Opinion

• Opinion

  Rabbinic Abuse Claims: In Israel, the Fallout Continues

  The announcement of a police investigation has led to a gag order on the allegations of sexual abuse by Rabbi Motti Elon, a popular, charismatic leader of Israel’s modern Orthodox community. But that hasn’t stilled public discussion of the case and the issues surrounding it. It’s remained on Israel’s front pages and dominated the talk…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  3 min read
• Opinion

  Leading Israeli Rabbi Accused of Molestation

  Israel’s national-religious/Modern Orthodox community is in an uproar this week following a published report accusing the charismatic, widely respected Rabbi Mordechai “Moti” Elon of sexually molesting teenage boys. The accusation was made public Monday, February 15, by an organization that seeks to fight sexual abuse by rabbinic authority figures. The organization, Takana, said that it…

  By J.J. Goldberg Feb 17, 2010 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Mideast Uncertainty Principle

  Earlier this month, at Israel’s annual Herzliya Conference, Ehud Barak made a sweeping but very prescient statement about events in our part of the world. Barak — whose analytical abilities are generally thought to exceed the emotional intelligence he displays as a leader and negotiator — declared: “The law of unanticipated outcomes is working overtime…

  By Yossi Alpher Feb 17, 2010 | 3 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

  Our Jerusalem, Both Heavenly And Earthly

  New Orleans was — is — the occasion. Suddenly, it becomes clear that a city can be not only a place but also an idea. The idea of post-Katrina New Orleans, in the aftermath of the Saints’ victory, in the aftermath of a remarkable mayoral election, is beguiling, even redemptive. Yet for the time being,…

  By Leonard Fein Feb 17, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Rabbi Raphall Goes to Washington

  On three different occasions, the 111th Congress has opened its daily session with a prayer by a rabbi. The most recent prayer, delivered by Havana-born Rabbi Jacob Luski of St. Petersburg, Fla., on October 28, 2009, called upon Congress to “help us to be guides into unborn tomorrows rather than merchants dealing with yesterdays; to…

  By Jonathan D. Sarna Feb 17, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  No Jew Should Be Left Behind

  Traditionally, the Jewish community commemorates the Sabbath before the holiday of Purim with a special reading that begins with the word zachor — “remember.” The passage reads, “Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey after you left Egypt — how undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you…

  By Lynne Landsberg Feb 17, 2010 | 3 min read
• Letters

  February 26, 2009

  In Jewish Senior Homes, What We Eat And Who We Are I’d like to correct and re-frame your February 5 story “Bowing to Market, Consumer Demand, Some Jewish Nursing Homes Go Treyf.” Today, there is a sophistication, an education about Jewish practice and a spirit of religious choice that set us apart from the old…

  Feb 17, 2010 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  What Goldstone Reveals

  The 575-page report presented last September to the U.N. Human Rights Council is now so famous that it is routinely referred to by one word: Goldstone. As in, Richard Goldstone, the South African jurist who headed the four-person mission that concluded there was strong evidence that Israel violated international law and may have committed war…

  Feb 17, 2010 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Chaim Potok Is No Longer With Us, but His Lessons Remain

  On February 17, Chaim Potok, the novelist, scholar, painter and playwright whom I was privileged to call a dear friend, would have turned 80 years old. In the spring of 2002, he and I sat down for a series of interviews in the book-lined library of his home near Philadelphia. My Tuesdays with Chaim, we…

  By Jane Eisner Feb 17, 2010 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  The Forward This Week

  In this audio slideshow Forward editor Jane Eisner discusses some of the stories found in this week’s paper and online:

  Feb 13, 2010 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Why Are Liberals in a Slump? For One Thing, They Have Fewer Kids

  The past few months have not been easy ones for liberals and progressives. People have been walking around in a state of shock, as though the wind had just been knocked out of them. No one on the left expected the Obama high to be so short-lived. The progressive legislative agenda, on hold for so…

  By J.J. Goldberg Feb 12, 2010 | 3 min read