Opinion

• Opinion

  We Don’t Do Forgiveness Well

  The High Holidays don’t work for me. I know that Yom Kippur is supposed to be the holiest day of the year, and I’ve read and listened to many great ideas about how Yom Kippur is supposed to work on supreme spiritual issues and in sanctifying relationships and community. And I’ve been trying it out…

  By Elana Sztokman

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Devil You Know

  The Israeli government has approved 5,000 new work permits for Palestinians to work in Israel. The decision comes just a few days after the government released a report stating that permit allocation has increased by 40% over the last year-and-a-half, meaning that today 32,000 Palestinians earn their living in Israel. The ability of Palestinians to…

  By Nathan Jeffay Sep 25, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Real Friends Are Honest — Even With Israel

  During his July experiment with international diplomacy, Mitt Romney’s encomium about the Israeli health care system provided a delicious illustration of one of our few remaining bipartisan sports: pandering to all things Israel. “Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of GDP in Israel? Eight percent,” Romney intoned. “You spend 8%…

  By Ken Schechtman Sep 25, 2012 | 3 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 The staggering hypocrisy behind Trump’s deal to free the last living American hostage

  

• 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

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  Opinion

  Why Ban Kippahs, Madame Le Pen?

  Aside from the latent anti-Semitism that motivates the European political fringe, there are two possible explanations for why Marine Le Pen felt it necessary to explain that if France is to proscribe the hijab or chador in the public square as she favours, “it is obvious that we must ban the kippa.” She added that…

  By Liam Hoare Sep 24, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Sheldon’s Latke Envy

  What’s a few million among friends? Sheldon Adelson says he doesn’t remember the size of the first check he cut this election cycle. “I gave 5 million or 10 million – I forget – to Newt Gingrich,” the Jewish mega-donor told Politico in a rare interview published last night. (A reminder, Mr. Adelson: It was…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Sep 24, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Swinging the Chicken for the First Time

  When I was growing up in the 1960s on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, “awe” was a word to be memorized for spelling tests. My High Holy Day memories were of new patent leather shoes, Lichtman’s round raisin challah dipped in honey and a synagogue service that was more “night at the opera” than a meeting…

  By Carol Ungar Sep 24, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Where Is Israel of the Campfire Songs?

  Several months before my 18th birthday, hoping to avoid military service in Vietnam, I went to see a rabbi known for counseling conscientious objectors. The conversation proved brief. He asked me if I would be willing to go and fight if Israel were in danger. Of course, I replied. Well then, he said, you’re not…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 24, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Randi, Rahm and the Chicago Teachers Strike

  The Chicago teachers strike ended with what many unionists see as a victory for a strategy of confronting strong-willed Mayor Rahm Emanuel. It also helped get national teachers union chief Randi Weingarten out of a tricky political jam. Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers and one of the nation’s top Jewish union…

  By Ari Paul Sep 24, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Can Mitt Swing Florida Jews?

  During my 35 years at the University of Miami, I have asked hundreds of Jews why they moved to Florida. The most common answer has been that they came here to join friends or relatives. Some came to retire, others for employment. Some wanted a place with a large Jewish community. Many mentioned the climate….

  By Ira M. Sheskin Sep 23, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Unilateral Statehood, The Sequel

  In Take 2 of its push for unilateral statehood the Palestinian Authority has announced it will ask the United Nations to upgrade its status from “observer entity” to “observer state.” “After the U.N. vote … Palestine will become a country under occupation. Israel will not be able to say that this is a disputed area,”…

  By Nathan Jeffay Sep 22, 2012 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Marshall Wittmann’s Long, Strange Trip to AIPAC

  AIPAC’s new spokesman Marshall Wittmann has a wandering eye, at least when it comes to politics. Wittmann was once a lobbyist for Ralph Reed’s Christian Coalition. He’s also a onetime Trotskyite who has served as a spokesman for labor unions – as well as for Republican Sen. John McCain. In 2006, the New York Times…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Sep 21, 2012 | < 1 min read