Opinion

• Opinion

  Coming Out as a Gay Orthodox Talmud Teacher

  “What is it like to be a Soloveichik?” This question about my well-known rabbinic family name has accompanied me for much of my life. My grandfather was Ahron Soloveichik and my great-uncle was Joseph B. Soloveitchik. The questions about my identity became even more complex when, three years ago, I came out as gay in…

  By Pesia Soloveichik

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Bernie Sanders Keeps Talking About Being Jewish. Why Won’t We Listen?

  There are plenty of things that Bernie Sanders’ presidential candidacy may represent in the arc of American Jewish history. He’s already the first Jew to win a presidential primary. He might even make history and win the brass ring, though it seems unlikely right now. But there’s one thing that is already certain: The Sanders…

  By J.J. Goldberg Feb 26, 2016 | 10 min read
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  Opinion

  Don’t Let Bullies Censor Artists on Israel

  From time to time, the incidents flare up, like open wounds on the Jewish body politic. The Jewish National Fund of Canada withdraws support for a performance by the outspoken Israeli singer Achinoam Nini, known here as Noa. The Miami JCC shuts down the run of a controversial play about Israel. The Metropolitan Opera is…

  By Jane Eisner Feb 25, 2016 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman Americans keep getting killed in the West Bank. Here’s how the US could fight that awful trend

  

• Nora Berman First Camp Auschwitz, now Alligator Alcatraz — why the right is obsessed with commodifying brutality

  

• Dan Perry What exactly is going on between Israel and Syria — and is the prospect of peace dead?

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  20 Years After a Bus Bombing, the Inspiration of Two Lives Unlived

  My world changed on February 25, 1996. But how it changed a few months later was more important. On February 25, I was just back from a hike in New Haven’s East Rock Park when I got a phone call telling me that Matt Eisenfeld and Sara Duker had been killed in the bombing of…

  By Jay Michaelson Feb 24, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Can Bernie Sanders Breathe New Life Into the Black-Jewish Alliance?

  Hillary Clinton’s success at edging out Bernie Sanders in the Nevada caucuses and her strong footing going into South Carolina seemed to vindicate her argument that she’s the only serious Democratic primary candidate. Sure, Sanders won big in New Hampshire, but that’s a small, white state that was predisposed to vote for him, the senator…

  By Ari Paul Feb 24, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  It’s Time for Jews To Pray and Preach About Abortion — Like Christians Do

  I want Jews to pray for reproductive justice, and I want rabbis to lead them. On March 2, the eight-person Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole, the most significant abortion case in a decade. At issue in the case is whether Texas’s absurd and completely medically unjustified restrictions on…

  By Jay Michaelson Feb 24, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Fast-Growing BBYO Brings Jewy Energy to Teens

  (JTA) — My teenage years were pretty Jewy. Back in high school, I happily attended Jewish day school, spent summers at a Jewish camp, went on a group Israel trip and took part in a few youth group events. So it was a strange feeling I experienced over President’s Day weekend when I found myself…

  By Ami Eden Feb 23, 2016 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  This Anti-BDS Video Is Pure Hilarity — and Accidental Genius

  (CORRECTED BELOW) News flash: the BDS movement does not, in fact, urge supporters to shoot Dannon yogurt containers with rifles. That, however, is how it’s depicted in a four-minute video titled “BDS or the Bible.” Social media users are already having a field day with the video — Sarah Schulman dubs it “a cross between…

  By Jay Michaelson Feb 23, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Ted Cruz’s Preacher Sidekick Is No Friend of the Jews — or Israel

  Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has come under fire from Jewish groups after touting his endorsement from Mike Bickle, an evangelical leader being scrutinized for preaching that God sent Hitler to hunt the Jews. This single statement, though, is just one element of Bickle’s divisive repertoire. Bickle, a charismatic Christian who believes he receives prophecies…

  By Sarah Posner Feb 23, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Accuse Israeli Singer Noa of Backing BDS, When She Rejects It Outright?

  True story: Born in Israel to Yemenite parents, the girl was raised in the U.S. from a very young age. At 15, she went on a summer hiking trip in Israel and fell in love with an Israeli man. The next year she left her yeshiva in New York and moved to Israel, where she…

  By Jane Eisner Feb 22, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  VIDEO: Noa Talks Israel, Anti-Semitism, Sexism and Songwriting

  Misogyny in the music industry, anti-Semitism in Europe and the glory of Carole King were just a few of the topics that Israeli singer Noa and Forward editor-in-chief Jane Eisner covered during a February 16 conversation at New York City’s Temple Emanu-El. Noa took to the stage earlier that evening, performing an hour-long set packed…

  By Thea Glassman Feb 22, 2016 | < 1 min read