Opinion

• Opinion

  When Good Militia Men Go Jewish and Blow a Shofar — or Not

  Mazel tov, you made it through another Yom Kippur! Um, wait, whoops. This video of two dudes blowing the shofar is not actually signaling the end of a Jewish synagogue service. It’s actually two far right-wing militia men in Burns, Oregon blowing into a quote-unquote “battle horn” during their occupation of a federal wildlife refuge….

  By Emily Siegel

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Every Single Frenchman Can Don a Kippah and It Still Won’t Help French Jews

  To be or not to be…willing to wear a kippah in public? That is the question the French Jewish community, with Hamlet-like intensity and introspection, has been debating over the last few weeks. Even France’s non-Jews are making their opinions known, most notably by donning kippot in symbolic gestures of “solidarity.” It is, inevitably, a…

  By Robert Zaretsky Jan 20, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Will Iran Really Change After Nuclear Deal? Looming Vote and Economy Will Tell Tale.

  When people ask me where U.S.-Iran relations are headed following the initial implementation by both sides of the joint nuclear agreement, my thoughts turn not to big, world-moving possibilities but to something actually quite small: my purchase last July of a plane ticket from Tehran to the provincial city of Shiraz. Thanks to the international…

  By Larry Cohler-Esses Jan 19, 2016 | 3 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

  ‘New York Values’ Are Plenty Religious — Just Not in the Way Ted Cruz Likes

  To many Jews, Ted Cruz’s attack on Donald Trump’s “New York values” . We are familiar with Republicans suspicious of “money and the media,” because 20 years ago they were the people complaining that the golf club was getting crowded with hook-noses. But to religious Jews like me, this vision of a materialistic, secular New…

  By Raphael Magarik Jan 18, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Can Bernie Sanders Win Over Black Voters — and Crack Hillary Clinton’s Firewall?

  There was a striking symbolism in the setting of Sunday night’s Democratic presidential debate. They couldn’t have picked a better place than Charleston, South Carolina. Coming in the midst of a Bernie Sanders surge that’s unsettling the once-inevitable Hillary Clinton campaign, the event had a good many party loyalists hoping to gain some clarity about…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 18, 2016 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Jewish Uses and Abuses of Martin Luther King’s Memory

  Four years ago, I made a promise to myself: I would not accept any more invitations to speak to the Jewish community on Martin Luther King weekend. Since then, I have dutifully kept that promise. But this year, I’m breaking it. Here’s the thing: I used to love MLK weekend. In fact, I still have…

  By Jared Jackson Jan 18, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Pope’s Visit to Rome Ghetto Means So Much to Italian Jews

  In 1986, Pope John Paul II made history by paying a visit to Rome’s Great Synagogue. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI visited that synagogue again. In 2016, Pope Francis visited for the third time. As our ancient rabbis were fond of saying — and as Rome’s current chief rabbi Riccardo Di Segni pointed out during…

  By Rossella Tercatin Jan 18, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Can We Prevent MLK Day Service from Diluting Its Own Urgency?

  “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words resonate today as much as ever. They are direct. They call us to action. And, above all, they propel us to look past our satisfaction with what we changed yesterday, and to increase our attention to…

  By David Eisner Jan 17, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Jews Are Reacting to New Era of Ties With Iran

  Now that the United States and European Union have lifted economic sanctions on Iran, how are Jewish observers — from America to Israel, and across the political spectrum — reacting? And where do they believe we should go from here? We’ve gathered a few ideas, many excerpted from longer pieces (follow the links to read them…

  By Forward Staff Jan 17, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Liberal Jews Didn’t Betray Israel — Our Organizations Betrayed Us

  As vital as Martin Luther King Day is on America’s calendar, it has a special meaning this year for American Jews. This year, 2016, we will mark the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the fracturing of the historic black-Jewish civil rights alliance. If you want to talk about American Jewish liberal betrayal, as and…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 17, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Was Ted Cruz Talking About the Jews When He Slammed ‘New York Values’?

  (JTA) — In the very first episode of “The West Wing,” some of the president’s advisers engage in a heated argument with a group of Christian activists. Among the advisers are two of the show’s most prominent Jewish characters: White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler (played by Richard Schiff) and the Deputy Chief of Staff…

  By Gabe Friedman Jan 15, 2016 | 2 min read