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
Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education? That’s a Tragedy for All American Jews.
For generations of American Jews, public education has been the gateway to American life. It was certainly true for my parents, the children of immigrants; public school taught them not just facts and figures, but alao how to be American — and how to be proud of being American. Which is why the nomination of…
-
Opinion Are Liberals Being Too Mean to Trump Voters?
When my friend Jonathan Tobin and I began planning last spring for a cross-country synagogue speaking tour in the fall, we fully expected to meet with fireworks over Israeli policy. In fact, that was the point of our tour. At each stop, Jonathan the conservative Commentary blogger and I the liberal Forward columnist would argue…
-
Opinion How Do You Build a Strong Muslim-Jewish Alliance for the Trump Era?
Never before has it been so urgent for American Jews and Muslims to unite as it is now that Donald Trump has won the presidency. Ever since November 9, Jews and Muslims have been experiencing an uptick in targeted hate crimes, with the Southern Poverty Law Center reporting hundreds of incidents of intimidation and harassment…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion Didn’t Slam Anti-Semitism On the Left? Don’t Expect Credibility When You Slam It On the Right.
For the past few decades, we have witnessed the rise of anti-Semitism from the left. From Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party in the United Kingdom to college campuses across America, the phenomenon is real, and it is dangerous. Yet, all too often, some Jews — both individuals and organizations — who inhabit the liberal or left…
-
Opinion Like Certain Israeli Leaders, Trump Doesn’t Want To Understand Art
Since Israel been at it much longer, President-elect Donald Trump could take a lesson from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Minister of Culture, Miri Regev, on how undercut the press, squelch freedom of expression and foment populist politics. Earlier this week, Trump took off precious time from his responsibilities to put together his impending…
-
Opinion How Ivanka Trump’s Aggressively Upbeat Lifestyle Brand Normalizes Donald’s Politics
There are at least two Ivanka Trumps. One is a woman; the other is a namesake brand. But what is Ivanka’s brand, exactly? The most familiar aspect of it is probably her clothes and shoes, but it also includes fine jewelry, a prominent role in her father’s company, and, in some difficult-to-sort-out mix of the…
-
Opinion How Richard Spencer Created a New Alt-Golem
If you saw the Atlantic’s hair-raising video of Richard Spencer talking at an American neo-Nazi “conference” that celebrated Donald Trump’s victory, then you saw Spencer bash “the mainstream media,” calling them “leftists and cucks,” “genuinely stupid,” and liars. He also “wonders” if “these people are people at all, or instead soulless golem, animated by some…
-
Opinion How I Convinced My Russian Jewish Grandmother Not to Vote for Trump
My 80-year-old Russian Jewish grandmother did not vote for Donald Trump. She lives in Massachusetts, so it didn’t make much of a difference in the election’s outcome. Qualitatively, however, her vote mattered. Having started out in Trump’s corner, like the overwhelming majority of ex-Soviet Jews, particularly older ones, she allowed herself to be persuaded by…
-
Opinion 5 Ways People Respond When You Post CNN’s ‘Are Jews People?’ On Facebook
I took a quick scroll through Facebook yesterday, as one does. My Facebook feed has gotten notably darker these days, what with the encroaching sense of imminent doom, and I’ve adjusted my gauge for what registers as “shocking” accordingly. One post, however, managed to make me take pause. It was a screenshot of a CNN…
-
Opinion To Survive Trump, All Progressives Need To Become Sabras
Before Sabra was a brand of hummus, it was a nickname for Israelis, who were said to be like the Sabra cactus: tough outside, but tender inside. In the age of Donald Trump, all progressives must learn to be Sabras. We, like a generation of Israelis who lived with perpetual war, must learn to be…
-
Opinion Jared and Ivanka, Separate Business From Politics Before You Become Walking Anti-Semitic Tropes
Dear Ivanka and Jared, Please excuse the informality of my greeting. Your celebrity has become so ubiquitous that first names are all that’s needed. You are, right now, the most powerful Jews in America, and I trust you recognize the significance of your position seriously enough to listen to my plea. Because I’m worried. The…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Holy Ground A Jewish farmer broke ground on a synagogue in an Illinois cornfield. His neighbors showed up to help.
- 2
Opinion I discovered anti-Zionism at the University of Michigan. I’m glad it lives on there
- 3
Culture An Israeli genocide scholar looks to Israel’s history to understand ‘what went wrong’
- 4
Opinion An alarming new battleground in campus fights over Israel
In Case You Missed It
-
News Hochul makes play for Orthodox voters with tuition relief and synagogue buffer zones
-
News Middlebury College Hillel votes to rebrand, distancing from parent org on Israel
-
Yiddish „צײַטזאָנע“ — אַ ציקל לידער פֿון דזשייק שנײַדער‘Time Zone’ — poetry by Jake Schneider
דער מחבר איז אַן אַמעריקאַנער־געבוירענער ייִדיש־אַקטיוויסט, פּאָעט און איבערזעצער אין בערלין.
-
Antisemitism Decoded Abe Foxman built the Jewish establishment. He died troubled by what it had become