Opinion

• 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

  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

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman A gunman attacked a Michigan synagogue. Here’s what happens to the community next

  

• Dan Perry Trump’s Iran dithering puts Israel in an unprecedented position

  

• Emily Tamkin Gavin Newsom just confirmed the demise of the Democratic party’s support for Israel

  

• Jay Michaelson We are talking past one another on Zionism

  

The Latest

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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
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  Letters

  Camping Is A Part Of My Jewish DNA

  I was taken aback when I read Peter Beinart’s article, “Is Judaism a Big Tent?” just a few days after returning from a four week kayaking trip with my daughter through our ancestral homeland of Lithuania. Each day, we paddled along Lithuanian rivers, large and small — the Neris, Levuo, Nevezis, Nemunas, and Minija —…

  By Dan Fink Jul 8, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Israel’s Rules To Muzzle Professors Will Only Make Things Worse

  Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett is frustrated — as we are — that some professors who teach about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are designing their courses with the aim of undermining Israel’s basic legitimacy in the minds of their students. Such courses are an issue not just in Israel but also in the United States. The…

  By Cary Nelson Jul 7, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Israeli Right Is Terrified of Peace — And Their Jerusalem Bill Proves It

  The man who heads the right flank of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Israeli governing coalition, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, issued on Sunday what amounts to an extraordinary public acknowledgment: that a peace agreement with the Palestinians is possible — and indeed that negotiators had come within “a hair’s breadth” of concluding an agreement several…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 7, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Is Gal Gadot White? Here’s What People On The Street Think

  Inspired by the debate surrounding the whiteness of Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot, we took to the streets to see what the average New Yorker has to say. Michael Heckle is the Forward opinion summer fellow and ASME associate.

  By Michael Heckle Jul 6, 2017 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m The First Transgender Army Officer In Israeli History. This Is My Story.

  Last week, four years after I graduated from the Israel Defense Forces officer course, I was promoted to the rank of captain. For me, this is not a personal achievement; it is one dedicated to my commanders. Understand that my journey was not like any other. I am Israel’s first openly transgender soldier. A year…

  By Shachar Erez Jul 6, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Did Bibi Badly Miscalculate Liberal Rage Over Western Wall?

  Benjamin Netanyahu has miscalculated. In the days since the Israeli prime minister reneged on a decision that would have allowed men and women to pray together at Jerusalem’s holy Western Wall, the outrage among American Jews is only getting worse. The carefully-crafted agreement, adopted by Netanyahu’s cabinet in January 2016 with input from Israeli and…

  By Noga Tarnopolsky Jul 6, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Kotel Controversy Shows That U.S. Jewish Groups Don’t Represent The Orthodox

  What are we, chopped liver? The question, from my Orthodox corner of the American Jewish world, is born of the recent onslaught of outrage aimed at the Israeli government by representatives of “American Jewry.” The outrage itself, of course, was born of two things. The first was the Israeli Cabinet’s freezing of a resolution aimed…

  Jul 6, 2017 | 4 min read