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
From Muslims to Ebola, Conservatives Always Want To Terrify Us About Something
Remember Ebola? It’s widely thought that our national panic over Ebola cost the Democrats the Senate in 2014. Of course, there were many other factors in play. But do you remember how Republican after Republican got on television to condemn President Obama for “not keeping us safe from Ebola”? Where’s Ebola now? Well, banished back…
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Opinion It’s Hard for Leftists in Israel? That’s Exactly Why You Should Stay.
The most common question I get asked about my decision to immigrate to Israel five years ago is “Why? Why would you move here?” Sometimes it’s asked by earnest American Jews, and sometimes it comes with a tinge of that famous Israeli cynicism. Either way, it raises the specter of another question, one that is…
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Opinion From Albany to Kansas City, the Jewish Community Is Stepping Up for Refugees
One year ago, a photograph of a small Syrian refugee boy woke up the world. Our hearts were broken open by the picture of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, whose body washed up on the Turkish shore after he drowned trying to reach safety. A litany of photographs soon followed: refugees in the back of trucks, on…
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Opinion Why It’s Absurd for a Pastor To Give Donald Trump a Jewish Prayer Shawl
“This is a prayer shawl straight from Israel,” Detroit pastor Bishop Wayne Jackson said as he draped a tallit around Donald Trump’s shoulders on Saturday, casually appropriating a Jewish ritual item for Christian purposes. Trump, who had just addressed the Great Faith Ministries, a black church, in an attempt to make inroads with African-American voters,…
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Opinion On Labor Day, Let’s Consider a New ‘Woman of Valor’
“Eishet Chayil.” The woman of valor. We never sang it in my home — it wasn’t part of our Shabbat tradition — but I’ve sat many times throughout my life at tables where the song was sung, the old dirge melody, ostensibly in honor of the woman of the house. Singing the song, I was always told,…
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Opinion How BDS Is Pushing Jewish Students Out of Social Justice Activism
A Barnard College sophomore recently articulated the sad choice many progressive Jewish students face on campuses around the country. In a Columbia Spectator op-ed, she called on Barnard’s student government to not support a sexual assault prevention group — a group she herself had once helped lead. She took this stand because the group had…
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Opinion Should I Give Up On Changing Israel from Within — and Take a Stand by Leaving?
A debate has been raging in the Israeli left over the past few weeks — primarily in the opinion pages of Haaretz and on my Facebook feed — about Israelis who are choosing to move away from Israel as a political statement. Although these leftists make up only a tiny percentage of Israelis, their departure…
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Opinion America and Israel Share a Weird Political Pathology. It’s Called Denial.
America and Israel have a lot in common. First of all, a strong political right tied to a fundamentalist religious establishment. Second, a highly polarized atmosphere in which each side sees the other as a deadly enemy. Third, a culture in which individuals increasingly side with their social-political-religious tribe rather than thinking independently — and…
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Opinion Why Jews Should Support Colin Kaepernick’s Brave National Anthem Protest
San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick made waves this week by declining to stand during the national anthem at a pre-season game. Kaepernick, who has sat out the national anthem during at least one previous pre-season game, has faced backlash from those who see the refusal to stand as unpatriotic, disrespectful, and worse — specifically, that…
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Opinion Israel’s ‘Bikini Ban’ Is Just as Bad as France’s Burkini Ban
Hot on the heels of France’s burkini ban mania, Israel seems to be coming up with its own version. An Israeli singer claims that her set at a Culture Ministry festival on Friday was cut short when she was asked to cover up. Hanna Goor, who was wearing shorts and a bikini top, says she…
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Opinion Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin and What It Means To Be ‘The Good Wife’
I ’m a Jewish feminist, blessed with a long and happy marriage, but I know enough to know that an outsider can never really know what happens between two people in an intimate relationship, so I try very hard not to judge. Yet sometimes I can’t help myself. It happens to many of us. For…
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In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish כ׳בענק נאָך די סעקולערע ייִדן פֿון אַמאָלLonging for the way secular Jews used to be
מײַן פֿעטער האָט נישט געהיט שבת אָדער כּשרות אָבער ווען ער האָט אָפּגעריכט דעם סדר האָט ער געקלונגען ווי אַ פֿרומער ייִד.
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Fast Forward Expelled Oberlin Chabad rabbi says he ‘made a mistake’ with explicit social media chats
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Yiddish פֿינעף פֿאַקטן וועגן פּסח וואָס איר ווייסט אפֿשר נישט Five facts about Passover you may not know
דאָס רייכערן פּאַפּיראָסן יום־טובֿ האָט צונויפֿגעבראַכט מענטשן
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Culture A brilliant Jewish storyteller may be gone, but her characters are ‘still talking’
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