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
Israeli Left Splits on Tactics at J Street Conference
J Street / Facebook Speaking at a press conference on the margins of the J Street national convention today, a group of left-wing Knesset members split over the role they’d like American Jews to play in American diplomacy, particularly at the United Nations. Responding to a reporter’s question, Zionist Union lawmakers Yoel Hasson and Ksenia…
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Opinion Stop Using Brooklyn Fire To Stoke Anti-Orthodox Hatred
An Orthodox man looks at the scene of the fire in Midwood, Brooklyn / Getty Images You never want Shabbat to end on a tragic note. Yet among the the rush of messages that blipped across my phone when I turned it on Saturday night was news of the death of seven children in Brooklyn’s…
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Opinion A Deadly Plague of Shabbat Fires
The Sabbath fire that killed seven children in an Orthodox Jewish family in Brooklyn on Saturday was at least the fourth deadly blaze in the borough resulting from Sabbath and holiday observance in the past 15 years. In all 11 people have been killed in the four fires, all but one of them children. At…
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Opinion The Value of Shutting Up and Listening
In my previous column, I wrote about how a revival in Jewish education, one with a low bar for entry, is essential to maintaining our tradition in a world where the superficial trappings of religion — all dream catchers and menorahs — are replacing deeper meaning and understanding. Creating the infrastructure for this requires an…
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Opinion Why Did Benjamin Netanyahu Win? He’s Been Good for Israelis.
The fact that Benjamin Netanyahu looms so large over Israeli politics is a mystery to Israel’s friends and foes alike. If you believe what the media tell you, Netanyahu is routinely on the wrong side of history, refusing to make peace with the Palestinians, all too ready to go to war with Hamas, dangerously sparring…
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Opinion Shame on Hillel for Shunning Civil Rights Veterans
In 1964, Queens College student Mark Levy – one of the four authors of this piece – traveled to Meridian, Mississippi with the Mississippi Freedom Summer project, registering African Americans to vote. When he tried to go to synagogue in Meridian, before he ascended the stairs outside, a representative of the synagogue came out and…
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Opinion How Can We Support Israel’s Ideals — but Not Bibi’s Ugly Rhetoric?
Benjamin Netanyahu’s surprising and decisive victory in the Israeli elections has created a wrenching dilemma for many American Jews: how to continue to love Israel while a government that violates many of our community’s values is in place. This may not be an issue for those who unequivocally support Netanyahu’s aggressive, nationalistic stance, and cheer…
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Opinion What’s an Israel Advocate To Do?
Illustration by Lior Zaltzman Years ago, I was on the National Executive of the National Union of Students in Britain, elected ostensibly to defend Israel against rabid anti-Zionists. I have also trained Israel advocates on Birthright tours and on yearlong programs in Israel. I am an Israel advocate, and I remain dedicated to defending Israel…
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Opinion We Might Have Lost — But We Were Right About Bibi
Obviously, the Israeli election was a disaster for Jews everywhere who favor making peace with the Palestinians. But as much as we lost, and lost badly, we should also learn to say three words. We were right. We were right when we said that Har Homa, the East Jerusalem neighborhood, was built there to block…
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Opinion What Benjamin Netanyahu Sacrificed for Election Victory
In the end it wasn’t even close. Pre-election polls had Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud trailing the Zionist Union of Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni by four Knesset seats, nearly 4% of the popular vote. Analysts around the world were falling over each other to write Bibi’s political obituary. Then came election day. Exit polls found he’d…
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Opinion Why I Don’t Regret Sitting Out Israel’s Election
Illustration by Lior Zaltzman “Will you be writing a regret post about the election?” A few months ago, I wrote about how I was debating whether or not to go home to Israel for the elections. Well, spoiler alert: I didn’t. Like many Israeli friends with families and jobs and New York rents to pay,…
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Opinion The Gaza hostage crisis could forever change how American Jews relate to Israel — but it’s not too late to fix that
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Yiddish ווידעאָ: היסטאָריקערין וויווי לאַקס באַשרײַבט געשיכטע פֿון לאָנדאָנער ייִדישער פּרעסעVIDEO: Historian Vivi Laks tells history of the London Yiddish Press
שבֿע צוקער פֿירט דעם שמועס מיט וויווי לאַקס און ביידע לייענען פֿאָר עטלעכע פֿעליעטאָנען פֿון יענע צײַטן.
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Yiddish World Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’
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