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
Why Women of the Wall Must Continue — Terror Attacks or No
On Hanukkah we sing, “Banu Hosheh Legaresh” (We came to drive out the darkness), as we remember the unlikely victory of the Maccabees against the Assyrians in Jerusalem. So too, Judith led the defeat of Holofernes, against all odds when the Israelites were in a very dark place of despair, having almost given up hope….
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Opinion Does Hillary Clinton Have a Haim Saban Problem?
Haim Saban, one of Hillary Clinton’s top donors, may be aligned with the Democratic Party. But when it comes to Mideast politics, he’s far from a progressive. That doesn’t set the billionaire Israeli-American entertainment magnate apart from many other Democrats — see, for example, Sen. Chuck Schumer — who are Israel and Mideast hawks, but…
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Opinion Israel Gobbling Up Africa? This Meme’s Anti-Semitic.
As I recently wrote in these pages, American Jews often cry wolf when it comes to anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment. However, even by a generous standard, this meme of Israel, Britain and France prepared to feast on Africa (which I’ve seen a few times circulated among my left-leaning friends on Facebook) is anti-Semitic. Three-quarters of…
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Opinion The Real Difference Between the Two Paris Terror Attacks (John Kerry Wasn’t Wrong)
Secretary of State John Kerry stirred up a hornet’s nest following the Paris terror attacks, trying to describe the difference between the recent carnage and last January’s Charlie Hebdo massacre. The incident turns out to be quite instructive, though not in the way you’d expect. In case you missed it, Kerry gave a controversial talk…
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Letters ‘Women’s Ordination Would Have Been Unthinkable Without Pioneering Halachic Critique’
To the Editor: The assertion that thirty years ago, traditional leaders of the Conservative movement employed a “sociological argument masquerading as a halachic argument” when they opposed rabbinic ordination for women is patently false . In fact, today’s Open Orthodox endorsement of women’s ordination would have been unthinkable without the pioneering halachic critique and template…
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Opinion How To Talk About Refugees at Your Jewish Thanksgiving Table
I think it’s safe to say that a lot of U.S. governors — 31 at last count — have very different Thanksgiving dinner conversations than I do. “Guess who’s coming to dinner? Not Syrian refugees!” It’s enough to make me think we should have a national holiday celebrating the rescue of refugees fleeing religious persecution,…
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Opinion What Does Meditation Have To Do With Fighting ISIS Terror?
What does a meditation retreat have to do with the attacks in Paris? I asked myself this question as my co-teachers and I sat down to plan the details of the upcoming Elat Chayyim Meditation Retreat, a week of silence, meditation and davening that takes place around Christmas. It felt incongruous to mull over the…
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Opinion Imam Consoles Jewish Community Over Murder of Ezra Schwartz
After Ezra Schwartz of Sharon, Massachusetts, was tragically killed on Friday in a West Bank terror attack, his Jewish community was heartbroken. Thousands gathered at the funeral for Schwartz, who in his 18 years did so much to brighten his community, and who died while spending a gap year in the country that he loved,…
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Opinion Don’t Excuse Terrorism by Talking About ‘Root Causes’
One of the great challenges following the horror in France is how best to react to the savagery of the Islamic State group. As we have seen, there have been a variety of recommendations. Some are focusing on reaching a negotiated agreement in Syria, while others are recommending stepped up military campaigns, including the use…
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Opinion Should We Call It ‘Radical Islam’?
Timothy McVeigh was an American terrorist who, 20 years ago, detonated a truck bomb in front of the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 and injuring more than 600 — a toll in casualties that far exceeds the carnage experienced in Paris in the past week. McVeigh was raised Catholic and was obsessed with…
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Opinion Why No Facebook Filter in Solidarity With Israeli Victims?
(JTA) – “Show your support for the people of Paris by temporarily updating your profile picture with this new template we created,” read the Facebook-sponsored text promoted not 24 hours after the terror attacks in Paris. The social media giant invited users to overlay their profile picture with the blue, white and red colors of…
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Culture I come from a long line of Jewish Bundists. Now, Molly Crabapple is part of our family.
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Opinion American Jews have a Hasan Piker problem. Solving it is going to hurt
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Fast Forward 200+ Bnei Menashe immigrate to Israel from India, the first to make the journey in years
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Yiddish װאָס קען מען זיך אָפּלערנען פֿון מאָלי קראַבעפּלס בוך װעגן „בונד“?What can we learn from Molly Crabapple’s book about the Bund?
דאָס בוך איז גרונטיק געפֿאָרשט, לעבעדיק אָנגעשריבן — אָבער אידעאָלאָגיש באַפֿאַרבט