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
Why I Hate Chrismukkah and So Should You
East Asian civilizations identify themselves through their use of chopsticks, European ones have universally adopted the knife and fork, but not one significant civilization has ever embraced the spork. The reason that this highly practical spoon-shaped eating utensil with short tines at the tip has not become a favorite is because it’s a compromise. Neither…
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Opinion White? Jewish? Why I Always Check the ‘Other’ Box.
“No dogs, radios, bicycles or picnics.” This enigmatic list posted on a series of wrought iron fences made clear — though without explanation — what items were once barred from the “Backs” in Cambridge, England. Honoring this proscription was the small cost of using the private meadows owned by the colleges next to the river…
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Opinion Google ‘Responsible’ for Dissemination of Holocaust Denial
In two scathing Guardian articles, this week and last, Carole Cadwalladr outlines how right wing extremists have gamed the Google algorithm in order to present Holocaust denial and vitriolic anti-Semitism as “authoritative” internet responses to “Did the Holocaust happen?” and “Are Jews evil?” In her December 11 “Google is not just a platform” she tells…
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Opinion My Name Is Loolwa Khazzoom and I Won’t Change That To Come Off Less Middle Eastern
I just received a text from my guitarist, urging me to change our band name from “Iraqis in Pajamas” to something else — anything else, as long as it has no Middle Eastern connotation. A young Muslim woman at the local university was just attacked and hit in the head, he informed me, and the…
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Opinion A Hanukkah Freedom Party With Human Rights Violators
On December 14th, the Embassy of Azerbaijan will co-host a Hanukkah party at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, with the Conference of President of Major American Jewish Organizations. This celebration of “religious freedom and diversity” is another transparent attempt by Azerbaijan to portray itself as a stable, Western-facing democracy, an image designed to…
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Opinion Sorry, Jews. Steve Bannon Is Not an Anti-Semite, and This Story Is Not About Us.
We’ve got Steve Bannon wrong. Among American Jewish progressives, the consensus is that Bannon, Donald Trump’s “strategic adviser,” is anti-Semitic. The website he managed, Breitbart.com, called itself “the platform for the alt-right,” and the “alt-right” contains within it some extreme anti-Semites, neo-Nazis and so forth. And besides, according to court documents, Bannon didn’t want his…
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Opinion Crisis: Can an All-GOP Washington Investigate Russia Ties to Trump? What Would Elijah The Prophet Do?
Unless the CIA and the rest of America’s intelligence community are dreadfully wrong or The Washington Post is lying, neither of which seems remotely likely, the United States is facing a constitutional crisis unlike any we’ve seen before. And the worst of it is that it might well be swept under the rug, given the…
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Opinion Like Houdini, Netanyahu Is a Great Escape Artist — Just Look at His Contortions On Settlements
October 31 marked 90 years since the death of Harry Houdini, the rabbi’s son who became the world’s most famous magician. Houdini dazzled audiences around the globe by conjuring up unforgettable performance art out of the most essential practice in Jewish tradition: escaping danger. It’s appropriate, then, that in the month since Houdini’s yahrzeit we’ve…
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Opinion The ‘Anti-Semitism Awareness Act’ Is the Opposite of What Jews and Muslims Need Now
I was pleased to see Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, gallantly tweet that he would “register as a Muslim” in the event that such a registry were created. But despite this initial gesture, actions that the organization has since taken are less encouraging. After initially defending Rep. Keith Ellison from charges of anti-Semitism,…
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Opinion Reading Anne Frank in South Africa: Apartheid’s Jewish Lesson for Trump’s America
The mainstreaming of anti-Semitism during the Donald Trump election campaign has shocked many American Jews, and it is obviously cause for concern. But it can’t be separated from white nationalists’ broader onslaught against Muslims, Latinos and people of color in general. In fact, if we Jews want to act on the basis of our shared…
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Opinion This Transgender Rabbi Is Standing Up to Ben Shapiro’s Hateful Rhetoric
Right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro, speaking at Yeshiva University on Monday night, declared that “transgender people are unfortunately suffering from a significant mental illness” and that “Torah Judaism does not support social justice.” In the same breath, he delivered his views on how to be a mensch. As a transgender rabbi, a Jewish educator and an…
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Opinion Trump has forced an impossible choice on American synagogues amid antisemitic attacks
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Opinion Antisemitism is exploding on the right but the Jewish establishment is focused on the left
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Fast Forward Dueling letters from Jewish groups dispute prevalence of antisemitism at UCLA
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