Opinion

• Opinion

  The Bible Is Packed With Tough Guy Jews

  This article was originally published in the Forward on August 8, 1997. In his eagerness to embrace what he terms Judaism’s “sissy heritage” (“Deconstructing the Jewish Man,” June 27), Daniel Boyarin seems to deliberately ignore another, equally valid side of the Jewish heritage that happens not to fit his ideology. The Zionist “tough guy” machismo…

  By Herbert J. Lerner

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  The Complicated Relationship Between Jews And Tattoos

  This article originally appeared in The Forward on July 4, 1997. The first tattoo, speculates Peter Trachtenberg, was the mark of God placed on Cain “lest anyone finding him kill him.” In other words, muses the author of “7 Tattoos,” “From the very beginning tattoos were associated with wrongdoing.” but that was not their only…

  By Robin Cembalest May 9, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Time For Peace With The Palestinians Was After The Six Day War

  On Friday, June 10, 1967, when the enormity of Israel’s stunning victory in the Six Day War became clear, I presented a memo to Israel’s foreign minister, Abba Eban. Now was the time, I argued, for Israel to propose a bold initiative to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. My recommendation was that we use the dramatic…

  By Shlomo Avineri May 9, 2017 | 3 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 doctor in the midst of the Boulder attack: ‘This did not come out of vacuum’

  

• 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

  Don’t Force-Feed Palestinian Hunger Strikers

  The Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council expresses its support for over 1600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails who have embarked on a hunger strike in protest of the dehumanizing conditions of their incarceration. We also affirm their right to conduct a hunger strike without the threat of force-feeding by Israeli authorities. We applaud…

  By Alan Meyers May 9, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Jews Should Emulate Scientology To Recruit Celebs

  This article originally appeared in the Forward on March 5, 1999. If Gwyneth Paltrow wanted to belong, who would kick her out of any club? Given her long rabbinical lineage, you’d think the Jews would be happy to have the Oscar-nominated blond bombshell as a member of the tribe. Ah, but the rabbis come from…

  By Beth Pinsker May 8, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  When Prayer Becomes Leisure

  It is no surprise that many American Jews are proponents of what they call greater spirituality. This is characteristic of what Ronald Inglehart has termed the “postmaterialist” generation. In his study “Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society,” based on survey data from 25 industrial societies, Mr. Inglehart argues that economic, technological and sociopolitical changes have…

  By Charles S. Liebman May 8, 2017 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  What The Long-Lost Diaries Of The First U.S. Ambassador To Israel Teach Us Today

  What lies ahead for the US relationship with Israel, under President Trump, his son-in-law confidant, Jared Kushner, and his ambassador to the Jewish state, David Friedman? All are surely eager to overturn recent Israeli diplomatic setbacks, such as the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 2234 condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Much has…

  By Norman J.W. Goda and Richard Breitman May 8, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Despite The National Front’s ‘Rebranding,’ The Fight Against The Far Right Marches On

  France’s election of Emmanuel Macron over Marine Le Pen represents a huge victory for republican values against a party of hatred. Today, as we commemorate Victory on Europe Day, marking the end of WW2, France can be proud to have demonstrated its desire to maintain its rank amongst the free nations by continuing to embrace…

  By Sacha Ghozlan May 8, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m A Zionist And A Feminist. I Stand With Linda Sarsour.

  On February 21, the cemetery in St. Louis where several members of my family are buried was desecrated by cowardly, anti-Semitic vandals. Minutes after I posted about it on social media, I got a text from Linda Sarsour expressing sympathy and offering to help. One day later, she had organized thousands of Muslims across the…

  By Brad Lander May 8, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Marine Le Pen Lost French Election, But Still Won

  Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate in France’s presidential race, called Sunday’s election a “choice of civilization.” Almost two-thirds of voters heeded those words and cast their ballot for the only civilized option: her 39-year-old rival, centrist Emmanuel Macron. The result comes as a relief to liberals on both sides of the Atlantic, who badly…

  By Daniel J. Solomon May 7, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Books

  Is There Still A Chance For Peace In The Middle East?

  Not long ago, I strolled along the spotless streets of Rawabi, a new Palestinian city being built near Ramallah, with Jack Nassar, the project’s development manager. He is an educated young man, smartly dressed and well compensated. We walked past the impressive amphitheater, strolled through expansive parks, saw the church and the mosque, and viewed…

  By Nir Baram May 7, 2017 | 5 min read