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
Republicans are long accustomed to the media’s probing questions about the less than savory members of their party. Most recently, when Iowa Congressman Steve King endorsed a white nationalist for Toronto mayor and defended white supremacy in a New York Times interview, Republicans were grilled on their support for King. Party leaders ultimately denounced King…
As America is held hostage by a “businessman president” who recently reopened the government after a 35 day temper tantrum that cost the American tax payers billions of dollars, another American businessman has emerged from the fray. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, has got a bold new notion that our system is broken and he…
As soon as former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz tweeted his interest in running an independent, self-funded presidential campaign, the response was instantaneous — and bad. Schultz was dunked on by everyone from Bill Kristol to Julian Castro. I love our country, and I am seriously considering running for president as a centrist independent. — Howard…
On Monday night, the United States Senate voted to advance a bill that will quash free speech in the name of supporting Israel. It’s just one more sign that Israel-Palestine is being used as a potent weapon in today’s political arena. The bill is S. 1, aka the “Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East…
Life isn’t all bad, so why should news be? Once a week, just before Shabbat, the Forward will highlight stories about Jewish joy, triumph, and pride from Jewish communities in America, Israel and all over the world. If you have a tip for a Jewish news story that brought you joy, please send it to…
As Jews of Color gain more visibility and representation in the Jewish world and beyond, we are pushing the boundaries of Jewish conversations on inclusion, race, and politics. Many in the Jewish community see the value of our contributions. But we are also facing a racist backlash. The most recent example of this occurred earlier…
In a recent op-ed in these pages, Yousef Munayyer argued that no state has an inherent right to exist. “States don’t exist because they have a ‘right’ to,” he wrote. “They exist because certain groups of people amassed enough political and material power to make territorial claims and establish governments, sometimes with the consent of…
As a young writer living in California, I find progressive spaces are practically unavoidable. I can’t walk down Santa Monica without someone suggesting I try veganism, nor go to my screenwriting group without a colleague suggesting I add a President Trump joke because Hollywood is all about the resistance. As an intersectional feminist, you’d think…
There’s a curious phenomenon which may be unfamiliar to American Jews: Many Germans who have no Jewish ancestors commonly use surnames like Rosenberg, Rosenthal, Meier, Weill, Schuster and Landau. The same is true of Sephardic Jews: Names like Henriques, Lopez, Mendes, Rodriguez and Pereira are commonly used by both Sephardic Jews and by Iberian Christians…
As a French Jew, I am often asked about anti-Semitism in France. Without fail, the last question at any appearance I make is the same: Should French Jews leave and move to Israel or America? I always insist that Jews have played an instrumental role in founding modern-day France, and if anyone is going to…
There’s a famous scene in the 1992 movie “My Cousin Vinny” where the out of work hairdresser Mona Lisa Vito, played by Marisa Tomei, takes the witness stand to provide expert testimony. The prosecutor, aiming to discredit and belittle Vito, asks her a convoluted question about the precise engine timing of a specific car. “That’s…
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