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
Fighting Antisemitism With Theology
During the Second Vatican Council discussions in Rome in the 1960s, Jewish leaders wanted the Catholic Church to make statements denouncing antisemitism, apologizing for the church’s role in the Holocaust and recognizing the State of Israel. The Catholics, however, were most interested in discussing God and Scripture. Jews talked politics, while Catholics talked theology. Eventually…
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Letters June 9
The Pope Speaks, and The Critics Pounce Your June 2 article “At Auschwitz, Ire at What Pope Didn’t Say” reported on the criticisms leveled by some in the Jewish community at Pope Benedict XVI’s speech at Auschwitz. It is worth noting, however, that several days later, in his General Audience in Rome, Pope Benedict delivered…
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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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Opinion British Jewry Turns 350 (Or So Goes the Myth)
The British Jewish community is celebrating its 350th anniversary this year, just a year after America’s Jews observed three-and-a-half centuries in the country. This month a special service will be held at Britain’s oldest synagogue. In September, London’s Trafalgar Square will host a festival devoted to Jewish history and culture. The calendar is full of…
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Opinion Anti-sex Campaign Abstains Only From Scientific Truths
To you and me, an ATM is a cash machine. To America’s religious conservatives, ATM stands for the “Abstinence ‘Til Marriage” pledge — and it, too, is a cash machine. The federal government funds abstinence-only programs in public schools to the tune of $165 million annually. If the Bush administration has its way on a…
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Letters June 2, 2006
Scottish Church Shows Commitment to Peace Religion, at its purest, is the search not only for peace but also for truth. In a May 19 opinion article, Peter Kearney, national spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, demonstrates a noble commitment to both (“British Academic Boycott Is Just Blinkered Bigotry”). By appreciating that defensive measures,…
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Opinion History’s Paradoxes
Eighty years ago, on May 25, 1926, Ukrainian folk hero Simon Petlura was shot to death in Paris. The assassination was planned and executed by Jewish folk hero Sholom Schwartzbard. Why bring up today these two opposing characters, whose peoples have lived together for hundreds of years? Just for the anniversary? And who were they,…
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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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