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
-
Opinion
For God’s Sake, Stop Preaching Politics From The Pulpit!
America’s partisan divide seems to have reached a new low. Whatever side of the political aisle each of us is on, we can all agree that this is true. Politics are harming relationships to an unprecedented extent, dividing families to the point that they don’t spend holidays together anymore. A just-published study of the emotional…
-
Opinion Our Job As Jews Is Not To Watch Politics As Sport. It’s To Bring Jewish Values Into The Public Sphere
When reports of the White House whistleblower hit the press in September, a colleague joked on Facebook that all us rabbis would have to rewrite our High Holiday sermons. I panicked; I didn’t realize it was a joke. But as my heart rate settled back to normal, I realized the joke was just another reminder…
-
Opinion With Anti-Semitic Attack On ‘Shifty’ Foe, Trump Shows Off The Mechanism Of His Racism
On Wednesday, Donald Trump again referred to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff as “shifty Schiff.” If you think that sounds vaguely anti-Semitic, you’re right. And it’s likely only the beginning. As the impeachment inquiry escalates, Trump’s anti-Semitic rhetoric probably will too. It won’t escalate because Trump is any more hostile to Jews than he…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion Your Attempts To ‘Humanize’ Us Palestinians Are Racist
Being a politically active Palestinian woman on the ground in Palestine, I am acutely familiar with the racism built into the Israeli occupation which denies us our basic freedoms because we belong to the wrong social group. But in recent years, I have come to recognize an erasure of Palestinian identity not only from the…
-
Opinion The Case For Bernie Sanders, The Only Real Progressive In The Race (Sorry, Warren Fans)
On Wednesday morning, news broke that Vermont Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was taking time off from the campaign trail after he had received two stents to the heart. He had felt some chest pain at a rally, which turned out to be a blocked artery. The Senator is currently recovering, and “in good…
-
Opinion It’s Time For The Jewish Community To Do Teshuva For Its Treatment of Jews Of Color
The high holidays are a great time for reflection, community, spirituality, and celebration. But for many Jews of color, parents and partners from other faith traditions and those experiencing Judaism for the first time, it is also a time to stay on high alert. Many will have had their Rosh Hashanahs marred by shattering experiences…
-
Opinion As We Leave This Horrifying Year Behind, Let’s Recommit to The Jewish Value Of Civil Discourse
The most important Jewish thing I did in 5779 did not take place in a synagogue, in Israel, or at summer camp. It did not involve prayer, a specific one of the 613 commandments, or even food (though I’m pretty sure I had some unkosher chicken sausage for breakfast just before). The most important Jewish…
-
Opinion How Palestinian Israelis Humiliated The BDS Movement
It’s been several days since Israeli politician Ayman Odeh made the historic announcement that he, as the leader of the Arab bloc in the Knesset, would recommend Benny Gantz as Prime Minister. It was a stunning development, after decades of Arab parties boycotting the recommendation process. And many American Jews were quick to notice the…
-
Opinion Israel Is Deporting Critics Like Omar Shakir. But It Can’t Hide The Occupation Forever.
In the next few days, Israeli courts will decide the fate of Human Rights Watch’s Israel-Palestine Director Omar Shakir. They will decide whether to allow him to stay and continue his work reporting human rights abuses or to adhere to an anti-democratic law and deport him. Whatever the court decides, one thing is clear: Omar…
-
Opinion The Socialist History That Explains Bernie Sanders’ Jewishness
Since launching his first campaign for the candidacy for the Democratic nomination, there’s been no shortage of ink spilled debating Bernie Sanders’s Jewishness. Scrutiny — often unfair — hinging on Sanders’s criticism of Israel, disinterest in synagogue, and non-Jewish spouse — has turned into an exercise in exclusion. Yet elsewhere, the senator has been seized…
-
Opinion No, Israeli Democracy Is Not ‘Fine’
Last week, Bret Stephens penned a New York Times column entitled, “Israel’s democracy is doing just fine.” With their “rebuke” of Benjamin Netanyahu at the polls, Stephens declared, “Israelis showed that demagogy doesn’t work.” This week, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin gave Netanyahu the opportunity to form Israel’s next government. Netanyahu could fail to do so,…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Inside the ancient Christian theology driving modern antisemitism
- 2
News Jews paused Indiana’s abortion ban — by turning a religious freedom law against the evangelical right
- 3
Culture In 1989, Harold Pinter and Jerry Schatzberg made the perfect Holocaust movie for 2026
- 4
News Mamdani to attend Passover Seder as he navigates ties with Jewish groups amid rising antisemitism
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture 70 years ago, this Jewish choreographer predicted our epidemic of loneliness and isolation
-
Culture Gene Shalit, a mensch with a personality as big as his mustache, turns 100
-
Looking Forward How a song about the food chain became a Seder mainstay
-
Fast Forward Connecticut Catholic school punishes students who targeted ‘Jew Canaan’ rivals on social media
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
