Opinion

• Opinion

  It takes a village to create a nation’s memory

  In the early postwar years in the German town of Warendorf, no one contributed as much to facing the difficult past as Hugo Spiegel. He was not a learned man. He was Jewish, however. And his story tells us something important about how German communities confronted their history. The central insight is that a country…

  By Helmut Walser Smith

  9 min read
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  Opinion

  I witnessed Tahrir Square as an Israeli diplomat. 10 years later I’m still looking for peace.

  It is a well-known Egyptian proverb: Once you drink from the Nile, you are destined to return. I had the privilege of serving as an Israeli diplomat in Cairo, Egypt, on two diplomatic tours. On my first tour, I came to see Cairo as my second home; that was one of the reasons I chose…

  By Israel Nitzan Jan 25, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Haredi community is more than Heshy Tischler — let us tell our own stories

  . Back in the summer of 2016, five police officers were killed in Dallas as ostensible “payback” for police shootings of unarmed Black men around the country. Former President George W. Bush, speaking at the officers’ memorial service, accurately summed up precisely what it was about that moment in time that made the massacre possible….

  By Eli Steinberg Jan 24, 2021 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry An Israeli media mainstay is crumbling. Will liberal democracy go with it?

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Ella Emhoff isn’t Jewish (and she doesn’t want to talk about it)

  This is an adaptation of our weekly Shabbat newsletter, sent by our editor-in-chief on Friday afternoons. Sign up here to get the Forward’s free newsletters delivered to your inbox. And click here for a PDF of stories to savor over Shabbat and Sunday that you can download and print I want to acknowledge that I have…

  By Jodi Rudoren Jan 22, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Andrew Yang: My vision for New York City’s Jewish community

  I was on the Lower East Side on Sunday with my wife, Evelyn, for a small-business tour. In my 25 years in the city, I’ve visited the neighborhood countless times for any number of reasons: to eat at Russ & Daughters or Congee Village with friends, visit the Tenement Museum or ride my bike before…

  By Andrew Yang Jan 22, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Chuck Schumer must abolish the filibuster — it’s the Jewish thing to do

  On Wednesday, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia were sworn in to the U.S. Senate, making Chuck Schumer of New York the body’s first Jewish Majority Leader. Schumer will need every single caucusing Democratic Senator — including, with Ossoff, a minyan of Democratic Jews — to support him in enacting President Biden’s ambitious vision….

  By Bill Dauster Jan 21, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Conspiracy and complicity got our democracy here

  Two phenomena have characterized the outgoing Trump administration and spilled over to other countries around the world. The first is the astonishing power of conspiracy theories. The second is the no less astonishing capacity of generally honorable men and women to become complicit in the crimes and misdemeanors of the leaders for whom they work….

  By Omer Bartov Jan 21, 2021 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  Jon Ossoff was sworn in on my husband’s Bible, and I couldn’t be prouder

  While much of the world smiles at the “firsts” attached to Vice President Kamala Harris’ swearing in, I think as well of something closer to home. It sounds like the opening line of a Borscht Belt joke: “A Jew and a Black minister walk into the Senate …” When the results came in from Georgia’s…

  By Janice Blumberg Jan 21, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Biden brings hope. But as a Jew, I’m still alarmed by what’s brewing in America.

  Across social media, I see some of the most unadulterated rejoicing I have seen in years — specifically, four of them. Countdowns to Donald Trump’s exit and Joe Biden’s swearing-in and declarations that “the nightmare is over” proliferated in the lead-up to inauguration day. Jokes about Bernie Sanders’ inaugural attire abounded, as if the nation…

  By Emily Shire Jan 21, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Editorial | The right speech by the right man at the right time

  I’ve long believed that the most important superpower for an editor, or perhaps any manager, is the ability to match a particular individual to a particular assignment. With his pitch-perfect inaugural address on Wednesday, Joe Biden showed the American people that we nailed it by electing him our 46th president. I am not, I should…

  By Jodi Rudoren Jan 20, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The benediction I gave President Biden before his inauguration

  You already know the Yiddish word for “mensch.” It means a person who endeavors to consistently do the right thing — textbook example: Joe Biden. Here’s a new Yiddish word for our vocabulary as we send off our favorite Delawarean to Washington: “bashert.” My wife, Dr. Elissa Green, aka Major Biden’s Delaware Humane Association veterinarian,…

  By Michael Beals Jan 20, 2021 | 2 min read