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
The Orthodox Case for Hillary Clinton — and Against Donald Trump
The American Jewish Committee released the first national poll of Jewish voters earlier in September, and the news is good for Hillary Clinton: Jewish voters prefer her to Donald Trump by a 3–1 margin. But who are those Trump supporters? In Florida, a crucial swing state where the Jewish vote could actually tip the state…
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Opinion Jewish Extremists Want the Western Wall? I Say Let Them Have It.
The latest campaign by leaders of the Reform movement of American Judaism to galvanize support for equal-access prayer at the Western Wall, known as Judaism’s “holiest site,” is a morally worthy goal. Given the remarkable degree of religious freedom enjoyed by the vast majority of Americans, an idea encoded in our very Constitution, it is…
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Opinion I’m a Rabbi and I Was Bullied — by My Own Congregants
I’m a second-career rabbi, which means that before I worked in synagogues, I worked in secular businesses, restaurants and offices. There, I experienced and witnessed bullying and verbal abuse from managers and co-workers. But most of these incidents were reported to HR departments, and steps were taken to correct the problem and discipline the offender….
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Opinion How Donald Trump Uses Anti-Semitic Rhetoric Against Hillary Clinton (Even Though She’s Not Jewish)
Over the summer, a writer for the “alt-right” website Breitbart News called Hillary Clinton a communist. What’s striking about the accusation is certainly not its source, nor its target, and definitely not its content. What’s striking is that the article appeared side by side with a web advertisement for Stephen Bannon’s film “Clinton Cash.” The…
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Opinion From Rosh Hashanah to Election Day, It’s a Season of Repentance Like No Other
‘Today the world is born” — Hayom harat olam. These are among the most electric words in all of Jewish sacred liturgy. They’re recited by the congregation immediately after the blowing of the shofar, the ram’s horn, at midday on the New Year holiday, Rosh Hashanah. The words are especially electric this year, because they…
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Opinion Bernie Sanders’s Rosh Hashanah Sermon — and Its Radical Lesson for All Liberals
When a hacker leaked a trove of internal emails from the Democratic National Committee several months ago, one of them considered the condition of Bernie Sanders’s soul — and its potential as a wedge issue during the primary campaign against Hillary Clinton. “Does he believe in a God,” asked Brad Marshall, the DNC’s chief financial…
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Opinion Philanderer Donald’s Reason for Bringing up Bill’s Affairs More Cruel Than You Think
Following his thorough thrashing in Monday’s debate — in all of its nose-sniffing, man-terrupting, fact-checked glory — it would seem that The Donald has two options. Option one: Start heeding the advice of the more moderate GOP (who, terrifyingly, have become the voice of reason in this scenario), and concentrate on actually making himself look…
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Opinion Don’t Let Islamophobia Into Yeshiva University Along With New President
As an alumnus of Yeshiva University, I am concerned by the news that the school’s search committee has now chosen a new president to lead Modern Orthodoxy’s flagship institution. The committee’s choice is Rabbi Ari Berman, an Orthodox rabbi who until recently has been living in Israel. Particularly worrisome to me are a couple of…
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Opinion Look How Far Ukraine Has Come Since the Babi Yar Massacre
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, widely considered one of the worst atrocities committed during the Holocaust. Between September 29 and September 30, 1941, SS officers murdered 33,771 Jewish civilians by gunfire at Babi Yar, a ravine located in the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. Those who were not…
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Opinion Shimon Peres Was the Most Romantic Zionist Dreamer Since Theodor Herzl
Anyone who came of political age in the 1980s or 1990s and followed Israel closely will have complex feelings about Shimon Peres. Like so many great democratic leaders, he was also a politician, and in the thick of the country’s internal battles he was never seen inside his own country through the same lens as…
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Opinion Shimon Peres and the Case for Unstoppable Israeli Optimism
The first time I met Shimon Peres was 20 years ago, at a heartbreaking stage in his long career. He was in Philadelphia to receive the Liberty Medal, awarded annually to world leaders who promote the blessings of liberty. The prize was to be shared with Jordan’s King Hussein. But just weeks before the July…
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Film & TV Remembering Siskel and Ebert’s great debate: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen?
In Case You Missed It
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Music Marx Brothers fans rejoice: There’s a recording of Harpo speaking
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Fast Forward UCLA student government condemns campus Hillel for hosting former hostage
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Fast Forward Trump extends ceasefire with Iran, even after Iran balks at new round of negotiations
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Fast Forward Alan Dershowitz quits Democratic Party, calling it ‘most anti-Israel party in U.S. history’
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