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
This Tisha B’Av, Let’s Remember the 2,000 Year History of Women of the Wall
There is a story in the Talmud about an incident that occurred after the death of Rabbi Meir. His rival, Rabbi Yehuda, declared that Rabbi Meir’s disciples would henceforth be barred from the study house. But one of Rabbi Meir’s students forced his way in, and quoted a teaching about a priest who betroths a…
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Opinion Seriously, Mahwah: Opposing An Eruv Is Anti-Semitic
A debate over some string and plastic strips has laid bare festering anti-Semitism in Mahwah, New Jersey. A recent controversy over an eruv was compounded when Mahwah’s mayor responded to his constituents’ invocations of ancient anti-Semitic tropes like the dirty Jew. The mayor backtracked on the township’s commitment to allow the Jewish community to build…
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Opinion This Tisha B’Av, I’ll Mourn For The Destruction Of Jewish Unity
When the Israeli government announced its decision last month to halt the construction and planning of a pluralistic prayer space near the Western Wall, the outcry from the Diaspora Jewish community was enormous. The proposed plan didn’t even offer a shared space at the Western Wall; it referred to an area further south by Robinson’s…
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Opinion Why We Are Spending Tisha B’Av At An Immigrant Detention Center
Jews know something about the immigrant experience. We know what it means to be a stranger, an unwelcome resident sometimes tolerated but always in danger of being uprooted and forced to become refugees. Whether we’re marking the Jews’ exile from the Land of Israel following the destruction of the Second Temple, or mourning our exile…
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Opinion This Transgender Veteran – And Ordained Rabbi – Fires Back At Trump
WASHINGTON, D.C. (JTA) — On Wednesday, in our offices near this city’s Dupont Circle, the staff at Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. were opening the mail when a request came in from a veteran asking that we change her first name on our records from Jaron to Rona. “I just immediately did it without…
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Opinion Seriously, Boycotters: If the Goal of Your Visit is to Harm Israel, Stay Home
Ever since a group of right-wing and centrist lawmakers joined forces to ban foreigners boycotting Israel from entering its borders, Israel’s amendment to its 1952 Entry into Israel Law from anti-Israel activists, it also sparked the ire of many who whole-heartedly support the Jewish state and oppose the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. Most…
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Opinion We Stand With Amichai Lau-Lavie, Rabbi Who Resigned Over Intermarriage Stance
Earlier this week, our colleague Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie resigned from the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly over his decision to perform intermarriages, as part of a larger initiative to embrace the non-Jews within his community. He is in good company. For years, many American rabbis – including some in our network – have been officiating interfaith…
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Opinion When Watching ‘Dunkirk,’ Don’t Forget Evacuations Of Jews That U.K. Stopped
The success of Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” in theaters this summer is a welcome sign, amidst the usual summer cinematic fare, that history still interests us. Britain’s mettle in evacuating some 340,000 British and allied troops from French shores amidst the German attempt to destroy them remains one of history’s great inspirations, particularly when one considers…
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Opinion Actually, Israel Is Right Not to Let In Supporters of BDS. Here’s Why
Michael Savage – a far-right radio host, along with Erich Gleibe – of the ‘National Alliance’, and Mike Guzovsky – a follower of Meir Kahane — have all been banned from entering Great Britain, a paragon of democracy, on the grounds that they “[engage] in unacceptable behavior by justifying terrorist violence… and fostering racial hatred.”…
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Opinion Why Jews Need To Fight Trump On Voting Rights — 53 Years After ‘Mississippi Burning’ Murders
(JTA) Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner are about the closest American Jews have to secular saints. The two Jewish civil rights workers traveled south for the Freedom Summer campaign of 1964, joining the African-American activist James Chaney in canvassing black churches. All three were kidnapped and murdered by a lynch mob. Forty-three years ago next Friday, Aug. 4,…
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Opinion On Intermarriage, The Conservative Movement Is At Odds With Its Members
The current crisis in Conservative Judaism can be traced to a potentially fatal flaw that has been present in the movement since its inception: It has never been one movement. It is really two movements: The movement of its rabbis and philosophical leaders, and the movement of its constituents, the laity. For generations, this tension…
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