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.
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.
There’s a poem Jews sing every evening after lighting Hanukkah candles. It’s called “Maoz Tzur” — Rock of the Ages — and was written during the Crusades, one of the many times when Jewish blood ran through the streets; its lines are laced with the tragedy and longing that typifies Jewish liturgy. One chokes me…
As a new year and new decade approaches, many people are partaking in the tradition of setting a new year’s resolution. My suggestion for this year? As a rabbi with a rap sheet decades old, it’s this: Get arrested. After all, getting arrested is a profound spiritual practice. For proof, look no further than Mahatma…
As Jews across the world celebrate Hanukkah, an apex of anti-Semitic attacks were perpetrated against Jews in New York City. Today, the Anti-Defamation League reported the seventh anti-Semitic incident since December 23. These attacks join a growing list of hate crimes targeting Orthodox Jews across the city, mostly in Brooklyn neighborhoods like Crown Heights and…
An increasingly loud chorus of voices has been calling for the resignation of Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to President Trump and the architect of his family separation policy. The calls have come in light of emails he sent a former Breitbart reporter, which included links to articles on the white nationalist site VDARE. In…
Hannukah may be ranked as a minor holiday by rabbinic tradition, but it’s anything but minor to American and Israeli Jews. A survey from 2018 found that two-thirds of American Jews view Hanukkah as “one of the three most important holidays.” 60% of American Jews light candles each night, as do 73% of Israeli Jews….
As we come to the end of an intense news year in the Jewish world and the dawn of a whole new decade, we are rededicating ourselves to one of the Forward’s core missions: being a platform for civil discourse on the issues that divide our communities. In service of that mission, we are adding…
There is something both satisfying and terrifying about making a list. The very act of compiling — a to-do list, a bucket list, a gratitude list — can clarify priorities even to yourself. To accomplish or buy or even just remember these things becomes more important because they’re written down. What is left off may…
On September 23, a week before the High Holidays, my congresswoman, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, joined seven other national security Democrats in declaring their support of an impeachment inquiry in President Donald Trump. A week later, when she arrived for Erev Rosh Hashanah services at one of our Metro Detroit synagogues, she was met with…
Being black and Jewish, I’ve heard it all. “What’s your story? How did you become Jewish? Did you convert? Are one of your parents white?” My whole life, the self-appointed gatekeepers of American Jewry, almost always white people, have found my Judaism incomprehensible. Now, after the killing last week in Jersey City of four people…
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Israel is locked in conflict over how to treat non-Jewish people living in the land. Stark divisions are growing between radically different visions of what being Jewish means. Tensions are rising as lines blur between religious and civil authority. And the nation’s relationship with the world’s dominant superpower…
Dear Editor: On Tuesday, the Forward published a piece by Peter Beinart titled, “Of Course They’re Accusing Bernie Sanders Of Anti-Semitism — Because He Supports Palestinians.” In the piece, Mr. Beinart blasts what he sees as phony allegations of anti-Semitism against Sanders. It is Sanders’ support of the Palestinians, Beinart argues, that is the reason…
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