Opinion

• Opinion

  Why Two Chief Rabbis Is Better Than One

  Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Blau speaks at a Jewish school in Berlin. / Getty Images When you package it right, even a plot against pluralism can be made to seem progressive. In Israel, government ministers spanning from left to right have advanced legislation that will end the country’s dual Chief Rabbinate, under which there are two…

  By Nathan Jeffay

  2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Outsized Memories of Fallen Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu Lure Reporter

  (JTA) — In December 1989, a childhood friend and neighbor from Haifa posed a riddle to me that she had heard from her Bucharest-born mother. “What’s the fastest way to get a nine-foot crocodile?” Alegra asked me that year, when we were both 8 years old. I suggested raiding a crocodile farm, but Alegra said…

  By Cnaan Liphshiz Jan 21, 2014 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Tattoos Try — and Fail — To Reclaim the Swastika

  I’ve always wanted to visit Nashville, Tenn. On my recent trip there, I had every bit as much fun as I suspected I would. But I also saw something that made me gasp out loud. Downtown, I stumbled upon a tattoo shop. Being a person with tattoos (controversially, a Jew with tattoos), I decided to…

  By Teri Zucker Jan 21, 2014 | 3 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 I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  Canadian Envy on Martin Luther King Day

  Rabbi Joachim Prinz (center) confers with Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington in 1963. / Getty Images As a Canadian Jew, I often feel a twinge of envy on Martin Luther King Day. I’m envious of larger-than-life heroes who succeed in uniting a nation around issues that are so blatantly about justice…

  By Mira Sucharov Jan 20, 2014 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  ‘Zoopla’ Joins Gibberish Feud Over ‘Quenelle’

  The latest in the Nicolas Anelka-Deuidonné-quenelle affair is that another apparently nonsense word has been inserted into the fray. “Zoopla,” the English real estate website and jersey sponsor of West Bromwich Albion has decided to end their sponsorship of the Midlands soccer team due to the failure of management to act on the matter of…

  By Eddy Portnoy Jan 20, 2014 | 5 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Lena Dunham’s Photoshopped Vogue Cover Causes Storm, Should Have Caused Celebration

  Lena Dunham’s appearance on the cover of Vogue could have been a cause for celebration. Long a domain for women whose principal achievements include having an impossibly symmetrical face and a wasp waist, the “Girls” creator is one of the first who was given the spot primarily because of what she’s got going on within….

  By Elissa Strauss Jan 20, 2014 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Breaking Through the Impasse on the Jordan Valley

  Recent news reports indicate that a major stumbling block in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is the insistence by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on maintaining a military force on the border between the future Palestinian state and Jordan, along the Jordan Valley. This demand, and the fact that Secretary of State…

  By Amitai Etzioni Jan 20, 2014 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Why Benjamin Netanyahu May Look at the Math — and Cut Deal on Peace Plan

  There are plenty of good reasons to doubt whether Benjamin Netanyahu has any real intention of reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians. He keeps approving new settlement construction in the territories where the Palestinians expect to build their state. He keeps coming up with new security red lines — control of the Jordan Valley,…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 20, 2014 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  News Quiz: Zach Braff’s New Movie and Downton Abbey

  From Zach Braff to Downton Abbey to rye bread and herring. It’s not as big a leap as you might think!

  By Lenore Skenazy Jan 20, 2014 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The (Hillel) Kids Are Alright

  The Jewish world seems worried about Hillel. “Are you okay?” people keep asking me. Our phones at Ohio University Hillel are ringing with those calling to hear the “real” story, or to leave long-winded diatribes on our voicemail. Reporters ask if we’ll answer a few questions (no thanks). Hillel has been in The New York…

  By Danielle Leshaw Jan 20, 2014 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  How Israel’s Politics vs. Security Rift Aids Jihadis

  Hamas fighters testing a Gaza-made M-75 long-range missile, November 2013 / Getty Images Maariv’s Eli Bardenstein offered a stunningly clear and disturbing report (in Hebrew, my translation below) on Friday that illustrates the vexing complications introduced into the triangular Jerusalem-Cairo-Gaza relationship by political turmoil in all three places. It makes a very useful companion piece…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 19, 2014 | 5 min read