In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
The sound of Hasidic music blasting from tinny speakers can inspire dread in the hearts of some Jews. The tune portends contact with men straight out of Shalom Aleichem’s shtetl. With their beards and peyes, their black suits and beseeching eyes, these merry soldiers in the Rebbe’s religious army will inevitably approach and deliver a…
Picture yourself on a Tel Aviv beach: A parade of tanned, toned Israelis marching past like some alternative half-nude army, flashing butt cheeks in string bikinis as you revel in a paradise of sand, surf and Semitic good looks. Remember when God promised a free ticket to the Holy Land? This is what He had…
The trouble with temptation is that it’s so damn tempting. This, it seems, is a problem when it comes to keeping Jews in the fold. But perhaps instead of seeking to steep young Jews exclusively in tradition, we should embrace the horrors of gentile ways. Insane? Maybe not. We need only look to another ethno-religious…
We don’t have to wait for the 2010 Census results to know our numbers aren’t good. Will the Jews still be 2.2% of the U.S. population? Maybe 2.1%? Or 1.9%? I was just in Israel and saw dozens of Birthright trips, but at best, they only slow down the decline in our numbers. Judaism needs…
Tomorrow, September 28, is the 10th anniversary of the outbreak of the so-called Second or Al-Aqsa Intifada, the wave of Palestinian terrorism that left thousands dead and pretty much killed off Israelis’ faith in the possibility of peace with the Palestinians. Two surprising and very important articles appeared in the Israeli press today to mark…
Seventy years ago, Benzion Netanyahu stood on the balcony of his small Manhattan apartment and wondered how his world had suddenly turned upside down. Then 31 years old, the Zionist activist had arrived from Jerusalem in the spring of 1940, brimming with optimism about his mission of mobilizing American support for creating a Jewish state…
The Plaza Hotel has had its ups and downs. Once the very embodiment of Old New York elegance, it was purchased in 1988 by real estate billionaire Donald Trump, who said he would treasure it as a “masterpiece” but sold it in 1995 to pay for his divorce. The purchaser was Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince…
Everything that we have and are is a gift. None of us ever did anything — none of us ever could have done anything — to earn the gifts that are life and consciousness. This, Maimonides stunningly suggests, is what Psalm 89 means when it tells us that the world is built on chesed —…
We’re Fighting the Freeze The Jewish Telegraphic Agency report printed in the Forward of September 24, “The Right Waits for Netanyahu’s Move,” regarding the pressure being exerted on Israel to extend the 10-month freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria, incorrectly claims that even those American Jewish groups that support these communities are not…
Now and then, one gets carried away by rhetorical devices. The words are seductive, even if they distort their author’s intent. That, I fear, is what happened to me just last week in the course of writing a column about the artists’ boycott of the new cultural center in Ariel. My arguments in favor of…
From The Root, a very cool black-interest webzine, this essay by Sherrilyn Ifill is the smartest piece I’ve seen on what happened to the Obama presidency (though it badly loses steam at the very end). Here’s the bottom line: The legitimate anger and frustration of voters at the massive bank bailout, and the pressures of…
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