In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
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Opinion
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Opinion
What If There Is a Partner?
Last week’s statement by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, was the first time — the first time ever — that Palestinians have seized an imaginative and potentially constructive diplomatic initiative. Abbas gave Hamas 10 days, until June 4, to accept the specific proposals of what has come to be known as “the prisoners’…
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Opinion A Farewell to Dreams
It might not be apparent at first glance, but something important has shifted in the Middle East in the past few weeks that could, with wisdom and luck, change the dynamic of Israeli-Palestinian relations for the better. For the first time in years, the top leaders on both sides have come out with forceful diplomatic…
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Opinion Convergence Toward Peace
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s inaugural visit to Washington last week has brought out, in full force, the nattering nabobs of negativism. A host of critics, from former president Jimmy Carter on the left to former CIA chief James Woolsey on the right, are protesting that Olmert’s gambit to consolidate settlers behind Israel’s West Bank…
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Letters Letter May 26, 2006
Pluralism at Seminary A May 12 letter writer asks who will serve as the Jewish Theological Seminary’s halachic authority now that Arnold Eisen has been selected as chancellor (“Conservative Seminary Lacks Rabbinic Leader”). The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly is, in fact, the halachic authority for the Conservative movement. Eisen…
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Opinion On Our Very Own Streets
Yes, there’s Iraq and Iran and Hamas and Fatah. There’s gas prices and NSA and CIA and the stock market. There are typhoons and volcanic eruptions and soon, again, hurricanes. There’s Darfur and taxes, the morning-after pill and the essay by Mearsheimer and Walt, and that’s quite enough for the moment, thank you very much….
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Opinion Slaughterhouse Rules
Many Jews nowadays find Shavuot, the holiday that begins next Thursday evening, June 1, to be among the hardest of Jewish holidays to embrace and take to heart. It lacks the pageantry and symbolism of Passover, the majesty of Yom Kippur, the intimacy of Hanukkah. It celebrates the Torah, Judaism’s sacred book of Law, but…
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Opinion Dear Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad President of the Islamic Republic of Iran May 26, 2006 Your Excellency, Our sincere apologies for the delayed response to your letter from earlier this month. We appreciate your effort at self-clarification and assume that it expresses a genuine desire to engage in dialogue. We write to you as fellow teachers who…
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Opinion A Not Quite Golden Jerusalem Still Shines
An American friend of mine once asked me to list my favorite places in Jerusalem, not long after another American friend expressed his jealousy that I was in Jerusalem for Passover and he was not. In honor of Jerusalem Day this Friday, then, I want to clarify something for all prospective questioners: I, a kosher-keeping,…
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Opinion Of Moabites and Mexicans
With a touch of divine providence, the debate about illegal immigration is heating up just as Jews prepare for Shavuot. The two-day festival starting the evening of June 1, called Pentecost in English, marks the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. The holiday’s most sweetly recalled feature, though, is the reading…
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Opinion Why Israeli Arabs Are a Jewish Issue
The leadership of several major American Jewish organizations recently established a task force to improve relations between Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews and to address the disparities of opportunity and discrimination confronting Arabs in Israel. The task force comprises 50 Jewish organizations and aims to generate awareness among both North American Jews and Israelis, with…
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Opinion The NSA, Just a Phone Call Away
There’s a small detail in the latest New York Times/CBS poll that President Bush apparently missed: “If George W. Bush,” the 1,241 respondents were asked, “supported a candidate for political office, would that make you more likely to vote for that candidate, less likely to vote for that candidate, or wouldn’t it affect how you…
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