Opinion

• Letters

  Foundation Takes No Stand on Treatments

  The Forward’s August 4 article, “Gaucher Disease Patients Get New Hope From Drug,” does not in any way represent the views or opinions of the National Gaucher Foundation. They are, in fact, only those of Cyndi Frank, a patient. Therefore the NGF should not have appeared in that article in any manner. The NGF does…

  < 1 min read
• Letters

  There Have Always Been Divisions

  In David Hazony’s July 27 column, “The Death of Peoplehood,” his lament over Jewish ethnic diffusion and friction is understandable, but only to a point. The fact is that even apparent ethnic monoliths have internal tensions, and can go their own separate ways. One only has to look at America. America was founded by white…

  Aug 10, 2011 | < 1 min read
• Letters

  Remembering Bookie

  I would like to add to Michael Berenbaum’s wonderful July 26 obituary for Hyman Bookbinder by going back one administration earlier than Michael’s memories. For a year and a half, I served as the Jewish liaison for the Ford White House. During that time, Bookie, whose personal political proclivities were pretty much on the other…

  Aug 10, 2011 | < 1 min read

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry The 3 responses to the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack that could make Jews safer

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  Poll Shows ‘Surprisingly Close’ Race for Weiner’s Seat

  A new poll shows a “surprisingly close” race between the old-line Democrat and the relatively unknown Republican competing for Anthony Weiner’s congressional district in Queens and Brooklyn, Politico reports today. The Siena Research Institute poll shows the Democrat, State Assemblyman David Weprin, leading Republican Bob Turner, a retired broadcast executive, by a relatively narrow 48…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 10, 2011 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Shining a Light on Orthodox Safety Patrols in the Secular Press

  Boro Park’s Orthodox neighborhood patrol group, known informally as the shomrim — Hebrew for watch guards — has faced increased media scrutiny in the past few weeks over its role in the investigation of the killing of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky on July 12. At issue is the fact that Kletzky’s disappearance was first reported to…

  By Naomi Zeveloff Aug 10, 2011 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Opening American Eyes to Israel’s Diversity

  American Jews would benefit from listening to Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie. In a recent talk, Adichie explained that “it is impossible to engage properly with a place or a person without engaging with all of the stories of that place and that person.” Only when American Jewry exposes its youth to all the stories that…

  By Sarah Schonberg Aug 10, 2011 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Protest Movement Offers Hope for Israel’s Future

  “The People demand social justice.” That’s the slogan, the chant of more than 300,000 people in dozens of sites across Israel. And just maybe, the State of Israel is now entering the third chapter of its history as independent. During the first chapter, which extends from Israel’s founding in 1948, to 1977, 29 years of…

  By Leonard Fein Aug 9, 2011 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Israel and Our Economy

  My latest editorial lamented how the debacle over the debt ceiling debate in Washington could be bad for the Jews. First, because we are Americans, and second, because a weakened America will lead to a weakened Israel. The Israel connection was, in my mind, a geopolitical one — that is, Israel depends on American military…

  By Jane Eisner Aug 8, 2011 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  In Darwin’s Footsteps

  In September 1835, when Charles Darwin sailed to the Galapagos Islands, he collected birds and other specimens that helped him explain the natural world and revolutionize scientific understanding. Darwin’s presence still haunts anyone who visits this desolately beautiful archipelago in an isolated spot of the Pacific Ocean, where the 13 distinct species of finches bear…

  By Jane Eisner Aug 8, 2011 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  A Call for Social Justice on Tisha B’Av

  Israel is in the midst of an awakening, perhaps even a social revolution, but its official State Rabbinate and, indeed, virtually all religious officials, are silent. How can this be? Isn’t it the role of religious leaders to provide guidance? Three weeks ago a few people set up tents on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv…

  By Rabbi Andrew Sacks Aug 8, 2011 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Examining the Palestinians’ Unilateral Bid for Statehood

  Give Them A Reason Not To Do It By Hussein Ibish The wisdom of the various plans for Palestinians to approach the United Nations in September with a statehood-oriented diplomatic initiative may be debated, but not the Palestinians’ right to make the approach. Israel was, in effect, created by the U.N. Partition Plan of 1947…

  Aug 5, 2011 | 7 min read