Opinion

• Opinion

  The Morning After the Iran Deal Drama Ends

  There are Jewish lobbyists, political activists, federation leaders, rabbis, opinion writers and maybe even some ordinary folks who are focused on the day two months from now when the U.S. Congress votes on the nuclear agreement with Iran. Will there be enough votes to sustain President Obama’s signature foreign policy accomplishment? If not, how soundly…

  By Jane Eisner

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Racist Atticus Finch Has a Lesson for Jews

  The publication of Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” the novel set decades after the era of her classic book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” has sparked a heated debate — and much heartache — over Atticus Finch. “Watchman” follows Finch 20 years beyond “Mockingbird” into the 1950s civil rights era. It exposes him to be…

  By Shana Bernstein Jul 27, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Checking My Privilege as a Korean Jew

  When I was young they called me the mayor of the park. I would make my rounds of the local park every day — first to chat with an 80-year-old tanning on his beach chair, then to check in with our crew of Trinidadian babysitters, and finally to boss around the park kids. I loved…

  By Samantha Yi Jul 27, 2015 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once

  

• Rob Eshman My brother-in-law’s kibbutz weathered Oct. 7. Then came the Iranian missile strikes

  

• Nora Berman Zohran Mamdani is right about what ‘intifada’ means — well, kind of

  

• Dan Perry Might Iran become Trump’s Iraq? Americans are wary — but shouldn’t be

  

• Emily Tamkin Israeli leaders are using Holocaust comparisons to justify attacks on Iran. Is that kosher?

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why My Biracial Son Doesn’t Want To Date Jewish Girls

  When I became a Jew by choice, it was for no other reason than the fact that I felt a calling: I had a Jewish soul. I embarked on the long and arduous journey of becoming Jewish through a Conservative conversion, only to discover later that neither my son nor I was considered Jewish according…

  By Ayanna Nahmias Jul 27, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Is Bernie Sanders Getting Anti-Semitic Treatment?

  When national radio host Diane Rehm the democratic socialist senator from Vermont and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders about his non-existent Israeli citizenship, many of his fellow Jews could only hear one thing: an accusation of dual loyalties. Rehm, usually a diligent journalist, was prompted to ask about this alleged dual citizenship by a years-old, dubious,…

  By Ari Paul Jul 27, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Israel’s Wars Hurt Diaspora Jews

  The Israeli cabinet held a special session June 28, dedicated to one of its least-known and potentially most fraught rituals: the annual briefing on the current state of Jewish life worldwide. It’s presented each spring by a semi-official Jerusalem think tank that monitors Israel-Diaspora relations, the Jewish People Policy Institute. Some of what they talked…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 27, 2015 | 9 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Faigy Mayer’s Death Should Haunt All Jews

  (JTA) — In September 2013, I gathered with a group of friends to share feelings and reflections on the suicide death of one our friends, Deb Tambor, who had been struggling with a variety of issues related to leaving the insular Hasidic Jewish world. Next to me sat Faigy Mayer, a friend and fellow ex-Hasid….

  By Shulem Deen Jul 24, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Does My Hillel Favor Orthodox Over Reform?

  Israel has been in the news recently for public officials’ . Unfortunately, downplaying Reform Judaism is not only an Israeli problem — it’s also haunted me throughout my experience at my campus Hillel. And at Hillel, it’s not coming from public official thousands of miles away. It’s in my home. Hillels all over the country…

  By Emma Neiman Jul 23, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel Security Establishment Breaks With Bibi on Iran Deal

  There’s a deep crack emerging in the veneer of wall-to-wall support offered by Israel’s political leadership to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his war against the Iran nuclear agreement. The crack has a name you might recognize: the Israeli security establishment. You know — the folks whose job it is to identify and address threats…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 23, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Mourning the Headlines on Tisha B’Av

  No deodorant in July? That’s asking a lot. But Tisha B’Av demands it. The 25-hour fast to mark the destruction of the two Temples (along with the other catastrophes included in this day of mourning) demands that we abstain from food, sex, leather shoes, studying Torah, greeting people, idle chatter, leisure activities, or “anointing” ourselves….

  By Abigail Pogrebin Jul 23, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Whole Orthodox World Is Complicit in Faigy Mayer’s Death

  Another beautiful soul died this past weekend, prematurely and unnecessarily. Thirty-year-old Faigy Mayer was after having plummeted from a 20-story building in Manhattan. Officials described her death as a possible suicide. While Faigy may have taken her life, the will to live was taken away from her by a community that is sadly complacent and…

  By Ysoscher Katz Jul 22, 2015 | 3 min read