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
Antisemitic slurs against Soros are not kosher just because a Jew says them
Eric Early, a Republican candidate for Congress in California, Tweeted this weekend about the philanthropist George Soros, a Holocaust survivor — who Early called “a Nazi sympathizer” and “a danger to our nation.” As the Forward, the Anti-Defamation League, and other sources have all ably documented, there is no truth behind the spurious claim that…
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Opinion Palestinian leadership must hold elections — and not run in them
The Palestinian leaders of the status quo have demonstrably failed to represent their people in the reshaping of the Middle East. This week, commercial flights between Israel and the Persian Gulf are becoming regular scenery, after the Knesset voted Thursday to approve the so-called “peace deal” with the United Arab Emirates. This premature Israeli-Arab normalization,…
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Opinion I’m not voting for Trump or Biden — because I want my vote to count
I, like many Americans, understand this presidential election to be one between two undesirable candidates representing two undesirable visions for America. No matter who wins, the country will have no viable path towards the reconciliation of our political divides. No matter who wins, the Constitution will be put second to preferred political ends. No matter…
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Opinion Jewish law should guide us in November: Choose life (not Trump)
Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik famously said that when someone comes to him for a decision on a matter of Jewish law, he can easily give them a ruling. But when someone seeks advice in choosing between two options that do not violate Jewish law, he said, individuals must make a personal decision. Though a democracy defines…
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Letters The virus is the enemy — not us
Dear Editor: In an Op-Ed published in The Forward, Avi Shafran of Agudath Israel denigrated the Judaism practiced by the overwhelming majority of Jews in New York. He seemed to be arguing that only Haredi Jewish leaders can speak for our city’s Jewish community. This could not be further from the truth. With COVID-19 once…
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Opinion Chabad of Poway Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein Deserves Jail Time
Does a rabbi who pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations meant to serve people with special needs deserve to walk free? How about a rabbi caught running a decades-long scheme whereby he accepted large tax-deductible “donations” to his shul, kicked back 90% to the donors and kept 10% for himself? Or a rabbi…
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Opinion ‘Blasphemy’ is non-halachic Jews name-calling Haredim
In her denial of a temporary restraining order to prevent Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s latest, onerous rules for “virus uptick areas” in several Orthodox-heavy neighborhoods, Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto of Federal District Court in Brooklyn posed a rhetorical question. “How,” she asked, “can we ignore the compelling state interest in protecting the health and life of…
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Opinion If you want to help Haredim fight COVID-19, help — don’t hector
Rising cases of COVID-19 in New York’s densely Orthodox neighborhoods, and the protests there that followed city and state lockdown measures, have inspired a spate of recent public statements and articles urging the Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, community to take the virus more seriously. The authors are generally Jewish, whether Haredi, modern Orthodox, or non-Orthodox, and…
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Opinion BDS resolutions on campuses represent dangerous ‘intersectionality’
Over the past few weeks, in moves that were in equal measures galling, ill-timed and stunningly decontextualized, students at two prominent American universities — including my alma mater — voted in favor of divesting from Israel. These votes occurred during the 2020 High Holiday season, when Jewish students may have been less available to weigh…
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Opinion Facebook has banned Holocaust denial. But what about other genocides?
Facebook announced a major policy change to its posting guidelines this week to ban content that “denies or distorts” the Holocaust. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, who in 2018 had said Holocaust denial was “nothing more than things that different people get wrong,” explained the move by saying his “own thinking has evolved as I’ve seen…
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Opinion Why the UAE deal is not ‘peacemaking’
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught his disciples, “Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Christians tell this story over and over again in churches across the globe. And yet, so often, what is called peacemaking in the political world leaves peace far away and on the distant…
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Opinion Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go
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News What a Mayor Mamdani would mean for New York Jews
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Fast Forward Mamdani tells Colbert — and a national audience — why NYC Jews shouldn’t fear him as mayor
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Opinion Mamdani’s victory is an opportunity for Jews to relearn the art of disagreement
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Music Anyone who tells you that you shouldn’t meet your heroes never met Jill Sobule
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Opinion Can we say Donald Trump’s Middle East nuclear strategy is dangerous — if it isn’t even a strategy?
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Opinion ‘Israel is seen as violent’ — and Israeli chefs, once global culinary icons, are feeling the heat
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Culture As Mel Brooks turns 99, his wisdom matters more than ever
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