Opinion

• Opinion

  How Jewish Would a Bernie Sanders Presidency Be?

  Bernie Sanders is the first Jew to win a presidential primary in New Hampshire, or in any other state. If he should go on to secure the Democratic nomination, and if he should then win the general election, he will have upended conventional wisdom by bringing a long-shot, socialist campaign all the way from Brooklyn…

  By Jane Eisner

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Does Israel’s Liberal Opposition Leader Say There’s No Prospect of a Peace Deal?

  Israel’s Knesset gave preliminary approval February 9 to a controversial bill aimed at shaming human rights organizations that get funding from foreign governments. The bill, a top priority of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, requires not-for-profits getting more than half their budgets from foreign governments — mostly European — to post a warning of their foreign links…

  By J.J. Goldberg Feb 16, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  My Memories of Nino Scalia, the Most Jewish Gentile on the Supreme Court

  (JTA) — “When there was no Jewish justice on the Supreme Court,” Antonin “Nino” Scalia told me, “I considered myself the Jewish justice.” After Abe Fortas resigned in May 1969, there would be no Jewish justice on the court for nearly a quarter of a century, until President Bill Clinton named Ruth Bader Ginsburg to…

  By Nathan Lewin Feb 15, 2016 | 5 min read

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry The 3 responses to the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack that could make Jews safer

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  How Will Antonin Scalia’s Death Affect 2 Cases of Jewish Interest?

  When Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia — likely one of the most influential justices to ever sit on the Court — was found dead at the age of 79, the news sent shockwaves through the country. His death has significant implications for the cases currently on the Supreme Court’s docket. The remaining eight justices frequently…

  By Michael A. Helfand Feb 15, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  We Need Mahmoud Abbas — But Let’s Not Give Him Carte Blanche

  Israel and its supporters are being held hostage by the notion that Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, is all that we have on the Palestinian side and that any successor would be far worse. The right’s response to this is either that there isn’t a hair’s breadth of difference between Abbas and Fatah…

  By Ken Jacobson Feb 15, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Scalia and Ginsburg’s Powerful Lesson for Jews — Conservative and Liberal Alike

  As the token conservative friend for so many people, I believe we can all take a lesson from Antonin Scalia — and the unlikely friendship he enjoyed with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It’s hard for some to believe that the Notorious RBG, as she’s called by her liberal fan base, would vacation and often ring in…

  By Karol Markowicz Feb 14, 2016 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m a Jew With a Disability — Not Your Mitzvah Project

  (JTA) — I have Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary movements and noises called “tics.” My Tourette’s is relatively mild at this point, but I went through a turbulent adolescence when Tourette’s was the most defining thing about me. Between the constant movements and the loud, uncontrollable noises, it was incredibly disruptive. I now…

  By Pamela Rae Schuller Feb 14, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Antonin Scalia Brought Chutzpah to the Supreme Court

  (Haaretz) – The late Justice Antonin Scalia, weighing in on one of his final Supreme Court cases, made it quite clear where he stood on the issue of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. When the ruling in Zivotofsky v. Kerry was issued last June, Scalia made the unusual move of reading his dissenting opinion out loud…

  By Allison Kaplan Sommer Feb 14, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Key to Bernie Sanders’s Appeal Isn’t Socialism. It’s Yiddish Socialism.

  At a rally last October, Remaz Abdelgader — a hijab-wearing Muslim, a senior at George Mason University and the daughter of Sudanese immigrants — stood to ask Bernie Sanders a question. She started by referring to the Islamophobic bigotry of many of the Republican candidates. As she continued, calling herself “an American Muslim student who…

  By Daniel Katz Feb 14, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Bernie’s Crazy Hair — and Other Things Hillary Would Never Get Away With

  Andrew Shephard (Michael Douglas) of “The American President.” Josiah Bartlett (Martin Sheen) of “The West Wing.” James Marshall (Harrison Ford) of “Air Force One.” Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) of “24.” Looking back at some of Hollywood’s presidents, I am struck by one thing: They look presidential. Yes, they have the benefit of having hair and…

  By Rebecca Einstein Schorr Feb 14, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Antonin Scalia Was a Closet Radical — and Would Relish Political Firestorm Over Supreme Court

  The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has deprived the Supreme Court and the nation at large of the most forceful, creative and influential advocate of conservative legal philosophy in recent times. In so doing, it has touched off a political and constitutional battle of historic consequence. Simply put, Scalia’s passing leaves the court evenly divided…

  By J.J. Goldberg Feb 14, 2016 | 5 min read