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
Raising Cups, Dropping Oranges
At the first Seder my husband and I hosted in 1999, we eagerly incorporated two feminist rituals we had seen in the Ma’yan Passover Haggadah. We placed a Miriam’s Cup (a wedding gift from several years beforehand) on our Seder table and an orange on our Seder plate. Our mothers cheered. In the following 10…
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Opinion Empowerment, Then Citizenship
One of the greatest challenges facing the Jewish community is how to engage young adults during the long stretch of life between college and parenthood. Jewish young adults want to be involved with Jewish life, but to date the community’s response has been limited, uncoordinated and lacking in clear vision. Examination of the experiences of alumni…
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Opinion When Avigdor Lieberman Takes Your Idea
I’m no fan of Avigdor Lieberman. I find his gutter rhetoric and talk of loyalty oaths repugnant. Still, I confess that there is one aspect of the criticism of Lieberman from which I dissent: his proposal to adjust the 1967 Green Line border within the framework of a two-state solution so that certain Israeli Arab…
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Letters April 3, 2009
Lerner’s Devotion, in Sickness and in Health I write to protest your article on Michael Lerner’s cancer and the way I was quoted in it (“Tikkun’s Founder: ‘I Have Cancer,’ Give to My Cause,” March 13). In my interview, I said that Lerner’s e-mail announcing his diagnosis and urging people to donate to the Network…
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Opinion The Politics of Rescue
It was Maimonides who said that there is no greater religious duty than pidyon shevuyim, the redemption of captives, an injunction with deep biblical roots and plenty of historical illustrations. This obligation fueled the movement to free Soviet Jews and undergirds the contemporary Israeli impulse to strike lopsided deals and embark on military campaigns to…
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Opinion Blaming the ‘Lobby’
This newspaper took no position on Charles Freeman’s suitability as director of the National Intelligence Council, and we’re not about to, particularly now that he’s withdrawn his name. It’s worth looking back at the arguments surrounding the nomination, though. They carry some important lessons about the dangerous direction of this country’s Middle East debate. Freeman’s…
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Opinion Papal Fallibility
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was not universally welcomed when he became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Four years into his reign, the doubters’ fears are becoming steadily more understandable. The papacy does not lie easily on his shoulders. He is a scholar trying to be an inspirational leader, an ideologue trying to be a healer, a…
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Letters March 27, 2009
Yeshiva Is Incubator For Orthodox Activism Reading your March 6 news article “Social Activism, Modern Orthodox-Style,” I was struck by consultant Shifra Bronznick’s assessment of three major factors that have caused the increased interest in young Orthodox engagement in social justice: Darfur, the Agriprocessors scandal and the plethora of nondenominational Jewish social justice organizations. It…
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Opinion On Israel, a Fork in the Road
Benjamin Netanyahu’s imminent return to the prime minister’s office is likely to force a long-overdue discussion in the American Jewish community over what it really means to be “pro-Israel.” For decades, the organized Jewish community has successfully fostered solid support for Israel in the United States. As a result, American politicians vie for the pro-Israel…
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Opinion Avigdor Lieberman’s Bright Idea
Avigdor Lieberman’s electoral success has been a cause of alarm in Israel and abroad. Lieberman’s critics are justifiably concerned by his often inflammatory rhetoric, as well as his demand that the right to vote be made contingent upon citizens taking a loyalty oath — a policy totally unacceptable in a democratic society. One of Lieberman’s…
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Opinion With Friends and Foes Like Freeman’s…
The blogosphere: When it’s good, it is very good; when it’s bad, which is often, it is quite horrid, a culture of grudge, a place for malcontents to broadcast their resentments and fleetingly fantasize potency. That is why what follows is not about the blogosphere. It is, rather, about the difficulty of conducting a reasonably…
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Opinion The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel
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Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
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Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
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