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
Israel’s Everyday Racism — and How American Jews Turn a Blind Eye to It
The Anti-Defamation League and the rest of the American Jewish establishment owe Jesse Jackson a big apology. They put the man through the wringer, they made him apologize in every possible forum for his “Hymie” and “Hymietown” remarks back in 1984. Yet look at the kinds of things Israeli leaders — senior government ministers, chief…
-
Opinion How Education Can Combat Israeli Racism
Please resist the urge to stop reading this article as soon as a certain word rears its ugly head. This is not an indictment. On the contrary — it’s a letter of commendation, a borderline puff piece. But the good news only makes sense in the context of the bad news, and I don’t know…
-
Opinion Marijuana Legalization Is Freedom of Religion Cause
Medical marijuana is spreading in acceptance, with Illinois this month becoming the 20th state to legalize medical marijuana. But so far no states have legalized religious marijuana use, even though there is compelling reason to do so. People consume alcohol for religious reasons, especially Jews. At least 25 states even allow minors to consume alcohol…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion News Quiz: ‘Potter’ Star’s New Role
True, this week’s quiz touches on Anthony Weiner and pickles, but not in the same question. We have our standards! We also have Daniel Radcliffe, A-Rod and Dr. Zizmor, all ready to quiz you about the Jewish news of the week.
-
Opinion The Serious Side of Jewish Political Scandals
There’s been something unsettling about all the public fascination with the political sex scandals parading through the headlines this summer. It seems as though the private misconduct of our public officials interests us more than their actual performance of the work we pay them to do. Perhaps it touches us more deeply. Or perhaps we…
-
Opinion Confusion Reigns as U.S. Tries To Grasp New Qaeda
A week after the dramatic terror alert that shut down 19 U.S. embassies, experts are starting to weigh in on what it means, and specifically what it tells us about the state of Al Qaeda. If I can sum up the answer in two words, it would be: not much. Here’s what Fareed Zakaria has…
-
Opinion Let ‘Em Eat Nothing
“Eat Mexicans.” That’s Stephen Colbert’s advice to people who will be tossed aside when Congress finally gets around to overhauling the food stamp program. The solution proposed by the House Republican leadership is only slightly less macabre than Colbert’s — and, unfortunately, it is serious, as we may assume Colbert’s advice is not. The plan?…
-
Opinion Why Iranian Leader Hassan Rowhani May Not Be Ahmadinejad II
While the rest of the world cautiously welcomed the surprise election of Hassan Rowhani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood virtually alone in swiftly dismissing the Iranian centrist as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And when Iranian news agencies misquoted Rowhani as calling Israel an “old wound” that must be removed, Netanyahu was quick to…
-
Opinion J Street’s Breakthrough With Likud and Shas
J Street, the dovish pro-Israel lobby that was shunned in its early years by Israeli government officials, is now making another step toward the acceptance by Israeli politicians. This coming September, J Street will host, for the first time, a member of Knesset from the ruling Likud Party and a member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas…
-
Opinion When Canada Kept Jews in Internment Camps
Ringed with barbed wire and isolated from surrounding communities, the notorious internment camp held more than 700 Jews in the early days of World War II. But this wasn’t Germany or Poland. Internment Camp B70 was located in a bucolic corner of the Canadian province of New Brunswick — and only now are locals, and…
-
Opinion Will the Next Generation Give?
The names are recognizable everywhere: Adelson, Steinhardt, Shusterman. Bronfman, Perelman, Kimmel and Tisch. Soros, Bloomberg, Broad, Jacobs, Blavatnik and more. They represent American Jewry’s golden givers, its most wealthy and generous philanthropists. Some of these people direct but a fraction of their giving to explicitly Jewish causes, but they help create, shape, sustain and direct…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News Jews paused Indiana’s abortion ban — by turning a religious freedom law against the evangelical right
- 2
Culture In 1989, Harold Pinter and Jerry Schatzberg made the perfect Holocaust movie for 2026
- 3
Opinion An abominable new Israeli law is a death warrant for democracy
- 4
Culture Inside the ancient Christian theology driving modern antisemitism
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Two women race to save Persian Jewish music before it fades
-
Opinion Passover liberation and US liberty both summon us to remember and renew
-
Culture 70 years ago, this Jewish choreographer predicted our epidemic of loneliness and isolation
-
Culture Gene Shalit, a mensch with a personality as big as his mustache, turns 100
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
