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
WATCH: Abby Stein shares three Jewish texts that show more than two genders in Judaism
Abby Stein is a proud Jewish woman. But growing up, she didn’t feel that Judaism had a space for people like her. Abby was raised in an ultra-Orthodox hasidic Jewish community, and as she puts it, “growing up, we had a very strong focus on studying, researching, questioning and finding answers in texts.” The Torah…
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Opinion The Surfside tragedy recalls South Florida’s long hold on the Jewish imagination and reality
(JTA “”)) — Until a 13-story building inexplicably collapsed in the middle of the night, placing the whereabouts and lives of 159 residents in doubt, few gave Surfside, Florida, very much thought before last week. The town was, after all, a South Florida misnomer. There’s no surfing. The white caps on the Atlantic Ocean never…
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Opinion What a haircut taught me about rebuke, rights and responsibilities regarding the coronavirus vaccine
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. I got my haircut this…
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Opinion Reparations helped Germany atone for its past. They can help America, too
When I visited Berlin a number of years ago, I was surprised by the number of plaques embedded in the city’s streets that contain the name of Jews sent to their death by the Nazi regime. I was equally impressed by the myriad neighborhood memorials that many visitors might easily miss: a wall at a…
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Opinion This new social justice theory is making academia dangerous for Jews
This June, two Jewish mental health providers at Stanford University alleged they were the targets of anti-Jewish harassment. Ron Albucher, a prominent psychiatrist and Sheila Levin, a clinical social worker, have filed a legal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on June 15. The complaint alleges that Stanford University’s Counseling & Psychological Services’ Diversity,…
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Opinion Wear sunscreen. Put down your phone. Be kind. We are all graduates in the Class of 2021.
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. Wear sunscreen. Perhaps the most…
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Opinion We can’t defeat antisemitism by attacking our fellow Jews
As antisemitic attacks on Jews across the globe continue, there is another threat to our people we aren’t talking about enough. It’s called sinat chinam — baseless hatred. As we struggle to cope with this rise in violence and hatred against our community, we’re also spending time hating each other — and it’s tearing us…
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Opinion It’s time to end the ‘special’ relationship between Israel and the U.S.
The departure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday was met with an audible sigh of relief from pro-Israel Democrats. The man they deemed primarily responsible for the turning of Israel into a so-called “partisan issue” was gone — at least for a while. Some advocates of the U.S.-Israel relationship now see an opportunity to…
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Letters Letter | Focusing on straw-men is disservice to women and distracts us from real concerns about abuse
Editor: As a sociologist who has worked in the areas of gender inequality and violence against women for nearly four decades, I am deeply concerned by the recently published article describing the failure of the Conservative Movement to respond appropriately to ethical violations including sexual misconduct and the article’s highlighting of one particular rabbi’s censure…
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Opinion I’m glad Marjorie Taylor Greene apologized for her Holocaust comparisons. What she does next matters more
It’s not easy to apologize. It’s even harder to transform an apology into meaningful change. On June 14, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene held a press conference in front of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and apologized for her statements equating the Holocaust to mask mandates. After her tour, she said, “There are words that I…
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Opinion Most Jews won’t set foot in a synagogue. That’s why rabbis need to think like entrepreneurs.
(JTA) — On March 13, nearly a year to the day after Temple Beth El of Charlotte, North Carolina, closed due to COVID-19, Rabbi Dusty Klass gathered the congregation’s 900 households for a shared — albeit remote — Jewish experience. Unable to gather her community for worship, Klass and her colleagues, including operations manager Nathalie…
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News That whites-only, no Jews allowed Arkansas community is legal, says state’s attorney general. How?
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Opinion Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear
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Film & TV How Jon Stewart evolved on Israel — at least on ‘The Daily Show’
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Opinion I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel
In Case You Missed It
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Antisemitism Decoded How Trump is banning DEI at universities — except for Jews
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Fast Forward Trump fired a commissioner over bad jobs numbers. Nixon targeted a ‘Jewish cabal’ at the same agency
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Looking Forward That time my violin teacher tried to convert me to Christianity
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Fast Forward UK’s largest Jewish group calls Israeli aid to Gaza ‘long overdue,’ months after disciplining members for criticizing Israel
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