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
My Meeting With Fethullah Gülen, the Man Accused of Plotting Turkey’s Coup
Last month, I met with Fethullah Gülen, “the man behind the coup,” according to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, who accuses this reclusive cleric of being the brains behind the failed coup last summer in Turkey. Since 1999 Gülen has lived in exile from his homeland in a small compound converted out of an…
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Opinion Opening the Gates of Justice at ‘Hashem’s House’
When I was invited to sing in Israel this past Hanukkah, my heart filled with joy at the chance to celebrate the Holiday of Light in the City of Eternal Light. I went in search of truth and to return to my home of homes. But going home is never as easy as you think…
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Opinion Why Won’t More Jewish Groups Condemn Trump’s Shameful Nazi Comparisons?
Twice in one day, President-elect Donald Trump compared himself to the victims of Nazi persecution. The first instance was in one of his infamous tweets, responding to two very different media reports, by CNN and BuzzFeed, about intelligence briefings given to Trump last week regarding his relationship with Russia. . “One last shot at me,”…
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Opinion Killer Israeli Soldier Deserves Prison Not Pardon — Democracy Depends on It
For decades now I have been active in shaping the moral face of Israel, the democratic nation-state of the Jewish people. I have been involved in writing the codes of ethics for the IDF, the Knesset, the government, several ministries as well as numerous major organizations and professions. I am, therefore, immediately attracted to every…
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Opinion Failing To Confront Trump’s Bigotry Is a Moral Stain on Simon Wiesenthal Center — and American Jews
In the decades to come, historians of American Jewry will ask how a community that keenly remembers its own experience with state bigotry produced institutions that excused the most nakedly bigoted major party presidential nominee in modern American history. They will ask why the crowd at the policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs…
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Opinion Executing Dylann Roof Is Behind the Times and Against the Talmud
The jury’s decision to execute Dylann Roof for killing nine unarmed people in a historically black Charleston church may create its own problems for the state of South Carolina. As recently as last year, Bryan Stirling, director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, was deprived of the means to prepare a lethal injection cocktail,…
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Opinion Paul Ryan Should Know Better Than To Make This Nazi Flub
Designers on social media enjoy going apoplectic when a famous or infamous logo is borrowed or stolen. Flagging these misuses has become a veritable pastime, like trainspotting. The designer of the recent “Paul Ryan Speaker” logo was either blind to or ignorant of the logo’s similarity to the Grosse Deutschland symbol — the national emblem…
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Opinion EXPLAINED: Could Netanyahu Be Ousted Over Talks With Sheldon Adelson’s Media Rival?
It’s a revelation that’s shaking up Israel’s political and media worlds as intensely as reports of a proposed secret deal between Donald Trump, CNN and Fox News would rock the United States. In a wide-reaching investigation by Israel Police of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it was revealed Sunday that a tape exists of a conversation…
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Opinion What Does It Mean That Jared Kushner Might Be the Most Influential Jew in the World?
Throughout American history, there have been Jews who have held important positions in the White House as advisers to various presidents. And there have been family members of sitting presidents — wives and brothers, in particular — who have wielded enormous political power from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But never has there been the combination reflected in…
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Opinion Obama Returns to His Chicago Jewish Roots With Audacity To Hope
With only ten days remaining in his presidency, Barack Obama will take the stage tonight back home in Chicago and bid farewell to the American people. Among those present for the speech will be Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, two main supporters of Obama’s presidential campaigns and crucial movers in his administrations. Obama has indicated…
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Opinion Marvin Hier Must Rise Above Being ‘Donald Trump’s Rabbi’
When my children were growing up – from elementary school through high school – my wife and I frequently took them to Los Angeles’s Museum of Tolerance. I’ve also taken friends to this wonderful institution, which I consider an essential stop for out-of-town visitors. Although its roots are based in educating people about the causes…
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