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
AIPAC’s far-right endorsements show how out of touch they are with American Jews
As the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I’ll never forget seeing insurrectionists with Nazi regalia marching 20 feet from my home during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. I’ll never forget locking myself in my apartment with my wife and dog, unsure whether we’d have to flee the city. My wife did not leave the…
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Opinion The bat mitzvah turns 100 — a history of the female trailblazers who paved the way
Two years before my bat mitzvah, I dressed up as a bar mitzvah boy. It was the holiday of Purim, when costumed revelers celebrate biblical Esther’s derring-do. I wore a red blouse with an oversized collar tucked into chocolate brown Levi’s corduroys, a wrinkled yarmulke borrowed from my father, and a blue-striped magic-markered muslin “prayer…
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Opinion Queen Esther is a Jewish hero, but Queen Vashti is the feminist icon we need right now
This Purim, let’s take a moment to appreciate one of the great reputational rehabilitations in my Jewish lifetime: Queen Vashti. We know how the story goes: King Ahashuerus, partying with his friends and “merry with wine,” called for Queen Vashti to display her beauty. Vashti refused to obey her husband and was never to be…
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Opinion Getting drunk on Purim is dangerous, not a mitzvah
The most dangerous physical threat to our children and grandchildren on university campuses may not be COVID or antisemitism, but something well-intentioned leaders don’t even consider. In the United States, alcohol is a significant factor in deaths and injuries of college students and young professionals, making drinking one of the most dangerous parts of college….
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Opinion Stopping Putin starts with holding the fossil fuel industry accountable
Purim is, among other things, a festival of blame. We gather as a community to publicly name and boo the bad guy. I have always hated this aspect of Purim; it feels wrong to revel in the evil of another human being. As a kid, I would cover my ears and shift uncomfortably in my…
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Opinion Israel set our daughter’s murderer free. We’re on a quest to hold her accountable
In an apartment some 65 miles from our Jerusalem home lives a woman who has impacted our lives profoundly. My wife Frimet and I have spent years trying to get her imprisoned for the rest of her life. On March 14, 2017, five years ago today, the Department of Justice in Washington charged Ahlam Aref…
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Letters The Jewish community needs to step-up its aid to Ukraine for the long haul
To the editor: I spent the first eight years of my life in Odessa, but lived most of my life in neighborhoods in South Brooklyn, with large populations of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Ukraine suffered greatly during World War II, and the identity of the region has been heavily shaped by the…
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Opinion ‘Everyone believes Ukraine will win – it’s just a question of the price we will pay’
I’m sorry for crying. Today is the hardest day. I don’t remember what it feels like not having the war. I remember that I used to have feelings and ambitions, but since the war began, it’s been very hard to make myself do anything or concentrate. I hate that I can’t feel anything when I…
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Opinion How is the Russia-Ukraine war different from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Let me count the ways
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. Perhaps you’ve seen the Twitter posts: paired photographs of a Ukrainian…
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Opinion I’m an American Jew who was born in Russia. Will my community demonize me?
“If anyone asks, you’re not Russian. You’re Moldovan.” That’s what my mother-in-law advised me a few days ago, as the world reacted with justified horror to the Russian military invading Ukraine. She wants to protect me. Originally from Moldova herself (as is my husband), she’s relieved to be able to tell people truthfully that she’s…
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Opinion Soviet Jews built the start-up nation. Israel should rush to welcome Ukrainian refugees today
Over 2 million Ukrainians have fled their country in the 14 days since the aggressive Russian invasion began, creating the fastest refugee crisis in modern history. Ukraine’s neighbors — such as Poland, Hungary, Moldova and Belarus — have been the first destination for most of these refugees, as the rest of the world watches in…
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Culture Ashkenazi Jews, there’s 1,000 years of history you’ve been missing
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Fast Forward The ADL doesn’t speak for New York Jews’ concerns, says Zohran Mamdani
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News Why was Netanyahu wearing a QR code at the UN, and where did it lead?
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Fast Forward Before his death, Charlie Kirk told Netanyahu that Israel faced a ‘5-alarm fire’ over PR strategy
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Fast Forward Americans now sympathize more with Palestinians than Israelis, poll finds
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