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
Peter Beinart Joins the Forward as Senior Columnist
NEW YORK – Peter Beinart, whose keen intellect and sharp opinions have made him an influential voice in political journalism, is joining the Forward as senior columnist and ccontributing editor, Forward editor-in-chief Jane Eisner announced today. The Forward has been America’s leading Jewish news source since 1897. Launched as a Yiddish broadsheet for immigrants, the…
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Opinion We’re the Source For Jewish News You Can Trust
Dear Forward Reader: Are “fake news” hoaxes worrying you as much as they are me? Real journalism matters – now more than ever. That’s why I’m writing about your support for the Forward. By donating today, you can raise your voice for values we’ve championed since 1897 – a passion for truth and a commitment…
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Opinion The Banality of American Evil
The philosopher Hannah Arendt was one of many—-mostly Jewish—intellectuals, including Albert Einstein—with enough perspective to escape from Germany as Hitler rose to power. Her reflections, years later, on the moral psychology of her countless fellow countrymen who came to embrace fascism are timelessly revealing. And although Hitler was never actually elected, he nonetheless managed to…
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Opinion How My Parents Learned To Stop Worrying and Embraced a Little Chrismukkah
December used to fill my parents with dread. My parents avoided taking us to malls in December, nervous that the amount of Christmas spirit would create confusion and discomfort for us as Jewish children with a (since converted) Christian mother. In her words, “The Christmas season is hard enough when your family is unambiguously Jewish;…
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Opinion Ivanka Trump Gives the Israeli Rabbinate a Taste of Its Own Medicine
Being a convert to Orthodox Judaism in America is much like riding a roller coaster. The initial high many experience after completing a conversion in the mikveh is followed by an inevitable low. After uprooting and completely altering one’s life, converts reach the high of being told they will be loved and accepted by the…
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Opinion Dramatic Orthodox Growth Is Transforming the American Jewish Community
The overall American Jewish population size is stable and growing, but its character is shifting dramatically. The Orthodox population (Haredi, centrist, and modern) is exploding. The non-Orthodox are in sharp decline. We can chart the rapid growth of the Orthodox by looking at their numbers in the Pew Research Center data over three generations, each…
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Opinion The Seismic Shift in the Progressive Jewish Paradigm
Steven M. Cohen’s attempt to quantify the shifting nature of the Jewish community succeeds in its portrayal of a rapidly growing Orthodox community but signally fails to capture an equally seismic shift of paradigm in the progressive, non-Orthodox, younger millennial demographic. For this generation, the oft-cited 2013 Pew Research Center’s study on American Jewry indicates…
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Opinion When Children Are Our Riches, We Prosper
It’s tempting to attribute the remarkable American Jewish demographic changes taking place to a simple matter of birthrates: Orthodox Jews tend to have many children, and non-Orthodox Jews fewer; some, none at all. A population like the non-Orthodox one, in which the average number of children per woman is fewer than 2.1, is below replacement…
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Opinion The Success of Orthodoxy Comes From Expectations and Responsibility
The differences between Orthodox Judaism and alternative streams are many, but, put simply, they revolve around a difference in expectations and the importance of feelings. For better or worse, life inside Orthodox Judaism is filled with expectations that are set out clearly by one’s neighbors, classmates and rabbis, not to mention bubbes, from childhood until…
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Opinion Progressive Jews Need Torah in Intermarriage Fight
Steven Cohen’s statistics about the demographic decline of the non-Orthodox are at once sobering and depressing. On one level, this is a period of genuine ferment and creativity in parts of the liberal Jewish world. Yet on another, more basic level, the liberal movements are in demographic free-fall, and they show no signs of turning…
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Opinion What Does It Mean To Be a ‘Jewish Funder’?
The corner bar on my street is taking a tithe. Its sidewalk chalkboard announces that 10% of all weekend income in December will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union. The bar is on to something. Amid all the uncertainty of this new political era, one thing is certain: Whatever our social values may…
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