Opinion

• Opinion

  Is the Jewish deli the new synagogue?

  (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — Are sociologists and communal leaders looking for American Judaism in all the wrong places? Rachel B. Gross argues that too many community studies and their authors see Judaism in decline because they measure synagogue attendance, ritual observance and other traditional behaviors and “fail to see it flourishing in…

  By Andrew Silow-Carroll

  9 min read
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  Opinion

  The pandemic has devastated restaurants. Surprisingly, most kosher ones have weathered the storm — and I’m optimistic about the future.

  (JTA) — Many industries were harmed in 2020, perhaps none as deeply as the hospitality sector. Nearly one in six U.S. restaurants had closed as of December, according to data from the National Restaurant Association. Kosher establishments were not immune to the economic consequences of the pandemic: We saw iconic kosher restaurants permanently close this…

  By Dani Klein Feb 12, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why it’s good that Biden’s foreign policy picks are controversial on Israel

  Of the many Democratic candidates who sought their party’s nomination for president in 2020, Joe Biden was perhaps the one who least worried pro-Israel stalwarts. Aside from his clash with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, accounts of which are likely embellished, Biden’s long political record is one of friendship and understanding with the Jewish state….

  By Abe Silberstein Feb 12, 2021 | 5 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once

  

• Rob Eshman If war with Iran goes badly for the US, Jews will be the scapegoat

  

• Nora Berman Did Netanyahu coerce Trump into attacking Iran? No — but he tried with Obama

  

• Dan Perry The US and Israel could seek to topple Iran’s regime. They should choose negotiation instead

  

• Emily Tamkin Israeli leaders are using Holocaust comparisons to justify attacks on Iran. Is that kosher?

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  It’s time for white Jews to get over Sammy Davis Jr.

  When I was growing up, I thought that I was related to Sammy Davis Jr. Whenever people would find out I was Jewish they would instantly ask, “Like Sammy Davis Jr.?” It was as if he was the only Black Jew in the world — besides me, of course. Yet we had nothing in common…

  By Tamar Manasseh Feb 11, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Bruce Springsteen’s Super Bowl ad offered a powerful vision of American unity — for Christians

  (JTA) — The two-minute advertisement, for Jeep, appeared late in Sunday’s Super Bowl. “The Middle,” narrated by Bruce Springsteen, is a meditation on the theme of national unity. In the wake of President Biden’s call to honor unity, bipartisanship and civility, the words should have been compelling: “The middle has been a hard place to…

  By Jeremy Burton Feb 10, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Myanmar coup puts genocide victims in new peril. We must not sit by.

  The military coup in Myanmar on Sunday was shocking but hardly surprising. After generals seized a democratically-elected leader and troops cut off telecommunications, we must ask: How can we protect Myanmar’s most vulnerable, who are already suffering a genocide? The Myanmar military, known as the Tatmadaw, seized power following a decade-long experiment in democracy. Although…

  By Serena Oberstein Feb 9, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  We’re running out of time to preserve endangered Jewish languages. Here’s how we can stop them from being lost forever.

  (JTA) — I can’t stop thinking about Flory Jagoda, Joseph Sassoon and Kitty Sassoon – three American Jews in their 90s who died last week. As an Ashkenazi Jew, I do not share their family backgrounds. But their deaths hit home for me, as they were among the last native speakers of endangered Jewish languages…

  By Sarah Bunin Benor Feb 8, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Israeli President Reuven Rivlin: In an era of divisons, Jews must emphasize our ties to one another

  A decade after the founding of the State of Israel, the country’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, approached some 50 of the world’s most renowned Jewish leaders and asked their opinion on one seemingly simple question: “Who is a Jew?” Among those he asked were scholars and the wisest students, all over the world. He…

  By Reuven Rivlin Feb 8, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  I’ve been helping Orthodox Jews fight addiction and mental illness for decades. Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski made our work possible.

  (JTA) — On Sunday, the Jewish community lost one of the biggest forces fighting for those who are suffering the most. At Amudim, a crisis intervention organization serving the Orthodox Jewish community, we have been humbled by the increasing number of community members who have come to accept the realities of mental health challenges in…

  By Rabbi Zvi Gluck Feb 8, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The bad faith behind Zionist activists’ latest try to win the left

  On Monday, Rudy Rochman, a bombastic, keffiyeh-wearing Zionist activist, will debate famed academic Noam Chomsky. It’s a mismatched and bizarre pairing: a world-renowned linguist whose ideas on Zionism and the state of Israel have shaped leftist discourse for decades versus a glorified college activist whose works include the YouTube videos “Avatar Jewish Connection” and “Breaking…

  By Jonah Goldman Kay and Sylvie Rosen Feb 7, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  What’s a Snow Day? Another conundrum of our new 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 One of the most memorable things…

  By Jodi Rudoren Feb 5, 2021 | 4 min read