In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
Opinion
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Opinion
The Global Climate Forecast: Apocalyptic
This past weekend we stared down the Apocalypse. It’s not yet clear which side came out ahead, but we’re still breathing, which is pretty good. In France, the first round of the two-part presidential election ended with first place going to the only plausible candidate in the 11-person field. The first-place winner, banker Emmanuel Macron,…
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Opinion What Macron’s Victory Says About French Jews
The vast majority of French Jews are celebrating Emmanuel Macron’s first-round victory in the presidential runoff. He is a globalist with a social conscience, a convinced European who will not lock France into a populist straightjacket. French Jews, like most of their compatriots. feared the possible presence of two other candidates in the second round:…
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Opinion 5 Perplexing Things About ‘Secular Orthodoxy’
The arrival of Passover brings about the need to outline the guiding principles of what was – and may still be – the largest Jewish denomination in Israel: orthodox secularism. This comes in spite of the fact that over the years this denomination hasn’t bothered others (and for the most part not even its own)…
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Opinion Friendly Fire: Why Do Some Fellow Jews Scorn The Ultra-Orthodox?
Among the responses to my critique of CNN’s Reza Aslan’s portrayal of Israeli haredim as a threat to the country, two stand out. One was public, civil and reasoned; the other private and, well, otherwise. The latter, from E. S. (he signed his full name), a self-described Conservative-turned-Reform Jew, characterized haredim as “an abominable blight…
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Letters The Kushner Theory of Relativity
My last name – Kushner – wasn’t a big deal until the election of President Trump. Now everyone wants to know if I’m related to Jared Kushner. Aviya Kushner of the Forward apparently gets this question, too. Her response: “The short answer: no.” That’s what she wrote in her recent article “Why It’s So Hard…
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Opinion This Week In Anti-Semitism: Troll Attacks And Hitler’s Birthday
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. 1. French-Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy was inundated with anti-Semitic attacks online….
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Opinion How ‘Moderate’ Ultra-Orthodox Aid And Abet Extremism In Israel
In his recent article, “How CNN’s ‘Believer’ Smears Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox As Intolerant ‘Black Peril’” published in the Forward, Rabbi Avi Shafran takes issue with CNN religion reporter Reza Aslan’s portrayal of Haredi Jews in Israel as “bent on creating an oppressive theocracy.” Shafran, who believes Aslan’s piece maligned the Haredi, used his op-ed to depict…
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Opinion It’s Time For Conservative Jews To Embrace Sexual Fluidity
“Homosexuality, Human Dignity and Halakhah” was approved by the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) on December 6, 2006, representing a watershed moment for the Conservative Movement. Rigorous scholarship, moral clarity and rabbinic courage provided a compassionate religious response to a complex matter, epitomizing the ethical and redemptive power of halakhah. However,…
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Opinion Israel’s Settlement Blocs Block Prospects For Peace
“Everybody knows,” goes the argument. “Everybody knows that under any future Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, West Bank settlement blocs will be annexed to Israel.” And because everyone knows that, the argument goes, Israel should be allowed, even encouraged, to continue unhindered with settlement construction in the “blocs.” Proponents of construction in settlement blocs argue the following….
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Opinion Is Marwan Barghouti The Palestinian Nelson Mandela?
In the April 16 New York Times, Marwan Barghouti announced that he and 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners were launching a hunger strike. It’s easy to understand why. West Bank Palestinians are colonial subjects. Even though the Palestinian Authority has some power, it is not a state, and the Israeli military can freely enter the West…
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Opinion What You Need To Know About Marwan Barghouti
To some observers, Marwan Barghouti promises a path to peace. To others, he inspires liberation. And to his jailers, he is a mass murdering terrorist. Marwan Barghouti is widely seen as the most popular political figure in Palestinian society, but he is currently serving a life sentence for murder in an Israeli prison. Last week,…
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Opinion The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel
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Film & TV In ‘Disclosure Day,’ Steven Spielberg finds himself at odds with Jewish thought about aliens
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Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
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News Abdul El-Sayed is courting Jewish voters — without moderating his views on Israel
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News Who is Gadi Eisenkot, the Israeli politician who could dethrone Netanyahu?
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Culture My father was my hero and, when he was dying, I wrote this song for him
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Fast Forward Trump nominee defends college cartoon of Jewish student with devil horns at Senate hearing
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Fast Forward Former antisemitic activist Lucas Gage explains to Jewish podcast why he left the movement