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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Letters
Letter | Focusing on straw-men is disservice to women and distracts us from real concerns about abuse
Editor: As a sociologist who has worked in the areas of gender inequality and violence against women for nearly four decades, I am deeply concerned by the recently published article describing the failure of the Conservative Movement to respond appropriately to ethical violations including sexual misconduct and the article’s highlighting of one particular rabbi’s censure…
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Opinion I’m glad Marjorie Taylor Greene apologized for her Holocaust comparisons. What she does next matters more
It’s not easy to apologize. It’s even harder to transform an apology into meaningful change. On June 14, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene held a press conference in front of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and apologized for her statements equating the Holocaust to mask mandates. After her tour, she said, “There are words that I…
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Opinion Most Jews won’t set foot in a synagogue. That’s why rabbis need to think like entrepreneurs.
(JTA) — On March 13, nearly a year to the day after Temple Beth El of Charlotte, North Carolina, closed due to COVID-19, Rabbi Dusty Klass gathered the congregation’s 900 households for a shared — albeit remote — Jewish experience. Unable to gather her community for worship, Klass and her colleagues, including operations manager Nathalie…
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Opinion Omar’s comments aren’t just about Israel— they threaten the ties of Jews and the Democratic Party
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s tweets have landed her in the news, once again. Following an exchange with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in which Omar urged him to investigate both Israel and Hamas for human rights violations, Omar tweeted, “We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity….
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Opinion What’s so scary about Rep. Ilhan Omar?
Republicans, Democratic congressional leadership, and Jewish members of Congress are again condemning Rep. Ilhan Omar. The latest uproar is yet another example that in the hallowed halls of Congress, telling the truth about malevolent U.S. and Israeli foreign policy is treated as blasphemy. On June 7, following an exchange with Secretary of State Antony Blinken…
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Opinion 57 years ago, my rabbi dad was arrested marching for civil rights. What can we learn from his example?
Juneteenth is almost here. The holiday, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, is observed annually on the anniversary of June 19, 1865. People and news traveled much slower in those days, but true freedom took even longer. There would be another century of “legal” Jim Crow segregation and discrimination until the passage of…
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Opinion Tikkun Olam on Juneteenth
Despite the fact that it’s a celebration, I have bittersweet feelings about Juneteenth. Its origins are traced to Union troops arriving in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, bringing the news of freedom to that region’s slaves—months after the South’s surrender and 2-1/2 years past the Emancipation Proclamation. That our ancestors were freed from slavery…
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Opinion Small talk and others skills I’m struggling to re-learn as we build a better normal
This is an adaptation of Looking Forward, a weekly email from our editor-in-chief sent 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. I met a guy last…
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Opinion I’ve marched in the Jerusalem day parade — and this year, it’s a terrible idea
There was no doubt in my mind that I would participate in the flag march through the streets of Jerusalem. Down to Damascus Gate, through the Old City’s Muslim quarter and finally arriving at the Western Wall, the flag march is a decades-old tradition celebrating the reunification of Jerusalem and the city’s bond with the…
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Opinion Making challah taught me how to live in a post-pandemic world
It’s 12:34 a.m., and like millions of others during the pandemic, the imminent threat of death is keeping me awake. I distract myself by scrolling mindlessly through Facebook and Instagram, admiring the golden curves and the taut exteriors in my feeds. No, I’m not referring to the Kardashians or the #fitspo telling me how I…
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Opinion If the G7 wants Middle East peace, Biden should invest in people-to-people peacebuilding. $200 million should do it
The international community rallied to help end the devastating war that engulfed Israelis and Palestinians last month. Leadership from President Biden helped to secure a ceasefire after 11 days. The ceasefire was followed by important pledges from the U.S. and others to support vital reconstruction in Gaza. As of yet, however, it is not clear…
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