Opinion

• Opinion

  Why I’m Not Bullish On ‘Fearless Girl’

  For two decades, I’ve passed “Charging Bull,” the iconic bronze statue that stands near Wall Street, twice every workday when I walk from the Staten Island Ferry to my office in Manhattan. Now, I have to pass her too. I was never particularly fond of the beast, which always struck me as a bronze descendant…

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why A ‘Proud Self-Hating Jew’ Asked Me To Tout His Book

  The email was a blatant appeal to my ego. The subject line read “Speaking Engagement,” and the sender, who I didn’t know, was inviting me to speak about whatever I wanted to — wow! — on a New York City panel celebrating the release of a new book by “internationally acclaimed British jazz saxophonist, philosopher…

  By Donna Minkowitz Mar 30, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  If You Only Read One Chapter Of The Bible, Read This

  In synagogues around the world on April 1, the annual Torah reading cycle will turn to the book of Leviticus. I am looking forward to it. Few synagogue goers or Bible readers seem to share my enthusiasm. Not that the Bible is usually boring. Over the past few months in synagogues, we read Genesis’s highly…

  By Scott Shay Mar 30, 2017 | 4 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 Mike Huckabee’s stunning, terrifying new gift to the Israeli right

  

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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  How Bibi’s Arrest Or Election Defeat Could Revive The Peace Process

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces a police investigation regarding very expensive gifts that he allegedly received during his tenure, recently raised the option of calling early elections for the Knesset. He used an odd excuse for the timing, something about the reform of electronic media, but political observers believe that his real motive…

  By Yossi Beilin Mar 29, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Letter To The Editor: Don’t Forget Trump’s Attacks Against An “International Elite”

  Like other professed conservative writers, Bethany Mandel has joined a campaign to vilify liberals by attacking claims of right-wing anti-Semitism. At the same time, she excuses the anti-Semitic sentiment fomented by Trump’s thinly veiled attacks against an “international elite” undermining American values and interests. The crudest example was his final presidential campaign commercial singling out…

  By Sonny Goldreich Mar 29, 2017 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  The Rabbi Refused To Do What?

  The year was 1968, and I was senior at Hewlett High School, on Long Island. I was a jock, Liz Adams was a cheerleader, and it seemed like a perfect match. We liked the same music and we made each other laugh, so it was only natural that we go out. On a date. Maybe…

  By Alan Zweibel Mar 29, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  AIPAC Reflects Heroism Of Jewish Power — And Its Perils

  It’s fitting that the AIPAC Policy Conference, which convened this week in Washington, D.C., falls every year at around the same time as the holiday of Purim. Because the two have a lot in common. On Purim, Jews read the Book of Esther, which tells the story of a Jew who unexpectedly gains influence with…

  By Peter Beinart Mar 28, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Will Electing This Little-Known Jewish Democrat Stop Trump?

  On the day before the first anniversary of Barack Obama’s first inauguration as president, voters in Massachusetts went to the polls in a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by the death of Ted Kennedy. By all logic, the Democratic candidate, state attorney general Martha Coakley, should have coasted to victory over her…

  By Samuel G. Freedman Mar 28, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  This Passover, Remember The Past But Fight For The Future

  At my Seder growing up, there would come a moment when everyone would share a memory from leaving Egypt. “I didn’t want to leave my friends,” my older cousin would say. “I was afraid I left the fire burning in the house,” my mom, known for checking our stove before leaving for a trip, joked…

  By Rabbi Jennie Rosenn Mar 28, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Fury Over Emmett Till Artwork At Whitney Biennial Is So Dangerous

  The controversy over “cultural appropriation,” which in recent years has dogged everything from pop music videos to Halloween costumes to museum exhibits, is now having a particularly ugly episode at the Whitney Biennial, the renowned exhibition of American art at New York’s Whitney Museum. This time, the backlash targets a painting by Brooklyn artist Dana…

  By Cathy Young Mar 27, 2017 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  How Jewish Groups Are Perpetuating A Myth About Trump And Anti-Semitism

  The nomination and election of Donald Trump has caused a record spike in anti-Semitism. That is the narrative many Jewish groups and the media have promoted since the Republican primaries. Here’s an unfortunate fact for those continuing to press this narrative: it keeps on being proven false. First, let’s take the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) report…

  By Bethany Mandel Mar 27, 2017 | 3 min read