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  Letter | Critique of Haggadah is offensive and irrational

  To the editor: The Forward recently published a review by Jay Michaelson of “The Rational Passover Haggadah” by Dennis Prager. As the editor of this Haggadah, which Dr. Michaelson proclaims contains “idiotic, arrogant pronouncements… on almost every page,” I feel duty bound to respond, both to protect Dennis Prager and myself, as the editor, from…

  By Joseph Telushkin

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  The female magician whose most amazing escape was from her father

  There’s a moment in “Death Defying Escape,” a new play by comedian Judy Carter, when I realized I’d been tricked. The three-actor production, now running at Hollywood’s intimate Hudson Theater, tracks Carter’s life: as a child growing up in L.A.’s Fairfax district (“We were the poor Jews,” she quips, “we still had our original noses.”);…

  By Rob Eshman Apr 14, 2022 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  For your Seder table discussion: Three stories of oppression, liberation and empowerment

  As the war in Ukraine makes painfully clear, suffering at the hands of violent oppressors is hardly a thing of the past and certainly not ancient history. Inhumanity persists through time immemorial, and even a celebration of liberation is tinged with the reality that no people are free until all are free. Here are three…

  By Mahrinah Shije, and Qian Julie Wang, and Robin Washington Apr 14, 2022 | 8 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson I supported Israel’s actions in Gaza in October 2023 — not anymore

  

• Rob Eshman The staggering hypocrisy behind Trump’s deal to free the last living American hostage

  

• Nora Berman How the Oct. 7 aftermath splintered the New York Dyke March

  

• Dan Perry It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump

  

• Emily Tamkin This week proved it: Trump’s approach to antisemitism at Columbia is horribly ineffective

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  On the eve of Passover, a Russian Jewish heroine resists Putin

  Alla Gutnikova is a Russian Jewish woman, and one of the former editors of the Moscow Higher School of Economics’ student journal “DOXA.” Gutnikova, along with four of her fellow editors, was sentenced to two years of correctional labor each for their role in a video questioning whether it was right for Russian teachers to…

  By Alla Gutnikova Apr 14, 2022 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘How can I tell her that there is no more home?’ After leaving Ukraine, refugees face a bureaucratic nightmare

  I decided to take the kids on a trip to cheer them up. A volunteer from Romania drove us to a local mall in Slovakia. These Ukrainian children will be starting school in Slovakia soon, and I wanted them to feel a little bit normal and excited by new clothes, backpacks and school supplies. I…

  By Alexandra Gizhitsa-Anderson Apr 13, 2022 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Why I add a pomegranate to my Passover Seder

  For the past few years, I have been adding a split open pomegranate to my Seder plate. In addition to the traditional six items on the plate, plus an orange as a symbol of LGBTQIA+ inclusion and, this year, sunflowers in honor of Ukraine’s fight for freedom, the pomegranate symbolizes something both personal and meaningful…

  By Abby Stein Apr 11, 2022 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  I watched Dnipro’s Jews rebuild and thrive. I know they will triumph once again

  Dnipro, one of the largest cities in Ukraine, is surrounded by Russian fighting. As Putin’s invasion intensifies, the city is urging people to flee, and things are looking grim. But I know the resilience of this city firsthand: I watched as Jewish life was rebuilt after decades of suppression, and I know that they will…

  By Nancy K. Kaufman Apr 11, 2022 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  My schnauzer fell in love with challah — just in time for Passover

  As often happens with old souls, our nearly 12-year-old Schnauzer is showing a late-life hunger for religious sustenance. He rouses himself from cushioned slumber whenever we prepare for Friday night Shabbat dinner, fidgeting as I place the candles, wine cups and especially bread board on our dining room table. He also joins my wife and…

  By Allan Ripp Apr 11, 2022 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  I lost my dad to COVID. Opening up to a stranger helped me heal — and appreciate my Jewish community even more.

  To Denise, I was an open book. For almost a year, through the endless blur that followed the first COVID shutdown, I shared with her the intimate details of my life. No, she wasn’t my psychologist, rabbi or spouse. She’s a sociologist running an oral history project. In April 2020, my dad died from COVID….

  By Barry Joseph Apr 10, 2022 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Compassion, courage, patience, joy: Four (new) Questions to ask ourselves this Passover

  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. On the way to the Women’s Seder at our synagogue last…

  By Jodi Rudoren Apr 8, 2022 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  People actually prefer live Jews, really

  Horn’s focus on all the ways society has failed Jews may be electrifying, but ignores a more complicated truth

  By Rob Eshman Apr 8, 2022 | 3 min read