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
There is much to dispute in the laundry list of accusations against Israel in Amnesty International’s report released Tuesday as well as critiques that are worthy of fair-minded concern and attention. But why all the fierce reaction to one more critical report on Israel? What makes this document different from prior reports is that it…
Nearly 200 days after President Biden announced that he intended to nominate Dr. Deborah Lipstadt to serve as U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, she finally had a confirmation hearing before the Senate. The Feb. 8 hearing came months after leading Jewish organizations called on the Senate to consider this critical nomination and…
A plethora of voices have weighed in on the controversy of Whoopi Goldberg’s remarks on “The View” regarding the Holocaust, her apology for the same, and her subsequent two-week suspension from the show by ABC News. Here is a direct appeal from Rabbi Tamar Manasseh of Chicago to Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt calling on…
It recently came to light that the ADL — the vaunted anti-extremism and civil rights organization — had released a controversial definition of racism a few years ago. Public awareness of ADL’s new definition happened to coincide with Whoopi Goldberg’s ill-chosen words that the Holocaust “is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity,” and unsurprisingly…
The following is the testimony that Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel, Colleyville, Texas delivered before a Congressional hearing on Feb. 8, 2022. It was shared with the Forward in advance and printed here with permission. Chairwoman Demings, Chairwoman Slotkin, Ranking Member Cammack, Ranking Member Pfluger, thank you for the opportunity to share some…
This essay was adapted from a section of the book “Why Do Jewish? A Manifesto for 21st Century Jewish Peoplehood,” published by Gefen Publishing in Nov. 2021. If the last century of Jewish American life was built by the Jews of the East Coast, then it’s quite possible the next hundred years of Jewish life…
I will accompany Dr. Deborah Lipstadt into the Dirksen Senate Office Building for her Senate confirmation hearing to become the State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism on Feb. 8. I will most likely sit silently behind her as a reminder and witness to the problem of antisemitism in our country and the…
For Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the Olympics represent an opportunity to turn the world’s attention away from the Uyghur genocide.
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 husband nearly fell off his recliner a couple of weeks…
The report from Amnesty Internationalthis week accusing Israel of “committing the crime of apartheid” against Palestinians within and outside Israel’s 1967 borders set off a storm of controversy. It also sent me to reread my new go-to response to Israel and the A-word, Danny Sokatch’s 2021 book, “Can We Talk About Israel? A Guide for…
I was shopping at Lowe’s Hardware last Sunday to pick up some things for our new home in Austin, Texas, having just moved back after 26 years in greater Chicago. I was with my son, who had turned four a few days before and is already interested in tools and building materials (and cars and…
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