Opinion

• Opinion

  Celebrating Simchat Torah, Brooklyn-Style

  It was a Simchat Torah celebration that surely most of the Hasidim walking past had never before witnessed: hundreds of liberal Jews, men and women, young children and the middle-aged, dancing together with Torah scrolls held aloft. Revelers twirled round and round in Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, just outside the entrance to Prospect Park. “Simchat…

  By Debra Nussbaum Cohen

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Losing a Precious Outlet for Jewish Culture

  When the Foundation for Jewish Culture closes its doors sometime next year, there won’t be many mourners saying Kaddish. Instead, the prevailing communal sentiment may very well be: “Yawn. We have too many agencies; one less will not matter!” But Kaddish ought be said for the FJC. The group’s lonely mourners will be those of…

  By Jerome Chanes Sep 27, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Hipster Anne Frank’s Tasteless Tweets

  You know what happens when someone achieves iconic status? People forget they were a real person before they became an icon. And when people forget this important fact, things can get really ugly. Case in point: Anne Frank. I’m referring specifically to the new Hipster Anne Frank (@HipstrAnneFrank) Twitter account. The tagline: “bestselling memoirist/loft dweller/voice…

  By Renee Ghert-Zand Sep 27, 2013 | 2 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 A new humanitarian outrage is unfolding in the Middle East. It’s not in Gaza

  

• Nora Berman The left is turning on AOC over Israel — and imperiling its own agenda

  

• Dan Perry Actually, Trump made things between Israel and Iran way worse

  

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

  

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  Opinion

  When Natalie Portman Shook the Lulav

  Levi and Yisroel Pekar have asked thousands of people, “Are you Jewish?” in their years of conducting street outreach for the Chabad movement during Sukkot. Since the twins mainly operate in New York City, it should come as no surprise that they have shaken the lulav with some famous Jews over the years. Like Natalie…

  By Naomi Zeveloff Sep 26, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Big Picture Shows Tranquility Despite 2 Isolated Killings of Israeli Soldiers

  He was a diminutive man, though solidly built. I saw him standing near the bar, nursing a mineral water while the gaggle of Americans and Palestinians, politicians, Jewish peace activists, journalists and rabbis mingled and gossiped, waiting for dinner and Mahmoud Abbas’s remarks. I wouldn’t have pegged him as security if not for his green…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 26, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Was That Barack Obama or Henry Kissinger?

  At the start of President Barack Obama’s presidency, he announced a “pivot towards Asia” after years of American military and political resources being bogged down in the Middle East. Obama’s speech Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly shows how clearly the pendulum has swung back. Although he referred to Iran, Syria Israel, and Palestine…

  By Aaron Magid Sep 25, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Benjamin Netanyahu’s Scowl Campaign Hurts Israel

  As the world’s leaders converge in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is encountering an unusual confluence of activities and initiatives concerning nonconventional weaponry in the Middle East. Some of this activity appears to be working to Israel’s benefit, some of it against Israel. Netanyahu is working overtime…

  By Yossi Alpher Sep 25, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  King Christian and the Yellow Star

  Many people know the story of how the King of Denmark donned a yellow star to identify with his Jewish subjects. But few people know that the story is a myth. The tale is probably best known because of a scene in Leon Uris’s “Exodus,” published in 1958, in which an underground radio transmission reports…

  By Paul Berger Sep 24, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Mahmoud Abbas Preaches Peace to the Jewish Choir

  Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas met with a group of prominent American Jews in New York Monday evening for a dialogue over a dinner of trout and saffron rice. Also on the menu were servings of hope, flattery, mutual frustration and a just soupcon of evident peace-process exhaustion and perhaps a hint of unstated despair. Abbas,…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 24, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Abu Mazen’s Son Says No to 2-State Solution

  Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority who is known as Abu Mazen, met Sept. 23 with American Jewish leaders, at a dinner hosted by the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace. There were plenty of former ambassadors, members of Congress, diplomats and dignitaries — former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright identified…

  By Jane Eisner Sep 24, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  To Reach Diaspora, Make Israel Welcoming to All Jews

  I am always delighted by the Sukkot tradition of ushpizin. We invite guests, ceremonially and literally, into our homes to celebrate the spirit of Jewish hospitality — a central theme of this festival. This year, I challenge Israel and world Jewry to ask themselves a question: How big is our people’s sukkah? This question came…

  By Uri Regev Sep 23, 2013 | 3 min read