In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
Opinion
-
Opinion
Whoopi Goldberg’s Holocaust comments were wrong — and I’m glad she said them
Whoopi Goldberg’s comments about the Holocaust could not have been more wrong, but I’m glad that she said what she said. In a cringe-inducing segment on The View, Goldberg, during a discussion of the banning of the book “Maus” by a Tennessee school board, said that “the Holocaust wasn’t about race.” Goldberg later apologized, and…
-
Opinion A poem for my son, Daniel Pearl, on the 20th anniversary of his death
The following is a poem by Professor Judea Pearl, originally published on the 10th anniversary of his son Daniel Pearl’s death. On February 1, 2002, the 38-year-old journalist was murdered by terrorists in Pakistan. The poem is reprinted here with permission. Come walk the road to lions’ den South of midnight, planet earth, Karachi, Pakistan….
-
Opinion I’ve been a hostage negotiator for kidnapped journalists like Daniel Pearl. Here’s what I wish everyone knew
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Daniel Pearl, the American journalist who was kidnapped and then brutally murdered by terrorists in Pakistan on Feb. 1, 2002. Danny’s death affected me deeply — his abduction on the way to an arranged interview at a Karachi restaurant, the kidnappers’ note that read more like…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion ‘From my archive to yours’: Meet Bob Cumins, photographer and Zelig of Jewish politics
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. Back in September, my son handed me the envelope as soon…
-
Opinion What ketamine therapy taught me about my Jewish intergenerational trauma
In July of 2021, I found myself in a Manhattan clinic wearing an eye mask and headphones, about to receive my fifth of six injections of therapeutic ketamine. “What’s your intention for this session?” asked my therapist, poised with a notebook to record the answer. “I’d like to encounter my ancestors or my guides,” I…
-
Opinion Why the backlash against Bari Weiss?
Whether she wants the job or not, L.A. transplant Bari Weiss has become a go-to face of American Jewry. After her appearance last Friday on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” she faced a firestorm of criticism for her remarks about the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of it is from the cottage industry of Bari Weiss…
-
Opinion After Colleyville, we fight antisemitism by teaching about it
A few years ago, a guest speaker made antisemitic statements on a panel at Princeton University, where I lead the Center for Jewish Life — Hillel. Alarmed by his comments that Israelis “are biped bloodhounds drinking the blood of one million [Palestinian] children,” I met with an administrator to discuss its impact on Jewish students….
-
Opinion My cousin may have betrayed Anne Frank. What would I have done in his place?
(JTA) — My entire adult life I have espoused and jettisoned multiple theologies and philosophies after subjecting them to the ultimate test: Would they survive Auschwitz? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, almost always with some kind of caveat. Now Auschwitz presents a new test much closer to home. This month, the subject of who betrayed Anne…
-
Opinion What it’s like to be a Jewish former NYPD cop in Texas
When my friends ask me what it’s like to be a cop, I typically give them the standard “living the dream” line that most of us use — for me, it truly is a dream job. When my Jewish friends ask, I reply with a more niche answer. I tell them to imagine posting a…
-
Opinion In Ukraine, I was never allowed to forget that I was a Jew
As told to Nora Berman; edited for length and clarity I find it offensive when people describe me as a Ukrainian Jew. I am Jewish, and I was born in Ukraine, yet I feel quite separate from the buildup of Russian troops on the eastern border and the threat of invasion. In Ukraine, I was…
-
Letters We need a tenure system for American rabbis
Prior to heroically initiating the escape of three congregants and himself from the Jan. 15, 2022 hostage siege in Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who had led the Reform temple for 15 years, was informed that his contract would not be renewed. In Oct. 2021, Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt, the assistant…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Ashkenazi Jews, there’s 1,000 years of history you’ve been missing
- 2
News Hundreds of Northwestern students can’t register for class because they won’t watch an antisemitism training video. Here’s what’s in it.
- 3
Fast Forward Hegseth says ‘no more beardos’ in the military. What about religious exemptions?
- 4
Fast Forward The ADL doesn’t speak for New York Jews’ concerns, says Zohran Mamdani
In Case You Missed It
-
Music ‘Kavalier and Clay’ could be a Jewish-American ‘Ring Cycle’ — what would Richard Wagner think of it?
-
Fast Forward New aid flotilla nears Gaza coast, with Greta Thunberg and a Jewish activist on board
-
Fast Forward Israel’s secret ‘Esther Project’: DOJ filings reveal paid US influencer campaign amid AI-powered PR blitz
-
Culture Gary Shteyngart reflects on his botched bris in a new short film
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
