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.
Opinion
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Opinion
The People’s Army, or the Rabbis’ Army?
At first it was little more than a cat-and-mouse game between a few soldiers and their officers, but Israel’s top government and military brass worry that it’s a sign of much worse to come. A handful of enlisted men were brandishing signs, vowing to disobey if they’re ordered to dismantle settlements and evacuate settlers. Now,…
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Opinion Religion Wars: Bishops vs. Congress, Rabbis vs. Israel Defense Force
Confrontations between religious authority and electoral democracy continued to simmer on a number of sensitive fronts today (Sunday, November 22). Wherever you looked, no one was showing any sign of backing down. Item: In Rhode Island, the Providence Journal reported a claim by Representative Patrick Kennedy that he had been barred from receiving communion by…
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Opinion Settlements Aren’t the Problem? Tell the Troops
Israel’s military brass is mildly frantic over a spreading phenomenon of political protest within the infantry ranks by soldiers threatening to disobey if ordered to dismantle settlement structures. Efforts to stem the threats are generating tensions between the military command and a network of army-linked yeshivas. Twice in the past month soldiers in the West…
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Letters November 27, 2009
The Gender Gap Isn’t Only at the Top The information contained in the November 13 article “Jewish Women Lag Behind Men in Promotion and Pay,” regarding the large discrepancy in pay and promotion between Jewish women and men in Jewish communal organizations, is not new. What is disgraceful is that there has been so little…
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Opinion Rubashkin’s Crimes
Moments after Sholom Rubashkin, former vice president of the now-defunct Agriprocessors kosher meat company, was found guilty of 86 counts of felony fraud, his oldest daughter was interviewed by The Des Moines Register. “It’s unbelievable,” Roza Weiss was quoted as saying. “My only comment is, we’re Jewish and we’re proud of it.” Perhaps that’s the…
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Opinion A Wall for Us All
The worn, mammoth stones tell a powerful story of Jewish spirituality, resistance, and allegiance. But today, the Kotel is speaking a language that most Jewish women and men cannot accept. An Israeli woman was arrested by the holy wall on November 18 for the alleged crime of wearing a prayer shawl, an act of devotion…
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Opinion An American Yom Tov
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite national holiday. In fact, although I am a religious Jew (or rather, because I am a religious Jew), it rivals my favorite Jewish holidays for my affection. It does so because it is quintessentially American, it is deeply religious without being denominational and it is based entirely on one…
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Opinion The Wages of Liberal Guilt
‘Should” may be the most dangerous word in modern politics, because on its wings do some bad ideas fly. Take the case of the minimum wage. Slightly more than two years ago, the Democratic-led Congress voted for an increase in the minimum wage, from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour over three stages. This…
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Opinion Trying Terrorists
If Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his cronies wanted to undermine America’s democratic faith, they couldn’t have found a better plan than to get themselves arrested and force us to figure out what to do with them. Where to put these guys is one of those questions, like the ancient riddle of the Sphinx, that has…
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Opinion A Time for Counting
The end of a decade provides a good opportunity for taking stock. The American Jewish community has had a tradition of conducting a decennial population survey that looks at its aggregate numbers but also beyond to paint a detailed portrait of Jewish demography and identity. Unfortunately, with the first decade of the 21st century nearing…
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Opinion Freezing Progess, Not Settlements
What are we to make of America’s insistence — now softened at the edges, if not the core — on an end to Israel’s building of settlements in the West Bank and Israel’s determined refusal to comply? A red herring — a diversion. The Palestinians say it is everything, the Americans say it is something,…
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Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
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Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
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Film & TV In ‘Disclosure Day,’ Steven Spielberg finds himself at odds with Jewish thought about aliens
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