Opinion

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  Beautiful jazzy version of "Ma’oz Tzur" – listen to Alex Bershadsky

  By Abigail Pogrebin

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Longing for the Quiet of Separation in Jerusalem

  With the aim of bringing peace to Jerusalem, foreigners often advise the warring natives to seek reconciliation. Speak to each other, study your differences, clarify the disputes and at the end everything will be solved. Rabbi Marc Schneier recently offered such advice in these pages: “To prevent a global conflagration that would be a disaster…

  By Michael Karpin Dec 11, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  No, Judaism Doesn’t Justify CIA Torture

  Christian art depicting Jews being tortured in hell Are the Jews somehow to blame for the CIA’s torture of detainees? That’s what some want to know after yesterday’s release of the so-called “CIA Torture Report” by the Senate Intelligence Committee. The CIA is in the business of extracting secrets and then burying them deep in…

  By Jesse Lempel Dec 10, 2014 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry An Israeli media mainstay is crumbling. Will liberal democracy go with it?

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  I’m Jewish and Greek. Who Do I Root for On Hanukkah?

  Youth from Ioannina’s Greek community in traditional dress / Haaretz They’ve switched on the window displays on Fifth Avenue, and the trees are for sale on the street corners, so I know I’m about to get asked the question: Do I miss Christmas? It’s a common question for a convert. But, despite a childhood full…

  By Elizabeth Savage Dec 10, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Coming to Terms With Death of the Jewish Mainstream

  Reading a Jewish newspaper — and writing for one — is often an exercise in masochism. Of course, the Forward has inspiring pieces on the gefilte fish revival and the first female-majority Forward 50. But when you look at the “hard news” and follow the trend lines, it’s easy to feel despair. If you’re a…

  By Jay Michaelson Dec 10, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Must-Watch TV: Obama on ‘The Colbert Report’

  Watch the Leader of the Free World make fun of himself, his critics, Fox News and lots more in a hilarious “Colbert Report” appearance. In the following clip, Obama walks on the set “unexpectedly” (he was due to show up a few minutes later for widely advertised interview) and announces that he’s going to do…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 9, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Bibi’s $40M Settlement Giveaway Blocked

  Hours before Israel’s Knesset voted Monday evening to disperse and head to elections, Prime Minister Netanyahu asked the finance committee to approve an “emergency” grant to settlements in the West Bank of some 160 million shekels ($40 million). Netanyahu was acting in his capacity as acting finance minister, following his firing last week of incumbent…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 9, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  7 Israeli Laws America Should Pass Right Now

  Life’s good when you’re floating in the Dead Sea / Thinkstock Avital Burg’s recent post “If America Had Laws Like Israel” imagines an American parallel to Israel’s nation-state bill, and invites the reader to deplore what would happen if this bill became law here in the U.S. Though this probably wasn’t the writer’s intention, the…

  By Avi Bass Dec 8, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Is It Kosher To Fake a Photo for Peace?

  Photographer Kitra Cahana on the hills overlooking Ramallah / Ed Ou Editor’s Note: The Forward’s story “Iconic Mideast Photo Is a Fake — and Heartbreaking One at That” generated a lot of debate about the ethics of staging photographs. For added insight, we put a few questions to Kitra Cahana, a documentary photojournalist whose work…

  By Kitra Cahana Dec 8, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Iconic Mideast Photo That Isn’t Fake

  Debbi Cooper’s 1988 photo of an Israeli and a Palestinian actually features an Israeli and a Palestinian. When I interviewed Ricki Rosen about her iconic — and completely staged — 1993 photo depicting a Palestinian boy and an Israeli boy, she reminded me of a similar picture taken by another Jerusalem photojournalist. Debbi Cooper’s 1988…

  By Naomi Zeveloff Dec 8, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘The Nu Republic’ No More

  How do you say kaddish for a magazine that lived to be 100 years old? Because that is precisely what many fans of The New Republic are doing, as well as engaging in the more of-this-world-ly act of cancelling their subscriptions. By now, everyone in the literary world and blogosphere is aware of what has…

  By Jeffrey K. Salkin Dec 8, 2014 | 4 min read