Opinion

• Opinion

  Scarlet ‘A’ Is for ‘Anti-Semitism’

  Like Hester Prynne, the heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel “The Scarlet Letter” about the rigid and harsh religiosity of 17th century Puritans, many contemporary Jewish intellectuals are marked with the infamous letter ‘A’ (not for adultery as in the novel, but for anti-Semitism). Peter Beinart, Noam Chomsky, Judith Butler, Avi Shlaim, Shlomo Sand and…

  By Eva Illouz

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  How To Fix the Vote

  The difficulty that some voters had to endure simply to cast a ballot in the November 6 election is a stunning testament to their civic dedication and a disgrace to our system. In hotly-contested swing states like Florida and Virginia, people waited on line for as much as nine hours to vote. Nine hours! Americans…

  Nov 14, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  A Call for Jewish Tolerance

  Calling on the federation system to join synagogues in a fight against religious discrimination in Israel, Reform leader Rabbi Rick Jacobs aimed to engage the broader Jewish community in the struggle for equality of non-Orthodox Jewish denominations in Israel. Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, described Israel as “the only democracy that legally…

  By Nathan Guttman Nov 13, 2012 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson I supported Israel’s actions in Gaza in October 2023 — not anymore

  

• Rob Eshman How anti-Israel rhetoric led to the killing of two in Washington, D.C. 

  

• Nora Berman How the Oct. 7 aftermath splintered the New York Dyke March

  

• Dan Perry It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump

  

• Emily Tamkin This week proved it: Trump’s approach to antisemitism at Columbia is horribly ineffective

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  What Connects Us To One Another?

  I have been thinking about the Jews — not as voters, mind you, but as a people. And the obvious question that arises is what makes of this mixed multitude a whole, a people. What is it that connects us to one another? The traditional answers of organized American Jewry are barely adequate today, and…

  By Leonard Fein Nov 13, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  $64 Million Question on Iran

  It was hardly surprising that Israeli diplomat Barukh Binah refused several times to discuss the nitty-gritty of plans to confront Iran over its nuclear program at a public forum at the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly. Neither was the lack of optimism voiced by any of the three panelists that increased sanctions against…

  By Renee Ghert-Zand Nov 13, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  No (GOP) Sex on Tisha B’Av

  With President Barack Obama’s reelection only a few days in the rear view mirror, the topic of the Jewish role in American politics is still brewing — and we learned some tantalizing details about Mitt Romney’s summer trip to Israel. Democratic and Republican operatives sparred over the importance of the Jewish vote in the just-completed…

  By Nathan Guttman Nov 13, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Finding Meaning of Jewish Law in Sandy Shelter

  There were fallen trees everywhere. Twisted electricity pylons and crushed white picket fences littered the dark roadside as our Red Cross vehicle made its way to Locust Valley High School, in Long Island’s Nassau County. The roads were a labyrinth of dead-ends as a result of fallen debris and wrecked cars. Yet this was the…

  By Samuel Klein Nov 13, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Two Giants in Baltimore

  Reminiscing on the golden days of Jewish American activism, two heroes of the Soviet Jewry movement took to the stage at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America in its main plenary session on Monday. Natan Sharansky, the former refusnik who is now head of the Jewish Agency for Israel and Nobel…

  By Nathan Guttman Nov 13, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Forward 50’s Unexpected Stars

  I learn a lot about leadership by overseeing the painstaking but ultimately rewarding process of compiling the Forward 50 each year, of trying to identify the American Jews who have had the greatest impact on our lives in a variety of fields, from politics to culture to sports. And I learn even more about leadership…

  By Jane Eisner Nov 13, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Will Gaza Rockets Reelect Bibi? Is That Hamas’ Aim?

  Center-right commentator Shalom Yerushalmi at Maariv argues that the rockets from Gaza seem likely to turn the upcoming Israeli elections once again into a referendum on who has bigger guns, meaning a Likud reelection. Sadly, he says, that would again bury the election that seemed to be shaping up, the one that Israel deserves, the…

  By J.J. Goldberg Nov 12, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Disunity Key To Defeating Netanyahu

  After the latest political earthquake in Israeli politics — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to join with Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avidgor Lieberman to create right-wing “mega party” Likud-Beiteinu — Israeli liberals and centrists are panicking. They fear that the merger has locked up Netanyahu’s chances of winning another term and that they will give Lieberman…

  By Geoffrey Levin and Aaron Magid Nov 12, 2012 | 4 min read