In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
Opinion
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Opinion
Drug addiction took my congregant’s life. We can stop others from suffering in silence
Having this conversation is going to save a life — and likely more than one. Nearly 100,000 people died from a drug overdose in the United States last year, a dramatic increase from 2019. While the stress of the pandemic likely drove many to despair, it’s also a fact, proven over and over again, that…
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Opinion Reporting from Afghanistan, I learned just how little we Americans knew
Just weeks after U.S. forces and their allies in the Northern Alliance had routed the Taliban from most of Afghanistan, the NY Daily News assigned me to accompany an odd delegation to the country on a 24-hour visit. It was Dec. 2001, and unlimited new prospects still seemed possible for the ancient land. I took…
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Opinion What do Jews of color really think — and who are they anyway?
Why is this study different from other studies? Read the Forward’s story on this groundbreaking report. If you’re looking for a guide to the perplexities of “Beyond the Count: Perspectives and Lived Experiences of Jews of Color,” a good start might be not to think of it as one single study. It’s really two, and…
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Opinion It’s time for Jews to join Palestinians in civil resistance to the occupation
It’s time for Jews to join with Palestinians and engage in intercommunal civil resistance to the Israeli occupation. Though ending this vicious regime depends on a multitude of factors, joint nonviolent resistance by Palestinians and Jews constitutes an essential element. We are both a part of this living, binational movement against the ongoing oppression of…
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Opinion Jewish wisdom can help Cuomo apologize for real
With virtually every party leader calling for his resignation, Gov. Andrew Cuomo had little choice but to step down. Yet it took Cuomo 89 seconds into his resignation speech on Tuesday to get to I’m-sorry-you’re-offended — which he followed with excuses, swipes at his accusers and denials of bad behavior. My colleague Mira Fox wrote…
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Opinion Facing the Delta variant, my congregants are lonely and afraid. We are making hard choices together
As a rabbi, I want to do the right thing for my congregation. But what is the right thing? I am the spiritual leader of a small synagogue in Sarasota, Fla. My congregation is older, and the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially devastating to them. The unexpected isolation was bad enough, but when it continued…
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Opinion ‘I never forgot and I never again felt as safe’ — readers share the most antisemitic things that ever happened to them
There were dozens of stories — dozens! — of being called a dirty Jew or a Christ-killer, mostly in the tender days of elementary school. Many reported being asked about their horns — not in a joking way. Even more recalled someone bragging about having “Jewed down” an opponent in negotiations. Ten days ago, I…
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Opinion Watching Team Israel’s Olympic run — and loss — taught me about Jewish resilience
In 2017, I was a high school junior who usually struggled to wake up on time for school. And yet, at 5:30 am one morning in early March, I sat wide-eyed on my family room couch, watching a baseball game. It was the opening game of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, the foremost international baseball…
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Opinion To fight antisemitism, you need to clearly define it
With the appointment of Professor Deborah Lipstadt as the new Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, attention will focus on the Biden Administration’s plans to confront the persistent scourge of antisemitism which has increased in the wake of the COVID pandemic and the recent conflict. She will have an enormous task taking on the…
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Opinion Most user reports of antisemitism are ignored. We must hold platforms accountable
It’s rare to be able to put a number on corporate tolerance of hate speech. But in a recent experiment, we were able to do so — and the results are chilling. During six weeks this summer, we flagged and reported hundreds of egregious posts containing antisemitism to social media platforms using their own user…
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Opinion Jewish teen groups are rife with toxic sexual culture. It’s on us to fix that.
As someone long involved with Jewish youth groups, Shira Wolkenfeld’s recent “New Voices” investigation on the toxic sexual culture that exists within many of them was difficult to read. In the extensive article, Wolkenfeld documents incidents of groping during convention Shabbat dinners, over-sexualization, pressures to hookup and sexual assault. I struggled to reconcile this portrait…
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News What We Know About Jeffrey Epstein’s Childhood
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Opinion The dark message behind Tucker Carlson’s attempt to drum up drama in Israel
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Opinion The ‘Hymietown’ affair degraded Black-Jewish relations. Jesse Jackson wasn’t the real culprit
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Opinion The ‘Hymietown’ affair degraded Black-Jewish relations. Jesse Jackson wasn’t the real culprit
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Fast Forward Robin Kelly, running for Senate in Illinois, says Israel committed ‘genocide’
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Fast Forward Isaiah Zagar, renowned Jewish mosaic artist who created Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, dies at 86
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