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
Gorsuch’s Confirmation Will Be Brutal, But at Least His Religion Won’t Matter
The confirmation hearings for Neil Gorsuch, Donald Trump’s nominee to become a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, will undoubtedly prove bitter and contentious. After all, many Democratic Senators consider the seat stolen, because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would not meet with President Obama’s pick, Merrick Garland, let alone allow the…
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Letters Letter to the Editor: Jared Kushner Reveals The Fissures In American Judaism
In his recent column in the Forward (“How Could Modern Orthodox Judaism Produce Jared Kushner?” ) Beinart examines Jared’s recent, little-more-than-a-week long record as a member of the Trump administration. He looks at what the administration has thus far produced, and how Jared has stood by and watched it happen. In Beinart’s telling, Jared is…
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Opinion Both the Right and Left Get the Muslim Ban Wrong
Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily barring nationals of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entry to the United States has sparked a new round of furious — and fruitless — debate about Islam, terrorism, and Islamophobia. One side all but dismisses militant Islamism as a phantom menace, touting statistics to show that lawnmowers and armed toddlers…
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Opinion A Leaked Copy of Trump’s Speech at the National Prayer Breakfast
The following is purportedly a leaked transcript of President Trump’s speech from the National Prayer Breakfast. Welcome everyone. It’s prayer time, so we’re going to have our little breakfast — we have some of the best pastries, really the best and pray. I love God — really do. Great guy, God, and a big supporter…
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Opinion Letter to the Editor: The Notion That HIAS ‘Profits’ from Resettling Refugees is Ludicrous
On January 31, the Forward published a letter from the leadership of another Jewish organization that directly challenged the position of Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) on the Refugee and Muslim Ban, signed by President Trump on January 25, 2017, which happened to be International Holocaust Remembrance Day. During the 1930s and 1940s, there were…
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Opinion Judge Gorsuch Will be Good on Religious Liberties — Which Will Be Good for the Jews
When it comes to issues of interest to the Jewish community, Judge Neil Gorsuch’s potential confirmation to the Supreme Court is likely to have significant impact on the landscape of religious liberty. This is an issue the Supreme Court has been making active decisions on over the past five years. In 2012, the Court addressed…
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Opinion Stand Up for Truth
Dear Forward Reader: ‘Oh God, not the Jews again.” That was Ann Coulter, answering a BBC journalist’s question about whether her anti-immigrant stance might have harmed newcomers a century ago. We say: Yes, the Jews again. Our history, our tradition, and our values are deeply relevant to today’s news. At the Forward, we’re not staying…
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Opinion How Could Modern Orthodox Judaism Produce Jared Kushner?
In our annual progression through the Torah, we are now deep into slavery in Egypt. And each year, around this time, as I read the first Torah portions in Exodus, the same thought occurs to me: Why is all this necessary? By the end of Jacob’s life, he’s back in the Land of Israel, the…
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Opinion Letter from Ukraine: Don’t Let Refugee History Repeat Itself
The abandoned 428-year-old synagogue in Sharhorod, Ukraine stands as a powerful reminder of why millions of Jews in the world now call themselves Americans. I traveled there last week from my home in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, to better understand where my family comes from. Six of my eight great-grandparents fled villages like Sharhorod – places…
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Opinion My Late Uncle’s Memories of Germany in the 1930s Haunt Me Today
Anti-Semitism had always been a part of German culture before Hitler came to power, my great uncle Ernie Lowenstein told me. But the difference was noticeable as soon as he became chancellor. You could tell right away, he recalled. I was visiting Ernie in a retirement facility in Evansville, Indiana in the summer of 1992….
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Opinion Three Practical Ways to Preserve Our Freedoms in the Trump Era
With the election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States on November 8, 2016, our country experienced a political earthquake. It put all Americans on notice that the four years of the Trump presidency will present a challenge to maintain the foundations of our country: free-speech, free press, freedom of religion, peaceful…
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Opinion I grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.
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Fast Forward Holocaust survivor event features a Rob Reiner video address — recorded just weeks before his death
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Fast Forward In Reykjavik, Hanukkah offers a chance for Iceland’s tiny, isolated Jewish community to come together
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Opinion When my children decorate for Hanukkah, I don’t just see pride. I see pluralism in action.
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