Opinion

• Opinion

  Orthodoxy Is Not Victimized By The Kotel Compromise

  In his Forward column titled “Kotel Controversy Shows That U.S. Jewish Groups Don’t Represent The Orthodox,” Avi Shafran claims that the American Orthodox community has been treated like “chopped liver” in recent debates over the Western Wall and conversion law in Israel. While I acknowledge American Orthodox voices have been missing in the news coverage…

  By Josh Weinberg

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Diaspora Jews Deserve A Seat At Israel’s Table

  Tensions between the Israeli government and Jewish leaders worldwide remain high, despite a move by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two weeks ago to shelve a controversial bill that would have made the Chief Rabbinate the only body authorized by the government to perform conversions in Israel. The crisis over the new conversion law broke out…

  By Yohanan Plesner Jul 12, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Trump’s Terrible Personality Matters Even More Than His Terrible Policies

  Six months after Donald Trump’s inauguration, we’re still chattering nonstop about his shortcomings. It’s time to move on. Granted, the man’s flaws seem innumerable. Granted, too, we’re still discovering new ones almost daily. Nonetheless, it’s time to shift gears and talk about more important things. To be specific, it’s time to start talking about Trump’s…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 11, 2017 | 4 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 A precise, Chekhovian logic guided Israel’s strike on Iran — but chaos could come next

  

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

  

• Dan Perry Mike Huckabee’s stunning, terrifying new gift to the Israeli right

  

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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  All Jews Must Welcome Interfaith Families — It’s What Rabbi Hillel Would Do

  I encountered fierce opposition to a piece I wrote recently on the value of welcoming multi-faith families into our communities and adopting a posture of radical hospitality. I believe that providing a space that caters to every Jew’s spiritual needs — even if that Jew is married to someone of another faith — is the…

  By Avram Mlotek Jul 11, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Kotel Crisis Might Be For The Best — It Will Reinvigorate Judaism

  Maybe the Israeli government’s decision to kill the Western Wall agreement should be viewed not as a humiliating slap in the face, but as an opportunity to redefine our goals as non-Orthodox Jews. Liberal American Jews, like myself, felt so hurt and angry that the Israeli government reneged on its promise to create an egalitarian…

  By Misha Shulman Jul 11, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Ivanka Takes Us Two Steps Back — Even As Gal Gadot Soars Forward

  For American moviegoers, this has been the summer when a former beauty queen who plays a comic book character on the big screen has become an inspiring figure to millions of women and girls. That would be Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot. It’s also the summer when the most powerful woman in the White House is…

  By Jane Eisner Jul 11, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Israeli Politician: We Need U.S. Jews To Play A Bigger Role In Our Politics

  This time the Israeli government went too far, and it is high time for us, concerned Israelis, and for you, members of the Jewish community in the U.S., to say in unison, loudly and clearly, that American Jews must have a seat at the table. The majority of Israelis do not support the disgraceful decisions…

  By Manuel Trajtenberg Jul 10, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Jane Looking Forward: Revisiting the Red Tent, Nazi Medical Ethics, Ivanka and More

  The tragic story of Tulasi Shahi reads as if it belongs in the Dark Ages. As is the custom in her community in Nepal, the 18-year-old had been sent to stay in her uncle’s hut while she menstruated, forced to sleep on wooden boards in a rough structure normally housing cows. She died last Friday,…

  By Jane Eisner Jul 10, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  I Was Blacklisted By Israel’s Chief Rabbinate

  The first memory I have of my father, Harry S. Allen, sitting me down and telling me the facts of life was when I was 4 or 5. He told me in no uncertain terms that there were three things that one needed to do to live a decent and fully Jewish life: keep kosher,…

  By Morris Allen Jul 10, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Rabbinate’s Diaspora Blacklist Doesn’t Defend Judaism — It Undermines It

  JERUSALEM (JTA) — Over the weekend, JTA and others reported on a “blacklist of rabbis” maintained by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate. The list contains the names of more than 160 rabbis whom the rabbinate does not trust to confirm the Jewish identity of immigrants to Israel. The list, obtained by Itim from the rabbinate after a protracted…

  By Seth Farber Jul 10, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Jews Should Worry About Trump’s Stoking Fears Of Muslims — Especially In Poland

  Last week in Poland, President Trump uttered this remarkable statement: “Americans, Poles and nations of Europe value freedom and sovereignty. We must work together to confront forces, whether they come inside or out, from the south or the east, that threaten over time to undermine these values and to erase the bonds of culture, faith…

  By Peter Beinart Jul 9, 2017 | 4 min read