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
Why Doesn’t Birthright Believe In Israeli Democracy?
So they will never know Wadeea. This was the thought that came to me as I read the disappointing news that Birthright has chosen to end meetings with Arab citizens of Israel, who make up one-fifth of Israel’s population. Birthright’s official statement explained that “there is a need for further analysis” of such meetings before…
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Opinion Growing Up Ultra-Orthodox, There Was No Shame In Being Poor
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]. In the ultra-Orthodox community in which I grew…
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Opinion Why Princeton Hillel Was Right To Disinvite Israeli Official
Princeton’s Hillel has indefinitely postponed a scheduled event with Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, due to pressure from progressive students. The cancelation by the Hillel, known as the Center for Jewish Life, came after students complained that Hotolevy has “repeatedly made racist statements.” Hotovely denies any Palestinian claim to land, and recently told Palestinian…
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Opinion Avi Gabbay Is #Winning: Israel’s New Political Dynamo Plays For Keeps
Welcome back to Jane Looking Forward. If you wish to continue reading this weekly newsletter, please subscribe here. And spread the word! Avi Gabbay wants you to know that he is a different kind of Labor Party leader. The newly-elected head of Israel’s oldest and arguably most troubled political party sat down with me for…
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Opinion We Asked 25 Rabbis: What Is One Thing Jews Need To Stop Doing?
As a part of our Rabbi Roundtable series, we brought together leading rabbis from all corners of the Jewish world to offer their thoughts on the big questions. This week, we asked our rabbis, “What is one thing Jews should stop doing?” Here are their responses: Jill Jacobs , Conservative, T’ruah: The Jewish community should…
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Opinion Expanding The Definition Of Anti-Semitism Hurts Jews: Testimony Before The House Judiciary Committee
The following is testimony presented before the House Judiciary Committee about proposed speech codes on November 7, 2017. It is increasingly common to hear reports that a “new anti-Semitism” threatens to endanger Jews on a scale not seen since the second World War and the Holocaust. Studies from several major Jewish organizations have sounded the…
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Opinion Is Hillary Clinton The Jewish Scapegoat Of Our Time?
Like the overwhelming majority of Jewish women, I voted for Hillary Clinton. Her experience and competence as a Senator and Secretary of State, and then as a career politician who nonetheless seemed to believe in public service and democratic values earned my support. I was drawn to her lifelong insistence that women’s rights are human…
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Opinion Is it ever OK to make Holocaust jokes?
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.
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Opinion We Are the Jews of Uganda. This Is Our Story.
My name is Mugoya Shadrach Levi. I am a second-year rabbinical student and the spiritual leader of the Jewish community of Namutumba in eastern Uganda. Until quite recently, the presence of Jews in my country was only known to a small number of outsiders. The Jews of Uganda, now widely known by their Luganda name,…
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Opinion How do we be Jewish after a year of Trump’s America?
Most American Jews awakened on Nov. 9, 2016, in a profound state of shock, fury, fear, bewilderment and disillusionment. That is not a partisan statement. It is a political fact. Donald Trump was passionately opposed by most American Jews. Trump’s administration finds even fewer supporters among them. What happened a year ago was unlike any…
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Opinion They Built A Public Pool Over The Site Of Kristallnacht — So I Danced In It
When my good friends picked me up at the Freiburg train station this past summer, they told me they had bad news: The site of the old Synagogue, burnt to the ground during the Holocaust, had been turned into a wading pool. Just the week before, the mayor and city council had presided over the…
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