Opinion

• Opinion

  How to be sad on Tisha B’av

  Here are nine strategies to get in the right headspace on the saddest day of the Jewish calendar.

  By Laura E. Adkins

  6 min read
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  Opinion

  Debate | Should supporting Israel be a litmus test for participation in a rally against antisemitism?

  Last Sunday, thousands gathered in the nation’s capital to protest a rise in antisemitism. The “No Fear: A Rally In Solidarity With The Jewish People” event was organized in response to the global uptick in antisemitic attacks during the last round of violence in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza in May. The rally brought…

  By Ari Hoffman and Joel Swanson Jul 13, 2021 | 8 min read
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  Opinion

  Having a miscarriage made me realize how badly we are failing Jewish women

  The most shocking thing was how quickly it happened. One moment I was full of hope, and the next I was crying in a hospital bed while my husband held my hand. “Don’t worry,” cooed the nurse. “You are young and healthy. You’ll have another baby soon.” After leaving the hospital, my husband drove me…

  By Carly Pildis Jul 12, 2021 | 4 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 I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Israeli occupied West Bank has two legal systems— one for Jews, one for Palestinians

  For decades, Israeli governments have publicly preferred to leave the status of the West Bank — home to nearly three million Palestinians and half a million Jewish settlers — shrouded in ambiguous terms like “administered” or “disputed” territory. But these ambiguous terms conceal a troubling reality: the West Bank is governed by a double legal…

  By Nathaniel Berman Jul 9, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How a forgotten Brooklyn Congressman helped start the US-Israel relationship

  A letter signed by 73 House Democrats on June 23 urged President Joe Biden to abandon his predecessor’s tilt toward Israel and to return to a “longstanding, bipartisan United States policy” on Israeli-Palestinian relations. While it may seem like a drastic change in American foreign policy following four years of President Trump, it actually invokes…

  By Wayne Dawkins Jul 7, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Dropping my kids off at Jewish summer camp taught me how to let go

  For many, our slow-motion exodus from the pandemic has yielded a harvest of mundane yet miraculous firsts — handshakes, hugs, houseguests, days back in the office, unmasked cappuccinos at our favorite cafes and many more. I have savored these reunions with life as I once knew it, yet none of them prepared me for dropping…

  By Avi Dresner Jul 6, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  What the Surfside tragedy teaches us about ‘critical maintenance’

  While driving my daughter to her viola lesson this week, we heard a radio story about the condominium collapse in Surfside, Fla. — an event as absurd as it is agonizing. As one resident in the neighboring tower put it, these things are not supposed to happen in this country. As a structural engineer being…

  By Robert Zaretsky Jul 3, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  YOUR TURN: Reader stories of vaccine-dilemmas at hair salons and beyond

  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. And click here for a PDF of stories to savor over Shabbat and Sunday that you can download and print. It’s happening in hair salons…

  By Jodi Rudoren Jul 1, 2021 | 8 min read
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  Letters

  Letter | Arizona is a great place to be a Jew

  Editor: I was disappointed by Amy Silverman’s June 28 article in the Forward. Arizona is a great place to be a Jew. While Silverman asks why any Jew would stay in Arizona, the reality is that our Jewish community is active, vibrant and proud of being Jewish in the state. Arizona is not the right-wing…

  By Tony Zinman Jun 30, 2021 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  The Surfside disaster was a terrible wakeup call. Will we listen?

  An unfathomable tragedy is unfolding right now in Surfside, where eleven people are confirmed dead and 150 still missing. The collapse of an apartment building — without warning, and for reasons that remain unclear — defies expectation. Tragedies like these are moments of shattering. We are praying for the families of those who have perished…

  By Rabbi Jennie Rosenn and Scott Lewis Jun 29, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Surfside disaster is our generation’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory moment

  On Shabbat afternoon, March 25, 1911, the top floors of the Jewish-owned Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Lower Manhattan went up in flames. Due to the building’s structural flaws, the number of people working at the time, and the lack of responsive emergency personnel, 146 lives were lost in just 18 minutes. As labor attorney Jonathan…

  By Hannah Lebovits Jun 28, 2021 | 4 min read