Opinion

• Opinion

  Trump’s Policy On Syrian Refugees Reflects America At Its Most Pathological

  *This piece is part of a series about the issues in the 2016 presidential election.** With the number of people killed in Syria climbing toward 500,000, almost 5 million people have left their homes in search of safety. Under the Obama administration, the U.S. has accepted 10,000 Syrian refugees. Hillary Clinton has said she would…

  By Batya Septimus

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Hillel’s Cancellation of Shavit: PR Move, or Return to Jewish Values?

  In an uncharacteristic, and laudable move, yesterday Hillel International cancelled Ari Shavit’s book tour of US college campuses after accusations of sexual harassment against Danielle Berrin were made public. Hillel and other major Jewish organizations, have not always been as quick on the draw. In lower profile sexual harassment cases on individual campuses, and organizations…

  By Jordie Gerson Oct 28, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  All Smoke, No Fire. Maybe Mirrors at the Clinton Foundation.

  The thing that’s most upsetting about the latest WikiLeaks disclosures and the larger Clinton email scandal is the rank dishonesty and hypocrisy so painfully on display. I refer, of course, to the malodorous clouds of ecstatic indignation wafting aloft from the ranks of moralists and Republicans as they fondle the electronic treasures lavished on them…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 28, 2016 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why All Jews Should Hate Halloween — and So Should Everybody Else

  Because Halloween, as All Hallows’ Eve, has its roots in pagan mythology and the Christian calendar, Jews traditionally don’t celebrate it. But increasingly people (including Jews) around the world are celebrating American Halloween and that’s a terrible mistake. Maybe I am aging into a curmudgeon — certainly young children and LGBT communities have righteous fun…

  By Dan Friedman Oct 27, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Secret Republican Gerrymandering Push Devastated Jewish Lawmakers

  With a landslide presidential victory likely in just a few days, Democrats are quickly turning their attention to the thorny question of how a Hillary Clinton administration might advance an agenda in the face of an obstructionist, Republican-run Congress. Polling analysts give Democrats good odds — better than 2–1 — of retaking the Senate, albeit…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 27, 2016 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Interfaith Kids Are Still Being Raised Jewish. Here’s How.

  Twenty-five years after studies noted unprecedentedly high rates of interfaith marriage for American Jews, noted scholar Steven M. Cohen wrote an article asking how Jews were doing in protecting Jewish continuity in light of intermarriage. His answer, in short, was “Not well.” Dr. Cohen argues interfaith marriage is bad for Jews because it results in…

  By Samira Mehta Oct 26, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel Has Disappeared From the Presidential Campaign. Should We Care?

  This presidential election cycle has seen an unprecedented number of words and phrases enter the campaign lexicon, repeated again and again until they take on a life — or a hashtag — of their own. Loser. Crooked. Deplorables. Nasty woman. Build the wall. Putin’s puppet. And a few other choice ones I’d rather not repeat…

  By Jane Eisner Oct 26, 2016 | 4 min read
• Letters

  Letter to the Editor: On Genuinely Embracing Interfaith Families

  It is gratifying to see Steven M. Cohen, a prominent critic of intermarriage, say that “Efforts to welcome, engage and educate the already-intermarried are admirable and necessary.” (Which of our Grandchildren Will Be Jewish in This Age of Intermarriage, October 24) The twenty-five years of programming Steven describes, which he says still leave disheartening demographic…

  By Edmund Case Oct 26, 2016 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Hey, Curt Schilling, Let Me Tell You About American Jews

  In a recent interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Curt Schilling, the baseball star turned Donald Trump surrogate and possible senatorial candidate, turned the tables on Tapper and said: I would like to ask something as a person who is practicing the Jewish faith and have since you were young, I don’t understand — and this…

  By Jay Michaelson Oct 26, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Blaming ‘the Media’ Boosts Anti-Semitism — and Donald Trump’s Not the Only Culprit

  Whether your friends are progressive, conservative, or anywhere in between, I bet they hate “the media.” In the last week alone, I’ve had lefty friends blame “the media” for ignoring protests at a pipeline in North Dakota, right-wing friends blame “the media” for ignoring the emails that WikiLeaks obtained from the Russian despotic regime, and…

  By Jay Michaelson Oct 24, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Which of Our Grandchildren Will Be Jewish in This Age of Intermarriage?

  This year marks the 25th anniversary of the announcement of stunningly high rates of intermarriage among American Jews. In 1991, analyzing the National Jewish Population Survey, distinguished researchers Barry Kosmin and Sidney Goldstein reported a rate of 52%. Although I estimated the intermarriage rate at around 40%, there was no questioning indisputably high rates. The…

  By Steven M. Cohen Oct 24, 2016 | 3 min read