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
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…
-
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,…
-
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…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
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…
-
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…
-
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!
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Opinion Will Arizona Go the Anti-Gay Way of Uganda?
Will Arizona become the next Uganda? As we go to press, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is debating whether to sign a “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” that will allow discrimination if the discriminator claims a religious justification. It’s been nicknamed the “Turn The Gays Away” bill because it will allow any business — restaurants, nail salons,…
-
Opinion Why Newsweek Is Ending Top 50 Rabbis List
Some of the rabbis from the Newsweek Top 50 Rabbis list. / The Daily Beast If we’ve ever watched how a well-intentioned concept can generate unintended consequences, it’s the Newsweek Top 50 Rabbis list. It was conceived back in 2007 simply because we were genuinely curious about which rabbis were considered leading lights and why….
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s selection as JTS commencement speaker roils graduating class
- 2
News Analysis: As Democrats unite behind Platner, Schumer’s future as leader faces tests
- 3
Opinion I’m an Orthodox student in NYC. I’m grateful Mamdani vetoed the school buffer bill
- 4
News Protesters picket Manhattan synagogue over Israel real estate sale, testing Mamdani and new law
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Brussels cathedral installs plaques apologizing for medieval antisemitic persecution depicted in stained glass
-
Fast Forward Georgetown Law graduation speaker backs out after students protest his ‘controversial, Zionist and harmful opinions’
-
Fast Forward Maryland school district urged to adopt ‘zero-tolerance policy’ on antisemitism amid wave of incidents
-
Antisemitism Decoded The great antisemitism rug pull