Opinion

• Opinion

  Mitt Romney Attacks….the Kibbutz

  Maybe Mitt Romney didn’t know what he was talking about when he praised Israeli culture. The Republican presidential hopeful controversially explained during a trip to Israel last week that the country’s economic success was due to its culture. Now it turns out he’s no fan of the kibbutz. “America is not a collective where we…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  We’re Nobody’s ‘Jew-Washing’ Pawns

  In his latest column, Philologos correctly parses the linguistic problems with Yitzhak Santis and Gerald M. Steinberg’s invented term, “Jew-washing.” His political analysis, alas, fails miserably. Philologos has it completely wrong when he speaks of the “anti-Semitism in boycotts of Israel.” To begin with, Santis and Steinberg did not use the term “Jew-washing” in reference…

  By Alissa Wise and Brant Rosen Aug 7, 2012 | 2 min read
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  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 Aug 6, 2012 | 2 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 The challah that changed everything: Tracing Jewish baking back to Poland

  

• Nora Berman The Kennedy Center canceled all its ‘woke’ programming — so why is this Jewish musical OK?

  

• 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

  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
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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