Opinion

• Letters

  December 25, 2009

  Lieberman’s Health Stance Isn’t Apostasy One can legitimately disagree with the position of Senator Joseph Lieberman, who opposes President Obama’s health care plan as it currently is presented. However, for Rabbi Ron Fish to question Senator Lieberman’s conscience and commitment to religious values is insulting — and takes away from any serious argument that he…

  2 min read
• Opinion

  Lessons in Democracy from a Senator and a Rabbi

  If you’re like me, you’ve probably been laboring for too long under the misapprehension that democracy means government by majority. We probably also assumed, foolishly, that a consensus is a prevailing view shared by most of those present. Today (Monday 12/14), however, by remarkable coincidence, two important voices arose — one in America, the other…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 15, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  England, Labor Zionism and the Future of Social Democracy

  For anyone interested in issues of social and economic justice in the current economy: There’s a brilliant, must-read essay in the current issue of the New York Review of Books on the past and future of social democracy. It’s written by a former general secretary of British Dror Labor Zionist youth whom you might have…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 14, 2009 | 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 is not deliberately killing journalists in Gaza. But it does bear responsibility for their deaths

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s attack on George Soros is ludicrous. It also endangers Jews (and everyone else)

  

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  Opinion

  The Great (and Imperfect) Hope That Is Chabad

  Back when I was serving as a Chabad emissary at Oxford University, the great British philosopher Isaiah Berlin, who had befriended me, once told me that while he admired my work bringing Jewish students closer to their tradition, he was utterly opposed to the large menorah I erected in the city center each year. “My…

  By Shmuley Boteach Dec 9, 2009 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Coming Up Short on the Tzedakah Yardstick

  This month, Americans will sift through the countless solicitations in our mail and e-mail in order to decide where to give donations before the end-of-year tax-deduction deadline. Americans are often said to be the most generous people in the world, based on the percentage of the national gross domestic product that goes toward charitable causes….

  By Jill Jacobs Dec 9, 2009 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Uncivil Rhetoric, Uncivil Realities

  There’s anger in the air, considerable anger. No great surprise: At the end of October, there were nearly 16 million unemployed persons in the United States; a third had been unemployed for more than six months; there are six times as many job-seekers as there are job openings. Another 11.7 million people are either working…

  By Leonard Fein Dec 9, 2009 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel’s Man of Mystery

  Indications are growing that Benjamin Netanyahu, champion of the Israeli right, might just be the prime minister who makes history by leading his country, Nixon-to-China style, into lasting peace agreements with its neighbors. Fans and critics alike point to his dramatic gestures in recent months — embracing Palestinian statehood and freezing settlement construction — as…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 9, 2009 | 4 min read
• Letters

  December 18, 2009

  Talk to Me Before You Label Me, Says Chelsea Clinton’s Future Uncle Your December 11 article “Chelsea Clinton Will Join Diverse Mezvinsky Clan” briefly discussed me (an uncle of Clinton’s new fiancé) and my views regarding Israel. You could easily have contacted me and asked me directly about my views but chose not to do…

  Dec 9, 2009 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  The Public Obligation

  As of this writing, it seems as if the “public option” in health care reform may go the way of other well-intentioned but ultimately futile attempts to persuade America to live up to its promise. In other words, nowhere. As of this writing, the Senate appears to have pushed aside the idea of a government-run…

  Dec 9, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  The Minister of Halacha?

  The initial statement was troubling. The subsequent clarification didn’t help. Israel’s justice minister, Yaakov Ne’eman, may not be hastening the “Talibanization” of his country, as some allege, but his assertion that Jewish law should be privileged and restored to its “former glory” bespeaks an attitude that can have no place in the governance of a…

  Dec 9, 2009 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Israeli Mafia Returns to LA? Did It Ever Leave?

  An October 29 shooting attack at a Los Angeles synagogue, initially thought to be a hate crime or terrorist attack, is in fact being investigated by L.A. police as an Israeli organized crime hit. The Jerusalem Post broke the story on December 1, but inexplicably buried the lede in the middle of a feature-y interview…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 8, 2009 | 3 min read