Opinion

• Opinion

  A Disgusting Reflection

  The top floor of the Jüdisches Museum Wien, the Jewish Museum in Vienna, is a storehouse of fancy stuff: shiny breastplates and bulbuous ornaments for the sacred Torah, ritual objects for the home, elaborately decorated in silver and gold and jewels, collected and donated by wealthy men reflecting the richness of Austrian Jewish life, and…

  By Jane Eisner

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Do We Avenge Steven Sotloff’s Death?

  Shiite Muslim fighters take part in a last combat training before joining the government forces to fight Islamic State jihadists / Getty Images And so another beheading of another American journalist — this time “one of us,” as today’s Forward editorial has reminded us. “One of us” meaning an American Jew, and one whose family…

  By Jay Michaelson Sep 3, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Steven Sotloff Was Jewish

  UPDATED We can now say that Steven Joel Sotloff was Jewish. We can now say that he was the grandson of Holocaust survivors, that his mother was a preschool teacher at Temple Beth Am in Pinecrest, Florida, a Reform synagogue in South Miami where Sotloff attended day school. We can now relay to you that…

  Sep 3, 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 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

  Founder of Canadian Nazi Party Runs for Office

  John Beattie / Youtube Will voters in a small Canadian town overlook the hate-filled past of a town-council candidate? John Beattie is betting on it. Beattie, the 73-year-old founder of the Canadian Nazi Party, has thrown his hat in the ring for elected office in Minden, an Ontario hamlet of 5,600 better known for tidy…

  By Michael Kaminer Sep 2, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Did We Obsess Over Israel’s War in Gaza? Capitalism.

  A journalist films as rescue workers remove the body of a Palestinian man from the rubble of his home in Gaza / Getty Images The American media covers Israel more than almost any other pressing geopolitical concern. The disproportionate coverage was continually pointed out (as it had been in the past) as reporters crawled in…

  By Elisheva Goldberg Sep 2, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Was Elvis Jewish at Heart?

  Wikimedia Commons Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley and Harry Houdini. It’s no illusion; they are all bound together in this week’s quiz. Good luck getting out of this one!

  By Lenore Skenazy Sep 2, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  So You Really Think Liberal Zionism Is Dead?

  There are many ways to describe this summer’s conflict between Israel and Hamas: accidental, inevitable, horrific, unnecessary, lopsided, tragic. Take your pick — each captures part of the truth. There’s one thing it wasn’t, though, despite what some pundits have been declaring: a death-knell for liberal Zionism. That characterization isn’t just wrong; it’s weirdly off-base….

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

  Fascism and France Today

  Zeev Sternhell is one of our era’s pre-eminent historians of modern France. In a series of path-breaking works, Sternhell has argued that fascism is far from being a foreign import to France, but actually has its intellectual and political roots in French soil. While historians still debate his painstaking and provocative interpretation, there is little…

  By Robert Zaretsky Sep 2, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Labor Day Movie Time: Once Were Unions

  Before saying goodbye to Labor Day weekend and heading back to work and school tomorrow morning, here’s a movie to get you into the spirit of Labor Day. It’s an hour-long documentary called “The Inheritance,” and believe me, it’s a great way to spend an evening. It was made in 1964 for the Amalgamated Clothing…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 1, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  On Gaza, an Israeli Scribe Holds Up a Harsh Mirror

  In an unusual step, Ynet has published an English translation of Nahum Barnea’s weekly Friday column from the August 28 Yediot Ahronot weekend supplement. It’s a powerful indictment of the way the Gaza war was managed, its costs to Israel’s long-term security and political integrity. He talks to the soldiers and officers as well as…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 1, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  On Elvis’ Yahrzeit, His Not So Secret Jewish History

  Tablet magazine has a charming podcast (originally broadcast on Santa Monica public radio station KCRW-FM, they note) of Memphis native Harold Fruchter, son of the late Rabbi Alfred Fruchter, reminiscing about his family’s relationship with Elvis Presley. Elvis lived downstairs from the Fruchters as a teenager, befriended them and occasionally served as their Shabbos goy….

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 30, 2014 | 5 min read