Opinion

• 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…

  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
• Opinion

  The Wrecking Crew Does Medicare

  In ramming their massive Medicare restructuring plan through Congress in the final days of the fall session, the Bush administration and its Republican congressional allies offered the nation a shocking display of ideological zealotry and bare-knuckles political ruthlessness. The bill passed by the two houses is — to the extent that anyone fully understands the…

  Nov 28, 2003 | 2 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

  Beyond the Walls

  This week’s ruling by a New York state appellate court, dismissing a woman’s suit against the Orthodox rabbis who allegedly dissolved her marriage behind her back, offers a sobering reminder of the deeper meaning of church-state separation. For all its manifold blessings, for religious communities in general and Jews in particular, our American system poses…

  Nov 28, 2003 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Sanitizing Italian Fascism Sullies Fight Against Antisemitism

  This past Tuesday the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee hosted Italy’s deputy prime minister, Gianfranco Fini. I didn’t attending the session. In plain terms, I boycotted it. I had no wish to play any part in sanitization ceremonies for fascists, neo-fascists and antisemites of all kinds. Fini is the leader of an important Italian…

  By Yossi Sarid Nov 28, 2003 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Our Lives Of Sarah

  A black-clad young man interrogated my wife and me in the foyer of Istanbul’s Neve Shalom synagogue, exactly three years ago. I thought about our visit to Turkey when Neve Shalom and another synagogue a few miles away, Beth Israel, were bombed this past Shabbat during the crowded morning services. At least 25 died. I…

  By David Klinghoffer Nov 21, 2003 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  No Appeasement on Ashrawi Award

  Australian Labor parliamentarian Michael Danby claims that it was only the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council that campaigned against the appropriateness of this month’s awarding of the Sydney Peace Prize to Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi, and that this campaign ended up being counter-productive (“Over the Top Protest Down Under,” November 14). He is wrong on…

  By Colin Rubenstein Nov 21, 2003 | 2 min read
• Letters

  November 21, 2003

  Little Frank a Class Act It was with great satisfaction that I read the November 14 profile of Frank Luntz (“Political Pollster Grows Into His Jewish Identity). I was Frank’s principal and teacher for seven years at religious school. I knew him and his family very well. Although not heavily observant, Frank always had a…

  Nov 21, 2003 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Standing in Istanbul

  Dispersed though we may be, there are moments when all Jews come together in one spot, or so it’s said. Tradition teaches that we all stood together at Mount Sinai to receive the Law. Sociologists tell us that we all, or nearly all, sit together around the Seder table and gather together for Atonement prayers….

  Nov 21, 2003 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Soros and the Jews

  Our annual Forward Fifty list, published last week, always seems to raise a host of eyebrows, mostly over who is left off. We try to list the 50 persons we see as most influential in shaping the public life of the American Jewish community, whether by their roles within the community or by public activity…

  Nov 21, 2003 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Open Our Communal Eyes to Spousal Abuse

  It is really most appropriate that the Hebrew month Tishri, and Succoth in particular, coincided last month with the National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. After all, the succah, the hut that Jews inhabit during the autumn harvest festival, represents the fragility of life. The winds blow and the rains fall, leaving its dwellers vulnerable to…

  By Carol Goodman Kaufman Nov 21, 2003 | 4 min read