Opinion

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  Jane Looking Forward: Drama At The Western Wall, Defending Democracy And More

  Welcome back to Jane Looking Forward, my new weekly opportunity to speak directly to you and share what’s on my mind. The plan to create an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall in Jerusalem was on life support even before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unceremoniously pulled the plug yesterday. We all knew that….

  By Jane Eisner

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Most Jews React To Netanyahu’s Western Wall Decision With Outrage

  Seventeen months after a historic deal was reached that would allow egalitarian and non-Orthodox prayer spaces at the Western Wall, Israel’s governing cabinet suspended the agreement, bowing to pressure from Haredi parties in the government who wish to maintain the status quo. Reaction throughout the Jewish world has been swift and loud. Diaspora Jews, particularly…

  By Steven Davidson Jun 26, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Dear GOP Senators: Your Health Care Bill Targets My Son

  When it comes to influencing government officials with the humanity of my profoundly autistic son, I’ve gotten advice from some of the best special education lawyers in New York. First and foremost, they’ve told us, make sure you bring a photograph of him to all meetings with officials from New York City’s Committee on Special…

  By Larry Cohler-Esses Jun 26, 2017 | 5 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once

  

• Rob Eshman The righteous rabbis protesting those immigration raids in Los Angeles

  

• Nora Berman Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla was never going to help Palestinians

  

• Dan Perry Don’t be grateful two hostages’ bodies were recovered. Be furious.

  

• Emily Tamkin The two things I fear most after the horrifying attack on Jews in Boulder

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  How Trolling Journalists Harms Democracy

  When the anti-Semitic emails and nasty messages on social media bombarded Jewish journalists last year, those of us receiving this online harassment knew that it was an outgrowth of the contentious presidential campaign, especially from supporters of Donald Trump. As the attacks eased in the past few months, I exhaled a bit. Maybe the worst…

  By Jane Eisner Jun 25, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How America Got So Angry (Hint: It Didn’t Start With Trump)

  As president, Barack Obama had a catch-phrase that he often invoked at moments when America seemed to have shamed herself: “That’s not who we are.” He said it after the Sandy Hook massacre. He said it to defend academic freedom and to oppose Islam-bashing and anti-immigrant agitation. His critics on the right hated it. They…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 25, 2017 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  How Bibi Just Gave Liberal Jews The Finger — And What We Can Do About It

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just gave the finger to a huge chunk of American Jews and, by doing so, dangerously upset the already precarious relationship between the Israeli government and the Diaspora. There is no other way to interpret the Israeli Cabinet’s spineless decision yesterday to accede to the ultra-Orthodox members of the coalition…

  By Jane Eisner Jun 25, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  New York Times Op-Ed Asks: ‘Is Your God Dead?’

  In what read like a homily inspired by an acid trip, Emory University philosophy professor George Yancy channeled the likes of Friedrich Nietzsche and Abraham Joshua Heschel in a rambling but strangely moving New York Times op-ed published Monday. The essay, titled “Is Your God Dead?”, asks the reader to look at one’s own beliefs…

  By Michael Heckle Jun 23, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  What We Can Learn From Trump’s Saudi Sword Dance

  I don’t know about you, but until President Trump’s trip to the Middle East last month, I had never heard of a “sword dance.” Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, you’ll recall, were welcomed to Saudi Arabia at the Murabba Palace, near Riyadh, where they joined a lively group of Saudis clad in traditional…

  Jun 23, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  This Week In Anti-Semitism: Graffiti Never Seems To Go Away

  The Forward regularly monitors the surge of anti-Semitism across the country and around the world. The mission of this column is not to unduly alarm, but rather to raise awareness of a disturbing trend that, from some vantage points, can prove difficult to spot. Students and Jewish community members at San Francisco State University filed…

  By Steven Davidson Jun 22, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘This Is Not The Moment,’ To Lift Our Ban On Performing Interfaith Weddings

  The Jewish Theological Seminary affirms that the study of Torah, the sacred wisdom of our people, and the performance of mitzvot, Judaism’s sanctified pattern of religious practice, stand at the very core of Jewish identity. Torah and mitzvot have always been the foundation of the Jewish people’s covenant with God, guiding and sustaining us for…

  By The Jewish Theological Seminary Jun 22, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why We Decided To Perform Intermarriages

  Four poles, a covering on top, open on all four sides -— the huppah. It’s such a simple structure, yet so layered with meaning. It is at once a private sacred space for the couple symbolizing their Jewish home, as well as a symbol that Jewish life is not lived in isolation, but in community….

  By Felicia Sol, and J. Rolando Matalon, and Marcelo Bronstein Jun 21, 2017 | 4 min read