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
Bibi vs. Sharon on Bush’s Iraq Debacle
A number of readers have responded on line and in emails to my column, “How Bush and Bibi Made a Mess of the Middle East,” with pointed comments that deserve a reply. Several readers suggested that I invented my account of Ariel Sharon’s conversation with George W. Bush in the White House on February 7,…
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Opinion How Ed Miliband Lost Britain’s Jewish Voters
Getty Images With Britain’s general election just one month away, a new poll of Jewish voters makes brutal reading for the Labour Party and their leader, Ed Miliband. The poll, published by the Jewish Chronicle, shows that if British Jews were to vote tomorrow (and if we remove undecided voters from the equation), 69% would…
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Opinion My Hasidic Family Got Into a Passover Fistfight — Over Cake
Lior Zaltzman illustration At the Passover Seder, we read about the four sons of the Haggadah, distinguishing them by the things they say. But the wicked and wise sons say essentially the same thing. Both ask: “What are these practices you keep?” The family of the wise son respects his question, while the family of…
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Opinion A (Third) Seder of Her Own
I ducked the fifth fast by shunning my feminist roots. All firstborn sons are supposed to fast on the eve of Passover to remember that God saved the eldest Jewish boys during the 10th plague; some Jews interpret the mandate to apply to women as well. My mother, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, an un-shy feminist (and…
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Opinion #147NotJustaNumber in Kenya
It is simplistic and even dangerous to compare terrorist atrocities, creating false equivalencies that ignore context and historical trends. Relatively speaking, the dozen deaths at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo and the murder of four Jews in the kosher supermarket earlier this year were horrifying and impactful not because of the number, but because…
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Opinion Debbie Friedman’s Miriam Song
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Opinion If Nuclear Iran Is So Scary, What About Israel?
Getty Images / Lior Zaltzman illustration As the web indulges in polemics on Iran’s Preliminary Nuclear Deal, I’m seeing a lot of tweets and statuses asking why Israel succeeded in developing its nuclear capabilities without making the rest of the world nervous enough to prompt a forced inspection of its nuclear installations or threaten it…
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Opinion 4 Questions on Iran for Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu’s round-robin tour of America’s Sunday interview shows — hitting NBC, ABC and CNN on a single morning — was a master stroke by Israel’s much-maligned public diplomacy operation. If any news consumer was still wondering on Saturday night where Israel’s elected government stands on the Iran nuclear framework agreement, that was cleared up…
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Opinion How Bibi and Bush Made a Mess of the Middle East
By now it’s become a Washington cliché: Barack Obama stumbling cluelessly through a Middle East in flames. He’s leading from behind, surrendering to Iran, withdrawing from the world, pivoting to Asia. He tried to disengage from Middle East entanglements, but the region sucked us back in. Or did it? Here the cliché gets muddled. In…
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Opinion Jon Stewart’s Right: Easter Is Crushing Passover!
In a Daily Show clip I revisited this weekend, Jon Stewart says that “we Jews are getting our asses kicked” when it comes to holidays. We’ve already lost the Christmas v. Hanukkah competition for kids’ attention. Now Passover v. Easter comes along, and we don’t stand a chance! After all, Jon says, what would you…
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Opinion How an Eritrean Taught Me the True Meaning of Passover
Courtesy of Tekle Tekle journeyed half a year by foot across the Sinai from Eritrea to Israel. He traveled mainly at night, for fear of getting caught during the day. “It was a matter of life and death,” he told me when I asked him to recount his escape. Without a civilian judiciary or democratic…
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