Opinion

• Opinion

  Why We Sent a Reporter to Iran

  In September 2013, the Forward’s Larry Cohler-Esses attended an 80-minute press conference called by the new president of Iran. Listening to Hassan Rouhani among a large gaggle of reporters just near the United Nations is not how Larry usually spends his work hours. As the assistant managing editor for news, Larry assigns and edits stories,…

  By Jane Eisner

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  What It’s Like To Be a Black, Gay, Professional Jew

  I feel like I’m about as square as can be. And yet, I understand that the gestalt of Jewish, gay, black, community-leader-me is simply unmetabolizable to some Jews. The package in which I exist defies the physics of some mainstream Jewish community assumptions — even among those who share the history of oppression. But what…

  By Ilana Kaufman Aug 11, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Is ‘Pinkwashing’ Possible After Gay Pride Stabbings?

  Can a country that has seen such visible and brutal attacks on its LGBTQ population truly market itself as a “safe” and “exciting” destination for queer co-ethnics and tourists alike? This question is rolling around in my mind after recent events in Israel. Like many, I reacted with a mix of horror, terror, and sadness…

  By Jonathan Paul Katz Aug 10, 2015 | 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 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 A US official just made history in the West Bank — did he imperil prospects for peace?

  

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

  

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  Opinion

  7 Prescriptions for American Jewish Anxiety

  After Gal Beckerman diagnosed in his final column as opinion editor, we invited Forward readers to prescribe solutions. Here are seven of your responses, edited for style and length. 1) Kill the Idea of “Authenticity” On Beckerman’s reading, we have [American Jewish] humiliation on the one hand and [Israeli] narcissism on the other. Is it…

  Aug 10, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  It’s Time To Stop Patronizing Russian Jews

  A black and white film. Moscow’s snow-covered streets. Lines of silenced Jews. Then: protests of Jewish youngsters shouting, “Let my people go.” Avital Sharansky appears, then the Jackson-Vanik amendment. Finally, the Berlin Wall falls, planeloads of Russian Jews arrive in Israel, a new era begins. “Because of us, the USSR fell apart,” activists say proudly….

  By Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt Aug 10, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m a Mizrahi Jew. Do I Count as a Person of Color?

  Am I a person of color? You’d think there would be a straightforward answer to a question like that. And for a while, I thought there was. I thought the answer was yes. When I look at my grandparents — four Mizrahim, or Jews from Arab lands — I see people who were born in…

  By Sigal Samuel Aug 10, 2015 | 8 min read
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  Opinion

  Can My Kid Be an American Jew Without Losing Her Russian Culture?

  In my family, we do Judaism like jazz does covers of popular songs — it only sometimes resembles the original. We celebrate Passover, but we always have fluffy Russian cakes because you can’t have a meal without a good dessert. We rarely light Shabbat candles, but when we do, we usually have a movie going…

  By Vicki Boykis Aug 10, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  For Each Day of the Gaza War, These Jewish Women Are Fasting

  At the protest tent, I am with three friends from my northern Galilean village. We are greeted warmly by the women already in the tent and about to end their fast. Each woman wears around her neck a sky-blue cloth sign that says ani bi’tsom (“I am fasting”). One by one the women ending their…

  By Rachel Tzvia Back Aug 9, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  How To Stabilize the Declining Jewish Middle — Or Even Reverse It

  In 2013, the Pew Research Center completed a landmark national study of American Jews. “Portrait of Jewish Americans” found evidence that the number of Orthodox Jews in America is rapidly increasing, and the number of active, Conservative, Reform and other engaged Jews is rapidly declining, with far fewer age 30-49 than among those age 50-69….

  By Steven M. Cohen Aug 8, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  On Shabbat, Mom Works So You Don’t Have To

  It’s No. 4 of the Ten commandments. “Remember the Sabbath Day, To Keep It Holy.” It sounds simple. We have to remember, to keep it holy. But as those who keep Sabbath know, sometimes the remembering and observing of it comes in direct conflict with keeping it holy. Whether preparing a household for 25 hours…

  By Elissa Strauss Aug 7, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  I Won’t Give Iran a Hall Pass to Nuclear Warfare

  During a presidential debate in 2012 referring to the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran, President Obama declared to the American people that “the deal we’ll accept is the end of their nuclear program.” In the coming weeks, Congress will debate the Iran Nuclear Agreement recently announced by the president. After reading the deal, I participated…

  By Dennis Ross Aug 6, 2015 | 3 min read