Opinion

• Opinion

  There’s No Place For The Poor In America’s Jewish Communities

  Hello, Thank you for publishing Sharon Pomerantz’s important essay about class anxiety and Jewishness. One could easily say that Judaism in its American manifestations turns us away, just as much it turns us off when many of us face financial and class barriers. I find this to be at the center of my own lifelong…

  By Dena Schoen

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  No, I Don’t Want To Talk About Linda Sarsour Today

  Yesterday, I attended the March for Racial Justice in New York City. It was a march graciously and thoughtfully put together after the organizers of the same march in DC realized that they had scheduled their original march on Yom Kippur. It was a perfect, sunny day. There was a feeling of hope in the…

  By Elad Nehorai Oct 2, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Should Gun Control Be A Jewish Issue?

  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. We’ll incorporate your answers in a story later in the week!

  Oct 2, 2017 | < 1 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once

  

• Rob Eshman The righteous rabbis protesting those immigration raids in Los Angeles

  

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

  

• Dan Perry Don’t be grateful two hostages’ bodies were recovered. Be furious.

  

• Emily Tamkin The two things I fear most after the horrifying attack on Jews in Boulder

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Religious Pluralism Would Spell Disaster For Israel

  Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, recently penned an open letter to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Haaretz. The letter was entitled “Netanyahu Refuses to Talk to Us. But We American Jews Won’t Be Silenced”, and it was prompted by Netanyahu telling reporters that the non-Orthodox movements are using the Western…

  Oct 2, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  That ‘Israel Lobby’ Controversy? History Has Proved Us Right

  Ten years ago, John Mearsheimer and I published a controversial article and subsequent book examining the impact of the “Israel lobby” — that is, a loose coalition of pro-Israel individuals and organizations like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Christians United for Israel, just…

  By Stephen M. Walt Oct 2, 2017 | 8 min read
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  Opinion

  North Korea Has Exposed The Left’s Weakness For Dictators

  Several weeks ago, I was honored at a gala for an organization called Liberty in North Korea. The organization rescues North Korean refugees living in hiding in China, and resettles them in South Korea or the U.S. to prevent them from being forcibly repatriated to North Korea. Over the course of the last five years,…

  By Bethany Mandel Oct 2, 2017 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  How NFL Players’ #TakeAKnee Protest Ultimately Helps Trump

  Those athletes you’ve watched kneeling during the national anthem have lit a political fire of a sort not seen in professional sports in years. By bending a knee to protest racial injustice, they’ve electrified liberals and progressives, forged new bonds between team owners and players, elevated the sport beyond a mere game and exposed yet…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 1, 2017 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Should Jews Be Afraid Of Germany’s Far Right Party?

  In post-war Germany, the tiny Jewish community felt protected over many decades by the American military presence, a divided country, a stable democratic political system, and a general consensus to not repeat the sins of its recent history. The troops are gone, the country is reunited, and the political stability seemingly belongs to the past….

  By Michael Brenner and Michelle Engert Sep 28, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Letters

  Achvat Amim: We Will Not Be Silenced By The Jewish Agency

  Two weeks ago, MASA Israel officially withdrew their support of Achvat Amim, an educational and volunteer program that engages young adults with the complex realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This decision was made based on false allegations brought up by the extreme right wing NGO, Ad Kan. In response to these events and in the…

  By Achvat Amim Sep 28, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Letters

  Don’t Knock Yiddish For Dogs Until You’ve Tried It!

  While I was excited to see The Forward follow The New York Times in covering our Yiddish for Dogs program, it was disappointing that the author missed the point of the event—and, more importantly, seemed confused about the new Workmen’s Circle and what we’re about today. With that in mind, I suggest that we zitz…

  By Ann Toback Sep 28, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  How Obama Was Our Most Jewish President — And Trump Our Least

  As a young White House speechwriter – and a veteran of eight years of Hebrew school – I once tried to help Barack Obama pronounce the hard “CH” sound in “chag sameach.” At the risk of understatement, it didn’t go well. I tried to use “happy holidays” after that. But there was another, far more…

  By David Litt Sep 28, 2017 | 5 min read