Opinion

• Opinion

  Switzerland Begins To Confront Its Own Holocaust Past

  What will it take for Switzerland to emerge, at long last, from the shadows of the Holocaust? The question comes up, yet again, with two recent news items. First, a Holocaust survivor family has filed suit in both Switzerland and the United States, alleging that restitution payments for family art stolen by the Nazis went…

  By David E. Gumpert

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Fear and (Jew) Loathing in Venezuela

  A “Hello, Hitler” shirt for sale in Venezuela It started with the Hello, Hitler t-shirt. Just after arriving for a month in Caracas, I saw a teenage girl on the subway wearing a snug red tee whose logo warped the familiar “Hello, Kitty” character into a cute parody of… Der Fuhrer. A giant swastika dominated…

  By Michael Kaminer Nov 4, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Our ‘Car Talk’ Rebbe in God’s Auto Repair Shop

  “Car Talk” hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi It’s a stereotype, but Jewish men have an ancient and mostly well-earned reputation for not being able to fix things. (There have been many notable exceptions to this, including my father, who could fix anything). I have done my best to uphold this proud tradition of our people….

  By Jeffrey K. Salkin Nov 4, 2014 | 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 Americans keep getting killed in the West Bank. Here’s how the US could fight that awful trend

  

• 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

  Should You Give Jewishly?

  As the end of the year approaches, our inboxes and mailboxes fill with solicitations for giving, as organizations seek to capitalize on our holiday season generosity and desire to boost our tax write-offs. So who to give to? It is hard to give well. It takes time to figure out one’s priorities and then determine…

  By Elissa Strauss Nov 4, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  7 Best Jewish Comebacks to Catcalling

  I’m sure you’ve seen it by now. A video made by the anti-street harassment group Hollaback shows a woman, the Jewish actress Shoshana Roberts, walking around in New York City getting unwanted attention from men. The video struck me because, when I moved to New York ten years ago, two things happened: street harassment became…

  By Lilit Marcus Nov 3, 2014 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  IDF Generals’ Letter: ‘Embrace Saudi Plan’

  Here’s the complete text of the open letter to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from 100-plus retired generals, Mossad directors and national police commissioners. The translation was supplied by the Israel Policy Forum and appears on their website here. The Hebrew original, which was prepared as an advertisement in the Israeli press, is here. Reading…

  By J.J. Goldberg Nov 3, 2014 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  A Double Standard That Works in Israel’s Favor

  A few days ago a reader wrote to chastise me for something I’d written about Israeli construction in East Jerusalem (“Why Benjamin Netanyahu Is Wrong To Cite ‘American Values’ in Jerusalem Feud,” October 17). Since this reader happens to be a serious, thoughtful writer whose work I admire, I owe a serious answer. I had…

  By J.J. Goldberg Nov 3, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  106 IDF Ex-Generals, Spy Chiefs Urge New Peace Bid

  In what appears to be the largest-ever joint protest by senior Israeli security personnel, a group of 106 retired generals, Mossad directors and national police commissioners has signed a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to “initiate a diplomatic process” based on a regional framework for peace with the Palestinians. Several of the…

  By J.J. Goldberg Nov 2, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  It’s Time for Yeshivas To Fight Rape Culture

  When studying Talmud, it’s easy to be desensitized to the real-life implications of even the most sensitive issues — rape, for example. So, as we at Yeshivat Har Etzion study the third chapter of the Talmudic tractate Ketubot, a chapter devoted to the crimes of rape and seduction, it’s easy to forget (especially when using…

  By Jonathan Ziring Nov 2, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  When Israel’s Chickens Come Home to Poop

  The policies of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister are starting to bear an eerie resemblance to climate change: The critics all look like a bunch of whining scaremongers prophesying an implausibly apocalyptic ruination that’s sure to come in some fuzzily distant end-time. Even if it’s true, it’s too far away to worry about. That is, until…

  By J.J. Goldberg Nov 2, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  That Time Yehuda Glick Was My Tour Guide

  Rabbi Yehuda Glick / Tumblr The first time I met Rabbi Yehuda Glick, I thought he seemed completely normal. I never would have thought to call him a right-wing extremist, as many reports are doing nowadays. And I certainly never would have dreamed that a few years later he would be the target of an…

  By Rachel Delia Benaim Oct 30, 2014 | 3 min read