Opinion

• Opinion

  Scotch, (Beef) Ribs and Guy Talk at the Man Seder

  Courtesy of Reuven Spolter // A scene from a ‘man seder’ in Oak Park, Michigan (JTA) — I’m backing my midlife crisis into a tight space near the synagogue entrance, and because this is my midlife crisis – a 2013 blue Mustang – I’m taking my time. No way anybody’s gonna scratch my crisis. As…

  By Ron Kampeas

  5 min read
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  Opinion

  Take It from a Comedian — Trevor Noah Is No Anti-Semite

  Trevor Noah / Getty Images Anti-Semitism is real. The fatal shootings at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, outside the JCC in Kansas, at the Paris kosher market, outside the Copenhagen synagogue — tragic and scary. Four jokes tweeted by Trevor Noah, who will replace Jon Stewart as host of the Daily Show? Not so much….

  By Katie Halper Apr 2, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Elusive Search for the Ideal Seder

  Like many American Jews, I attend a Seder each year. And like many American Jews, I often end the evening both in awe of the tradition and with a few ideas on how I could make the next Seder a little bit better. Less salt in the soup. How can I get everyone to sing?…

  By Elissa Strauss Apr 2, 2015 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz My summer plans prove it: The Jewish Catskills are alive and kicking

  

• Rob Eshman ‘Remember the Liberty’ has become code for ‘Israel Is Evil’ 

  

• Dan Perry The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel

  

• Emily Tamkin Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point

  

• Jay Michaelson When it comes to Israel/Palestine, everyone is sure that everyone else is a bigot

  

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  Opinion

  The #BlackLivesMatter Haggadah

  Sarah Quinter The Haggadah insists on being relentlessly current, asking that each year we read ourselves and our struggles into the ancient saga of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. So it’s not altogether surprising that a few young Jewish writers, primarily Jews of color, have compiled a #BlackLivesMatter Haggadah Supplement for the organization Jews for…

  By Jesse Lempel Apr 1, 2015 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  In Indiana, We Have To Choose

  Indiana’s governor, Mike Pence, and the state lawmakers who approved their own version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act say that they are shocked, shocked, shocked at the uproar, divisiveness and potential economic pain that the new law is bringing to their state. We’d rather they would just be honest and acknowledge that in the…

  Apr 1, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Between Obama and Netanyahu, It’s Personal

  So the tension between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu isn’t personal. That’s what the president said during his March 24 press briefing. Those of us who favor close U.S.-Israeli relations can breathe a sign of relief. Or start seriously worrying, depending on your viewpoint. On one hand, if it’s not personal then we needn’t…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 31, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Walking While Jewish in Berlin

  In late February, I spent an entire day walking the streets of Berlin, wearing a yarmulke, while a videographer filmed me in secret with a GoPro camera taped to a flap in his rucksack. We were trying to replicate for the British tabloid the Daily Mail the now-famous experiment undertaken in Paris by the Israeli…

  By A.J. Goldmann Mar 31, 2015 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  The Black Panthers Haggadah

  The following is a translation of the Israeli Black Panthers Haggadah With a strong hand, two. And with an outstretched arm, two more. With great terror, two more. With protests, two more. With banners raised, two more. With hunger strikes, two more. These, then, are 10 plagues that the Black Panthers from Musrara brought upon…

  By Asaf Shalev Mar 31, 2015 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Will Ed Miliband Be Britain’s First Jewish Premier?

  Britain may be on the verge of electing its first affirming Jewish prime minister, Labour Party leader Ed Miliband. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron formally told Queen Elizabeth on Monday that he had dissolved Parliament in advance of the May 7 election, marking the end of his five-year term. But the campaign began in force…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 31, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  The Seder Is a Mother

  In a traditional nuclear Jewish family, there’s no denying that the father is the apparent authority figure. To be sure, it’s often, if not always, the case that the mother’s will and wisdom are what persevere. But, at least concerning appearances, it’s Dad who’s the “boss.” And perhaps never as obviously as at a traditional…

  Mar 30, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Lithuania vs. Morocco — Whose Jewish Museum Wins?

  Model of a Rabat Jewish bride in her finery / Jewish Museum in Casablanca I was fortunate enough to travel this month to both Morocco and Lithuania — the former for a class trip, the latter for an attempt to become acquainted with the land of my ancestors, including my ancestral hometown of Panevėžys (Ponevezh)….

  By Jonathan Katz Mar 30, 2015 | 4 min read