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.
Opinion
It’s natural to want to solve problems. We see something wrong in the world and we want to fix it. Something seems misaligned, and we want to set it right. And the truth is, many things lend themselves to being solved; the appearance of insulin and the disappearance of bubonic plague come to mind. Here’s…
My mother likes to tell the story of her hospital roommate when I was born 24 years ago in Ramapo, New York, mere miles from Monsey, where an attacker went on an anti-Semitic stabbing rampage. Her roommate was an ultra-Orthodox woman in her early twenties who was having her fifth child, a boy. My mom…
It is entirely predictable. As soon as an antisemitic attack occurs, particularly one as horrific as took place in Monsey on the seventh night of Hanukah, the phone, email, and social media accounts of people, such as myself, who study and write about antisemitism, are inundated with queries and comments. Some come from reporters and…
Hanukkah of 2019 will be remembered as the week that the anti-Semitic violence that has become the new normal for us Orthodox Jews finally made it into mainstream consciousness. According to the Anti-Defamation League, at least 10 attacks took place over Hanukkah alone, reinforcing what we in the community have known for a while now:…
Back in 1974, it made sense for an essay in The New York Times Magazine to start with the premise that “Something new has happened to the Jews of America: They have all been converted to Zionism.” In 2019, something new has again happened to the Jews of America: They have become divided by Zionism….
Last week brought a slew of new anti-Semitic attacks against Jews in the most visible Jewish part of the country — in and around New York City. Jews that look the most Jewish have been targeted in the streets and where they live and work, most recently Saturday night at a Chanukah celebration in Monsey,…
What is happening in America now is not just a crisis for Jews, but for the country as a whole
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…
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