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
Will Hillary Clinton Health Scare Shake Up Race for the White House — and How?
As a New York Senator, Hillary Clinton fought like a lion a decade and a half ago on behalf of thousands of first responders who were poisoned by the toxic cloud that hovered over the ruins of the Twin Towers following the terrorist attacks of September 11. She was damaged when the anniversary of that…
-
Opinion Israel’s Shabbat Wars Are Heating Up — No Thanks to the Politicians!
Cultural Zionist philosopher Ahad Ha’am famously wrote, “More than the Jews have kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat has kept the Jews.” But Ahad Ha’am didn’t live in Israel in the 21st century, where it is more relevant to paraphrase him by writing, “More than the politicians have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the politicians.” In…
-
Opinion We’re Jewish Student Activists and We Don’t Need To Be Protected From BDS
Writing in the Forward, Seffi Kogen suggests that BDS pushes Jewish students out of social justice work on campuses across the country — because, when faced with the choice between supporting activism and supporting Israel, Jews have to choose Israel. But the problem facing Jewish student activists isn’t BDS or intersectionality: it’s the occupation, and…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion Finding My Own Truth As Poland Rewrites Holocaust History
In August, Poland’s Cabinet approved a bill that would criminalize using the phrase “Polish death camp” or “Polish concentration camp,” with punishments ranging from fines to imprisonment. It’s one of several recent government reforms that critics have called anti-democratic. The bill also raises questions about Poland’s role in the Holocaust. It echoes the country’s communist-era…
-
Opinion That Time I Came Face to Face With an Anti-Semite in Brooklyn
It’s not often that I get an opportunity to come face-to-face with one of the extremists whose activities, in my work as a research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League, I am charged with following and exposing. But on Wednesday night it happened that one of the most ardent spokespeople for anti-Semitic 9/11 conspiracy theories was…
-
Opinion I Refuse To Let Insane Day School Tuition Price My Kids Out of Orthodoxy
It’s that time of year again: My Facebook newsfeed is filled with smiling kids in back-to-school photos. This is the first year I’ve seen my friends’ children, who are the same age as my oldest, heading off to school. While many have been sent off to daycare prior, for the first time my daughter’s peers…
-
Opinion The Real Key To Understanding Why Some Jews Will Vote for Donald Trump
We Americans aren’t who we thought we were. That’s why our presidential contest, like the rest of our politics, is so incoherent. We argue about jobs, immigration, abortion and guns. But those aren’t really what’s at stake. In reality we’re fighting over the nature of American society, and our problem is that we’ve become a…
-
Opinion The Jewish Left Needs To Call Out Real Anti-Semites Like Christopher Bollyn
The fact that the Brooklyn Commons, a progressive community space and café in New York, has refused to cancel an event with 9/11 conspiracy theorist Christopher Bollyn — despite calls from Jewish and non-Jewish progressive organizations and media outlets — reveals a couple of important things about the conversation around rising anti-Semitism happening in the…
-
Opinion From America to Israel, Should Our National Anthems Be Changed?
One is a superstar professional football player in a nation that considers the gridiron to be holy ground. The other is an Arab Israeli with a permanent seat on his nation’s highest and most revered court of law. Despite their minority status, the athlete born of a single white mother and an African American father…
-
Opinion A Referendum on Israeli Occupation Is Not Just Risky — It’s Wrong
As the 50th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank approaches, Israeli peace groups are strategizing. I’ve written before about Daniel Bar Tal’s nascent initiative called Save Israel, Stop the Occupation. Now, two other groups — Blue White Future and Peace Now — have partnered, along with others, to help launch “Decision at…
-
Opinion Why This African Israeli Doesn’t Buy Claims of Racism Against Ethiopians
(JTA) — “We are committed to helping ensure that the State of Israel welcomes Jews of all colors.” “We say, we have black lives that matter in Africa.” “In America, race has been a central area of Jewish concern historically.” These are all statements that have been made in the course of a well-orchestrated public…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Louis Theroux’s Netflix documentary on the manosphere takes a detour into antisemitism
- 2
Fast Forward Illinois primary pits Jewish candidate with deep Israel ties against AIPAC spending
- 3
Opinion Trump has forced an impossible choice on American synagogues amid antisemitic attacks
- 4
Fast Forward Expelled Oberlin Chabad rabbi says he ‘made a mistake’ with explicit social media chats
In Case You Missed It
-
Yiddish כ׳בענק נאָך די סעקולערע ייִדן פֿון אַמאָלLonging for the way secular Jews used to be
מײַן פֿעטער האָט נישט געהיט שבת אָדער כּשרות אָבער ווען ער האָט אָפּגעריכט דעם סדר האָט ער געקלונגען ווי אַ פֿרומער ייִד.
-
Fast Forward Expelled Oberlin Chabad rabbi says he ‘made a mistake’ with explicit social media chats
-
Yiddish פֿינעף פֿאַקטן וועגן פּסח וואָס איר ווייסט אפֿשר נישט Five facts about Passover you may not know
דאָס רייכערן פּאַפּיראָסן יום־טובֿ האָט צונויפֿגעבראַכט מענטשן
-
Culture A brilliant Jewish storyteller may be gone, but her characters are ‘still talking’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
