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  History of Ford Due for ‘Tune-up’

  This past week saw three exercises in revisiting history: the annual ritual, replete with conspiracy theories, of reexamining the Kennedy assassination; the Pulitzer Prize board reconsidering New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty’s prize for his discredited 1930s coverage of Soviet collectivization, and the Ford Foundation acknowledging that several of its pro-Palestinian grantees had channeled their…

  By Jay Tcath Nov 28, 2003 | 4 min read
• Letters

  November 28, 2003

  Revisit Religious Texts On Abortion Argument Opinion writer Rabbi David Ellenson grievously misrepresents both how the Jewish religious tradition views partial-birth abortion as defined in the recently enacted federal law and what that law says (“Abortion Ban Degrades and Devalues Women,” November 21). It is indeed true that Jewish tradition considers a Jewish mother’s life…

  Nov 28, 2003 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  Liberal Nationalism

  The worldwide campaign to rob Israel of its good name has strained Zionism’s historic linkage with liberalism. Too many progressives have attacked Israel and Zionism, especially in academia. Palestinians have cleverly hijacked the rhetoric of human rights to rationalize that great human wrong, terrorism. The new, politically correct position of demonizing the Jewish state and…

  By Gil Troy Nov 28, 2003 | 3 min read