Opinion

• Opinion

  A Verdict on the Palestinians

  When a New York jury found the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization liable for knowingly supporting six terrorist attacks in Israel more than a decade ago, the news was greeted with cheers and I-told-you-so’s from Israeli government officials and activists on the right. From the left, there was silence. Examine the February 23…

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Cheating Hasids Out of a Future

  An innovative lawsuit in Quebec offers an intriguing model for reforming the substandard secular education provided in many Hasidic communities. For years it’s been well known that many Hasidic yeshivas in New York fall far short of the state’s education department requirement that private school curricula be “substantially equivalent” to those in public schools. As…

  By Jay Michaelson Feb 26, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Ancient Circumcision Rite Sparked Modern Schism

  Galen and Hippocrates depicted in a 12th century mural/ Wikimedia Commons. The tradition of metzitzah b’peh goes back to biblical times but has created a modern-day dilemma for religiously observant Jews. New York City officials linked the practice to 17 cases of infant herpes since 2000, of whom two died. In the latest development, the…

  By Elon Gilad (Haaretz) Feb 25, 2015 | 4 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 Oh, great, Elon Musk’s antisemitic AI is about to ride shotgun in my Tesla

  

• Nora Berman First Camp Auschwitz, now Alligator Alcatraz — why the right is obsessed with commodifying brutality

  

• Dan Perry What exactly is going on between Israel and Syria — and is the prospect of peace dead?

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

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  Opinion

  How My High School Predicts Israel’s Elections

  All photos courtesy of Blich High School Blich High School is as ordinary as they come. I know, because I went there for four years. It’s located on Ramat Chen street, in a sleepy Ramat Gan suburb, next to a quiet local elementary school. But around election season, Blich becomes something else, something important, as…

  By Lior Zaltzman Feb 25, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Can Yoga Fix the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

  Farashe (JTA) — Inhale your arms up into warrior one. Exhale and extend your arms into warrior two. I followed the instructor’s soft but firm voice as she led me and five other women through the yoga poses, and the deep breathing helped to calm my nerves. The large tiled room was gently lit through white…

  By Batya Ungar-Sargon Feb 24, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Is It Even Possible to Vote Against Israeli Occupation?

  Getty Images In the latest news to come out of this already-strange Israeli election, the Jewish Press stated on Sunday that the ballots for the upcoming election will be printed in Karnei Shomron by Yisrapot, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank considered illegal under international law. The pro-settler writer at that publication claimed that…

  By Jonathan Katz Feb 24, 2015 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Learning To Embrace the Hybrid Jew

  One of last month’s most-read articles on forward.com was an installment of the Seesaw, the Forward’s group advice column on multi-faith families, entitled “I Don’t Want to Be Jewish Anymore.” It showed how little we in the Jewishly-engaged world (by definition, that’s you) understand about the other 70%. Let’s start with the title, presumably written…

  By Jay Michaelson Feb 23, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Young British Jews Are Hiring a West Bank Lawyer

  Israeli soldiers arrest a young Palestinian boy following clashes in Hebron / Getty Images I am part of a group of 30 young Zionist leaders from the British Jewish community. As people who love Israel, we want to see it thrive as a sanctuary for the Jewish people, one that stays true to the democratic,…

  By Jessica Belle Weiss Feb 23, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Changing My Mind On Same-Sex Ceremonies

  Josh and Mark on the day of their commitment ceremony / Danielle Perelman On a recent Sunday night, I did something that in the past I never thought I would do. Nine years ago, I voted “no” on the most well-known Conservative Movement responsum on homosexuality, the Dorff-Nevins-Reisner teshuvah on “Homosexuality, Human Dignity and Halakhah.”…

  By Philip Scheim Feb 23, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Jewish Poverty Matters Now — More Than Ever Before

  The long and painful demise of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (still underway) and the shockingly speedy death of FEGS is a staggering blow to the entire New York community and especially to the Jewish community. State and city agencies and UJA-Federation are working hard to ensure continuity of service for many thousands of…

  By Jack Ukeles Feb 23, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Speech-Gate Won’t Dethrone Benjamin Netanyahu — But Bottle Deposits Might

  It’s been a month since Benjamin Netanyahu first infuriated the White House by accepting a Republican invitation to address Congress and attack the president’s Iran policy. A month in which American Middle East watchers have been asking anyone they could find whether the resulting chill in U.S.-Israeli relations would hurt the Israeli prime minister in…

  By J.J. Goldberg Feb 23, 2015 | 4 min read