Opinion

• Opinion

  Was There a Context for Breivik’s Madness?

  His lawyer says he is insane, which is a perfectly plausible diagnosis of Anders Behring Breivik, the slaughterer of 77 Norwegians, most of them children, on July 22. The diagnosis is not only plausible; it is comforting. For if we are dealing here with a madman, then no further inquiry regarding motive need detain us….

  By Leonard Fein

  3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Even on Mexico Vacation, Boycott Debate Looms Large

  Recently my family and I were traveling in Oaxaca, Mexico — a place about as far away from Middle East politics as one might think, so I assumed. Then one evening, walking through the cobblestoned streets of the old city, I came across a wonderful looking artist’s hangout, the Café Lobo Azul (the “Blue Wolf…

  By Oren Safdie Aug 4, 2011 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Debt Ceiling: How Jewish Lawmakers Voted

  House of Representatives: Of 25 Jewish members, 16 voted Yes on the final debt ceiling compromise and nine voted No. (Democratic votes overall: 95 Yes, 95 No.) Yes. Democrats: Shelley Berkley (Nev.), Howard Berman (Cal.), David Cicilline (R.I.), Susan Davis (Cal.), Ted Deutch (Fla.), Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.), Steve Israel (N.Y.), Sander Levin (Mich.), Nita Lowey…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 2, 2011 | 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 Americans keep getting killed in the West Bank. Here’s how the US could fight that awful trend

  

• Nora Berman First Camp Auschwitz, now Alligator Alcatraz — why the right is obsessed with commodifying brutality

  

• Dan Perry What exactly is going on between Israel and Syria — and is the prospect of peace dead?

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  You Read It Here First

  So imagine my surprise when, walking through the Miami airport, I spotted the front page of this Sunday’s New York Times and saw a familiar story. For ten days, my husband and I had been on vacation in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean, and though it was lovely to be cut off…

  By Jane Eisner Aug 2, 2011 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Talking Assimilation in Aspen

  Harold Grinspoon, the Jewish philanthropist who founded the PJ Library — a program that distributes free Jewish children’s books to families across the country — invites 50 or 60 of his closest friends and philanthropic collaborators to go hiking with him in Aspen, Colo., each summer. For some reason, this time he has invited me…

  By Larry Cohler-Esses Aug 2, 2011 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Few Religious Jews Join Israeli Cost-of-Living Protests

  As protesters against the high cost of living in Israel flood the country’s streets, one demographic is noticeably absent: the religious sector. While, to be sure, individual yarmulkes can be seen here and there — including on the evening of July 30, when up to 150,000 people demonstrated in multiple locations — the general disinterest…

  By Miriam Shaviv Aug 2, 2011 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Music for the 9th of Av: On Jerusalem, Exile and Homelessness

  I agonized over this. We’re now in the nine-day mourning period approaching Tisha B’Av. Music is not appropriate. Can we observe by listening to music of the season? Well, I decided to go with it. It’s for those who haven’t thought of observing the mourning period, to get you in the mood. There are versions…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 1, 2011 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  See the Charts: Where the Taxes Come From, Where They Go

  My latest column on taxes, deficits and debt, “Taking From the Poor and Giving to the Rich,” has stirred up quite a bit of discussion, which is fine. Much of it revolves around the credibility of my numbers, which is unfortunate. Herewith, a guide to the websites where the numbers are available, so you all…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 29, 2011 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  We Jews Are a Peculiar People

  It will not come as a surprise if I suggest that we Jews are a peculiar people. For all the talk of escalating assimilation, we remain, in important respects, quite different from most other Americans. I report here on a massive survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, a survey of…

  By Leonard Fein Jul 29, 2011 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Why JDub Mattered to a Younger Generation of American Jews

  The following is by one of our intrepid interns, Pnina Kessler, who has put together her thoughts on the demise of JDub (which we recently covered in our pages). It’s an insightful commentary on how much more needs to be done to appeal to young American Jews on a cultural level. As a seventeen year…

  By Gal Beckerman Jul 29, 2011 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  It Is Political

  Has the Arab Spring arrived in Israel? Are we seeing a Jewish Summer? That’s the popular perception of the surprisingly large and robust protests that have taken over nearly every major city in Israel, peaking with a march of 30,000 in the streets of Tel Aviv on July 23. The issue at stake is the…

  Jul 29, 2011 | 2 min read