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
Arab-Israelis are saving Israel’s democracy, one election at a time
This Sunday, for only the second time in Israel’s history, Arab-Israeli parliamentarians played a decisive role in providing a majority for the designated candidate for prime minister, which for now is former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. The gambit was historic for the very same reason its success appears so unlikely: A broad coalition…
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Opinion What it’s like to have OCD during a pandemic
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always felt like my body was wrong. It isn’t a feeling that I should be inhabiting a body of a different gender or size or shape — not exactly. It’s more of a feeling that my skin is a cage trapping me inside of it, and I…
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Opinion Dating during a pandemic: How to be single in the age of corona
I was supposed to have a first date Thursday night. I’m 32 and single and my last real relationship was a few years ago. I’ve been on an off dating apps during that time, but anyone who is single in NYC and over 30 knows that process is its own kind of absurd hell. A…
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Opinion Editorial | We’re going to have to show up without showing up
I paid a shiva call Friday morning. It was a somewhat absurd thing to do, in the hours before President Trump officially declared a national emergency, in this new era of social distancing: trek across state lines from my home in Montclair, N.J., to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It was also the most…
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Opinion Community. Ritual. Joy: That’s how we survived AIDS, and how we’ll survive coronavirus
We in the Jewish LGBTQ community are feeling some déjà vu from our worst years of trauma. Starting in 1981, the surreal became real. What had been imaginable only in the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, the annals of medieval and Renaissance history, or in the most terrifying pages of Torah, became the day-to-day reality…
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Opinion Editorial | Coronavirus is the new normal. Let’s make it Jewish.
Our office gathered for drinks at 5 p.m. on Thursday. By “gathered,” of course, I mean we all clicked on a Google hangout link at the same time from the homes where we’d been holed up all day. I poured a little glass of Maker’s Mark; our newest employee hugged a big ceramic mug of…
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Opinion Coronavirus is a test for the government. But it’s a test for us, too.
Without a doubt, our government and our medical establishment are facing a critical test as the coronavirus pandemic widens. But they are not the only ones facing a critical test; we are, too: We human beings, we people of faith, we people of moral principle and ethical sensibility. The test we are facing is no…
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Opinion In the age of social distancing, we need to flood the internet with love
On Thursday, the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County voted to shut down Jewish communal life out of precaution for the coronavirus, informing hundreds of thousands of Jewish parishioners that all synagogue gatherings including prayer have been canceled. That means no dining in at restaurants, no weddings, no shiva, no play dates, no large Shabbat meals…
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Opinion Rashida Tlaib’s t-shirt symbolizes peace, not hate
Last Sunday, Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib came under fire for wearing a t-shirt that critics say incites hate against the state of Israel. What was on this shirt that was so inflammatory? A map of historic Palestine, embroidered with Arabic letters in the colors of the Palestinian flag. Thanks to this article of clothing, Tlaib…
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Opinion There’s no consensus on what constitutes antisemitism. So we at the ADL created one.
It’s undeniable: Antisemitism is on the rise. We know the numbers; we have the data. It’s been weaponized for partisan gain, it’s been normalized in politics, and it has gone viral. Talk of conspiracy theories, foreign intervention, dual loyalty, and delegitimization of Israel continue to gain ground in the public conversation, moving from alt right…
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Opinion What it’s like finishing college at the beginning of a pandemic
On Monday, March 9, I was a regular college senior at Cornell University, enjoying my last semester. I had finished nearly all of my graduation requirements, and had been enjoying my less academic courses like Swing Dance and Introduction to Wines. I was meeting up with old friends, making new ones, and looking forward to…
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