Opinion

• Opinion

  News Quiz: Seth Rogen is Quitting Acting to do What?

  Getty Images Kate Hudson, Leonard Cohen, Seth Rogen and Mayim Bialik? It’s either this week’s Jewish News Quiz or a list of who’s sponsoring the Rosh Hashanah kiddush.

  By Lenore Skenazy

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Let’s Make Climate Change the New ‘Third Rail’ of American Politics

  Will 2014 be the year in which climate change becomes a “third rail”? Never before has there been an issue of such moral clarity. We have known for 25 years that the earth is warming more rapidly now than at any other time in history. We have begun to see the effects, in the form…

  By Jay Michaelson Sep 19, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Would Talmud Approve of 91 Lashes for Iranian ‘Happy’ Dancers?

  A still from the Iranian version of Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” music video / YouTube It’s a weird aftereffect of a Jewish day school education that, when I see a headline like “Iran Court Sentences ‘Happy’ Dancers to 6 Months and 91 Lashes,” I immediately ask myself: WWTDD? Or: what would the Talmud do? You might…

  By Sigal Samuel Sep 18, 2014 | 3 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 I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why Another War in Gaza Is All But Inevitable

  It is increasingly clear that the Gaza war that ended in August will soon produce… another Gaza war. Exactly how soon is a matter of conjecture. But all the signs are there. Operation Protective Edge did not end in late August in anything approaching lasting coexistence between Israel and Hamas. For that to happen, the…

  By Yossi Alpher Sep 18, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Haredi Meets Hollywood in Anti-Vaccine Debate

  A health worker administers a polio vaccination to a child / Getty Images If you had to guess which neighborhood — Boro Park or Beverly Hills — the following quote applies to, which would you pick? Parents in these schools are submitting a form called a “personal belief exemption,” which states that they are not…

  By Sigal Samuel Sep 17, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  An Unlikely Friendship Between 2 Men of Letters

  Tony Auth, the award-winning editorial cartoonist, died Sunday of brain cancer, way too soon at age 72. The obituaries lauded the way he employed artistry, intelligence and biting humor to his running commentary on the day’s news. They speak of his ceaseless devotion to craft, his fierce political independence, and the kindness he showed other…

  By Jane Eisner Sep 17, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  An Intrepid Immersion Into the Jewish Calendar

  It’s a sure conversation-stopper when I tell friends, “This year I’ll be observing and trying to understand every single Jewish holiday.” Non-Jews nod politely: “That sounds interesting….” Non-observant Jews look puzzled: “Aren’t there, like, a thousand of those…? I guess you won’t be doing much else this year.” Observant Jews shrug, as if to say,…

  By Abigail Pogrebin Sep 17, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  VIDEO: Satan and Jewess Give Birth to ISIS

  Well, this is weird. Iraqi TV is rolling out a new satirical series, “Superstitious State,” that portrays the leader of ISIS as the spawn of Satan and — you guessed it — a Jewish woman. In a promo for the soon-to-come anti-ISIS show, broadcast several times daily on Al-Iraqiyya, we meet a Jewess adorned with…

  By Sigal Samuel Sep 16, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Do British Jews Have Better Approach to Strife Over Israel?

  While I spend much of my time researching and writing about the British Jewish community, I’ve always been a keen observer of the American Jewish community. So it was fascinating to discover during a recent teaching visit to Houston that my British Jewish preoccupations seemed to resonate so strongly with Jews there. Much of my…

  By Keith Kahn-Harris Sep 16, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Not To Write About Hasids Buying Weed

  Cover of the memoir “Cannabis Chassidis” / Amazon Should the media highlight religious affiliation of criminal suspects when the affiliation has no bearing on the crime, and when those accused are not representatives of any religious group? This weekend the New York Post ran a story of three Hasidic men busted for attempting to buy…

  By Eliyahu Federman Sep 16, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Who Did Mel Brooks Prank This Week?

  Getty Images Mel Brooks, Roseanne Barr and Dr. Ruth? Slaves to the new and trendy we are not. And neither is this week’s quiz (except for the obligatory mention of Sarah Silverman).

  By Lenore Skenazy Sep 15, 2014 | < 1 min read