Opinion

• Opinion

  4 Dramas Exposed by the Forward’s Interview With President Obama — Real and Fake

  Jane Eisner’s brings into relief no fewer than four separate dramas that have come to a head in the last year — three real, one fake. The fake one is the so-called crisis in U.S.-Israel relations. Here I agree fully with both the President and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Disagreement over the Iran deal…

  By David Hazony

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Israeli Comedy Has a Blackface Problem

  On August 10 an Israeli stand-up trio named “Ma Kashur” of themselves dressed up as Ethiopian Jews rapping about racism. Ostensibly, the video was meant to highlight the Ethiopian anti-racism protests that swept through the country earlier this year. But there was a troubling aspect to it. Why were they wearing blackface, when they could…

  By Seth J. Frantzman Sep 1, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Visiting Auschwitz? Enjoy a Cool ‘Mist’ Shower

  You thought selfies at Auschwitz were bad? Well, we can top that. Or at least, the caretakers of the Auschwitz concentration camp museum can. Meir Bulka, 48, visited Auschwitz-Birkenau this Sunday and was surprised to see these showers, spraying mist at the overheated visitors. “Showers” placed at Auschwitz entrance http://t.co/VS7s1WcHX5 pic.twitter.com/rzlQJdpksh — Ynetnews (@ynetnews) August…

  By Lior Zaltzman Aug 31, 2015 | 2 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 I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  The Choose-Your-Own-Adventure High Holidays Prayer Book

  At the Central Conference of American Rabbis, we have to wrestle with the question “What does it mean to be Jewish in America today?” beyond the theoretical. In our charge is the basic structure and tone of worship for the largest group of Jews in the country, the Reform Movement. And when we took a…

  By Hara Person Aug 31, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Benjamin Netanyahu’s Allies Twist the Truth on Iran

  “A lie,” Winston Churchill once said (some say it was Mark Twain), “gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” As Exhibit A, I submit Martin Kramer’s August 24 blog post on the Commentary website, in which he lambasted me for a claim I never made, namely…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 31, 2015 | 7 min read
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  Books

  Is Israeli Children’s Book About Gaza Kittens Guilty of ‘Paw-Washing’?

  My Facebook newsfeed is always alive with kittens, but last week it was alive with political kittens. Israeli author Nurit Sternberg has written a children’s book called “,” about two kittens “rescued” from last summer’s fighting zone in Gaza and brought to Israel by the IDF soldier Matan Meshi. Both the kittens and Meshi happen…

  By Jonathan Paul Katz Aug 31, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  8 Pitfalls To Avoid When Being an Ally to Jews of Color

  When it comes to Jews of color, allies are definitely needed. But if you want to be an effective ally, there are important things to consider before, during and after the process. If not properly considered, some of these things will lead to major pitfalls. So what exactly are the pitfalls, and how can you…

  By Jared Jackson Aug 31, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Excommunicating Pro-BDS Jews Is a Huge Strategic Mistake

  This month, we at Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek in Connecticut did something that most synagogues and Jewish organizations have refused to do: We held a forum about the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel (BDS) with participants from pro-BDS Jewish Voice for Peace and from anti-BDS J Street. Lightning didn’t strike, and…

  By Rachel Goldenberg and Andy Schatz Aug 30, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Orthodox Belief in God and Faith Is Spreading — Got a Problem With That?

  Reading two recent breathless headlines in the Forward, it would seem that Judaism, at least as practiced in America, is somehow in mortal danger of being co-opted and radically changed by Orthodox Jewry. An article by Nathan Guttman boldly declares that the “Pew Study Finds Orthodox Similar to Evangelical Christians — Not Other Jews.” To…

  By Mordechai Lightstone Aug 29, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  What Is a Jewish Response to Virginia On-Air Gun Killings?

  Every time a senseless shooting happens, as it did yet again this week in Roanoke, Virginia, liberals ask the question Bob Dylan posed more than 50 years ago: “How many deaths will it take till he knows/That too many people have died?” The answer, however, to preventing attacks like the one that killed reporter Alison…

  By Jay Michaelson Aug 29, 2015 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  Donald Trump and the Danger of Scapegoating

  Recently a friend explained why she planned to register to vote for the first time in order to place her ballot for Donald Trump: “He’s good for the Jews.” No, he isn’t. Almost all American Jews know the story of how their family came to America. For many — usually the descendants of Eastern European…

  By Bethany Mandel Aug 28, 2015 | 3 min read