Opinion

• Opinion

  Jewish Uses and Abuses of Martin Luther King’s Memory

  Four years ago, I made a promise to myself: I would not accept any more invitations to speak to the Jewish community on Martin Luther King weekend. Since then, I have dutifully kept that promise. But this year, I’m breaking it. Here’s the thing: I used to love MLK weekend. In fact, I still have…

  By Jared Jackson

  3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Why Pope’s Visit to Rome Ghetto Means So Much to Italian Jews

  In 1986, Pope John Paul II made history by paying a visit to Rome’s Great Synagogue. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI visited that synagogue again. In 2016, Pope Francis visited for the third time. As our ancient rabbis were fond of saying — and as Rome’s current chief rabbi Riccardo Di Segni pointed out during…

  By Rossella Tercatin Jan 18, 2016 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  How Can We Prevent MLK Day Service from Diluting Its Own Urgency?

  “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words resonate today as much as ever. They are direct. They call us to action. And, above all, they propel us to look past our satisfaction with what we changed yesterday, and to increase our attention to…

  By David Eisner Jan 17, 2016 | 3 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

• 
  Opinion

  How Jews Are Reacting to New Era of Ties With Iran

  Now that the United States and European Union have lifted economic sanctions on Iran, how are Jewish observers — from America to Israel, and across the political spectrum — reacting? And where do they believe we should go from here? We’ve gathered a few ideas, many excerpted from longer pieces (follow the links to read them…

  By Forward Staff Jan 17, 2016 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Liberal Jews Didn’t Betray Israel — Our Organizations Betrayed Us

  As vital as Martin Luther King Day is on America’s calendar, it has a special meaning this year for American Jews. This year, 2016, we will mark the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the fracturing of the historic black-Jewish civil rights alliance. If you want to talk about American Jewish liberal betrayal, as and…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 17, 2016 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Was Ted Cruz Talking About the Jews When He Slammed ‘New York Values’?

  (JTA) — In the very first episode of “The West Wing,” some of the president’s advisers engage in a heated argument with a group of Christian activists. Among the advisers are two of the show’s most prominent Jewish characters: White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler (played by Richard Schiff) and the Deputy Chief of Staff…

  By Gabe Friedman Jan 15, 2016 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Worried About BDS and ‘Intersectionality’? Act Against Israel’s Occupation.

  David Bernstein, the new president of the Jewish Council on Public Affairs, wrote last week about an important phenomenon impacting campus activism and debate around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: intersectionality. Bernstein observed that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, has been building alliances with other social justice groups, emphasizing the solidarity between Palestinians and…

  By Amna Farooqi Jan 14, 2016 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Let’s Reform Sex Abuse Laws To Offer Justice — Not Protect Predators

  No matter what happens at the Oscars, the very best film of 2015 was “Spotlight,” the improbable drama of how a team of newspaper reporters painstakingly revealed an institutional cover-up of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The film’s excellence lay not only in its superb acting and storytelling, but in the way it…

  Jan 14, 2016 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Haim Gouri’s Rejection of Zionist Art Prize Restored My Faith in Zionism

  Haim Gouri has won just about every literary prize that Israel has to offer. Yet, in my eyes, he made his strongest, most Zionist statement on January 5, when news broke that he had refused to accept a prize for “Zionist Works of Art,” awarded by the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport. The award…

  By Eetta Prince-Gibson Jan 13, 2016 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  How Chris Hughes Wrecked The New Republic — and Broke One Reader’s Heart

  I picked up my first copy of The New Republic as a teenager in 1993. The cover featured a caricature of Ross Perot as a salivating bug with the teaser “Pox Populi.” The magazine was smart, cheeky, disputatious and highbrow. It was also very Jewish. It was love at first sight. Ever since college, I…

  By Daniel Treiman Jan 12, 2016 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  ‘I Was 13 When Marc Gafni’s Abuse Began’

  With all the accounts that have come out about Marc Gafni, the former rabbi and spiritual guru, you may wonder what more I have to offer. But this story is not over, even if Gafni never teaches or abuses again. Right now there are children in the Jewish world, and in other communities, who are…

  By Sara Kabakov Jan 12, 2016 | 9 min read