Opinion

• Opinion

  Alan Dershowitz Spars With Hardliners on Israel

  Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, famed for his uncompromising support of Israel, locked horns with a jeering crowd of even more uncompromising supporters of Israel in a Times Square hotel ballroom on Sunday. Appearing at a day-long seminar on Israeli security, the celebrity scholar was repeatedly heckled and booed as he described his contacts with…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  5 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Justice for Dzokhar Tsarnaev — and the Rest of Us

  ‘Mazel Tov,” my father wrote in an email to me. “May his client lose and receive a death sentence.” The paternal congratulations and sentiment were in response to my telling him that an old friend working as a federal defense attorney in Boston had been appointed by the judge to represent Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The 19-year-old…

  By Laura Rozen Apr 29, 2013 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  I’m a Lag B’Omer Scrooge

  Bah humbug, it’s Lag B’Omer. I’m usually game for Israel’s national and religious holidays, eating the correct patisserie items on the correct days (honey and cheese cake on Rosh Hashanah and Shavuot respectively), sweating in a succah on Succot, and even finding a certain comfort in the melancholy of the Fast of Av. But I’m…

  By Nathan Jeffay Apr 28, 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 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 is not deliberately killing journalists in Gaza. But it does bear responsibility for their deaths

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s attack on George Soros is ludicrous. It also endangers Jews (and everyone else)

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  Is Benjamin Netanyahu’s Coalition Itching for Fight With Palestinians?

  With Israel’s new government barely a month old, tentative signs are emerging of renewed tension between the country’s political leadership and its military establishment. Several news reports, based on apparently targeted leaks from the military’s intelligence and strategic planning branches — and perhaps the Shin Bet security service — suggest that the army’s senior command…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 28, 2013 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Watch: Lapid vs. Haredim — The Fireworks Begin

  Israel’s new finance minister, Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid, gave his first Knesset speech as a cabinet minister on Monday, April 22, the opening day of the parliament’s spring session, and in defiance of longstanding tradition, he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. Longtime Knesset observers say they can’t remember ever hearing such a…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 28, 2013 | 6 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The View of Boston, From Israel

  Friends from places faraway and near wrote to inquire of my safety in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing. It gave me an odd sort of pleasure to inform them that I was, when they wrote, in Jerusalem, where terrorism is, at least for the time being, an issue for the authorities rather than…

  By Leonard Fein Apr 27, 2013 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Iraq’s Lesson for Syria: Be Careful What You Ask For

  I doubt I’m the only one who noticed the irony of Defense Secretary Hagel affirming Syria’s likely use of chemical weapons, touching off a clamor among congressional hawks and the now familiar gaggle of neocons and liberal interventionists for American intervention in the civil war there, on the very day that President Obama was in…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 26, 2013 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Fashion Forgiveness

  Should John Galliano ever be allowed in polite company again? And who gets to decide? It’s not easy being a daredevil fashion wunderkind with admitted drug and alcohol addictions and a penchant for outrageous statements and even more outrageous dress. Galliano, the former head of the legendary Christian Dior fashion house, was ousted in 2011…

  Apr 26, 2013 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Do We Have Lag B’Omer All Wrong?

  On April 28, Jews will light bonfires and celebrate Lag B’Omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer. For many, Lag B’Omer is a joyous respite from the customary mourning between Passover and Shavuot. But neither the festivities of the day, nor the sobriety of the seven weeks, have their origins in any…

  By Shayna Zamkanei Apr 26, 2013 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Quiz: Oklahoma Misstep and Winnipeg Divide

  By Lenore Skenazy Apr 24, 2013 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  French Chief Rabbi’s Fall From Grace in Plagiarism Scandal

  Forty years ago, “The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob” had French audiences doubled over in laughter. Gerard Oury’s frantic comedy of an anti-Semitic businessman who finds himself mistaken for a famous rabbi — don’t ask — smashed box office records. The timing was important: Oury’s anarchic comedy reflected the end of a 30-year run of…

  By Robert Zaretsky Apr 24, 2013 | 4 min read