Opinion

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  Don’t Mansplain Vashti To Us

  In a recent op-ed headlined “Actually, Feminists, Vashti Was The Harvey Weinstein Of Persia” published by The Forward, Rabbi Joshua Krisch attempted to sever Vashti, a character from the Book of Esther, from the men and women who love her. His argument hinged on the idea that feminists ignored the Talmudic “facts” (namely the Talmud’s…

  By Rachel Bearman

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Vashti Was The First #MeToo Survivor

  “Is Vashti the evil queen of the Purim story?” my daughter asked me after a recent Hebrew school class. Vashti, of course, was the erstwhile queen of Persia, according to the Bible’s Book of Esther. She was deposed and banned by King Ahasuerus, and then replaced by the story’s eponymous heroine, Queen Esther. “I don’t…

  By David Charles Pollack Feb 26, 2018 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Actually, Feminists, Vashti Was The Harvey Weinstein Of Persia

  If Mordechai and Esther saw what 2018 had done to Purim, I like to think they’d be satisfied. The day is commemorated across Jewish denominations with celebration, exchanging of gifts, donations to the poor, and public Megillah readings—just as they requested. King Achashverosh, perhaps, would be less amused with how history remembered his reign. But…

  By Joshua A. Krisch Feb 25, 2018 | 4 min read

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• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry The 3 responses to the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack that could make Jews safer

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why Do So Many Jewish Last Names Come From Women?

  There’s a strange phenomenon that pops up surrounding the last names of Jews in the Russian Empire during the 19th century. A lot of them were derived from women’s first names, which is known as “matronymics.” The existence of last names like Belkin, Dvorkin, Malkin, and Rivkin, derived from Belka (Beyle), Dvorka (Deborah), Malka, and…

  By Alexander Beider Feb 25, 2018 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  I Was Alyssa Alhadeff’s Camp Counselor. No One Should Have To Go To 4 Funerals In One Day.

  Standing in the cemetery, a heavy quiet suffocated the hundreds of mourners of Alyssa Alhadeff. Not a sound could be heard, not even the cicadas, with their ever-present chirp in the Florida humidity, made a noise. Then, the thump of dirt on a box too hollow. Thump. Thump. A piercing cry of anguish, “No! No…

  By Aaron Torop Feb 23, 2018 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The NRA Has An Anti-Semitism Problem

  Purim is right around the corner. It’s the holiday in which we commemorate a crazy, long-ago time when wealthy Jews were targeted by anti-Semites, and a vain, know-nothing ruler did nothing to stop it. Sorry, that’s this past week. First, of course, came the horrific mass-murder of 17 people, 14 of them students and five…

  By Jay Michaelson Feb 23, 2018 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Abbas Just Committed To A Two State Solution. It’s Time For Israel To Follow Suit.

  In a landmark speech to the Security Council this week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued an important challenge to his American and Israeli counterparts. Laying out explicit support for the two-state solution and a serious proposal for getting there, Abbas raised the obvious question: Why are President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu unwilling to do…

  By Jeremy Ben-Ami Feb 22, 2018 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  You Can’t Force A Peace Deal, President Trump

  A central and enduring premise of American pro-Israel leadership has always been that any resolution of the conflict between Israel and its neighbors, specifically including the Palestinians, should not be imposed from the outside, but must instead result from agreement between the parties. It is this principle — that a US administration cannot force a…

  By Alan P. Solow Feb 22, 2018 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  6 Things Orthodox Girls Schools Should Do In The #MeToo Era

  March first marks the start of Women’s History Month. That date also marks the yartzeit of Sarah Schenirer, pioneer of Bais Yaakov, the ultra-Orthodox girls’ school. In the words of former Bais Yaakov student, Alanis Morissette (kidding), isn’t it ironic? Schenirer is the OG Orthodox feminist. She was a blazing renegade who could stand with…

  By Rebecca Mordechai Feb 22, 2018 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Is Hating Poles The New Bigotry Of the Day?

  Tensions between Jews and Poles are at an all time high over a new Polish law that would would make it illegal — and punishable by up to three years in prison — to say that the Polish government or nation took part in the Holocaust. Diaspora Jews and Israelis alike have been quick to…

  By Marcin Makowski Feb 21, 2018 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  American Jews Don’t Need Israel to be Jewish

  In a recent Forward article about a new study on young American Jewry, Batya Ungar-Sargon explains that Israel’s far-right turn has left young jews increasingly disconnected from modern day Israel, and even the idea of a Jewish State itself. While highlighting some important developments that make clear the urgent need for justice in Israel/Palestine and…

  By Michael Robin Feb 21, 2018 | 4 min read