Opinion

• Opinion

  Shutting the Doors

  Rabbi Louis Jacobs was well on his way to becoming chief rabbi of the United Kingdom in the 1960s, when his ascension was stopped cold because of a small, brilliant book he had published challenging the traditional view that the Torah was dictated by God from Mount Sinai. Banned from his own Orthodox synagogue, he…

  2 min read
• Opinion

  The Twists and Turns of U.S.-Israel Ties

  It’s a strange, little-known fact of Middle East diplomacy that America’s strategic relationship with Israel undergoes a fundamental shift every 20 years. A decade turns over, the calendar brings up a zero and badda-boom, like clockwork, something unexpected happens that changes the whole calculus of who needs whom and for what. Historically speaking, the current…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 21, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Supreme Choices

  Easy for us to say it doesn’t matter if there are no longer any Protestants on the U.S. Supreme Court, what with two Jews among the nine current justices, and several more co-religionists on the short list to replace the retiring (and Protestant) John Paul Stevens. So what if the majority of Americans are Protestant,…

  Apr 21, 2010 | 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 There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

• Letters

  April 30, 2010

  Opening Up Poland’s Jewish Community I read with great interest Konstanty Gebert’s April 23 article “Why Poland’s Jews Mourn Their President.” The Polish Jewish community shares a deep sense of loss over the deaths of President Lech Kaczynski, First Lady Maria Kaczynski and the 94 others who perished in that tragic plane crash near Smolensk…

  Apr 21, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Lessons of the Shoah: Justice, or Just Us?

  Yair Lapid, one of Israel’s most influential journalists, wrote an important opinion piece (link is to the English translation) last week on Ynet, the Web site of Yediot Ahronot, reexamining the meaning of the Holocaust in Israel today. He says it’s time to step back, if only slightly, from the usual response of anger and…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 19, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Gwyneth Paltrow’s Kashruth Tips, and a Corny Jewish Jokes Video Archive

  If you’re a fan of Jewish Geography (The “Guess Who’s Jewish” Game) like me, here’s a wow tidbit. Gwyneth Paltrow, screen goddess, interfaith progeny of the late Hollywood producer-director Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, and descendant of a distinguished line of rabbis, participates in a blog called Goop.com where she shares tips on living….

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 15, 2010 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Goldstone Barred From Grandson’s Bar Mitzvah

  According to a an article posted Wednesday on the Web site of the South African Centre for Law and Social Justice, Judge Richard Goldstone has been effectively barred from attending his grandson’s bar mitzvah in the affluent Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, because of objections from the South African Zionist Federation. THE AFTER-SHOCKS of the Goldstone…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 15, 2010 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Sing It Loud: ‘I Am a Jew’

  Perhaps you’ve already seen and heard it. So, as of this writing, have some 2,700 people, courtesy of YouTube. It is one of those songs that comes to remind us of some basic, non-parseable ideas. Watch the video here: And here, for your pleasure, is a translation of the Hebrew lyrics you’ll hear there, sung…

  By Leonard Fein Apr 14, 2010 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  On the Egypt-Israel Border, a Modern Exodus

  Last month, as Jews around the world prepared for Passover, Egyptian border guards were killing migrants trying to cross into Israel. How many of us, as we sat at our Seder tables, were even aware of the dramatic parallel to the Passover story taking place on the present-day Egyptian-Israeli border? Most of those trying to…

  By Kathleen Peratis Apr 14, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  A Prime Minister’s Bottom Line

  Israel’s prime minister was very clear in explaining his bottom lines — and his red lines — for the peace process. “In the framework of the permanent solution,” he said, “we aspire to reach, first and foremost, the State of Israel as a Jewish state” and “alongside it, a Palestinian entity which will be a…

  By Mitchell Bard Apr 14, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  A Chill in San Francisco

  When San Francisco’s Jewish Community Federation made public its first-ever “Guidelines on Potentially Controversial Israel-Related Programming” earlier this year, it did so with the stated purpose of furthering its commitments to “a secure Jewish community here and abroad, to the strong democratic Jewish State of Israel, and to mutual respect and diversity within Jewish life.”…

  By Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman Apr 14, 2010 | 4 min read