Opinion

• Opinion

  Why We Picked the Pope — and Angelina Jolie

  The New York Times’ Laurie Goodstein had a fascinating story on Sunday about how Conservative Catholics have felt left out of their new pope’s embrace. Pope Francis may have soaring approval ratings because of his humble demeanor and inclusive language, but American Catholics in the church’s conservative wing are feeling abandoned and deeply unsettled, Goodstein…

  By Jane Eisner

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  After Newtown, Why No Progress on Guns?

  Noah Pozner would have turned 7 years old this month. The youngest victim of the December 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and the only Jew among them, his life was cut short because a deranged man was able to access weapons in a nation that cares more about its guns…

  Nov 12, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Jews Should Not Accept Jesus — Whatever George W. Bush Thinks

  The dispiriting news that President George W. Bush plans to speak at a fundraiser to a group of ‘Messianic Jews’ led me to reframe and slightly revise an article I wrote several years ago. It not only explains in a short compass why Jews do not accept Jesus as a Messiah or son of God,…

  By David Wolpe Nov 11, 2013 | 9 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 Americans keep getting killed in the West Bank. Here’s how the US could fight that awful trend

  

• Nora Berman First Camp Auschwitz, now Alligator Alcatraz — why the right is obsessed with commodifying brutality

  

• Dan Perry What exactly is going on between Israel and Syria — and is the prospect of peace dead?

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Is Robinson’s Arch Part of Western Wall — Or Not?

  (JTA) — The key dispute in the recent feud between Women of the Wall and some of the group’s founders is whether Robinson’s Arch — an area adjacent to the Kotel plaza meant for egalitarian prayer — counts as the Western Wall. Anat Hoffman and most of the group’s board has said they’re willing, in…

  By Ben Sales Nov 11, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Hunt for Brother of Jesus Christ

  It’s written in stone, but still not everyone believes it. There are still those who maintain that the Aramaic inscription on a First Century limestone ossuary that says, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” is a forgery. Nonetheless, the Israeli courts determined that the inscription could very well be authentic, and that the bone…

  By Renee Ghert-Zand Nov 11, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Answer This Question: Why Be Jewish?

  Let’s call it a Pew-haha, these last few weeks of hand wringing, debate, and general brouhaha about the recent Pew survey on American Judaism. “Of making books there is no end,” Ecclesiastes reminds us. Op-eds, too. Now that the dust is settling, perhaps it’s worth asking a seemingly obvious question: Who cares? And more importantly,…

  By Jay Michaelson Nov 11, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Bibi Scares Jewish Parley With Dead Iran Nuke Deal

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed some 1,500 leaders of the top North American Jewish philanthropies to Jerusalem for their annual assembly with an angry denunciation of the Iranian nuclear negotiations that their government is leading in Geneva. In a rambling, repetitive, hour-long speech that was by turns impassioned, sarcastic and bitter, Netanyahu attacked the…

  By J.J. Goldberg Nov 11, 2013 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  A Paradox in Jerusalem: Pew Panic vs. Pluralism

  Those who read my Friday blog post about the Israel-Diaspora deliberations going on in Jerusalem this week might have noticed that I mentioned a paradox in the way the discussions are going, but I never detailed the substance of the paradox. The sun was setting over the Mediterranean before I had a chance to finish…

  By J.J. Goldberg Nov 10, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  You Can’t Be Both (Jewish and Not)

  Susan Katz Miller, the author of a new book, “Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family,” recently argued in a New York Times op-ed that children being raised as Jewish and something else are not totally lost to Judaism. She said that kids who learn about the faith when they are young may…

  By Jane Larkin Nov 10, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Miss Israel Falls Short of Ruling Universe

  Titi Aynaw may not have been crowned Miss Universe 2013, but she did Israelis proud by representing her country in the international pageant in Moscow, Russia. The first black Miss Israel failed to make it in to the semi-finals of the competition, despite our urging everyone to vote online for her. Gabriela Isler, Venezuela’s beauty…

  By Renee Ghert-Zand Nov 10, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Edward Snowden Should Be Praised — Not Pilloried

  Remember J. Edgar Hoover? Of course you remember Hoover, and the inordinate power he attained — and employed and abused — during his 37 years as the founding Director of the FBI. (This followed eight years as Director of the Bureau of Investigation, precursor to the FBI.) Hoover collected massive amounts of information (by long-ago…

  By Leonard Fein Nov 9, 2013 | 3 min read