Opinion

• Opinion

  Bari Weiss is a casualty of the Left’s woke culture war

  Years from now, those of us in the professional commentariat will remember where we were the day that Bari Weiss resigned from The New York Times. The nation’s paper of record has firmly chosen a side in the Left’s roiling ideological civil war between traditional liberalism and the new Marxism — or what one columnist…

  By Josh Hammer

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why do free speech warriors only care when conservatives are canceled?

  Earlier today, New York Times columnist Bari Weiss resigned from the paper of record. Weiss, who has written extensively about anti-Semitism and Jewish issues, announced her resignation in a blistering letter condemning The Times for supposedly adopting an ideologically homogeneous left-wing political orthodoxy, in which “Twitter has become its ultimate editor” and “the paper itself…

  By Joel Swanson Jul 14, 2020 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  We need to allow ourselves to be persuaded by beauty

  This article is part of a new series called “On Persuasion.” We asked thought leaders to consider what persuasion means to them. What works in terms of persuading people? Is it moot in 2020? What is the Jewish value of persuasion? Should we be opening our minds to other points of view, or closing them…

  By Ari Hoffman Jul 14, 2020 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson Mamdani’s victory is an opportunity for Jews to relearn the art of disagreement

  

• Rob Eshman Want to understand what’s wrong with the ‘pro-Palestine’ movement? This Palestinian can help

  

• Nora Berman Did Netanyahu coerce Trump into attacking Iran? No — but he tried with Obama

  

• Dan Perry Trump wants to control the Israeli judiciary. Uh, good luck

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  I spent 20 years in a white church. I’m done trying to persuade people.

  This article is part of a new series called “On Persuasion.” We asked thought leaders to consider what persuasion means to them. What works in terms of persuading people? Is it moot in 2020? What is the Jewish value of persuasion? Should we be opening our minds to other points of view, or closing them…

  By Issac J. Bailey Jul 13, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Donald Trump’s deadly game of persuasion

  This article is part of a new series called “On Persuasion.” We asked thought leaders to consider what persuasion means to them. What works in terms of persuading people? Is it moot in 2020? What is the Jewish value of persuasion? Should we be opening our minds to other points of view, or closing them…

  By Aviya Kushner Jul 13, 2020 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Replace cancel culture with cultural appropriation

  Should we honor men and women from the past whose beliefs or actions were odious by modern standards? This question has loomed large in our conversation during the recent protests against racial injustice. Monuments to leaders of the Confederacy, a proudly racist regime that sought to perpetuate white supremacy and slavery, are the easy part….

  By Cathy Young Jul 10, 2020 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Don’t cancel DeSean Jackson. You can’t fight cancel culture with cancel culture.

  On Monday, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson shared a quote wrongly attributed to Hitler on his Instagram Stories. “Because the white Jews knows that the Negroes are the real Children of Israel and to keep Americas secret the Jews will blackmail America,” the quote read. “They will extort America, their plan for world domination…

  By Adam Levick Jul 9, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Cancel culture comes for all sins – except anti-Semitism

  One of the great ironies of this moment is that the role of police is being debated while too many are becoming cancel culture cops, alert to infractions of tone or language, eagle-eyed and quick to punish. But this new regime has a curious blind spot, a category of infraction where enforcement is lax and…

  By Ari Hoffman Jul 9, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Letter | Of course Jews are indigenous to Israel

  Dear Editor, Regarding the Forward’s recent article highlighting my colleague’s Twitter posting, “Are Jews ‘indigenous’ to Israel? One rabbi said ‘no’ on Twitter – and went viral” — I disagree with Rabbi Kahn’s statement in both its facts and its effects, nor does it speak for Temple Emanu-El. Beyond the Bible, numerous historians argue the…

  By Joshua M. Davidson Jul 9, 2020 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Public Education is a Jewish value

  Our legacy as the most successful Jewish diaspora community in our people’s history is thanks to two things: the right freely to exercise our religion without state interference and the extraordinary education our ancestors — and our kids today — received and receive — through public education. Everything about our experience as American Jews is…

  By Matt Nonsanchuk and Randi Weingarten Jul 9, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Letter | Jews must vigilantly protect against incursions of government in matters of faith

  Dear Editor, Avi Shafran’s criticism of ADL’s opposition to state-mandated scholarships for religious schools sees the trees, not the forest (“A Supreme Court decision just exposed how liberal Jewish groups abandoned Jewish education,” July 2). While professing to support Jewish education, Mr. Shafran ignores the dangers of government support of religious education. Consistent with our…

  By Joseph Berman Jul 9, 2020 | < 1 min read