Opinion

• Opinion

  Why We Use the ‘U-Word’ to Describe Very Observant Orthodox

  The debate prompted by Rabbi Avi Shafran’s request published last week — “Don’t Call Us ‘Ultra-Orthodox,’” as its online headline read — is not a new one, but this will be the first time in more than five years as editor-in-chief that I publicly provide an answer and an explanation. The Forward will continue to…

  By Jane Eisner

  2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  AIPAC vs. the Oscars

  With the AIPAC conference competing with the Oscars, Jewish politicos will have to choose between watching willowy Natalie Portman grace the red carpet and Jacob Lew explain the White House’s policy on Israel. (JTA)— Anti-Semites say that Jews control Hollywood. And they say that Jews control Washington. But can we control both at once? The…

  By Daniel Treiman Feb 28, 2014 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Powerlessness of Unions Is Loss to Us All

  When 1,338 Volkswagen factory workers in Tennessee voted to reject the union this past Valentine’s Day, folks across the country sensed that something important had just happened. Newspapers splashed it on their front pages. Every national newscast covered it. This was a big deal, not just for Chattanooga or the United Auto Workers but for…

  By J.J. Goldberg Feb 28, 2014 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman The challah that changed everything: Tracing Jewish baking back to Poland

  

• Nora Berman The world is outraged by a reporter’s death in Gaza. It’s part of a much bigger problem.

  

• Dan Perry Netanyahu’s new Gaza plan is a disaster. But it contains a tiny kernel of wisdom

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  Will Voters Punish Dems for Not Stopping GOP?

  Profiles in democracy: The latest New York Times-CBS News poll indicates that voters are favoring Republicans over Democrats 42-to-39 in the upcoming midterm congressional elections. The reason? They’re angry at Democrats for failing to implement their agenda, which voters largely favor — including greater economic equality, higher minimum wage, abortion access, marriage equality, legalized pot,…

  By J.J. Goldberg Feb 27, 2014 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Limits of Religious Freedom

  From 1985 to 1989, Priscilla M. Lippincott Adams refused to pay her federal taxes. She was a devout Quaker — she worked as a Peace Field secretary for the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends — and believed that participating in war was contrary to God’s will. Since her federal taxes would…

  Feb 27, 2014 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Will Israel’s Haredi Draft Bill Empower Women?

  Getty Images As the Israeli government prepares to present the Knesset with its bill to draft yeshiva students into the army, the Haredi community is seething. But even as it kicks into reactionary mode, you’ve got to wonder whether, paradoxically, this could present an opportunity for some limited advancement among Haredi women. The Haredi media…

  By Nathan Jeffay Feb 26, 2014 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Handing the Western Wall to the Judaizers

  Wikipedia Quick, if you’re a settler-dominated government uninterested in sharing Jerusalem with the Palestinian people, what’s a good way to telegraph your position without raising a ruckus? Well, one good way would be to turn over a sizable portion of Judaism’s holiest site to the management of a maximalist settler group — which is precisely…

  By Emily L. Hauser Feb 26, 2014 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  News Quiz: Bar Rafaeli, King David and the Lovely Miss Israel

  King David, RoboCop and Bar Rafaeli walk into a quiz…. And here it is!

  By Lenore Skenazy Feb 26, 2014 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  How Many Lives Is a Da Vinci Masterpiece Worth?

  George Clooney’s new film, “The Monuments Men,” is based on the real-life story of a team of scholars and artists who threw on some fatigues and dashed off to Europe during World War II to save imperiled art. Their mission is very explicitly framed as a heroic struggle to save Western Culture (with that capital…

  By Elissa Strauss Feb 26, 2014 | 5 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Will Ukraine’s Revolution Be Good for Its Jews?

  I teach modern Jewish history. Usually, when I mention Ukraine in class, my students’ eyes glaze over. But lately that hasn’t been the case. The eyes of the world have been turned to Kiev, the city that was home to Sholem Aleichem, and the birthplace of Golda Meir. People are now wondering whether this revolution…

  By David E. Fishman Feb 26, 2014 | 5 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Lesson of Angela Merkel’s Hitler Mustache

  Benjamin Netanyahu casts Hitler mustache on Angela Merkel / Marc Israel Sellem Ah, the hazards of light and shadow. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a press conference today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he didn’t mean to point his finger in a way that would cast upon her face a distinctly Hitler-mustache-like…

  By Sigal Samuel Feb 25, 2014 | 3 min read