Opinion

• Opinion

  What the Survey Says About the AJC

  As strange as it sounds, there are strong echoes of Marx in the American Jewish Committee’s latest Annual Survey of American Jewish opinion. Be warned. I’m thinking of Chico’s classic line from “Duck Soup” (often wrongly attributed to Groucho): “Who ya gonna believe — me, or your own eyes?” The new survey was announced April…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  4 min read
• Letters

  April 23, 2010

  Discipline Disconnect: Review of Cohen’s Book Misses the Point Barry Rubin’s review of Stephen P. Cohen’s book, “Beyond America’s Grasp: A Century of Failed Diplomacy in the Middle East,” is a classic example of the systematic misunderstanding and predictable short-circuiting created by the clash of distant disciplinary perspectives (“Middle East Politics Beyond Cohen’s Grasp,” April…

  Apr 14, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Behind the Kamm Affair

  A young, bespectacled former soldier and a journalist in self-imposed exile have become the latest Rorschach test for the vexing balancing act Israel faces as it tries to defend democracy and protect the safety of its citizens. Those on the left believe that the espionage charge now lodged against Anat Kamm, the 23-year-old former Israel…

  Apr 14, 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

• Opinion

  Excellence on Deadline, and Off

  This is the season when journalists honor their own, and it is my pleasure to report that the Forward is a finalist in three categories for the annual awards given by the Deadline Club, the New York Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. This is a record for us, and a distinct thrill, even…

  By Jane Eisner Apr 14, 2010 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Oh, Irony! Oh, Chutzpah! Sen. Sessions Weighs in on High Court Pick

  In one of those unintentionally hilarious flukes on Capitol Hill, Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions is the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee and hence the designated quarterback of the GOP response to President Obama’s upcoming Supreme Court nomination. Sessions warned this morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that a Republican filibuster is possible if…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 11, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Readers Write: My ‘Generation to Generation’ Generated Respons-a

  Readers sent in some illuminating responses to my pre-Passover Good Fences column about a recent family Bar Mitzvah ceremony where the rabbi included the child’s non-Jewish father in the service in what struck me as an unusually and admirably welcoming fashion. This first reply came from a rabbi in Southern California, who makes an important…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 11, 2010 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  AJC Survey: Jews ‘Deeply Divided’ on Obama’s Iran Policy. Sort of.

  The American Jewish Committee released its annual survey of American Jewish opinion today. The headline on the press release reads: “AJC Survey Shows U.S. Jews Sharply Divided Over Obama Approach on Iran.” Here are the first two paragraphs: April 9, 2010 – New York – As President Obama prepares to host the leaders of more…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 9, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  What Happened to Our Organizer-in-Chief?

  My enthusiasm for Candidate Obama derived from one principal consideration. I figured that this young upstart would have a hard time with the lions of the Congress, but that he would then invoke his experience as a community organizer, mobilize the vast community that was so enthralled and excited by his candidacy, and have them…

  By Leonard Fein Apr 8, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Got Freedom Wrong: Va. Gov. Apologizes for ‘Omitting’ Slavery in Confederate Proclamation

  Well, Virginia Governor Robert “Bob” McDonnell abjectly apologized today for declaring April to be Confederate History Month and neglecting to mention slavery. He issued a five-paragraph statement admitting “a major omission” in a proclamation that was somehow “issued by this Office.” Ah, the passive voice: God’s gift to politicians caught with their pants down. “The…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 8, 2010 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  After Liberation, a Struggle To Understand

  Sixty-five years ago, on April 11, 1945, armored units of the U.S. Third Army advancing east in Germany came upon an enormous fenced concentration camp. What American soldiers and other visitors saw in the days that followed defied their understanding. Buchenwald, located just north of the city of Weimar, was the first large Nazi concentration…

  By Kenneth Waltzer Apr 7, 2010 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Jewish Education Begins at Home

  Passover is over this year, but I can’t stop thinking about the educational brilliance of the holiday. Passover is high-impact and low-cost. It’s family-based and grass-roots. And almost like magic, Passover needs no professional support: If all the rabbis, educators, synagogue presidents and federation fundraisers got lost wandering in the desert for 40 years, Jews…

  By Justus Baird Apr 7, 2010 | 3 min read