Opinion

• Opinion

  We asked 13 rabbis: How should we process 500,000 American COVID deaths?

  This post is part of our Rabbi Roundtable series. This week, the United States recorded its 500,000th death from COVID-19. It’s a staggering number, one many of us have struggled to wrap our heads around. For thoughts on how to process the milestone we turned to rabbis across the country for their wisdom, both on…

  By Zachariah Sippy

  7 min read
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  Opinion

  Yes, that ‘Nurses’ episode hurt. So do the Haredi world’s systemic problems.

  When I was a kid, on Purim, several of my classmates from Belz Yeshiva in Borough Park and I would buy matching costumes, borrow a family member’s boombox and hire a car-service driver to take us from street to street in well-to-do Jewish areas of Brooklyn. We would hop out of the car, knock on…

  By Naftuli Moster Feb 26, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Open letter to Andrew Yang: You’ve got yeshivas all wrong

  Dear Mr. Yang, Your recent statement that we “shouldn’t interfere” in the city’s Chasidic yeshiva system constitutes a craven and deeply misguided embrace of a key voting issue for the Haredi community at the expense of thousands of children. At this point, you must know that the vast majority of Chasidic yeshivas in Borough Park,…

  By Jamie Hooper Feb 26, 2021 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

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  Letters

  Letter | Lawsuits over vanilla flavoring are nothing to celebrate

  To the editors, Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, New York again leads the nation in food-labeling lawsuits, thanks in part to the torrent of filings over vanilla flavoring and other food additives. (“The Jewish lawyer fighting against fake vanilla — and for 3-legged squirrels,” Feb. 10.) The Empire State first overtook California as the favored jurisdiction…

  By Tom Stebbins Feb 25, 2021 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  This Purim, don’t boo Haman

  Purim is back, a year after many of us gathered in person for the last time, with very different masks on. Jewish communities all over are rising to the challenge of a virtual Purim with wonderful expressions of creativity and care, as we continue to struggle with the challenges of COVID-19, as well as with…

  By Amichai Lau-Lavie Feb 25, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Let’s tell the whole truth when talking about the antisemitism envoy

  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. My first close encounter with IfNotNow,…

  By Jodi Rudoren Feb 25, 2021 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  What Jewish comedians made of Michael Che’s Israel Joke

  (JTA) — It’s almost Purim, which means I am busy writing jokes that poke fun at the stuff we do and obsess about as Jews without offending too many people. Not always easy, and that’s when I am writing for an audience that I know extremely well. Now imagine writing Jewish jokes outside the bubble….

  By Andrew Silow-Carroll Feb 25, 2021 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Purim celebrates a thwarted genocide. Honor its message, and commit to aiding the Uyghurs.

  A few years ago, I told the story of Purim to a second-grade Sunday school class in a sleepy Rhode Island suburb. My students found the opening scenes to be thrilling and exotic, as the goofy Achashverosh expelled Queen Vashti and the beautiful Esther won his heart. Then suddenly, evil Haman called for the Jews’…

  By Zach Harris Feb 25, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  We must join forces to ensure the protection of American Jews

  Over the last several years, we have seen near-historic increases in antisemitic incidents and assaults as we have watched a surge in online hate from more vocal — and violent — extremist groups. From online hate to cyber-attacks to the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, the danger is real. To protect America’s Jewish community, it…

  By Jonathan Greenblatt and Michael Masters Feb 25, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The entertainment industry needs a reset. A new Black-Jewish alliance is ready for the job.

  For over a century, the struggles of Black and Jewish Americans have been deeply intertwined. Black and Jewish activists fighting against racial violence founded the NAACP in 1909 to push for a more peaceful and tolerant society. Arnie Aronson, a Jewish activist, worked with A. Philip Randolph and Roy Wilkins to form the Leadership Conference…

  By Andre Davidson, and Aton Ben-Horin, and Sean Davidson Feb 25, 2021 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Our yeshiva day schools have a binge-drinking problem. Here’s what we can do about it.

  (JTA) — Purim, which begins on Thursday night, is perhaps the happiest Jewish holiday of the year. It can also be distressing, as adults and young people use the spirit of relative abandon to indulge in binge drinking and other irresponsible behaviors. Make no mistake: Substance use and binge drinking are of great concern to…

  By Rivka Press Schwartz and Rabbi Tully Harcstzark Feb 23, 2021 | 3 min read