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
American Jews — on the left and the right — got Trump’s Israel legacy all wrong
The release of former President Donald Trump’s explosive interviews with Israeli journalist Barak Ravid and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s visit to the United Arab Emirates should comprise a wake-up call to American Jews: both Trump’s stalwart admirers and implacable foes are getting the story wrong. Trump’s achievements in the Middle East are far greater…
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Opinion Is the Christmas tree a religious symbol? What about a menorah?
America in the midst of our holiday season — a time for family, rest and hotly contested litigation over religious displays on government property. For this year’s installment, we have a “tree lighting event” hosted by the Parent Teacher Association of the Carmel River Elementary School, a public school in Northern California. The event is…
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Opinion Our preschool welcomed Santa — and exiled my Jewish daughter
As told to Nora Berman; edited for length and clarity The phone lit up with an unexpected text message: it was from a staff member at my daughter’s preschool. I was confused as to why they would be texting now, when the entire class was supposed to be in the middle of their holiday party….
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Opinion My Jewish ancestors owned slaves. That shameful knowledge fuels my rabbinic activism today
(JTA) — In “The Social Justice Torah Commentary,” Rabbi Brian Stoller describes a turtle-shaped dinner bell that his great-grandmother used to summon a Black butler to attend to her needs at the family’s Shabbat table. When I got to that line while editing the volume, I felt a jolt of familiarity: An identical bell served…
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Opinion The Met is erasing the Sackler name. Tel Aviv University’s medical school should be next
In a joint statement, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Sackler family today announced that the museum will no longer bear the name of the disgraced pharmaceutical billionaires who helped fuel the opioid crisis for financial gain. Yemach shemo, as we say in Jewish tradition — may their name, and all the pain that…
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Opinion 2022 Olympians have a chance to protest the Chinese Uyghur genocide — just like brave athletes did during the Nazi games in 1936
President Biden’s decision to withhold U.S. diplomatic participation from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, while allowing athletes to take part, confronts America’s pole-vaulters and shot-putters with a familiar moral dilemma: Should sports and politics mix? It’s a shame that the president has decided to limit his response to Chinese human rights abuses to such a halfway…
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Opinion WATCH: Can you do better than comedian Alex Edelman at ‘Yiddish or Gibberish’?
On November 20th, comedian Alex Edelman paid a visit to the Forward’s Manhattan offices. We tested him on his Yiddish knowledge, learned about his unique bar mitzvah, and Alex teased his new solo show “Just For Us.”
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Opinion ADL has 4 suggestions for Twitter’s new CEO on fighting antisemitism and hate speech
Dear Parag, Congratulations on becoming Twitter’s new CEO. We at ADL have worked with Twitter for years and want to remind you of the explicit and repeated commitment that your company has made to keep hate off its platform. Twitter was once a cesspool of hate speech, keeping ADL analysts quite busy. Our reports on…
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Opinion Alex Edelman crashed a white supremacist meeting. It left him grappling with his own Jewish identity
Behind the scenes of 'Just for Us'
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Opinion I’m alone for the holidays at 78 — and looking forward to a whole new life
Alone for the holidays for the first time in my life. At 78 years old. I contemplated that painful reality. My mind wandered back to past holidays, and, as my spirits began to sink, I heard my cellphone chime. It was an invitation from the Alpert Jewish Community Center in Long Beach, California, where I…
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Opinion Hanukkah gnomes have exploded in popularity, despite deeply antisemitic origins
If you are a Jew living in the United States, you’re likely aware of Hanukkah’s slow creep toward becoming Jewish Christmas. There is Shmelf the Hanukkah Elf, ugly sweater sugar cookies, and Wayfair Santas wrapped in prayer shawls. This year, however, the latest Chrismukkah riff is … a Hanukkah gnome. Hanukkah gnomes are cute, and…
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In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish „קיין שוועדיש רעדט מען נישט!“ — אַ ייִדיש־טאָג בײַם לונדער אוניװערסיטעט ‘No speaking Swedish here!’ — Yiddish Day in Lund University
די 30 אָנטייל־נעמערס זענען געקומען פֿון גאַנץ שװעדן, נאָרװעגיע, פֿינלאַנד און אַנדערע אייראָפּעיִשע לענדער.
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Opinion We’re forgetting the lessons of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
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Theater Roald Dahl’s monstrous views have a seat at the table today
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Letters ‘Verbal sparring’ at a conference for religious Jews breaking from Israel orthodoxy? That’s not what I experienced
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