In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
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Opinion
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Opinion
Let Us Say, ‘Eureka!’
From the Hampton University website: “The year was 1861. The American Civil War had shortly begun and the Union Army held control of Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. In May of that year, Union Major General Benjamin Butler decreed that any escaping slaves reaching Union lines would be…
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Opinion What the Baal Shem Tov Left Behind
The yahrzeit of a Hasidic rebbe — far from being a day devoted to mourning the dead — is a bona fide yontef. It is marked by feasting, singing and dancing, testifying to the supreme confidence of Hasidim that their departed leader is still actively interceding on their behalf in the heavens. This month, on…
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Opinion Conversion Lessons in Agriculture and Compassion
The Jewish community has been welcoming and celebrating converts to Judaism since at least the time of Ruth, the paradigmatic convert whose story is celebrated on Shavuot. However, in recent years, controversies over conversion have taken on greater urgency, in large part because they are proxy fights for the definition of Judaism. Many conversion fights…
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Opinion Shavuot: The Zeppo Marx of Jewish Holidays
Of all the major Jewish holidays, the least familiar to the general, synagogue-avoiding Jewish public is the festival of Shavuot, which commences Tuesday evening, May 18. In fact, its obscurity is so striking that discussions of the holiday commonly start by noting its obscurity, as I did. As a result, it’s probably best known for…
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Letters May 21, 2010
Government Shouldn’t Fund Discrimination Nathan Diament’s argument that religious freedom is jeopardized if the Supreme Court refuses to allow public funding of a Christian club at a public school is deeply flawed (“A Tale of Two Cases: Why A Christian Club Matters More Than a Desert Cross,” May 14). While Diament is right that people…
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Opinion Kagan the Conciliator
In the days since President Obama nominated Elena Kagan to become the next new justice of the Supreme Court, much has been made of her paltry paper trail and her long-standing reluctance to take forceful stands on controversial legal issues. She’s been described as a brilliant, but blank, slate. “[W]here, precisely, has Ms. Kagan been…
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Opinion Days of Rocks and Guns
The 40th anniversary of the Kent State killings of four unarmed students was commemorated earlier this month, a seminal moment for many of us who came of age during an unpopular war and mounting civic strife. But it’s worth noting that the violence of that bloody spring did not end in Ohio. It spread all…
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Opinion Why Christian Zionists Really Support Israel
On May 23, pastors, ministers and priests at more than 1,500 churches in all 50 states and over 50 foreign countries will dedicate their Sunday services to teaching the importance of Christian support for Israel. On that day — the second annual Christians United for Israel Sunday — church leaders will speak to their congregants…
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Opinion How Many Jews Does It Take To Light Up a High Court Firestorm?
Does anybody care if there are three Jewish justices on the Supreme Court? We’re about to find out. The first few hours since Elena Kagan’s nomination have seen a low-grade but steady buzz about the court’s religious balance that sort of dances around the topic. This Washington Post blog leads off with the absence of…
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Opinion Words and Music: The Unknown History of ‘Hava Nagila’
Here’s a delightful little clip that examines the meaning and roots of Hava Nagila as mythic folk tune, originally a wordless nigun of the Sadagora Hasidim, and reality as an artful 20th century pop-composition by seminal musicologist Avraham Zvi Idelson that somehow crept under our skin and into our consciousness until hardly anybody remembers anymore…
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Opinion Showdown Over Orthodox ‘Control’ in 5 Towns School Board Vote
Voters in the Long Island village of Lawrence go to the polls on Tuesday, March 12, in highly-charged school board election that pits a slate of three Orthodox Jewish incumbents against a slate of challengers including a non-Orthodox Jew and two non-Jews. The seven-member board currently includes six Orthodox Jews. The village of Lawrence had…
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In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish אַ בריוועלע דער מאַמען (זכרונות)A letter to my mother (memoirs)
בעת דער מחבר איז געלעגן אין אַ סאָוועטישן מיליטערישן שפּיטאָל האָט זײַן מאַמע זיך פֿאַרמאָסטן קעגן דעם אַסימילירטן ייִדישן הויפּט־דאָקטער
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Fast Forward 2 men found guilty in UK of plotting Islamic State-inspired antisemitic terror attack
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Fast Forward Self-appointed chief rabbi of Saudi Arabia says he was denied entry at border
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Fast Forward Coast Guard again retracts policy that would downgrade swastika as hate symbol, clearing path for new leader’s confirmation
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