Opinion

• Letters

  The Jewish God Is a King, but Not a Rebel

  Allison Yarrow concludes her review of my novel, “The Gospel of Anarchy,” by citing my quotation of G.K. Chesterton saying that “Christianity alone has felt that God… must have been a rebel as well as a king” (“Wanted: A Gospel Worth Following,” March 11). Yarrow counters that “Christianity claiming a monopoly on the concept of…

  < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Leaving the Door Open

  At the Seder meal, we drink four cups of wine, but pour a fifth that sits on the table untouched. That fifth cup is our offering to Elijah the prophet, whom we then invite to drink by opening the door after we have completed the Seder meal. When my wife, the artist Jan Aronson, and…

  By Edgar Bronfman Apr 13, 2011 | < 1 min read
• Letters

  Photo Choices Reflect a Double Standard

  It is with a deep sense of disappointment that I note the content of your March 25 editorial, “The Fogel Photographs,” and the unfortunate double standard it represents. Your aversion to presenting the pictures of the five murder victims from Itamar and the logic that you presented for your action is in direct contradiction to…

  Apr 13, 2011 | < 1 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

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  Opinion

  When the Zionist Right Was the Scorned Side

  As I witness the outpouring of invective directed by some American Jews against members of their own community over Israel, I have a feeling of déjà vu. I wonder if those supporters of the current Israeli government who label everyone who disagrees with them as anti-Zionists or traitors realize that they are repeating sins committed…

  By David Rozenson Apr 13, 2011 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Judaism’s Lessons for a Nuclear Age

  A month has passed since the earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan, yet the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant continues. As radioactive material spews into the air, soil and water, we watch with feelings of helplessness and dread. We have been humbled, first by the destructive power of nature and then by…

  By Daniel Landes Apr 13, 2011 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  S*@#! My Foreign Minister Says: Lieberman’s Speech From the Throne? An On-Air Flush

  Say what you will, the guy has class. Ynetnews.com reports that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman took his contrarian, defiant behavior to new heights, or perhaps to new depths, on Monday by flushing the toilet during a radio interview. The report on Ynet’s Hebrew website, here, includes a 14-second clip of the event, plus an…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 12, 2011 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  More Lessons From the Arab Spring, or Follow the Bouncing Logic

  Recently published analyses teach the following lessons: Lesson 1. The Arab uprisings are not necessarily democratic in nature, and liberal readiness to back them — morally or with arms and material aid — is at best foolhardy romanticism. We should stand back and avoid getting involved. Why undermine existing regimes when the replacement might be…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 12, 2011 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Four Questions on Our Budget Debate

  As American Jews prepare for Passover, Congress is in the midst of the most far-reaching budget debate in generations. At Seder, we tell an old story and attempt to draw new lessons from it. The budget debate is, similarly, both an old and a new story. So in the spirit of Passover, when we study…

  By Mark Pelavin and Jonathan Backer Apr 11, 2011 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  A Civility Deficit? Or an Indignation Deficit?

  Civility’s all the rage these days. Its most prominent practitioner is, of course, President Barak Obama, who somehow manages to stay cool in an environment that is wildly overheated. Within the Jewish community, the push for civility has become almost ritualistic. Little wonder, given the very public breaches of civility these last two years or…

  By Leonard Fein Apr 11, 2011 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  A Cynical Giveaway

  They’re cheering in Kiryas Joel and other ultra-Orthodox enclaves in New York over a new provision in the state’s otherwise austere and demanding budget for 2011-2012. But the governor, the legislature and the Jewish leaders who pushed for this special-interest giveaway ought to be ashamed of themselves. At the same time that public colleges and…

  Apr 7, 2011 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Going From Egypt, Hoping for Elijah’s Coming

  Among my favorite poems, there’s one called “Doubletake,” by Seamus Heaney, the Nobel laureate in literature in 1995. It includes a verse that reads, “History says, Don’t hope/on this side of the grave./But then, once in a lifetime/the longed for tidal wave/of justice can rise up,/and hope and history rhyme.” That verse, so filled with…

  By Leonard Fein Apr 6, 2011 | 4 min read