Opinion

• Letters

  Letter | God’s name is a breath

  Dear Editor, Abigail Pogrebin’s exploration of a group of rabbis’ conceptions of God is intriguing. Yet it leaves out some of the more transformative approaches, especially those deeply influenced by Eco-Judaism. In my new book, Dancing in God’s Earthquake: The Coming Transformation of Religion (Orbis, October 2020), I have explored one of the oldest biblical…

  By Arthur Waskow

  2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The anti-Semitic backstory of QAnon

  QAnon is one of the strangest developments on the current political scene. Originating in 2017 on the often racist imageboard website 4chan, its members believe that the world is really being run by a secret cabal of devil-worshiping pedophiles, who include billionaires like Bill Gates, celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, and high-profile Democratic politicians like Hilary…

  By David Livingstone Smith Sep 2, 2020 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Biden has always sided with Israel. He will be the last Democratic leader to do so.

  With ten weeks left until the election, the Joe Biden presidential campaign has affirmed that it intends to strike roughly the same posture on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as President Obama did. In a newly published platform aimed at the Arab American community, Biden’s camp reiterates that while the former vice president will defend the free…

  By Zaid Jilani Sep 2, 2020 | 3 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

  We’re in an epidemic of Schadenfreude

  We are approaching the moment in the Jewish calendar that commemorates the birthday of the world. But rather than celebrating our shared place on this planet, the election cycle in which we are currently embroiled has created a chasm between many of God’s creatures, even pitting us against one another. Worst of all is the…

  By Joel Cohen Aug 31, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  For the sins we committed by publishing articles with typos….

  This is an adaptation of our Shabbat Newsletter, which is sent Friday afternoons. Sign up here to get the newsletter (and our daily emails) delivered to your inbox each week. It’s not just typos. A couple of months ago, I had to re-send a corrected version of our weekly Shabbat newsletter because I mistakenly lumped Teddy…

  By Jodi Rudoren Aug 28, 2020 | 5 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The lesson of Trump’s RNC speech: The Left needs to put its issues on hold for now

  In response to the prominent placement of people of color at the Republican convention, wildly disproportionate to their ranks in the party, liberal commentators painted the GOP’s pretensions to diversity as a way to reassure center-right white suburbanites that they aren’t racist for supporting President Trump. There is definitely some truth to this. A double-digit…

  By Abe Silberstein Aug 28, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  As Jews, we cannot abandon America’s cities

  There is an old Jewish practice to pray for the welfare of the government under which they live. It dates back to the Babylonian Captivity, when tradition has it that the prophet Jeremiah urged his exiled Judeans to put in a good word, even for those who had burned their Temple to the ground. Why?…

  By Ari Hoffman Aug 27, 2020 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Stop telling us we don’t have a right to criticize Israel. Zionism is about us, too.

  Whether or not it is appropriate for diaspora Jewry to speak out on Israeli policy has been the focal point of much debate within the pro-Israel American-Jewish community for decades, even when it comes to people like me who are Israeli citizens. It’s something I encounter a lot at my job at Israel Policy Forum,…

  By Shanie Reichman Aug 27, 2020 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Young Black Voters are alienated from the Democratic Party. Can Biden fix it in time?

  The Republican National Convention has in its first two days been a repudiation of the things Black voters care about: police reform, Black Lives Matter protests, and expanding housing access. Speakers touted keeping low income housing out of the suburbs, they defended the police, and they praised President Trump as the “bodyguard of western civilization.”…

  By Marcus Johnson Aug 26, 2020 | 5 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Letter | People who don’t believe in God have a lot to say about the subject, too.

  Dear Editor, Congratulations on your “Still, Small Voice” initiative to explore varieties of Jewish beliefs about God. I am sure you will find some interesting perspectives on this issue. However, you are missing important Jewish voices by only including those who believe in God. Pew’s 2013 A Portrait of Jewish Americans gave respondents three options….

  By Adam Chalom Aug 26, 2020 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Trump is illegally using Jerusalem as a backdrop for his reality show

  Later today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will address the Republican National Convention from Israel. Violating multiple State Department regulations bearing his own name, Secretary Pompeo’s speech demonstrates two realities of the Trump administration: First, Trump has a reckless disregard for the law. This speech, taped during Pompeo’s official State Department travel to Israel, is…

  By Halie Soifer Aug 25, 2020 | 4 min read