Opinion

• Opinion

  Israel, Beyond The Terrorism

  Oddly energized by the intellectual onslaught against the Jewish state, “Israel advocacy” is hot on campus these days. Yet there must be more to a Jew’s relationship with the Jewish state than countering “myths” with “facts.” We need a more positive and meaningful engagement with Israel. Alas, too many community leaders stereotype Israel as the…

  By Gil Troy

  3 min read
• Opinion

  Roe at 30

  “And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow, he shall be surely fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life,…

  Jan 24, 2003 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Jews in Space

  The liftoff of Israel’s first astronaut, Colonel Ilan Ramon, has Jews around the world going space-crazy. Synagogues, Internet sites and Chinese restaurants from coast to coast are abuzz with nonstop Ramon-mania. Ramon, though not personally observant, has decided to keep kosher in space. He asked Israel’s national Holocaust authority, Yad Vashem, to give him a…

  Jan 24, 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 There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• 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

  One-Track Minds on Two-Track Mideast Solutions

  In 1975, Assistant Secretary of State Harold Saunders scandalized Congress by becoming the first administration official to tell lawmakers that the Palestinian problem was the “heart of the conflict” between Israel and its Arab adversaries. Despite the shellacking Saunders took for his stance, a generation of Israeli and Western peacemakers ultimately adopted his view that…

  By Larry Cohler-Esses Jan 24, 2003 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  My Good Doctor: Two Pleas for Understanding

  The following exchange began with a letter to the Forward from Dr. Marek Edelman calling on his fellow physician, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, to help initiate a joint Jewish-Palestinian movement for peace in the Middle East. Edelman’s letter and Barghouti’s response appear below. Edelman, a cardiologist and human rights activist, is the last surviving leader of…

  Jan 24, 2003 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Ill UJC Needs Second Opinion

  The ineffectiveness and torpor that pervades United Jewish Communities offers little comfort to those of us who were concerned and had misgivings about the overreaching and overly ambitious attempt to create a single entity that would be responsible for community services, resource development and allocations. Our federated system needs a central, collaborative and collective entity…

  By Shoshana Cardin Jan 24, 2003 | 4 min read
• Letters

  January 24, 2003

  Editorialist Misreads Human Rights Report’s Focus on U.S., Israel The editorialist seems willfully to have misunderstood why Human Rights Watch began its 2003 World Report with a discussion of the United States (“Human Rights Dodge,” January 17). The Forward asserts that “America is not the world’s leading abuser,” as if Human Rights Watch suggested it…

  Jan 24, 2003 | 6 min read
• Opinion

  The Semi-Cracked State of the Glass Ceiling in Israel

  Since its establishment in 1948, the State of Israel has had the image of a state in which women enjoy a full measure of equality. However, this image is somewhat misleading. The struggle for gender equality in Israel has been an uphill battle. Though the predominant ethos of the Zionist movement and the State of…

  By Yael Dayan Jan 24, 2003 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  King’s Spiritual Activism

  There appear to be two kinds of faith these days in America. The first, fundamentalism, promotes coerciveness and exclusivity, encouraging polarization, impenetrable boundaries and a deep suspicion of the other. The second, a type of New Age spirituality, is largely self-concerned, mainly focusing on the individual and his or her feelings and well-being. Dr. Martin…

  By Rabbi Brad Hirschfield and Irwin Kula Jan 17, 2003 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Tend to Our Garden

  Tu B’Shvat, which we observe this Saturday, challenges us to think seriously about how we might apply authentic Jewish values to the ecological challenges confronting our planet. Sadly, some Jews are not involved in this enterprise, even though they observe the traditions, for they identify environmentalism with nonreligious, even anti-religious, elements and instinctively reject them….

  By Daniel Sperber Jan 17, 2003 | 3 min read
• Letters

  January 17, 2003

  Know Law of the Land Before Advising Israel The strategic advice the editorialist offers the government of Israel seems remarkably unencumbered by the sad facts of the last two-and-a-half years (“The Tin Badge II,” January 3). Contrary to the Forward’s assertion, Israel has not “insisted on remaining in control of the territories.” Furthermore, the pressure…

  Jan 17, 2003 | 5 min read