Opinion

• Opinion

  The Secret Fear Plaguing The Unmarried, Untethered Orthodox

  I did not grow up a religious Jew, but for my entire adult life, I’ve been a member of the Orthodox world. As a result, I’ve spent a lot of time in other people’s homes, with other people’s families; Orthodox life is built around the family, and Shabbat and holidays are desolate affairs if you’re…

  By Laura E. Adkins

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Can Trump and Kushner’s Amateurish Efforts In The Middle East Succeed?

  All the principals destined to be involved in the Trump administration’s much touted “ultimate deal” between Israelis and Palestinians are heading for the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, September 19. In the coming days, President Trump will meet in New York with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and possibly with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu…

  By Yossi Alpher Sep 15, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Stripping Non-Jews Of Their Israeli Citizenship Threatens Zionism

  A recent story in Haaretz about Bedouins being stripped of their Israeli citizenship shocked readers. It seemed to confirm the worst suspicions about Israel and Zionism more generally, and at a time when it is disturbingly fashionable to equate Zionism as racism, the story could not be more relevant. Indeed, the story of the Bedouins…

  By Andrew Mark Bennett Sep 14, 2017 | 5 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 My brother-in-law’s kibbutz weathered Oct. 7. Then came the Iranian missile strikes

  

• Nora Berman Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla was never going to help Palestinians

  

• Dan Perry Celebrating my daughter’s birthday in a bomb shelter, as missiles struck Tel Aviv

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s latest move makes Mahmoud Khalil a Joseph for our times

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why We Are Joining President Trump’s Rosh Hashanah Call

  It’s hardly a secret that there isn’t exactly a broad consensus within the Jewish community about President Trump (or for that matter, sadly, much else). Criticism of Mr. Trump for his string of public remarks last month about the violence in Charlottesville came from both liberal and some conservative media, even from some lawmakers in…

  Sep 14, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  As A Working-class Kid In My Conservative Community, I Knew I Was Different

  This essay is part of our ongoing series, Outside the Bubble: Class and Inequality in the Jewish Community. It explores the class divides in Jewish communities of all denominations, and the financial struggles belonging to these communities can incur. Please email your thoughts and essays to [email protected]. I know I am privileged. I know –…

  By Mitch Nelles Sep 14, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How The Obsession With Jewish Continuity Perverts Our Liberal Values

  This week, we found out from sociologist Steven Cohen that the worlds of Reform and Conservative Judaism are disappearing into blackness — almost literally. Their scant replacement numbers are being demographically dwarfed by the masses of Orthodox children, and a generation down the line the American Jewish population will have drastically shifted its religious affiliation….

  By Batya Ungar-Sargon Sep 14, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The ‘Orthodox Explosion’ Is Not About Numbers — It’s About Our Values

  A recent article in these pages by sociologist Steven Cohen and others concluded, based on the Pew Research Center’s findings, that in 40 years, far fewer American Jews will identify as Conservative and Reform, and far more will identify as Orthodox. While the authors wrote of this as a “jarring” trend, it is hardly surprising…

  By Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt Sep 13, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Does Orthodox Explosion Signal Doom For Conservative And Reform?

  In the next 20-40 years, we will witness dramatic changes in the American Jewish population. The changes won’t be in overall size, but in how many Jews are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and nondenominational. In 2013, the Pew Research Center’s study of Jewish Americans revealed much about the future of American Jewry. We recently plotted the…

  By Steven M. Cohen and Mickey Gussow and Edieal Pinker Sep 13, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Jared Kushner, Israel And The Enduring Power Of ‘Whiteness’

  Ta-Nehisi Coates has published a new essay. It’s about Donald Trump and the enduring power of whiteness in American politics. It doesn’t mention Israel. But it explains a lot about the American Israel debate, and why it may change. The American Jewish establishment’s dominance of the Israel debate in Washington has never been more complete….

  By Peter Beinart Sep 13, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  No, The Voynich Manuscript Hasn’t Been Decoded. Here’s Why These Failures Persist.

  Last week there was a high-profile story in the Times Literary Supplement claiming that the mysterious Voynich Manuscript had been deciphered. The Voynich Manuscript has long bedevilled would-be code crackers. It is a handwritten book in an as yet undeciphered language. It’s a couple of hundred pages long, containing text interspersed with images ranging from…

  By Gordon Rugg Sep 12, 2017 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Jane Looking Forward: The Smear Against David Myers Has Failed (So Far)

  Welcome back to Jane Looking Forward a little more than a week before the High Holidays. Remember, if you wish to continue reading this weekly newsletter, sign up here. And please share with your friends and community! It appears that the campaign to oust David Myers from his new position as president and CEO of…

  By Jane Eisner Sep 12, 2017 | 3 min read