Opinion

• Opinion

  For Years, I Opposed Lawsuits Against My Abuser. I Was Wrong.

  Following the arrest of my conversion rabbi, Barry Freundel, I was certain I wouldn’t sue. Freundel had secretly videotaped me in the preparation room of the mikveh, the ritual bath, both when I took a “practice dunk” in October 2010 and then again on the actual day of my conversion in June 2011. But though…

  By Bethany Mandel

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Critics Of Haredi Schools Are Not Liars. But The Research Shows They Are Wrong.

  Last week I wrote an essay arguing that secular education in Hassidic schools is not as bad as it is frequently portrayed. I argued that critics are actually unhappy with Hassidic culture, rather than education. The response from anti-Yeshiva voices and activists — including a letter from a Yeshiva-graduate — has been as ferocious as…

  By Moshe Krakowski Sep 24, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  American Jews: Ayman Odeh is Not About You

  American Jews woke up to history being made on Sunday as Ayman Odeh, the leader of a technical bloc of four Arab-Israeli parties known as the Joint List, recommended tasking General Benny Gantz and the Kachol v’Lavan Party with forming the next government of the State of Israel. Writing in the New York Times, Odeh…

  By Sara Hirschhorn Sep 23, 2019 | 3 min read

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

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman A billionaire Gen Z influencer is reinventing philanthropy — with this South African rabbi’s help

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s strike in Qatar: An audacious bid for victory, or just another foolhardy provocation?

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s attack on George Soros is ludicrous. It also endangers Jews (and everyone else)

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Letter | I Was Denied An Education At My Hassidic School

  Dear Editor, I am contacting you regarding Moshe Krakowski’s recent opinion piece, The Truth About Secular Studies In Haredi Schools. This piece is a classic example of how propaganda functions in public debate. Here we have an academic who has “studied Haredi schools in-depth for many years,” and he is just flat out wrong about…

  By Chaim Widger Sep 23, 2019 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  This Year, We Jews Must Put Aside Our Differences And Stand As One Against Anti-Semitism

  If two Jews have three opinions, how many opinions might six million American Jews have? We’re a boisterous, disputatious bunch, as we should be. We’re also remarkably good at dividing into tribes of those who dress or think as we do. But what if identifying first and foremost (and even only) with such subgroups is…

  By Melissa Langsam Braunstein Sep 23, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Shame On The Department Of Ed For Their Islamophobia. We Jews Know The Toll Of Censorship.

  In August of this year, the U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill threatening to revoke $235,000 in federal funding unless they agreed to significantly revise its educational programs. The letter cited the universities’ positive portrayal of Islam, noting that in the consortium’s…

  By Joel Swanson Sep 23, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Sorry, Anti-Zionists: Israeli Democracy Is Alive and Well

  We Israelis hear it all the time: Israel is a racist endeavor. It’s an Apartheid state. It’s a joke of a democracy. These claims are a mainstay of the movement to boycott Israel, and they are repeated like mantras at protests and on social media. Well, haters, I hate to break it to you, but…

  By Shoshanna Keats-Jaskoll Sep 23, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  We Are Witnessing A ‘Liberal’ Revival In Israel

  Beyond interminable coalition bargaining, one of the more interesting developments around Israel’s April and September elections was a renewed attention to the word “liberal.” During these two cycles, it suddenly became fashionable for parties and political figures to present themselves as liberal — and not just on the left. Hawkish, right wing spoiler Avigdor Lieberman…

  By Dahlia Scheindlin Sep 23, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  What The Democrats Can Learn From Israel’s Election

  Last week’s Israeli elections presented a golden opportunity for the left, center-left and Arab parties to organize and rally behind a single unified effort. Together, they could have mobilized to secure a firm majority for the forces of democracy and progressive values that the last election in April failed to deliver. Unfortunately, they squandered that…

  By Scott Goodstein Sep 23, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Hasidic Schools Have No Intention Of Providing An Adequate Education

  In his speeches, Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, the grand rebbe of one of the largest Hasidic factions in New York State, has openly and repeatedly acknowledged the lack of secular education in Hasidic Yeshivas. In a 2018 speech he said, “We all know the truth, that in our primary Torah schools for boys, they studied at…

  By Naftuli Moster Sep 19, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Truth About Secular Studies In Haredi Schools

  The question of whether ultra-Orthodox children are getting enough secular education is wracking New York. The New York State Education Department will decide later this month about whether to start enforcing regulations in ultra-Orthodox (or Haredi) schools, regulations proposed in a prolonged public campaign by activist groups such as the Young Advocates for Fair Education….

  By Moshe Krakowski Sep 19, 2019 | 10 min read