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
A Lawsuit Cannot Stop the ‘Facebook Intifada.’ You Might.
A consortium of pro-Israel organizations has filed a class-action lawsuit against Facebook, seeking to force the social media giant to censor “incitement” and stop linking “terrorists” with one another. This is a 20th-century solution to a 21st-century problem, and will not work. Fortunately, there is a better way. There is no question that social media…
-
Opinion Israel’s Top Generals Split With Benjamin Netanyahu on Roots of Terror Wave
Benjamin Netanyahu probably thinks he got the last laugh after the international uproar he touched off with his “Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews” speech on October 20. But he just might have opened up a whole new can of worms. The Israeli prime minister was bombarded with criticism by everyone from Knesset opposition…
-
Letters What To Do After Expelling a Rabbi
To The Editor, Over the past week we have worked with Paul Berger and The Forward to respond to questions for his article, We are pained to see any abuse or misconduct in our community. Eric Siroka’s actions are completely unacceptable to us, and we are fully committed to the sanctity, safety and security of…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion How Much Does Your Kid Really Know About Israel?
How much do Jewish kids know about Israel? According to a new report, very little. A team of researchers from Brandeis University created a multiple-choice test for measuring Israel literacy. Like so many multiple-choice tests of literacy conducted over the last century, this one found that kids don’t know enough. While most students knew that…
-
Opinion Why My Jordanian Students Thought I Was Lying About Judaism
“So, wait, Miss — there is a difference between Jews and Israelis?” Coming from a seventh-grade Jordanian of Palestinian origin, this question was a breakthrough in my classroom. As a foreign teacher in a private Jordanian school, I need to be careful what I say in front of my students. I am not allowed to…
-
Opinion What Would Yitzhak Rabin Think of Today’s Violence?
“A gun that appears in the first act will be shot in the third.” I thought about this phrase often after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Many of those around me argued that the writing was on the wall and that all you had to do was look to see what was coming. And I…
-
Opinion The Wesleyan Debate on Free Speech — and What It Means for Israel
A debate over race and free speech is roiling my beloved alma mater, and in it I find unmistakable parallels to the fraught conversation about Israel that is the subject of so much Sturm und Drang — and so much communal spending — on college campuses across the country. The analogy isn’t exact. The harassment…
-
Opinion Even Amid Spreading Violence, Time Mostly Stands Still in Mixed Yaffo
Translated by Jessica Cohen Not far from where I write, in my rented apartment in Yaffo, a bus was stoned last week. The driver said he was on his route in the evening when he saw a group of masked young men waving Hamas flags. And then the windows were shattered. But there were no…
-
Opinion ‘Red Oaks’ Proves That the Prurient Male Gaze Is Alive and Well
Amazon, the e-commerce behemoth that is coming ever closer to eliminating the time between desire and fulfilment, is not satisfied with being merely the world’s biggest bazaar. Over the years, it has become a content generator of its own, buying newspapers, publishing books and, apparently, producing Jewish-themed television shows. The latest in the oeuvre —…
-
Opinion How Yitzhak Rabin’s Assassin Succeeded in Killing Historic Push for Peace
Few events in Jewish history have been more shattering than the assassination of a Jewish prime minister in the Land of Israel. Over and over our memories replay the horror in slow motion as he’s accused of collaborating with the enemy, then cut down by a fellow Jew who imagines himself the true heir and…
-
Opinion How the Temple Mount Obsession Could Destroy Judaism
The shocking upsurge in deadly attacks in Israel cannot be disconnected from efforts of some Jewish organizations to dramatically change the Temple Mount status quo, backed by inflammatory statements and actions of leading politicians. To be sure, not all Jews yearn to abolish the fragile status quo of the holy site. Several prominent Jewish leaders,…
Explore
Most Popular
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I come from a long line of Jewish Bundists. Now, Molly Crabapple is part of our family.
-
Opinion American Jews have a Hasan Piker problem. Solving it is going to hurt
-
Fast Forward 200+ Bnei Menashe immigrate to Israel from India, the first to make the journey in years
-
Yiddish װאָס קען מען זיך אָפּלערנען פֿון מאָלי קראַבעפּלס בוך װעגן „בונד“?What can we learn from Molly Crabapple’s book about the Bund?
דאָס בוך איז גרונטיק געפֿאָרשט, לעבעדיק אָנגעשריבן — אָבער אידעאָלאָגיש באַפֿאַרבט