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
Making challah taught me how to live in a post-pandemic world
It’s 12:34 a.m., and like millions of others during the pandemic, the imminent threat of death is keeping me awake. I distract myself by scrolling mindlessly through Facebook and Instagram, admiring the golden curves and the taut exteriors in my feeds. No, I’m not referring to the Kardashians or the #fitspo telling me how I…
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Opinion If the G7 wants Middle East peace, Biden should invest in people-to-people peacebuilding. $200 million should do it
The international community rallied to help end the devastating war that engulfed Israelis and Palestinians last month. Leadership from President Biden helped to secure a ceasefire after 11 days. The ceasefire was followed by important pledges from the U.S. and others to support vital reconstruction in Gaza. As of yet, however, it is not clear…
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Letters Letter | Words Matter: Reading between the lines of an article about rabbinic misconduct
To the editor: It was with deep concern that I read the article “For the Conservative movement, an audit of ethics policies might be overdue” (June 1, 2021). The article, which used Rabbi Daniel Victor as the primary example of problematic conduct and disciplinary procedures, did not adequately explain the substance of the situation and…
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Opinion How did Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez get Israel so wrong?
As a Haredi Jew, I harbor politically and socially conservative views, very unlike those of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But my belief system includes a mandate to be committed to the ideal of truth. That mandate is what compelled me to rise to the defense of the progressive Congresswoman, on multiple occasions, when I felt she…
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Opinion Learning to trust my neighbors again
On a recent Shabbat, my family gathered to celebrate a new bride and groom. 30 of us were all looking forward to spending time together and enjoying ourselves. The highlight of Shabbat was a walking tour of the Abu Tor neighborhood in Jerusalem, one of the few mixed Arab and Jewish neighborhoods in Israel, which…
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Opinion With Israel (maybe) about to get a new prime minister, a look back at an old one (and his wife)
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. They met in pre-war Eastern…
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Opinion The African Hebrew Israelites are our friends — and their pending deportations from Dimona are a miscarriage of justice
In late April, the Israeli government ordered the deportation of dozens of members of the African Hebrew Israelite community within 60 days, a decision alarming to anyone concerned with democracy and civil rights in Israel. This community of around 2,000 first came to Israel in the 1960s. We have each met and become dear friends…
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Opinion What would happen if the U.S. stopped giving aid to Israel?
Shortly after becoming Prime Minister for the first time in 1996, in a special address to the US Congress, Benjamin Netanyahu said, “there can be no greater tribute to America’s long-standing economic aid to Israel than for us to be able to say: We are going to achieve economic independence. We are going to do…
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Opinion So long Ruvi Rivlin, the last liberal Likudnik
Over the weekend, as it became clear that Naftali Bennett would move to establish a unity government, ending Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12 year reign, a disturbing image popped up in a WhatsApp group of Likud activists: a black-and-white photo of Bennett in a keffiyeh— a traditionally Arab headscarf— with the words “The Liar” and “Elections Now”…
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Opinion Conversion students are asking me if it’s safe to become Jewish. This is what I tell them.
(JTA) — “Rabbi Adar, is it dangerous to wear my Jewish star?” In 12 years of teaching “Introduction to the Jewish Experience” through HaMaqom|The Place in the San Francisco Bay Area, no student ever asked me that question in those words. This year three students have asked it of me. The first student who asked…
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Opinion Israel’s new government teaches American Jews two important lessons
Just days after the rocket launchers have cooled in Israel and Gaza, news broke that after 12 years, the Netanyahu era is just about finished, in the most improbable of ways. The new government, which while not a done deal seems to be more likely than not, seems like it was created via a game…
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News Hundreds of Northwestern students can’t register for class because they won’t watch an antisemitism training video. Here’s what’s in it.
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Fast Forward The ADL doesn’t speak for New York Jews’ concerns, says Zohran Mamdani
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Music ‘Kavalier and Clay’ could be a Jewish-American ‘Ring Cycle’ — what would Richard Wagner think of it?
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