Opinion

• Opinion

  Award for Most Unfunny Israeli Comedy Goes to…

  Tzipi Livni as depicted by Israeli satire “Hakol Shafit” / YouTube When it comes to political satire shows, Israeli television spans the gamut. On Channel 2 there’s Israel’s version of Saturday Night Live, called “Eretz Nehederet” or “A Wonderful Land.” Israel’s Jon Stewart-esque “Gav HaUma” recently moved to Channel 10. Both of these shows have…

  By Elisheva Goldberg

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Rabbi Who Inspires Our Inspiring Rabbi

  Rabbi Peretz Chein with his two children. Rabbi Herschel Hartz made last year’s Most Inspiring Rabbis list for his work in the Inwood Jewish community. We asked him to write about a rabbi who inspires him. Nominate your pick for this year’s list in the form below. A Chabad emissary wears many hats. He must…

  By Herschel Hartz Feb 10, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Adam Silver’s Shande Against All Knicks Fans

  What ever happened to sticking up for a fellow member of the Tribe? National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver committed a major shande by backing boorish New York Knicks owner James Dolan as ‘the consummate New Yorker’ after the team boss lambasted a Jewish lifelong fan as a “sad mess” and an “alcoholic” for daring…

  By Dave Goldiner Feb 10, 2015 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson Have we become the ‘ordinary Germans’ now?

  

• 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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  The Missing Voices in Mideast Policy Debate

  The session on “Strategy and Security in the Middle East” at last year’s AIPAC policy conference was like many other such discussions in organized Jewish life. There was a moderator and three “distinguished” experts, forced to sit on the high, spindly chairs favored by event organizers but often awkward for guests to mount. There was…

  Feb 10, 2015 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Benjamin Netanyahu Is Right on Speech to Congress

  We may never know what really went down in the warped political zone inhabited by President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Weeks into the controversy surrounding the latter’s as-yet-uncanceled March 3 speech before Congress, the only thing really clear is that politicians acting in their electoral interests will spin…

  By David Hazony Feb 10, 2015 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  My First Tu B’Shvat Seder: Fixing the First Sin

  I never thought I’d pine for Manischewitz. But the odd, clashing wine combinations of the Tu B’Shvat seder made me yearn for the familiar, sugary Passover libation. The Kabbalists who created the Tu B’Shvat seder in the 16th century chose to include four cups to mirror Passover. But their wine instructions took an odd turn….

  By Abigail Pogrebin Feb 9, 2015 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  How Jews Built New Life in ‘Shanghai Ghetto’

  (JTA) — The neighborhood in Shanghai that was home to approximately 20,000 Jewish refugees during World War II may be added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. While the Nazi-fleeing refugees who settled in Shanghai certainly fared better than the family and friends they left behind in Europe, life in the so-called “Pearl of…

  By Gabe Friedman Feb 8, 2015 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Let the Bibi-Gate Blame Game Begin

  Let the finger-pointing begin. Two weeks into the Bibi-gate (or perhaps Bohener-gate, or simply speech-gate) controversy, with no sign of Democratic anger subsiding, Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies are starting to look for excuses. The defense Bibi has settled on can be summed up in three words: “It’s Boehner’s fault.” Policymakers and congressional staff members…

  By Nathan Guttman Feb 6, 2015 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Should We Watch ISIS Horror Videos — or Look Away?

  As the Islamic State releases video after video, each more appalling than the next, in what is surely the YouTube channel from hell – the world seems to have divided into those of us who choose to watch the atrocities and those of us who don’t. Members of the first group are making a choice…

  By Allison Kaplan Sommer (Haaretz) Feb 5, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  The Vaccination Nation

  It’s only a pinprick, a momentary burst of pain for a tiny human being who doesn’t know what is happening and therefore cries with such abandon that even a veteran parent cringes at the sight. Vaccinating an infant can be frightening, and not just for the baby. It is essentially an act of faith, based…

  Feb 5, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Jack Wolfson Became Face of Anti-Vaxxer Movement

  A Jewish doctor in Arizona has become the unapologetic face of the anti-vaccine movement. In an interview with CNN, Dr. Jack Wolfson said he wouldn’t mind if his un-vaccinated child got another child sick. “I’m not going to sacrifice the well-being of my child. My child is pure,” the cardiologist said. “It’s an unfortunate thing…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Feb 4, 2015 | 2 min read