Opinion

• Opinion

  Why Fasting Is Good for Body and Soul

  What does “fasting” mean? As a physician, I tell patients not to eat after midnight so that the morning’s laboratory tests can be compared against known standards (it would be hard to determine whether someone truly has high cholesterol if the level was measured after they ate a Big Mac). From a religious standpoint, fasting…

  By Michael Rosenbaum

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Introducing the Torah Party, My New Favorite Ritual

  Getty Images Just a few months before he was killed in a 1996 bus bombing, my JTS classmate Matt Eisenfeld held a party in his Jerusalem apartment. It was a Saturday night, but it was hardly a typical Saturday night event. It was a siyyum, a conclusion of study, celebrating his completion of Masechet Kiddushin,…

  By Abby Sosland Oct 13, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Finding Hope in Images of Sarajevo

  I went to the opening of the modest but powerful exhibit “Survival in Sarajevo” in Manhattan on October 7 hoping for a hint of optimism about Jews, Muslims, Christians and co-existence after such a brutal summer. It was there — in well-meaning speeches, poignant images and a genuinely inspiring story about Jewish goodness. But lurking…

  By Jane Eisner Oct 13, 2014 | 2 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 A new humanitarian outrage is unfolding in the Middle East. It’s not in Gaza

  

• Nora Berman The left is turning on AOC over Israel — and imperiling its own agenda

  

• Dan Perry Actually, Trump made things between Israel and Iran way worse

  

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

  

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  Opinion

  Why Benjamin Netanyahu’s Dream of Building Arab Alliances Doomed to Fail

  In his recent United Nations General Assembly speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke glowingly about the possibility of strategic cooperation “for the first time” among Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the fight against militant Islam. “A broader rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world may help facilitate…

  By Yossi Alpher Oct 13, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Is Israel Abandoning Push for Two States?

  In a potentially explosive report, veteran Yediot Ahronot defense commentator Ron Ben-Yishai writes on Ynet that Israel is headed toward a new confrontation with the United States and its allies in the wake of this summer’s Operation Protective Edge. The Americans and Europeans insist that Israel must strive for a two-state solution with the Palestinians,…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 13, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Open Up Hillel to All

  Judith Butler speaks at the inaugural Open Hillel conference in Boston/Photo by Gili Getz/Open Hillel (JTA) — Four rabbis are engaged in an animated debate about Jewish law. Three of them agree, but the dissenter is adamant that he’s got it right. He cries out: “A sign, God, I beg You, a sign!” It begins to…

  By Evan Goldstein Oct 12, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Benjamin Netanyahu Is Wrong To Cite ‘American Values’ in Jerusalem Feud

  Benjamin Netanyahu has drawn a goodly measure of criticism for his latest verbal tussle with the White House, culminating in his charge that the Obama administration violated “American values.” Frankly, most of the criticism is undeserved. There’s a lot to be said about the exchange and the bilateral tensions it reflects, but the prime minister’s…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 10, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Hillel Is Already Open — So Why the Conference?

  Hillel President Eric Fingerhut chats with a student / Flickr: Hillel News and Views Once again the love affair between the Jewish people and higher education is back in full bloom. The start of a new school year, and the Jewish New Year, marked the beginning of robust programming for Jewish college students across the…

  By Eric Fingerhut Oct 8, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Gil Steinlauf Chose ‘Personal Torah’ Over One True One

  A respected Conservative clergyman, Gil Steinlauf, senior rabbi of Washington’s Adas Israel Congregation wrote his congregants a moving letter shortly after Yom Kippur. In it, he announced that he and his wife of 20 years, Batya, would be divorcing. That alone would have been surprise enough for his congregation, considering the model marriage, complete with…

  Oct 8, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Do You Have ‘Chutzpah’?

  Getty Images Matzo balls, blintzes and – Beyonce? Not to mention Barbra Streisand’s agent? It’s a great start to a new year! Get quizzing!

  By Lenore Skenazy Oct 8, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  A Kippah on the Head of Israel’s Intelligence Chief

  It seemed at first little more than a throwaway line in an otherwise wonkish interview-profile of Israel’s outgoing chief of Military Intelligence, Major General Aviv Kochavi, appearing September 19 in Yediot Aharonot. “In the final days of his term in M.I.,” military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote, “Kochavi finds himself trying to make the case that…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 8, 2014 | 4 min read