Opinion

• Opinion

  Ignoring Anti-Semitism Is Sometimes Best

  Nearly 100 years ago, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously coined the phrase “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants” in praise of transparency and honesty in public policy. Not long after, Jewish communal organizations (within which Brandeis was an active supporter of the Zionist cause) appropriated the phrase for their own purposes,…

  By David Bernstein

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Debate We Need

  The selection of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate has been heralded by those who wish to see this year’s tedious, tendentious presidential campaign elevated to a genuine national debate on the size and scope of government. Who can object to that? But if this election is truly going to be about…

  Aug 20, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Bibi’s Iran Plan Rests on Shaky Ground

  Israel’s leading television news program, Channel 2 News, now informs us that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak are “on the brink” of approving an Israeli military attack on Iran. Their thinking, as reported, hinges on two very iffy assumptions. The first is about America’s intentions. The Israeli leaders, we’re told, do not believe…

  By Leonard Fein Aug 19, 2012 | 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 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

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  Opinion

  Taking Ownership of Our Talmud

  No Jewish tradition is more revered, more popularly identified with Judaism than learning. And yet, strangely, the commandment to study Torah appears nowhere in the Torah. It actually originates in the Talmud. The sages inferred it from the biblical commandment to “teach it (the Torah) diligently to thy children” (Deuteronomy 6:7). They figured you can’t…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 19, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Voter Fraud Fraud

  Officials of the state of Pennsylvania can offer no evidence of anyone fraudulently voting in person for more than a decade, or planning to do so in November. None. But that didn’t stop Republican lawmakers and the Republican governor in this all-important swing state from enacting an outrageous new law requiring that anyone seeking to…

  Aug 17, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Sh-Berman Heat Wave Grips La La Land

  “Almost like in a boxing ring,” exclaimed a breathless local Fox News reporter. “Sparks flew” gasped the L.A. Times, describing Thursday night’s debate between dueling Jewish congressmen Howard Berman and Brad Sherman. But the soporific chin wagging between the two liberal, pro-Israel, balding Democrats, who were tossed by redistricting into a fight for the San…

  By Rex Weiner Aug 16, 2012 | 2 min read
• Letters

  No Coincidence

  Your August 3 article, “Circle of Pro-Israel Writers Rises,” mentions two former editors at Foreign Affairs, David Feith and Jordan Hirsch. What the article didn’t say was that each got his position, in subsequent years, through an extraordinarily competitive annual search for our junior editorial slot, beating out hundreds of other super-qualified candidates — and…

  Aug 16, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Ayelet’s Legacy

  Just over six months have gone by since little Ayelet Galena passed away, following a bone marrow transplant. The toddler’s struggle with a rare disease drew an outpouring of sympathy and support online. And Ayelet’s short life continues to have an impact. The effort of her parents, Seth and Hindy Poupko Galena, modern Orthodox Jews…

  By Blair Thornburgh Aug 16, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel Ups Iran Ante, But Is It Bluff?

  On August 12, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, called for an international declaration that diplomacy with Iran had definitively failed. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government itself declared the talks all but dead even before they began, but Ayalon’s explosive comments added fuel to the bizarrely public debate in Israel about whether to bomb Iran. This debate…

  By Trita Parsi Aug 16, 2012 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Obama’s Israeli Fans Sing His Praises

  “Tank you Mister Obama, about everyting.” So says a random Israeli interviewed in an exceptionally strange new video out today from the National Jewish Democratic Council. The video opens with jaunty music playing under images of missile batteries. Then Israelis stopped on the street say nice things about the president. One woman in a shopping…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Aug 15, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Hamptons Bar Mitzvah Brouhaha

  A fireworks display at a Long Island bar mitvah damaged a Bentley — and is threatening to singe a congressman’s career. Rocket debris from the rooftop fireworks demonstration apparently dented the high-end luxury car. But not before Tim Bishop, a Democratic congressman on Long Island, allegedly solicited a donation from the bar mitzvah boy’s father…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Aug 15, 2012 | < 1 min read