Opinion

• Opinion

  Leaders Must Speak Out on Wailing Wall Arrest

  Israel’s Declaration of Independence provides that “The State of Israel…will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex” and “will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture.” Last week, officials of the Jerusalem police violated Anat Hoffman’s most basic civil and human rights…

  By Menachem Z. Rosensaft

  4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  What Is the ‘Jewish Vote’?

  No one can say whether the Jewish vote actually exists. Jews vote, but not as a block. Thus, the idea of a distinctly Jewish vote is, in a way, a mirage, more in our heads than in the heads of voters as they go to the polls. The Jewish vote is the accumulation of votes…

  By Shmuel Rosner Oct 22, 2012 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Sheldon vs. Shelley: Inside Vegas’ Ugly Jew v. Jew Tiff

  Politico’s Steve Friess has a fascinating story online today about the longstanding personal feud between two of Nevada’s “most prominent Jewish figures,” hotelier Sheldon Adelson and Rep. Shelley Berkley, who’s running for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican family-values guy John Ensign. It’s a gripping look at how Adelson operates — the intensity and…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 22, 2012 | < 1 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’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  Real Tax Debate? Eisenhower vs. Reagan

  For all the frantic debate-watching that’s swept the nation this fall, one of the most important debates of the current election season has gone largely unheard. It’s a whispered debate between the two most celebrated Republican presidents of the last century, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, over how to achieve economic growth. Eisenhower, serving from…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 21, 2012 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  We Got Plenty

  Between two holidays that celebrate plenty — Sukkot and Thanksgiving — we are entitled, if not downright obliged, to inquire into the implications of plenitude. Accordingly, let us start with a Happy Birthday greeting. The greeting is in honor of Mazon, now in the second year of its second quarter century. Mazon began as a…

  By Leonard Fein Oct 20, 2012 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Gilad Shalit’s Return, One Year Later

  On the morning of October 18 last year, like the rest of Israel I anxiously awaited the return of Gilad Shalit. The deal had been made and the arrangements were set, but we didn’t know what kind of a young man would return. What his health would be like, his psychological state, his social abilities…

  By Nathan Jeffay Oct 19, 2012 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Is Modern Orthodoxy the True Orthodoxy?

  On Thursday night, Israel Prize Winner Rabbi Daniel Sperber gave a lecture at the Jewish Center in New York City on “Why Modern Orthodoxy is True Orthodoxy.” Sperber, a Talmud scholar at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, provided a thorough history of Orthodox Judaism before noting the differences between modern Orthodoxy and ultra-Orthodoxy, emphasizing that modern…

  By Seth Berkman Oct 19, 2012 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Courage of a Girl

  Nearly 11 years ago, flushed with what we thought was victory over the Taliban, then-first lady Laura Bush led a noble campaign to highlight the poverty, violence, poor health and illiteracy endured by the women of Afghanistan. “That regime is now in retreat across much of the country, and the people of Afghanistan, especially women,…

  Oct 19, 2012 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Silverman Boosts Obama (Not That One)

  There’s a Silverman involved in the latest pro-Obama ad, but it’s not the one you’re thinking (or hoping) it is. Sarah Silverman’s sister, Rabbi Susan Silverman, who lives in Israel, co-produced “Israelis on Obama.” The piece features a number of Israeli talking heads (mainly defense officials, political scientists, and intellectuals) praising Obama’s financing of Israel’s…

  By Renee Ghert-Zand Oct 18, 2012 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Rabbi’s Scandalous Crime? Using an iPhone.

  Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak, a top leader of the Israeli Haredi community, in at the center of a massive scandal. No, he wasn’t seen with a female escort, accused of child abuse, or fingered in some kind of money-laundering operation. But to the Haredi community, what he did might even be worse: Yitzhak was photographed the…

  By Simi Lampert Oct 18, 2012 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Going Talmudic on Lance Armstrong

  If the accusations are true, it’s hard to defend Lance Armstrong. He is accused, with supporting testimony by those close to him, of engaging in a systematic campaign to cheat in order to win cycling races, including seven Tours de France. The allegations are that he used performance enhancing drugs and evaded testing by those…

  By Micah Kelber Oct 18, 2012 | 6 min read