Opinion

• Opinion

  Strange Way To Express Sympathy With Sikhs (Update)

  UPDATE: JFNA defends reference to Homeland Security grant program The Jewish Federations of North America chose an odd way to offer condolences to the Sikh community over the weekend shooting rampage that killed six people at a temple in Wisconsin. After offering its “deepest sympathy” to the victims, the JFNA claimed the mass shooting spotlights…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  The Passing of Sami Rohr

  I just learned of the death yesterday of Sami Rohr, the businessman and philanthropist powerhouse behind the growth of Chabad around the world. He was also the namesake of an incredible literary prize that his children endowed in his name on his 80th birthday and that I was so grateful to receive this past year….

  By Gal Beckerman Aug 6, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  5 Jewish Things About Sarah Palin’s State

  From Wyatt Earp to Sarah Palin, Alaska has a colorful history, which has occasionally touched on Jews. Four of the state’s legendary mountains are named after Jews. There’s a Star of David featured in one of the state’s most famed church stained-glass windows. Alaska Airlines helped airlift Yemeni Jews to Israel. Earp once ran a…

  By Naomi Zeveloff Aug 6, 2012 | < 1 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 She’s a titan of Israeli architecture. Her story contains troubling lessons for her country

  

• 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

  Converts’ Permanent Revolution

  I teach my classes at Seton Hall University in a seminar room known as the Oesterreicher Suite, in which a photograph of Monsignor John M. Oesterreicher looks down on the class as it is being held. The room itself is comprised of glass cases with speeches and documents that track and illustrate the Monsignor’s path…

  By Alan Brill Aug 6, 2012 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  A Prayer for the Suicidal

  The Golden Gate Bridge is approaching its 75th anniversary. Along with being a wondrous Bay Area landmark, the span is famous as a spot where hundreds have committed suicide over the decades. Congregation Sha’ar Zahav of San Francisco is out to remove the stigma of suicide from religious life. The followinig is a kaddish text,…

  By Simi Lampert Aug 5, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  France’s Jewish Archbishop

  In the United States, no one born abroad can grow up and become president. In France, any citizen can grow up and become president, or archbishop of Paris — even the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland. August 5 marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger. With his passing, France lost…

  By Robert Zaretsky Aug 5, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Of Grease Monkeys and Birthers

  It happened in the body shop. With trepidation, I’d delivered my badly wounded car, (more exactly, the tow truck had), and now, while waiting for my rental car to be delivered, I was chatting with the owner of the body shop, a very well-spoken man on whose mercy I now depended and whose expertise was…

  By Leonard Fein Aug 4, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Congress Does Kabuki Dance on Israel

  Too many people give Washington politics a bum rap. Sure, it can be excruciating if you’re following the issues and hoping for a certain result. It’s frustratingly predictable, infuriating in its futility and perhaps even a bit terrifying in its inability to address the most urgent crises. If you stand back and watch the choreography,…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 3, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Transfixed by Aly’s Roller-Coaster Ride

  I sort of felt like a schizophrenic, jumping between screens on my 15-inch screen computer, from word document to word document, from news website to low-quality live-streaming of Aly Raisman wobbling on the balance beam. The video kept freezing. The loading button wouldn’t move from the middle of the screen. The commentary was in French….

  By Hannah Rubin Aug 2, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Neither Rain Nor Traffic Slows Siyum (See Video)

  Despite rain and traffic jams, the mood was jubilant at MetLife stadium on August 1, as some 90,000 Orthodox Jews gathered to celebrate the completion of the study of the Talmud, or Siyum HaShas. A massive crowd of mostly ultra-Orthodox men in dark suits and hats packed the East Rutherford, N.J., football stadium, spilling out…

  By Ezra Glinter Aug 2, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Alive and Well?

  Judaism, the Economist magazine says in its latest edition, is “alive and well.” And not just in that “I’m okay, you’re okay” sort of way that seems more like treading water than riding the waves. “Judaism is enjoying an unexpected revival,” opens an 11-page special report of the British weekly magazine — enjoying the kind…

  Aug 2, 2012 | 3 min read