Opinion

• Opinion

  No, The Orthodox Don’t Hate Muslims

  Last year, a Hassidic rabbi and son of Holocaust survivors did something noble. He dedicated his presidential election vote to the American Muslim soldier Captain Humayun Khan — who was killed in combat and about whom his father Khizr spoke movingly at the Democratic National Convention. I’m an Orthodox Jewish Immigrant My vote is private….

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Should Al Franken Resign?

  Have Your Say is your chance to tell us what you think. Comment below or on Facebook and let us know what you think about the question posed in the headline.

  By Forward Staff Nov 20, 2017 | < 1 min read
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  Letters

  Progressive Orthodox Rabbis Stand With Reform Leaders Attacked At Kotel

  We are appalled and outraged by the events at the Kotel this week, when Reform rabbis and lay leaders were physically attacked by Kotel security guards. The Reform leaders were engaged in an act of civil disobedience to push for implementation of the Kotel agreement, which the Netanyahu government disavowed after months of negotiation. One…

  By Rabbinic members of Torat Chayim the Progressive Orthodox Rabbinic Association Nov 20, 2017 | < 1 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson We must face reality — the Gaza war is now a war of annihilation

  

• Rob Eshman This Shavuot, fill your blintz with lox

  

• Nora Berman For new parents, the aid crisis in Gaza is hitting hard

  

• Dan Perry Netanyahu is at a crossroads: Endless war, or peace?

  

• Emily Tamkin Even if the Capital Jewish Museum shooter ‘did it for Gaza,’ his actions were antisemitic

  

The Latest

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  Letters

  Now Is Not The Time To Call Jewish Intellectuals Sexy

  Dear Editor, Regarding your “Sexiest Jewish Intellectual” list: it is beyond an appalling and tone deaf use of column inches to have this list. We are in the throes of a near constant stream of conversations about sexual harassment and assault and calling intellectualism sexy is not cute and is a mystifying objectification of women…

  By Yael Ridberg Nov 20, 2017 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m A Latina Who Works For The ADL. JVP’s Attacks Shocked Me

  I’m a non-Jewish Latina who works at the Anti-Defamation League. I love this work. I’m proud of this work. I’ve taken up the cause of fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry because, as a Latina, I can’t simply be concerned with anti-immigrant or anti-Latino hate. To be effective in building a more equal and…

  By Betsaida Alcantara Nov 20, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How The Jewish Community Can Make #MeToo Into #WeToo

  We may be at an inflection point, a moment when #MeToo becomes #WeToo, when the gender rules that have hurt and disadvantaged women for so very long are finally and substantively challenged. And if so — if the outpouring of painful recollections and apologies and resignations and outrage unleashed by the Harvey Weinstein story are…

  By Jane Eisner Nov 20, 2017 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  I Was Roughed Up At The Western Wall — For Being A Reform Jew

  Thursday was quite a day for Reform Judaism in Jerusalem. A delegation of our movement’s leaders, which included the Board of Governors of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion on which I sit, gathered for morning prayers in the archaeological park outside the Western Wall plaza. The occasion was the ordination, later in the…

  By Joshua M. Davidson Nov 17, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Myanmar Is Not The First Genocidal Government Israel Has Sold Arms To

  On September 26, I published a piece in the Forward detailing a petition before the Israeli High Court to end the sale of Israeli arms and training to the military of Myanmar, who are widely regarded as guilty of a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya which some would call genocide. The Israeli government…

  By Matthew Gindin Nov 16, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Israel’s New Divorce Law Makes A Bad Situation Worse

  For the past 4 years, Member of Knesset Aliza Lavie of Yesh Atid and Religious Services Minister David Azoulay of Shas have been promoting a law that would allow rabbinic courts to take “international” jurisdiction over cases of agunot — women unable to remarry because their husbands refuse to grant them a religious divorce (a…

  By Susan Weiss Nov 16, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Roy Moore Will Probably Win. And The Media Has Only Itself To Blame

  If Roy Moore is guilty of sexual assault — and the evidence is mounting — that would constitute a stunning indictment of a leading candidate for the U.S. Senate, arguably, one of nation’s most prestigious and elite governmental bodies. And he might win anyway. Let that sink in for a moment. Republican officials are calling…

  By Nachama Soloveichik Nov 16, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Are Orthodox Organizations Embracing Christian Values?

  There is a talmudic story in Tractate Avodah Zarah in which the Roman authorities arrest Rabbi Eliezer on suspicion of heresy. He is acquitted through a lucky misunderstanding: when the rabbi declares his trust in the “Judge” — meaning God — the judge understands this as a vote of confidence in his own authority. Nevertheless,…

  By Jill Jacobs Nov 16, 2017 | 5 min read