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
Cloaked In Pretensions, Gilad Atzmon’s Anti-Semitism Soldiers On
Perhaps one of the defining features of anti-Semitism is the irresistible desire of many of its proponents for intellectual respectability. Anti-Semites are known to nestle their “critique” of Jewishness within a broader scholarly scheme. Of course, the desire for intellectual respectability doesn’t mean that anti-Semitism attracts the best minds of every generation; but it certainly…
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Opinion Trump Is Right: Jerusalem Is Israel’s Capital. Now Let’s Divide It.
President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last week was met with a predictably mixed response. There was celebration across the political spectrum in Israel, protests among Palestinians and the rest of the Middle East and reactions ranging from concern to opposition throughout much of the rest of the world. But far…
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Opinion Woody Allen Getting Away With It Is The Norm — Not The Exception
Dylan Farrow says she was sexually abused by Woody Allen at age seven. I believe her. Why wouldn’t I? Actually, there’s an easy answer to that. By and large, most men do not believe most women who accuse men of sexual abuse. If that has changed (and I don’t think it has), it has only…
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Opinion It’s Time To Admit The First Intifada Was Nonviolent – And Led By Women
Thirty years ago, the Occupied Palestinian Territories erupted in a years-long uprising, which we would come to know as the First Intifada. Those old enough to remember it likely have a few dominant images seared into their memories: stones and Molotov cocktails hurled at soldiers; burning tires; military operations. And at the end of it…
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Opinion Woody Allen Plays The Anti-Semitism Card To Escape #MeToo Reckoning
Yesterday, Dylan Farrow published a brave and important op-ed in the LA Times, asking why the “#MeToo revolution,” which has exposed the horrific behavior of entertainment industry figures like Harvey Weinstein, has spared her father, Woody Allen, whom she has alleged sexually assaulted her when she was seven. It’s a devastating article which reminds its…
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Opinion Former Ambassador Dan Shapiro: Trump’s Jerusalem Announcement A Missed Opportunity
In a conference call hosted by the Israel Policy Forum, Former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro expressed uncertainty over what President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem means. “I will not sign up to the idea this is an unmitigated disaster, but it all depends on the follow up,” said Shapiro. Shapiro, who served as…
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Opinion My Fellow Pro-Israel Jews: You Got What You Wanted, But You Paid Too Much.
Dear Pro- Trump, Pro-Israel supporters, Congratulations. You got what you wanted. Yesterday, the president declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel. He didn’t use the word “undivided”, but he did promise to one day move the embassy to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was my home for three years. Israel was my parent’s home until they moved to the…
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Opinion These BDS-Supporting British Jewish Students Are Changing Their Community
Israel is a controversial issue in Britain and Jewish students are feeling its ramifications. The British Union of Jewish Students, the sole body that exists to represent Jewish Students in the UK, has always run social and religious programming. But its raison d‘etre has long been defending Israel on campus. Since Zionism became hegemonic amongst…
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Opinion Trump’s Jerusalem Move Is A Ploy To Protect Jared Kushner
Yesterday, President Donald Trump did the incomprehensible: He recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Never have the divisions been more clear-cut. The entire Arab world and the rest of the international community have opposed, condemned or expressed grave concern about Trump’s Jerusalem recognition announcement. So did the American Jewish and Israeli peace camps. All…
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Opinion Thank You Trump For Speaking The Truth. Jerusalem Is Our Beating Heart.
After my third son, Lev, was born, he had complications and I stayed with him at Hadassah Hospital. In the room on my right I could hear an ultra-Orthodox woman singing in Yiddish to her infant. On my left, a Palestinian woman murmured in Arabic to her tiny son. The machinery hooked to him kept…
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Opinion Should We Still Be Singing Shlomo Carlebach’s Songs In The #MeToo Era?
Though Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach has been dead for nearly as long as I’ve been alive, his music and ethos still echo throughout American Jewish communal life and liturgy. Carlebach’s music is almost childishly simple, often utilizing only a few easy chords and repeating a few short verses in Hebrew. In the right environment, it can…
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In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish װי האָבן ייִדישע ליטעראַטן באַטראַכט איבערזעצונגען פֿון וועלט־ליטעראַטור אויף ייִדיש?How did Yiddish literary figures perceive the translating of world literature into Yiddish?
די נײַע אױסגאַבע באַטאָנט דעם בײַטראָג פֿון סאָװעטישע ייִדישע שרײַבער אין דער אַנטװיקלונג פֿון דער מאָדערנער ייִדישער קולטור.
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News Will Jewish voters decide the NYC mayoral election?
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Fast Forward Israel announces biggest West Bank settlement expansion in decades
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Fast Forward Northern Ireland’s lone, beleaguered synagogue aims to stave off decline by engaging Christian neighbors
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