Opinion

• Opinion

  David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s Segregationist Founder

  ‘The danger we face is that the great majority of those children whose parents did not receive an education for generations will descend to the level of Arab children,” Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, declared at a July 1962 meeting. He was speaking with the head of a teachers federation on the question of…

  By Seth J. Frantzman

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Change-the-World Shabbat Dinner

  Good deeds. I’ve been struck by how many Jewish holidays carry the message that we should be helping someone else. On Rosh Hashanah, we recite that tzedakah — charity — along with prayer and repentance, will lessen the severity of God’s decree. The Yom Kippur fast is meant to cleanse our souls, yes, but also…

  By Abigail Pogrebin May 17, 2015 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  Why the New York Times Is Wrong on Reporting While Jewish

  It’s a question every reporter for a Jewish publication has encountered. At least once a day. How do you ask someone about their religion? For many, faith is a private issue, one they’d rather not discuss, or are reluctant to engage in a detailed discussion about. Still, as a reporter covering Jewish issues for a…

  By Nathan Guttman May 16, 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 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

  To Win Next Time, the Israeli Left Needs To Return to the Tents

  In the last Israeli election, this past March, the center-left had a plan. If only we could increase voter turnout among our traditional supporters we could win, said politicians and campaigners. This plan failed. As the results show, elections in Israel are not determined by the traditional supporters of the center- left, upper-middle class Jewish…

  By Rami Hod May 15, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  A ‘Fight of the Century’ Over ‘Pinkwashing’ and Israel

  The Internet is still recovering from Mayweather vs. Pacquaio, but I’ve been fantasizing about a different “fight of the century” starring two outspoken LGBT agitators: Lucas versus Spade. I’ve just read two extreme position statements on Israel/Palestine, both from within the LGBT community. One, from the right, was directed at me in an op-ed by…

  By Jay Michaelson May 15, 2015 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  Getting Jewish Students Out of Comfort Zone Isn’t ‘Anti-Semitic’

  You can learn a lot from students if you stop telling them what you think they ought to know, and let them tell you what they know already. Jeff Salkin’s recent op-ed, however, encourages a kind of Jewish education that would fill students with “the Jewish narrative” (as if there’s only one) that they could…

  By Ari Y. Kelman May 15, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Brassy Jewish Woman 2.0: Pamela From ‘Louie’

  The brassy Jewish woman — let’s call her the BJW — has long been a standard character on both stage and screen. Going all the way back to the likes of Molly Picon, the BJW has been played by such comic greats as Joan Rivers, Fran Drescher, Susie Essman, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand and, most…

  By Elissa Strauss May 14, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Reclaiming Ashkenazi Culture? Sure. But Not Without Some Tough Love

  So, has received a lot of discussion over the past few weeks on certain sectors of the Jewish blogosphere – far more than I expected. Much of this discussion has revolved around the fact that certain aspects of Ashkenazi culture themselves have largely been erased from the “mainstream” – be it Yiddish, certain foods, certain…

  By Jonathan P. Katz May 14, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  If You Defend Charlie Hebdo — Do Same for Pamela Geller

  Ever since the terrorist massacre at Charlie Hebdo magazine last January, it’s been getting harder and harder to decide exactly who the bad guys are and what we’re fighting about. At first it seemed obvious. A pair of gunmen, evidently French Muslims with links to Al Qaeda in Yemen, burst into the Paris offices of…

  By J.J. Goldberg May 14, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Check Our Privilege by Reconnecting With Real Ashkenazi Culture

  I’ve been following the growing buzz — generally and in the Forward specifically — around Jewishness, white privilege, and “Ashkenormativity.” As a Yiddishist with an anti-racist agenda, I have a vested interest in understanding Ashkenazi identity in a way that yields a Jewish community that is both inclusive and capable of working across identity boundaries…

  By Ri J. Turner May 13, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Did Israel Prepare Coach David Blatt To Handle ‘King’ LeBron James?

  Many of the logos belonging to the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team feature a sword: in one case a flag with a ‘C’ on it flies from the sword, and in two others the sword slides through the Cleveland ‘C’ as if into a scabbard. But the warlike images could go the other way. The sword…

  By Austin Ratner May 12, 2015 | 4 min read