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
The Israeli Response To The Pittsburgh Massacre Has Been A Disaster
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack at the Tree of Life shul in Pittsburgh last Shabbat, many Israelis weighed in with messages for American Jews. The responses to the attack ranged from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sympathetic condolences to Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau’s patronizing insults. But Zionist Union chief Avi Gabbay’s contribution –…
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Opinion What The Pittsburgh Massacre Taught Me About Jews In The Age of Trump
In the wake of the horrific massacre of 11 Jews at prayer this Shabbat, I have found myself wondering what it means to be a Jew in the age of Trump. It was a question that preoccupied me on the day he won the presidential election in 2016, on the strength of a campaign that…
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Opinion Pittsburgh Bloodbath Exposes Hypocrisy Of Netanyahu’s Attacks On Liberal Jews
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his weekly cabinet meeting with a moment of silence and said that “Israel stands together with the Jewish community in Pittsburgh, and with all Jewish communities in the United States, and with the American people.” Netanyahu then talked about anti-Semitism in America, Western Europe, and the battle…
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Opinion Yes, Synagogue Bloodbath Could Swing The Midterms — But Which Way?
On Saturday, after shouting “all Jews must die,” Robert Bowers callously murdered 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh, the worst anti-Semitic act of violence in American history according to the Anti-Defamation League. Bowers, like many anti-Semites in the United States and Europe, believes Jews are the…
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Opinion The Right Is Blaming Jews For The Pittsburgh Shooting — And So Is The Left
In a stunningly apt display of victim-blaming, Donald Trump said on Saturday that the outcome of the anti-Semitic attack on Tree of Life synagogue that left 11 Jews dead would have been different if the Pittsburgh congregants had been armed. Before boarding a flight to several events — one of which being one of his…
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Opinion Pittsburgh Synagogue Murder Spree Latest In 4 Decades Of Organized Anti-Semitic Attacks
The Saturday morning massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Congregation is unique in a certain sense. The murder of 11 Pittsburgh synagogue congregants by a white supremacist gunman is by far the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history. But while it’s the worst, it’s not the first, nor the second nor even the 10th case…
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Opinion The Special Kind Of Hate That Drove Pittsburgh Shooter — And Trump
It happened on Parshat Vayera. The worst anti-Semitic attack in American history occurred while Jews around the world were reading the Torah portion that tells the story of Lot, an immigrant. Lot moves to Sodom, and prospers there. The Midrash says he becomes a judge. His daughters intermarry with the locals. Then one day, while…
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Opinion Celebrate The First Vote Like A Civic Rite Of Passage
This column has a message for every person eligible to vote for the first time this November. Cast that ballot! And to every mother, father, sister, brother, grandparent, close relative, teacher, principal, coach, rabbi, Hillel director, concerned neighbor and friend in that new voter’s life. Celebrate that First Vote! Unlike so many of life’s significant…
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Opinion Make No Mistake: The Right Created The Synagogue Murderer
Yesterday, a man angrily posted on his social media account, “I can’t sit by and watch my people slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.” And then he walked into a synagogue and killed 11 Jews. We already know what will happen now. They will tell us not to politicize this. They will tell us…
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Opinion The Right Has Blood On Its Hands After Pittsburgh Carnage — And So Does The Left
Grief. Darkness. Uncontrollable rage. These are the things consuming the American Jewish community today, the darkest day in our history in this country. There is little surprise, but boundless, unending sadness and anger. In a crisis, we often feel a desire to move. It’s flight or fight. It’s adrenaline. It’s evolutionary. Today, I want you…
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Opinion How Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Hate Led To A Synagogue Shooting
Every Saturday morning, I go to synagogue to reconnect, both with God and with my fellow Jews. This morning was like any other, featuring prayer, arguments over the sermon, and jokes over bagels and cream cheese during the kiddush luncheon. It was only after I returned home that I realized, to my horror, that while…
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