Opinion

• Opinion

  What We Can Learn From Trump’s Saudi Sword Dance

  I don’t know about you, but until President Trump’s trip to the Middle East last month, I had never heard of a “sword dance.” Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, you’ll recall, were welcomed to Saudi Arabia at the Murabba Palace, near Riyadh, where they joined a lively group of Saudis clad in traditional…

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  This Week In Anti-Semitism: Graffiti Never Seems To Go Away

  The Forward regularly monitors the surge of anti-Semitism across the country and around the world. The mission of this column is not to unduly alarm, but rather to raise awareness of a disturbing trend that, from some vantage points, can prove difficult to spot. Students and Jewish community members at San Francisco State University filed…

  By Steven Davidson Jun 22, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘This Is Not The Moment,’ To Lift Our Ban On Performing Interfaith Weddings

  The Jewish Theological Seminary affirms that the study of Torah, the sacred wisdom of our people, and the performance of mitzvot, Judaism’s sanctified pattern of religious practice, stand at the very core of Jewish identity. Torah and mitzvot have always been the foundation of the Jewish people’s covenant with God, guiding and sustaining us for…

  By The Jewish Theological Seminary Jun 22, 2017 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry The 3 responses to the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack that could make Jews safer

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why We Decided To Perform Intermarriages

  Four poles, a covering on top, open on all four sides -— the huppah. It’s such a simple structure, yet so layered with meaning. It is at once a private sacred space for the couple symbolizing their Jewish home, as well as a symbol that Jewish life is not lived in isolation, but in community….

  By Felicia Sol, and J. Rolando Matalon, and Marcelo Bronstein Jun 21, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Conservative Movement Will Inevitably Cave On Intermarriage

  Reading Rabbi Julie Schonfeld’s recent defense of Conservative Judaism’s ban on rabbis performing intermarriages, my primary sentiment was one of sadness. Why, though? It was not that I disagreed with her; on the contrary, I echo many of her sentiments and agree with her bottom line that performing mixed-faith marriages is a red line that…

  By Daniel Gordis Jun 21, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Is One Pro-Israel Group Desperate To Keep You From Watching This Video?

  When it comes to Palestinians, the American Jewish establishment is in the ignorance business. The average American synagogue has never hosted a Palestinian speaker. The average “pro-Israel” activist has never read a book by a Palestinian author. The American Jewish philanthropists who fund Birthright send thousands of young American Jews to Israel each year, on…

  By Peter Beinart Jun 21, 2017 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Fresno State Professors Must Stop Pushing Anti-Israel Conspiracy Theories

  Prof. Vida Samiian knew just whom she wanted to blame when the search to fill the Edward Said Professorship in Middle East Studies was suspended at California State University, Fresno. As she stated in an angry letter of resignation from the faculty, Samiian believed that the process had been derailed by “vicious and discriminatory attacks…

  By Steven Lubet Jun 20, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Jane Looking Forward: The Debate On Intermarriage, Birth Control And More

  When Abraham Cahan was editor of the Forward from its founding in 1897 and for much of the next 50 years, he could leave the newspaper offices on 175 East Broadway, wind his way through the crowded streets of the Lower East Side, pass by schools and synagogues and shops, and literally touch his readers….

  By Jane Eisner Jun 20, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Religious Argument For Supporting Contraception

  When the Trump administration signaled its recent intention to cancel the federal requirement that many religious employers offer birth control coverage in health insurance plans, it was framed as a victory for religious freedom. As in, “I’m a boss, and my faith teaches that life begins at conception, and therefore preventing conception is akin to…

  By Jane Eisner Jun 20, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  What Do Interfaith Families Want From Rabbis?

  In the most recent round of wrestling over interfaith marriage, we have heard from rabbis, academics and community leaders. As someone in the middle generation of a three-generation interfaith family, one founded in 1960 when my Jewish father married my Protestant mother, I thought it might be useful to weigh in. In doing so, I…

  By Susan Katz Miller Jun 20, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Fault Lines Episode 11: IfNotNow and Zionism Today

  The Israeli occupation in the West Bank has polarized the American Jewish community. One demonstration of this fact is in IfNotNow, who has emerged as one of the most influential movements on the Jewish left. Members of IfNotNow are expressing their disdain for Israeli policy by actively pushing American Jews to stop supporting the occupation….

  Jun 20, 2017 | 2 min read