Opinion

• Opinion

  The Internet Sins We’ll Atone For This Yom Kippur

  On Yom Kippur, we confess an alphabet of annual sins: Bribe-taking! Bribe-giving! Foolish speech! Lewdness! Lying! Scoffing! It’s a list that has almost completely withstood the test of time. Most people would do well to apologize for blurting things out, passing judgment and “deceiving a fellowman.” And, more darkly, some people should seriously consider repentance…

  By Jenny Singer

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  On Yom Kippur, My Eating Disorder Haunts Me

  Is Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement, or the day of Post-Traumatic Stress? For me, a “recovered” anorexic, it’s both. Liturgically, Yom Kippur is powerful, a day characterized by introspection, asking forgiveness, profound considerations about how to right wrongs and improve oneself. It makes sense it’s a day of self-denial, including 25 hours without food….

  By Jenn Director Knudsen Oct 7, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  For God’s Sake, Stop Preaching Politics From The Pulpit!

  America’s partisan divide seems to have reached a new low. Whatever side of the political aisle each of us is on, we can all agree that this is true. Politics are harming relationships to an unprecedented extent, dividing families to the point that they don’t spend holidays together anymore. A just-published study of the emotional…

  By Yaakov Menken Oct 4, 2019 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson I supported Israel’s actions in Gaza in October 2023 — not anymore

  

• Rob Eshman The staggering hypocrisy behind Trump’s deal to free the last living American hostage

  

• Nora Berman She’s a titan of Israeli architecture. Her story contains troubling lessons for her country

  

• Dan Perry It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump

  

• Emily Tamkin This week proved it: Trump’s approach to antisemitism at Columbia is horribly ineffective

  

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  Opinion

  Our Job As Jews Is Not To Watch Politics As Sport. It’s To Bring Jewish Values Into The Public Sphere

  When reports of the White House whistleblower hit the press in September, a colleague joked on Facebook that all us rabbis would have to rewrite our High Holiday sermons. I panicked; I didn’t realize it was a joke. But as my heart rate settled back to normal, I realized the joke was just another reminder…

  By Michael Rothbaum Oct 3, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  With Anti-Semitic Attack On ‘Shifty’ Foe, Trump Shows Off The Mechanism Of His Racism

  On Wednesday, Donald Trump again referred to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff as “shifty Schiff.” If you think that sounds vaguely anti-Semitic, you’re right. And it’s likely only the beginning. As the impeachment inquiry escalates, Trump’s anti-Semitic rhetoric probably will too. It won’t escalate because Trump is any more hostile to Jews than he…

  By Peter Beinart Oct 3, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Your Attempts To ‘Humanize’ Us Palestinians Are Racist

  Being a politically active Palestinian woman on the ground in Palestine, I am acutely familiar with the racism built into the Israeli occupation which denies us our basic freedoms because we belong to the wrong social group. But in recent years, I have come to recognize an erasure of Palestinian identity not only from the…

  By Mariam Barghouti Oct 3, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  The Case For Bernie Sanders, The Only Real Progressive In The Race (Sorry, Warren Fans)

  On Wednesday morning, news broke that Vermont Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was taking time off from the campaign trail after he had received two stents to the heart. He had felt some chest pain at a rally, which turned out to be a blocked artery. The Senator is currently recovering, and “in good…

  By Jaya Sundaresh Oct 2, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  It’s Time For The Jewish Community To Do Teshuva For Its Treatment of Jews Of Color

  The high holidays are a great time for reflection, community, spirituality, and celebration. But for many Jews of color, parents and partners from other faith traditions and those experiencing Judaism for the first time, it is also a time to stay on high alert. Many will have had their Rosh Hashanahs marred by shattering experiences…

  By Jared Jackson Oct 2, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  As We Leave This Horrifying Year Behind, Let’s Recommit to The Jewish Value Of Civil Discourse

  The most important Jewish thing I did in 5779 did not take place in a synagogue, in Israel, or at summer camp. It did not involve prayer, a specific one of the 613 commandments, or even food (though I’m pretty sure I had some unkosher chicken sausage for breakfast just before). The most important Jewish…

  By Jodi Rudoren Sep 29, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  How Palestinian Israelis Humiliated The BDS Movement

  It’s been several days since Israeli politician Ayman Odeh made the historic announcement that he, as the leader of the Arab bloc in the Knesset, would recommend Benny Gantz as Prime Minister. It was a stunning development, after decades of Arab parties boycotting the recommendation process. And many American Jews were quick to notice the…

  By Mark Horowitz Sep 26, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel Is Deporting Critics Like Omar Shakir. But It Can’t Hide The Occupation Forever.

  In the next few days, Israeli courts will decide the fate of Human Rights Watch’s Israel-Palestine Director Omar Shakir. They will decide whether to allow him to stay and continue his work reporting human rights abuses or to adhere to an anti-democratic law and deport him. Whatever the court decides, one thing is clear: Omar…

  By Libby Lenkinski Sep 26, 2019 | 3 min read