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
What 1,000 Rabbis Should Have Said in Syrian Refugee Petition
Kudos to the calling on the United States government to welcome refugees from Syria. An impressive feat, even in the digital age, to gather such a large number of supporters on a hotly debated political topic in such a short period of time. Even so, the petition represents a fundamental misread of American Jewish history,…
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Opinion Are French Jews Falling for Marine Le Pen’s Xenophobic Siren Song?
In France, we have just been reminded that historical time is now divided by an avant, before, and après, after, November 13. The results are in from the first round of regional elections, and they are striking. Marine Le Pen’s xenophobic and authoritarian Front National political party has made big gains, finishing first in six…
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Opinion Want To Be a Good Liberal? Don’t Push for Gun Control Right Now.
Small-bore gun-safety measuresprobably wouldn’t have much, if any, impact on the phenomenon of mass shootings that so troubles us
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Opinion What Sex Abuse Cases at Horace Mann and Y.U. Should Teach Us
As a former student at Horace Mann School in the Bronx’s Riverdale neighborhood, I was instrumental in breaking the silence around the prestigious prep school’s decades-long history of child sexual abuse. Although I myself am not an abuse survivor, I saw many of my fellow alumni’s stories come to light when The New York Times…
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Opinion Trump Aide Blasts Obama Hanukkah Speech — Says Shabbat Better
What Team Trump don’t know about the Jews could apparently fill a scroll and then some. Last week, Donald Trump left Republican members of the Tribe flabbergasted by saying he doesn’t need their money. He also praised Jews as top-notch “negotiators.” Now, comes this: A top aide to the Republican frontrunner criticized President Barack for…
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Opinion Why Campus #BlackLivesMatter Protests Are Bad for the Jews
(JTA) — A day before University of Missouri graduate student Jonathan Butler made headlines with a hunger strike protesting racism on campus, a coalition of 36 Jewish and civil rights organizations contacted University Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin to protest a vile act of anti-Semitism that had recently occurred at Mizzou: Someone had used feces to…
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Opinion How To Cope With Terrorism? Take a Lesson from Israelis
In the aftermath of the Paris attack and the San Bernardino mass shooting, many of my New York City patients are shaken. They seek my professional advice on how to cope with anxiety, anger and loss, the three primary emotions precipitated by the threat of terrorism. And just like in the dark days that followed…
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Opinion Why Israeli Flags Don’t Belong in Synagogue — or American Ones, Either
Over the past couple of years, I have spent many Friday evenings at Brooklyn’s various egalitarian independent minyanim. My partner introduced me to this world, and I appreciate it for its vibrant, welcoming, progressive community. I also find these informal prayer spaces refreshing because no Israeli or American flags are present. Unfortunately, many New York…
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Opinion Politics Has Always Had a Place in Synagogue — and for Good Reason
By choosing to display the Israeli and American flags, is my synagogue allowing something foreign and dangerous into my place of worship? Alex Kane, , says yes. I prefer to see these flags as an invitation, not an intrusion. Accepting the presence of these national symbols doesn’t have to mean a blind surrender or naïve…
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Opinion Saying Kaddish Isn’t Always Profound — and Yet
I’ve resisted writing about my year of saying Kaddish for my mother. Writers more famous than I am have already produced overlong, overwritten tomes on the subject. Often, such writing carries a sense of lyrical, self-indulgent profundity. But my process hasn’t been profound. It’s been mundane, and pontification seems ridiculous. After 11 months, having taken…
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Opinion Widening Rift Between American Jews and Israel on Painful Display at Saban Forum
At a recent Haaretz side session at the Jewish Federations’ General Assembly, I hosted Peter Beinart for a conversation entitled “Israelis are from Mars, American Jews are from Venus.” A month later, our colorful caption was fully borne out by the 2015 Saban Forum, which highlighted the great gap between large parts of the American Jewish…
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Opinion I grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.
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Opinion When my children decorate for Hanukkah, I don’t just see pride. I see pluralism in action.
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Fast Forward ‘The most Australian name’: Matilda, the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach attack, embodies a nation’s grief
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