Opinion

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  I’m a Rabbi and I Was Bullied — by My Own Congregants

  I’m a second-career rabbi, which means that before I worked in synagogues, I worked in secular businesses, restaurants and offices. There, I experienced and witnessed bullying and verbal abuse from managers and co-workers. But most of these incidents were reported to HR departments, and steps were taken to correct the problem and discipline the offender….

  By Michael Harvey

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Donald Trump Uses Anti-Semitic Rhetoric Against Hillary Clinton (Even Though She’s Not Jewish)

  Over the summer, a writer for the “alt-right” website Breitbart News called Hillary Clinton a communist. What’s striking about the accusation is certainly not its source, nor its target, and definitely not its content. What’s striking is that the article appeared side by side with a web advertisement for Stephen Bannon’s film “Clinton Cash.” The…

  By Austin Ratner Oct 5, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  From Rosh Hashanah to Election Day, It’s a Season of Repentance Like No Other

  ‘Today the world is born” — Hayom harat olam. These are among the most electric words in all of Jewish sacred liturgy. They’re recited by the congregation immediately after the blowing of the shofar, the ram’s horn, at midday on the New Year holiday, Rosh Hashanah. The words are especially electric this year, because they…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 2, 2016 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

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  Opinion

  Bernie Sanders’s Rosh Hashanah Sermon — and Its Radical Lesson for All Liberals

  When a hacker leaked a trove of internal emails from the Democratic National Committee several months ago, one of them considered the condition of Bernie Sanders’s soul — and its potential as a wedge issue during the primary campaign against Hillary Clinton. “Does he believe in a God,” asked Brad Marshall, the DNC’s chief financial…

  By Samuel G. Freedman Sep 30, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Philanderer Donald’s Reason for Bringing up Bill’s Affairs More Cruel Than You Think

  Following his thorough thrashing in Monday’s debate — in all of its nose-sniffing, man-terrupting, fact-checked glory — it would seem that The Donald has two options. Option one: Start heeding the advice of the more moderate GOP (who, terrifyingly, have become the voice of reason in this scenario), and concentrate on actually making himself look…

  By Lana Adler Sep 29, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Don’t Let Islamophobia Into Yeshiva University Along With New President

  As an alumnus of Yeshiva University, I am concerned by the news that the school’s search committee has now chosen a new president to lead Modern Orthodoxy’s flagship institution. The committee’s choice is Rabbi Ari Berman, an Orthodox rabbi who until recently has been living in Israel. Particularly worrisome to me are a couple of…

  By Aryeh Younger Sep 29, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Look How Far Ukraine Has Come Since the Babi Yar Massacre

  Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, widely considered one of the worst atrocities committed during the Holocaust. Between September 29 and September 30, 1941, SS officers murdered 33,771 Jewish civilians by gunfire at Babi Yar, a ravine located in the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. Those who were not…

  By Alex Soros Sep 29, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Shimon Peres Was the Most Romantic Zionist Dreamer Since Theodor Herzl

  Anyone who came of political age in the 1980s or 1990s and followed Israel closely will have complex feelings about Shimon Peres. Like so many great democratic leaders, he was also a politician, and in the thick of the country’s internal battles he was never seen inside his own country through the same lens as…

  By David Hazony Sep 28, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Shimon Peres and the Case for Unstoppable Israeli Optimism

  The first time I met Shimon Peres was 20 years ago, at a heartbreaking stage in his long career. He was in Philadelphia to receive the Liberty Medal, awarded annually to world leaders who promote the blessings of liberty. The prize was to be shared with Jordan’s King Hussein. But just weeks before the July…

  By Jane Eisner Sep 28, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why I Tattooed My Arms Just in Time for Rosh Hashanah

  The central themes of the High Holiday season — self-reflection, repentance and renewal — are hard to keep in mind for even three days, let alone ten. Try as I might, the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur become much like the others, lost in a haze of carpool, deadlines and social obligations. So this…

  By Ruth Abusch-Magder Sep 28, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Shimon Peres and His Quixotic Path From Eternal Outsider to Israeli Icon

  Shimon Peres could have respectfully retired from political life at so many points in his career. He would have still had achieved more to build Israel’s security than nearly anyone else alive.  He could have resigned from the Knesset in the mid-1960s, following his mentor and patron David Ben-Gurion. Still in his early 40s, instead…

  By Anshel Pfeffer (Haaretz) Sep 28, 2016 | 3 min read