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
Kathryn Garcia: Jewish New Yorkers want results, not political platitudes
In this moment of crisis, we can’t afford for our next mayor to need on-the-job training. With the economic fallout from the pandemic, a bungled vaccine rollout and hate crimes on the rise, too much is at stake. That’s why we need a leader that will get to work. I’m prepared. I am the only…
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Opinion The ICC probe of war crimes against Palestinians will deepen rifts between American Jews
Last Wednesday, the International Criminal Court announced it was opening an investigation into alleged crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories. It was a significant development in a process that has seen countries clash over whether those territories even fall within the ICC’s jurisdiction. Fatou Bensouda, the court’s outgoing chief prosecutor, succeeded in convincing the…
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Letters Letter | No, Israel does not need to vaccinate Palestinians
Dear editor: I strongly disagree with Sari Bashi’s op-ed in these pages describing of Israel’s vaccination program. Inoculations are being given to all citizens and residents of Israel, whether they are Jews or non-Jews. This includes Arabs living in eastern Jerusalem, many of whom are not Israeli citizens. It also includes Israelis who are living…
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Opinion To escape endless elections, Israel needs a new generation of ‘naïve’ leaders
What do the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the climate crisis have in common? The answer is troubling: neither of these existential issues is on the political agenda of the current election campaign in Israel. Israeli voters have left the climate crisis to the good care of foreign leaders. And they’ve let their own leaders sweep the…
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Letters Letter | For converts to have a voice, the Knesset must be reformed
To the editors: Rabbi Seth Farber was absolutely correct when he said that “To Israel, converts are still just a political football.” Israel was certainly aware, even before Jews were allowed to leave the Soviet Union in significant numbers, that many of the people entering Israel, completely legitimately under the Law of Return, were not…
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Opinion Yes, Israel should vaccinate all Palestinians. Here’s why.
Editor’s Note: Israel’s vaccination program for its citizens and residents does not discriminate based on ethnicity; Arab-Israelis and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are eligible along with Jews, as we reported in this Feb. 16 article, There is debate over Israel’s responsibility to vaccinate Palestinians under the Geneva Convention and the Oslo Accords, as we…
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Opinion A year into COVID, we must send kids back to shul
On the first night of Hanukkah, I went to downtown D.C. to witness the menorah lighting on the National Mall with my four kids. I’ve never been one for such Jewish spectacles. I’ve never even been much of a synagogue-goer. But I’ve long known that when it comes to building their Jewish identity, my kids…
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Opinion Catching a glimpse of the Jewish future — on Clubhouse
Jews have been talking for approximately 3,000 years. Despite having been written down for more than a millenia, we still call half of the commandments the “Oral Law,” remembering the days when they were shouted and whispered. For a while, this focus on the spoken word seemed out of style in the visual wonderland of…
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Opinion Confessions of a lockdown addict: I don’t want to go back to the old “normal”
This is an adaptation of our weekly Shabbat newsletter, sent by our editor-in-chief 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. Truth time: I don’t want to…
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Opinion How to get some Haredi children to stop wearing blackface on Purim
Six months ago, in a September interview with The New York Times, Chris Rock was asked about the effort then underway to expunge all uses of blackface in TV and movies. Specifically, the interviewer wanted to know whether Rock thought society was taking things too far. “If I say they are, then I’m the worst…
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Opinion To Israel, converts are still just a political football
This week, Israeli converts to Judaism found themselves once more caught in a political power struggle between Israel’s religious right and left. After 15 years of waiting for the Knesset to find a legislative solution to Israel’s conversion crisis, the Supreme Court dropped a legal bombshell by issuing a verdict requiring Israel’s Interior Ministry to…
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Fast Forward Rep. Max Miller says driver called him a ‘dirty Jew’ and threatened to kill his family. A local doctor turned himself in.
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Opinion Bombing Iran, Donald Trump is triggering a tragedy that Thucydides foretold long ago
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News As Israel attacks, what is life like for Jews in Iran?
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Culture Why is Israel’s attack on Iran called ‘Rising Lion’ — and what does the Bible have to do with it?
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