Opinion

• Opinion

  Chuck Schumer must abolish the filibuster — it’s the Jewish thing to do

  On Wednesday, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia were sworn in to the U.S. Senate, making Chuck Schumer of New York the body’s first Jewish Majority Leader. Schumer will need every single caucusing Democratic Senator — including, with Ossoff, a minyan of Democratic Jews — to support him in enacting President Biden’s ambitious vision….

  By Bill Dauster

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Conspiracy and complicity got our democracy here

  Two phenomena have characterized the outgoing Trump administration and spilled over to other countries around the world. The first is the astonishing power of conspiracy theories. The second is the no less astonishing capacity of generally honorable men and women to become complicit in the crimes and misdemeanors of the leaders for whom they work….

  By Omer Bartov Jan 21, 2021 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  Jon Ossoff was sworn in on my husband’s Bible, and I couldn’t be prouder

  While much of the world smiles at the “firsts” attached to Vice President Kamala Harris’ swearing in, I think as well of something closer to home. It sounds like the opening line of a Borscht Belt joke: “A Jew and a Black minister walk into the Senate …” When the results came in from Georgia’s…

  By Janice Blumberg Jan 21, 2021 | 3 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 For Trump and Netanyahu, statecraft is now synonymous with stagecraft

  

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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Biden brings hope. But as a Jew, I’m still alarmed by what’s brewing in America.

  Across social media, I see some of the most unadulterated rejoicing I have seen in years — specifically, four of them. Countdowns to Donald Trump’s exit and Joe Biden’s swearing-in and declarations that “the nightmare is over” proliferated in the lead-up to inauguration day. Jokes about Bernie Sanders’ inaugural attire abounded, as if the nation…

  By Emily Shire Jan 21, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Editorial | The right speech by the right man at the right time

  I’ve long believed that the most important superpower for an editor, or perhaps any manager, is the ability to match a particular individual to a particular assignment. With his pitch-perfect inaugural address on Wednesday, Joe Biden showed the American people that we nailed it by electing him our 46th president. I am not, I should…

  By Jodi Rudoren Jan 20, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The benediction I gave President Biden before his inauguration

  You already know the Yiddish word for “mensch.” It means a person who endeavors to consistently do the right thing — textbook example: Joe Biden. Here’s a new Yiddish word for our vocabulary as we send off our favorite Delawarean to Washington: “bashert.” My wife, Dr. Elissa Green, aka Major Biden’s Delaware Humane Association veterinarian,…

  By Michael Beals Jan 20, 2021 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Roundtable | What we hope to see in Biden’s inaugural address

  It’s inauguration day, the day on which we enact the greatest ritual of American democracy: the transfer of power. Between the restrictions necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic and the substantially heightened security imposed following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration will be like none other before it. His predecessor, President Donald Trump,…

  By Forward Staff Jan 20, 2021 | 7 min read
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  Letters

  Letter | Not all D.C. Jews are ‘terrified’

  Dear Editor, As a longtime resident of Washington, D.C., I was offended by the headline of Carly Pildis’s recent Forward opinion piece. By no means all Jews in D.C. are “terrified” as we await President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. For my part, I am not at all terrified by recent events, not even by the sinister…

  By Paul Scham Jan 19, 2021 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Traumatized by Capitol riot and awaiting inauguration, Jews in D.C. are terrified

  The third-largest Jewish community in America is living in imminent danger of domestic terrorism. Washington, D.C., the city I call home, is in lockdown: a state of emergency has been declared in advance of President-elect Joe Biden’s Wednesday inauguration, and over 25,000 troops have moved in. Our city has turned into a fortress in order…

  By Carly Pildis Jan 19, 2021 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  How to revive the Black-Jewish alliance? Remember all politics is local.

  As the country reels from the assault on the Capitol, Georgia’s election of two Democratic senators — one Black, one Jewish — is creating waves of nostalgia for a more hopeful, optimistic time. “I think Abraham Joshua Heschel, the rabbi who said, when he marched with Dr. King, he felt like his legs were praying,…

  By Jonathan Kaufman Jan 18, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m a black rabbi. I’ve never been in a Jewish space where I wasn’t questioned.

  Editor’s note: In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Forward is resurfacing some of our recent coverage related to the Black-Jewish experience and racial justice. This article originally appeared in June, 2020. I converted to Judaism because I fell in love with Judaism. I also naively believed that once I converted to Judaism,…

  By Sandra Lawson Jan 17, 2021 | 5 min read