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
4 Reasons We Should Stop Calling People ‘Intermarried’
The term “intermarriage” is confusing, vague, archaic and, well, creepy. It’s time for Jewish communities to move away from using this language when writing or talking about families. As the child of interfaith parents, and as the parent of grown interfaith children, and as someone who works full-time on interfaith family issues, I can give…
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Opinion On Giving Tuesday, Take a Stand For a Gutsy Jewish Publication
Dear Forward Reader: We’re no strangers to criticism. Our independent journalism is often provocative — as good journalism should be. And for 120 years, our readers have never been shy about telling us what they think. We can take the heat. In fact, we welcome it. Respectful, lively debate is a quintessentially Jewish tradition—one that…
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Opinion Should We Call Them ‘Alt-Right’ — or ‘White Nationalists,’ ‘Neo-Nazis,’ Something Else Entirely?
By this point, we’ve been forced to acknowledge the existence of a certain group among Donald Trump supporters — a group that is arguably defined by white nationalism, bigotry, and all the worst undercurrents in American thought that helped bring Trump to power. That group, whether we like it or not (and, decidedly, this author does…
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Opinion Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education? That’s a Tragedy for All American Jews.
For generations of American Jews, public education has been the gateway to American life. It was certainly true for my parents, the children of immigrants; public school taught them not just facts and figures, but alao how to be American — and how to be proud of being American. Which is why the nomination of…
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Opinion Are Liberals Being Too Mean to Trump Voters?
When my friend Jonathan Tobin and I began planning last spring for a cross-country synagogue speaking tour in the fall, we fully expected to meet with fireworks over Israeli policy. In fact, that was the point of our tour. At each stop, Jonathan the conservative Commentary blogger and I the liberal Forward columnist would argue…
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Opinion How Do You Build a Strong Muslim-Jewish Alliance for the Trump Era?
Never before has it been so urgent for American Jews and Muslims to unite as it is now that Donald Trump has won the presidency. Ever since November 9, Jews and Muslims have been experiencing an uptick in targeted hate crimes, with the Southern Poverty Law Center reporting hundreds of incidents of intimidation and harassment…
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Opinion Didn’t Slam Anti-Semitism On the Left? Don’t Expect Credibility When You Slam It On the Right.
For the past few decades, we have witnessed the rise of anti-Semitism from the left. From Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party in the United Kingdom to college campuses across America, the phenomenon is real, and it is dangerous. Yet, all too often, some Jews — both individuals and organizations — who inhabit the liberal or left…
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Opinion Like Certain Israeli Leaders, Trump Doesn’t Want To Understand Art
Since Israel been at it much longer, President-elect Donald Trump could take a lesson from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Minister of Culture, Miri Regev, on how undercut the press, squelch freedom of expression and foment populist politics. Earlier this week, Trump took off precious time from his responsibilities to put together his impending…
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Opinion How Ivanka Trump’s Aggressively Upbeat Lifestyle Brand Normalizes Donald’s Politics
There are at least two Ivanka Trumps. One is a woman; the other is a namesake brand. But what is Ivanka’s brand, exactly? The most familiar aspect of it is probably her clothes and shoes, but it also includes fine jewelry, a prominent role in her father’s company, and, in some difficult-to-sort-out mix of the…
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Opinion How Richard Spencer Created a New Alt-Golem
If you saw the Atlantic’s hair-raising video of Richard Spencer talking at an American neo-Nazi “conference” that celebrated Donald Trump’s victory, then you saw Spencer bash “the mainstream media,” calling them “leftists and cucks,” “genuinely stupid,” and liars. He also “wonders” if “these people are people at all, or instead soulless golem, animated by some…
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Opinion How I Convinced My Russian Jewish Grandmother Not to Vote for Trump
My 80-year-old Russian Jewish grandmother did not vote for Donald Trump. She lives in Massachusetts, so it didn’t make much of a difference in the election’s outcome. Qualitatively, however, her vote mattered. Having started out in Trump’s corner, like the overwhelming majority of ex-Soviet Jews, particularly older ones, she allowed herself to be persuaded by…
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News When observant Jews gathered to challenge Israel orthodoxy, verbal sparring and walkouts ensued
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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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Opinion The one crucial domain in which Iran outwitted Israel
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Opinion Israelis and Americans deserve to know why they are still at war
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News A government takeover could save a struggling Brooklyn hospital — while unsettling the Orthodox Jewish community it serves
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News Joe Kent, Trump official with white supremacist ties, resigns over Iran war and blames Israel
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Fast Forward Dueling letters from Jewish groups dispute prevalence of antisemitism at UCLA
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