Opinion

• Opinion

  Is Haredi Draft Glass Full — or Empty?

  After years of debate, pressure and protest, on Sunday Israel’s cabinet approved legislation to draft ultra-Orthodox men for national service. The lobby that agitated for legislation has been quick to label it a sellout, counter-productive, and a passing of the buck. Pro-draft activists say that they wanted a law that makes service for Haredim compulsory…

  By Nathan Jeffay

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Britain’s U-Turn on Teaching Hebrew

  The British Department for Education (DfE) today announced a U-turn on its previously-proposed policy that would have limited the scope of Jewish elementary schools in the United Kingdom to teach Hebrew as a modern foreign language. As The Forward previously reported, under controversial plans released last December as part of an overall reform of the…

  By Liam Hoare Jul 9, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Benjamin Netanyahu’s Indecision Is Roadblock to Peace Push

  I was on the phone the other day with a very senior adviser to a string of former Likud leaders and prime ministers, mostly listening while he talked about Secretary of State John Kerry and his marathon Israeli-Palestinian peace-processing. He wasn’t optimistic. His main reason for pessimism: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reluctance to risk collapsing…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 9, 2013 | 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 There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Camp Tawonga’s Missed Opportunity

  It was surely difficult for leaders of Camp Tawonga to arrive at their decision not to tell their young charges about the shocking death of 21-year-old art counselor Annais Rittenberg after she was hit by a falling tree last week. My colleague Renee Ghert-Zand deftly captured their challenge in her Forward Thinking post yesterday. Since…

  By Debra Nussbaum Cohen Jul 9, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Revolt Grows Against ‘Racist’ Chief Rabbi Bids

  The race for Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel keeps getting uglier. The lead contender, Safed’s municipal Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, is the subject of a legal investigation by state attorney general Yehuda Weinstein. Weinstein’s action comes in response to a formal complaint by Labor Party lawmaker Eitan Cabel over Eliyahu’s 2010 ban on sale or…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 9, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Madiba, Zayde of Our Rainbow Nation

  Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the iconic leader of our nation, has died. To South Africans — including Jews — he will always be much more than merely the first democratically elected president. He will be forever remembered as the “father of the nation” as he was truly the architect of the inclusive South Africa we know…

  By Shana Beinart Jul 8, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The 2 Sides of Nelson Mandela

  Nelson Mandela, who died December 5, has come to symbolize the triumph of hope over despair, of love over hatred, and of goodness over evil. I have recently written what an inspiration he has been to me personally as a rabbi who led a congregation in South Africa in the immediate post-apartheid period. I wrote…

  By Dana Evan Kaplan Jul 8, 2013 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Client 9 vs. Mr. Clean

  Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer returned from political exile Sunday night, throwing New York City Democrats into a frenzy as he announced an ultra-late entry into the race for New York City Comptroller. Spitzer will face Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who was running uncontested in the Democratic primary. Both candidates are Jewish, but…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Jul 8, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Ultra-Orthodox Win Race to the Kotel

  Today, Haredi activists headed en masse to the women’s section of the Western Wall before the interdenominational feminist group Women of the Wall (WOW) were due to assemble for their monthly prayer service. Citing concern for the women’s’ “personal safety” police said that the high concentration of Haredi opponents to the group assembled by the…

  By Nathan Jeffay Jul 8, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Norman Lamm’s Legacy

  True character, the man wrote, requires the courage to admit that, despite one’s best intentions, “I now recognize that I was wrong.” Imagine if every leader had the strength and the humility to write those words and to believe them, to acknowledge a mistake plainly and publicly, without embellishment or justification. Imagine if leaders simply…

  Jul 8, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Sheryl Sandberg’s Plane Crash Narrow Escape

  Facebook COO and bestselling “Lean In” author Sheryl Sandberg and her family narrowly avoided having been on the Asiana Airlines flight that crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday morning. Two people were killed and 49 seriously injured when Asiana Airlines Flight 214, a Boeing 777, slammed in to the ground just short of…

  By Renee Ghert-Zand Jul 7, 2013 | 2 min read