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
AIPAC’s Applause for Donald Trump Sends a Shameful Message
(UPDATED) So, what kind of American Jewish community do we want to be? I ask myself that question after the drama over Donald Trump’s speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference. How it is answered may come to define us during this tense and trying election season. We could be the community…
-
Opinion Is Ultra-Orthodox Support for Donald Trump a Contradiction?
Ultra-Orthodox Jews who support Donald Trump are caught in a contradiction between the values of their communities and the behavior of their chosen candidate. They purport to value modesty, yet they back a man who jokes about penis size during a Republican debate. They claim to value upright speech, but they prefer the candidate who…
-
Opinion Vassar Through the Eyes of a Non-Jewish Zionist Professor
The atmosphere at Vassar College, where I’ve been teaching Russian history since 1999, is troubled. I am not Jewish, but even I have experienced an increase in hostility and strained silences among students and colleagues. I have been called a “f—king fascist,” “Zionist” and “idiot” for speaking out against Vassar’s BDS resolution and speaking up…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion Opposing Trump at AIPAC Is No Partisan Stance — It’s Jewish and All-American Patriotism
This evening, at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference, Donald Trump will take the stage, bringing with him messages of hate, intolerance and violence. I will not sit idly by. I refuse to sit, and in that refusal I am united with my fellow rabbis against the politics of hate and its implications….
-
Opinion My Trump Tweets Earned Me So Many Anti-Semitic Haters That I Bought a Gun
As any high-profile Twitter user with a Jewish-sounding last name can tell you, the surest way to see anti-Semitism flood your mentions column is to tweet something negative about Donald Trump. My anti-Trump tweets have been met with such terrifying and profound anti-Semitism that I bought a gun earlier this month. Over the coming weeks,…
-
Opinion Trump’s AIPAC Speech Is Totally Predictable. What About Our Response?
While Jews ardently dispute whether AIPAC should have invited Donald Trump to speak to their Washington conference, that particular die has been cast. The invitation went out. So Trump — the loudest, most poisonous, nativist, mob-arousing, bigoted public person that America has yet produced in this century — is going to stand at the rostrum of a…
-
Opinion How Meir Dagan, Israel’s Legendary Spymaster, Became Bibi’s Worst Nightmare
Israel lost a living legend this week with the death March 17 of former spymaster Meir Dagan. He was 71. A career soldier, he retired in 1995 at age 50 with the rank of major general, then began a second career as the country’s top counter-terrorism strategist, serving under four prime ministers as counter-terrorism adviser,…
-
Opinion Donald Trump Is Actually the Perfect Person To Speak at AIPAC
Many AIPAC supporters are shocked that the policy conference has invited Republican front-runner Donald Trump to be a speaker this year. I’m not. In fact, I think Trump and AIPAC are a great shidduch. Far from being a deviation from AIPAC’s norm, this invitation is perfectly emblematic of their strategy. Anyone who’s been watching AIPAC…
-
Letters How Elitist Jews Push People Like Me To Donald Trump
Noam Neusner’s recent opinion piece, perfectly encapsulates why establishment elites are losing Jews like me to Trump. It was my vote — along with the votes of thousands of Florida Jews — that delivered our 99 delegates to Trump. “Donald Trump, the most likely Republican candidate for president, has built within our party the nearest…
-
Opinion Can Reform Jews Win Battle for the Soul of Israel?
The attacks continue. I am speaking not of the violent physical attacks that have dominated the news in Israel lately, but rather the attacks by the Israeli Orthodox establishment upon Jews standing up for their rights. Jews striving to bring to fruition the words of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, which call for “complete equality of…
-
Opinion Why Anguish Over AIPAC’s Invitation to Donald Trump Is Misplaced
If there were any doubts about the propriety of the invitation extended to Donald Trump to address the annual Washington policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the results of the March 15 presidential primaries should have laid those doubts to rest. The core mission of the powerhouse pro-Israel lobby is to ensure…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Unarmed man who tackled Bondi Beach Hanukkah attacker identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed
- 2
Opinion I grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.
- 3
Fast Forward Hanukkah shooting leaves at least 15 dead at Australia’s most popular beach
- 4
Fast Forward Father and son suspects in Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram by law enforcement
In Case You Missed It
-
Yiddish רבנישע כּתבֿים ווײַזן אומגעריכטע פֿאַרבינדונגען צווישן ייִדיש און לאַדינאָRabbinical texts reveal surprising links between Yiddish and Ladino
לויט אַ נײַ בוך פֿאָרשונגען האָבן טראַדיציאָנאַליסטן אין ביידע עדות געהאַלטן, אַז ייִדן מוזן אָפּהיטן זייער גערעדט לשון
-
Opinion Why Poland’s president canceled his menorah lighting — and how the West helped make that happen
-
Fast Forward 4 House Democrats introduce bill that would enact progressive vision for fighting antisemitism
-
Yiddish אַ ייִדיש־רעדנדיק קינד דאַרף אַ „שטעטל“׃ ווי עלטערן קומען זיי אַנטקעגןIt takes a village to raise a child in Yiddish: How parents are doing it
מחוץ די חסידישע קרײַזן האָבן געוויסע עלטערן געשאַפֿן זייערע אייגענע ייִדיש־סבֿיבֿות
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
