Opinion

• Opinion

  ‘Fred Who’ Wins 346 Votes

  Fred Karger, the gay Jewish Republican presidential candidate the Forward profiled last week, had a bit of a rough time in the New Hampshire primaries last night. Karger, whose slogan is “Fred Who?”, garnered 346 votes, good for about .1% of the GOP vote. He did have a dogfight with former candidate Michele Bachmann, whose…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis

  < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  A Place for Gays in Orthodoxy

  Not a month goes by without a young person just out of the closet — or sometimes that person’s shocked parents — contacting me in search of Orthodox leaders to respond credibly to their questions. It was this reality that was on my mind as I confronted the backlash to a same-sex commitment ceremony I…

  By Steve Greenberg Jan 11, 2012 | 6 min read
• 
  Opinion

  When Women Can’t Even Say Thank You

  Not long ago, on my way down three flights of stairs from the improvised nursery school where I used to take my youngest son every morning, I saw a woman struggling with several shopping bags filled with groceries. I asked her if she needed help, and when she nodded — though somewhat reluctantly — I…

  By William Kolbrener Jan 11, 2012 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman Trump is backed into a corner on Iran. Get ready for him to start blaming Jews

  

• Dan Perry Israelis have no idea where the Iran war is going. But they know it’s part of Netanyahu’s campaign

  

• Emily Tamkin Hungary is poised to topple an authoritarian leader. American Jews have something to learn

  

• Jay Michaelson Epstein and Iran are an antisemitism mega-crisis. Here’s what Jewish organizations should do about it. 

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  Looks Like It’s Mitt

  So if there was one overwhelming message out of New Hampshire tonight — after watching the 2nd and 3rd and 4th and 5th runners up pathetically grasping to put a positive spin on their losses (Huntsman: “Third place is a ticket to ride!”) — it was that Mitt Romney is looking pretty inevitable. You’ll hear…

  By Gal Beckerman Jan 11, 2012 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  TV Host Shakes Up Israeli Politics

  Prior to his announcement that he was leaving Israel’s Channel 2 to run for the Knesset, Yair Lapid, a popular Israeli media personality and son of the late Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, must have been encouraged by a Geocartography poll that placed an unnamed, hypothetical party led by him second, with 20 seats, behind only a…

  By Liam Hoare Jan 10, 2012 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  No Contest for Tiny New Hampshire Jewish Vote

  Republicans talked tough on Iran in the lead-up to today’s New Hampshire primary, but it wasn’t Jewish voters they were hoping to impress. At the January 7 Republican presidential debate, Rick Santorum called Iran “the most pressing issue we deal with today.” Frontrunner Mitt Romney accused President Obama of failing to demonstrate to the Iranians…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Jan 9, 2012 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Two Mideast Democracies, Side by Side

  Advocates of democracy in the Middle East have been deeply alarmed since December 29, when Egyptian security forces staged lightning raids on the offices of three American nonprofits that work to promote democracy and fair elections overseas. Egyptian officials say they seized the organizations’ books and computers because they suspect them of fomenting the unrest…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 9, 2012 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Why They Aren’t at the ‘Damn Table’

  The past 18 years of failed attempts to guide Israelis and Palestinians to a two-state solution have produced memorable clichés and even curses on the part of frustrated third-party officials. One of my favorites is, “The outlines of an agreement are known to all,” which I usually attribute to Tony Blair, though there are other…

  By Yossi Alpher Jan 9, 2012 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Adelson Ponies Up for Pro-Gingrich Effort: Reports

  Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has donated $5 million to a super political action committee that supports Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, the Washington Post reported. The donation to the Super PAC Winning Our Future could be part of a conservative effort to level the playing field as the GOP campaign moves to South Carolina and…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Jan 8, 2012 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Prisoners of Both Memory and Hope

  All the pastries and the fine wines cannot erase our tortured wisdom; though affluent, we are not comfortable. We are imprisoned both by our memories and by the world’s disorder. Our only remedy is to remain prisoners of hope as well, to remember not only yesterday but also tomorrow, the promised tomorrow. The notion that…

  By Leonard Fein Jan 8, 2012 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  ‘Fred Who’ Takes Shot at GOP Race

  Never heard of Fred Karger? He doesn’t mind. Most people haven’t — so few, in fact, that the slogan of his unlikely Republican presidential campaign, and the title of his campaign biography, is, “Fred Who?” As a GOP presidential candidate, Karger is an anomaly. Not only does he have zero name recognition, Karger is Jewish….

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Jan 7, 2012 | 2 min read