Opinion

• Opinion

  How should the media cover the Goyim Defense League?

  Should I even write about the Goyim Defense League, and if so, how? That question pops up every time the group does, which has been often. Last week its flyers blaming Jews for COVID appeared in the East Bay city of Danville. The week before, the same flyers littered San Francisco’s upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood….

  By Rob Eshman

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Introducing “Vertl,” our Yiddish version of the world’s hottest word game

  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. It should come as no surprise that for the past several…

  By Jodi Rudoren Feb 11, 2022 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  When I recall my father Elie Wiesel, my shame about these Olympics only deepens

  (JTA) — On Friday my world was shaken. It hit me, as though it were a fresh wound: My father, Elie Wiesel, was really gone. It hurt terribly when he died over five years ago, on July 2, 2016. But I also found peace and awakening as I grieved. I had this sense from the…

  By Elisha Wiesel Feb 10, 2022 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman A new humanitarian outrage is unfolding in the Middle East. It’s not in Gaza

  

• Nora Berman The left is turning on AOC over Israel — and imperiling its own agenda

  

• Dan Perry Actually, Trump made things between Israel and Iran way worse

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Amnesty’s Israel report has dangerous implications — for Jews and Palestinians alike

  There is much to dispute in the laundry list of accusations against Israel in Amnesty International’s report released Tuesday as well as critiques that are worthy of fair-minded concern and attention. But why all the fierce reaction to one more critical report on Israel? What makes this document different from prior reports is that it…

  By Sharon Nazarian Feb 8, 2022 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  We desperately need an antisemitism monitor. Republicans must stop obstructing Lipstadt’s confirmation

  Nearly 200 days after President Biden announced that he intended to nominate Dr. Deborah Lipstadt to serve as U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, she finally had a confirmation hearing before the Senate. The Feb. 8 hearing came months after leading Jewish organizations called on the Senate to consider this critical nomination and…

  By Halie Soifer Feb 8, 2022 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Appeal to ADL chief: It’s time for you to call to reinstate Whoopi

  A plethora of voices have weighed in on the controversy of Whoopi Goldberg’s remarks on “The View” regarding the Holocaust, her apology for the same, and her subsequent two-week suspension from the show by ABC News. Here is a direct appeal from Rabbi Tamar Manasseh of Chicago to Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt calling on…

  By Tamar Manasseh Feb 8, 2022 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  What counts as racism? How the ADL’s ‘woke’ definition caused an uproar — and should be a cautionary tale

  It recently came to light that the ADL — the vaunted anti-extremism and civil rights organization — had released a controversial definition of racism a few years ago. Public awareness of ADL’s new definition happened to coincide with Whoopi Goldberg’s ill-chosen words that the Holocaust “is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity,” and unsurprisingly…

  By David Bernstein and Dr. Brandy Shufutinsky Feb 8, 2022 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘We all have to be prepared’: Hero rabbi from Texas testifies before Congress

  The following is the testimony that Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel, Colleyville, Texas delivered before a Congressional hearing on Feb. 8, 2022. It was shared with the Forward in advance and printed here with permission. Chairwoman Demings, Chairwoman Slotkin, Ranking Member Cammack, Ranking Member Pfluger, thank you for the opportunity to share some…

  By Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker Feb 8, 2022 | 8 min read
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  Opinion

  East Coast Jews defined the last century of Jewish life. West Coast Jews have the next

  This essay was adapted from a section of the book “Why Do Jewish? A Manifesto for 21st Century Jewish Peoplehood,” published by Gefen Publishing in Nov. 2021. If the last century of Jewish American life was built by the Jews of the East Coast, then it’s quite possible the next hundred years of Jewish life…

  By Zack Bodner Feb 8, 2022 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  I’ve experienced plenty of antisemitism — and know confirming Deborah Lipstadt will help us fight back

  I will accompany Dr. Deborah Lipstadt into the Dirksen Senate Office Building for her Senate confirmation hearing to become the State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism on Feb. 8. I will most likely sit silently behind her as a reminder and witness to the problem of antisemitism in our country and the…

  By Anna Salton Eisen Feb 7, 2022 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Beijing Olympics looks a lot like Nazi Germany’s

  For Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the Olympics represent an opportunity to turn the world’s attention away from the Uyghur genocide.

  By Rafael Medoff Feb 4, 2022 | 5 min read