Opinion

• Opinion

  I am a rabbi in a hospital ICU. This is what the COVID surge looks like to our exhausted staff.

  (JTA) — As a rabbi who works as a chaplain at a hospital in Indianapolis, I’ve held my tongue a lot when it comes to COVID-19 and the emotional strain it puts on medical staff. But now — as my team at Indiana University Health is responsible for pastoral care in the Medical ICU and…

  By Rabbi Mike Harvey

  5 min read
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  Opinion

  No Jew should have to starve for Israeli citizenship. But I did

  For eight days, I camped outside of Israel’s Ministry of the Interior on a hunger strike, protesting the injustice I have suffered at the hands of the Israeli state during my nearly 4-year journey toward citizenship. It was under 40 degrees most nights. I ate nothing, drank sips of water and only left to pray…

  By David Ben Moshe Jan 12, 2022 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  My home almost burned in Colorado wildfires. Jews have a special responsibility to fight back

  On Dec. 30, 2021 my hometown of Louisville, Colorado burned. I had an appointment earlier that day at Avista Adventist Hospital, mere hours before it had to be evacuated because of approaching flames. I saw smoke to the west but didn’t give it much thought, though I was well aware of the high winds. As…

  By Shari Edelstein Jan 12, 2022 | 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 A new humanitarian outrage is unfolding in the Middle East. It’s not in Gaza

  

• Nora Berman The left is turning on AOC over Israel — and imperiling its own agenda

  

• Dan Perry Actually, Trump made things between Israel and Iran way worse

  

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

  

The Latest

• 
  Books

  Think the goblins in Harry Potter are antisemitic? Try the rest of British literature

  British literature is so full of antisemitic tropes that the goblins in Harry Potter are now the most obvious ones

  By Gordon Haber Jan 10, 2022 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  I was Bob Saget’s rabbi. This is what made him special.

  The hardest job he ever had, Bob Saget used to tell me, was serving as emcee of our annual synagogue gala. He could never just say the first thing that would pop into his mind, he explained, because it would inevitably be a joke that was too risqué for a synagogue event. He constantly had…

  By Steve Carr Reuben Jan 10, 2022 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Soup is good food, and other thoughts about how to survive the Omicron surge

  This is an adaptation of Looking Forward, a weekly email from our editor-in-chief sent on Friday afternoons. Sign up here to get the Forward’s free newsletters delivered to your inbox. Download and print our free magazine of stories to savor over Shabbat and Sunday. This column should be about New Year’s resolutions, but I haven’t…

  By Jodi Rudoren Jan 7, 2022 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  My daughter is a new immigrant to Israel. The state has failed to support her during the pandemic

  The past two years have been utterly exhausting. Between working from home, supervising children doing Zoom school, sitting through quarantines and more, COVID-19 has unquestionably upended our daily routines. And as the parent of a daughter who immigrated to Israel while the rest of her family remained in the United States, I had to contend…

  By N. Aaron Troodler Jan 6, 2022 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  What the Heritage Foundation gets wrong about DEI and antisemitism

  A recent Heritage Foundation report claims that university Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices are so suffused with antisemitism that they might even be responsible for increased campus violence against Jews. Although the study has received some favorable coverage, it was so poorly executed that it reveals nothing more than how easily data can be manipulated…

  By Steven Lubet Jan 6, 2022 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Too many chose to look away from Chaim Walder’s crimes. We can make other choices now.

  (JTA) — During my first month as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx, I spent most of my time engaged in an intensive orientation. As part of that training, a senior ADA taught us the art of an effective opening argument. Whether you are prosecuting a child rape case, robbery or homicide, your ability…

  By Rahel Bayar Jan 6, 2022 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Jan. 6 could happen again. It’s up to us to stop it

  This essay was adapted from IT COULD HAPPEN HERE by Jonathan Greenblatt, published by Mariner Books. Copyright © 2022 by Jonathan Greenblatt. Reprinted courtesy of HarperCollinsPublishers. From that fateful day in July 2015 when Donald Trump announced his candidacy as he descended a gilded escalator, he contrived grim visions of criminals and terrorists storming across…

  By Jonathan A. Greenblatt Jan 5, 2022 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  I quit the BBC after 30 years because of antisemitism

  There is a joke that English antisemitism is: hating Jews more than is absolutely necessary. On Jan. 3, 2022, I resigned from the BBC, where I have been a freelance broadcaster for over 30 years. I appeared regularly on the BBC World Service and on BBC Radio’s Terry Wogan Show, in addition to countless other…

  By Rabbi YY Rubinstein Jan 4, 2022 | 3 min read