Opinion

• Opinion

  From Zimbabwe, With Faith

  Modreck Zvakavapano Maeresera comes from the southern African nation of Zimbabwe with a message of shared faith. A leader of the Lemba group that claims ancient Jewish ancestry, Maeresera is on a monthlong tour of the U.S., meeting with Jewish communal leaders and giving lectures about his community. “We are all joined together by our…

  By Dave Goldiner

  3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  How Many American Jews Are There?

  Anyone wishing to understand the shifting realities of American Jewish life has reason to celebrate this month. After a four-year hiatus, the American Jewish Year Book is back in print. This is no small thing. Begun in 1899, the annual volume was for 108 years the essential source of facts and figures on Jewish community…

  By J.J. Goldberg Feb 18, 2013 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Don’t Let Budget Cuts Hurt Disabled

  In the coming weeks and months, Congress will enact sweeping reductions in federal spending, finalize the 2013 federal budget and raise the debt ceiling. The cuts that will come with these decisions are not merely numbers on a ledger; they will decimate programs that directly impact the lives of the most vulnerable among us and…

  By Willam Daroff Feb 17, 2013 | 3 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 billionaire Gen Z influencer is reinventing philanthropy — with this South African rabbi’s help

  

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

  

• Dan Perry Is the Jerusalem terror attack the start of a third intifada? Not so fast

  

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

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  Third Time Lucky for Bibi?

  Any hopes that Avigdor Liberman had for a quick trial in time to become part of Israel’s new government were dashed today, when his trial opened in Jerusalem and looked set to become a slow affair. Yisrael Beytenu party head Liberman, who was Foreign Minister until he resigned to face his charges shortly before the…

  By Nathan Jeffay Feb 17, 2013 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Next Pope Could Be Progressive and Transform Relations With Jews

  Pope Benedict XVI shocked the world with his announcement that he will step down at the end of February. Though resignations are permitted by a little known paragraph of canon law, no pope has submitted one in six centuries. Historians will now begin asking about Benedict’s legacy. In the field of Jewish-Christian relations he will…

  By John Connelly Feb 17, 2013 | 6 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Despite Numerous Anti-Hunger Organizations, Many Go Hungry

  Let us speak of SNAP. “SNAP?,” you ask. “What is SNAP?” SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly know and still best recognized as the food stamp program. And now it is in danger. Here’s the story: SNAP has benefited enormously from the 2009 Recovery Act, which temporarily boosted SNAP benefits. But come November,…

  By Leonard Fein Feb 16, 2013 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Jewish Week Publishes Orthodox E-Rate Investigation

  An investigation out today from the Jewish Week sheds more light on apparent Orthodox abuse of the E-Rate subsidy program, which the Forward first reported on last week. E-Rate, a federally mandated subsidy program, funds internet and telephone connectivity for schools and libraries. The Forward investigation revealed that Orthodox institutions that didn’t actually qualify as…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Feb 15, 2013 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Last Pope Shaped by the Shoah

  The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI will symbolically bring to an end a remarkable period in Catholic-Jewish relations. Benedict and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, were personally involved in two 20th-century events that had a profound effect on this relationship — the Shoah and the Second Vatican Council. It is nearly certain that the…

  By Adam Gregerman Feb 15, 2013 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Naftali Bennett Says ‘No’ to Bibi (Or Not Yet)

  The new star of the Israeli right may be heading for the opposition benches. Israeli media are reporting that Naftali Bennett and his religious-Zionist Jewish Home party have rejected an offer that would have made it part of the government with control of the Education Ministry and other prominent positions. To Bennett’s irritation Prime Minister…

  By Nathan Jeffay Feb 14, 2013 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  BDS Is Not the Answer

  As it transpired, the brouhaha surrounding Brooklyn College’s BDS event was a good deal of hullabaloo over not a lot. Roughly 300 people turned up to listen to Judith Butler and Omar Barghouti speak about the need to boycott and divest from Israel, while outside the hall 150 protested either in favour of or against…

  By Liam Hoare Feb 14, 2013 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Is BDS Hate Speech?

  When the national director of the Anti-Defamation League takes out a large advertisement in the print edition of The New York Times, you kind of have to take notice. Given the cost of such an ad (surely more than one in the Forward!), the February 7 statement by Abraham Foxman signals that his organization believes…

  Feb 14, 2013 | 3 min read