In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
Israel has become a defining fact of Jewish life for Zionist and anti-Zionist Jews alike
An 80 year-old Palestinian-American, Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad, died cold and alone on Jan. 12, 2022. He died after being dragged from his vehicle, handcuffed, gagged and forced to lie on his stomach on frigid marble ground in below-freezing temperatures. Omar As’ad’s son told the Associated Press that his father was “the life of the party”…
This is an adaptation of Looking Forward, a weekly email from our editor-in-chief sent on Friday afternoons. Sign up here to get the Forward’s free newsletters delivered to your inbox. Download and print our free magazine of stories to savor over Shabbat and Sunday. The letter is dated Feb. 16, 1904. It’s typewritten on yellowing…
(JTA) — This article first appeared on Alma. In Orthodox Judaism, a child’s Hebrew name is given within the first week. The rules for our lives are predetermined, assigned based on our gender at birth. Since I was born, I knew inside that I was created differently from others — and I was labeled a non-conforming…
(JTA) — Eight days after I was born, I had a brit. I was a Jew, and that’s what Jews do. Well, many do it anyway; Jews who are not observant may not, but that wasn’t my family. We kept Shabbat. We had the best meals and wine during Passover. And on Yom Kippur, at…
As a progressive and pro-Israel mother of four teens, I’ve tried hard to instill in my children a balanced perspective on championing the challenged while supporting the world’s only Jewish state. But when my eldest son wants to discuss Israel-Palestine, we often descend into heated debate. Asher is a college sophomore and decidedly critical of…
Antisemitic incidents in America have been on the rise in recent years, and 2022 is already off to a terrible start: a gunman took four people hostage inside a Texas synagogue, Jews have been physically attacked in the streets of Brooklyn, and several synagogues and other Jewish organizations across the country have received bomb threats….
When I was 34, I discovered my mother was a Holocaust survivor. My parents finally put their hellish marriage out of its misery and called it quits. In the aftermath, I came across an affidavit in which my mother was claiming financial support. In it, she stated she was born into the Jewish faith. It…
McMinn County in Tennessee recently banned their middle schools from reading Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel “Maus,” a work that for decades has powerfully introduced young readers to the realities of the Holocaust. Shortly thereafter, residents of nearby Mount Juliet held a mass book burning, during which they tossed copies of “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” into…
Should I even write about the Goyim Defense League, and if so, how? That question pops up every time the group does, which has been often. Last week its flyers blaming Jews for COVID appeared in the East Bay city of Danville. The week before, the same flyers littered San Francisco’s upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood….
This is an adaptation of Looking Forward, a weekly email from our editor-in-chief sent on Friday afternoons. Sign up here to get the Forward’s free newsletters delivered to your inbox. Download and print our free magazine of stories to savor over Shabbat and Sunday. It should come as no surprise that for the past several…
(JTA) — On Friday my world was shaken. It hit me, as though it were a fresh wound: My father, Elie Wiesel, was really gone. It hurt terribly when he died over five years ago, on July 2, 2016. But I also found peace and awakening as I grieved. I had this sense from the…
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