Opinion

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  A Century After World War I, We Don’t Put Ourselves on the Line for Beliefs

  A century ago, as World War I began, many countries were willing (in the beginning, even eager) to expend their blood and treasure in the name of national pride and “glory.” We remember World War I as especially egregious in this regard, as both warring blocs were imperialistic; and considering the autocratic nature of Czarist…

  By Ralph Seliger

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  8-Point Guide to Criticizing Israel Productively

  Thinkstock As an Israeli who lives in New York, I know that I can sometimes be unfair. On the one hand, I often get defensive when people criticize Israel. On the other, I can also get upset when people seem to blindly support Israel. Criticizing Israel is allowed, and even important for Israel’s wellbeing, but…

  By Abraham Gutman Aug 25, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  If Maimonides Met Warby Parker

  Actress Blake Lively recently launched a website called Preserve, which aims to promote an artisanal lifestyle through the posting of recipes, craft projects and style profiles, and to sell a variety of food and clothing items. Because Preserve genuinely desires “to give back to those with fewer opportunities but just as much heart and soul…

  By Elissa Strauss Aug 25, 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

  With All Due Respect, Can’t My Critics Read?

  Those who follow me online have observed that I don’t usually respond to my critics. I confess: I have a little fan club that hangs out in the Comments section and on my Facebook page, cursing my ancestry and generally whooping it up, and they seem to be having so much fun that I hate…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 24, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Rebooting the Black-Jewish Alliance in Ferguson

  Cultural Leadership program participants in Crown Heights, Brooklyn (JTA) — On the evening of Aug. 12, after two consecutive nights of clashes between police and protesters in Ferguson, Mo., Mikal Smith rose to address a community meeting in the neighboring city of Florissant. In front of Governor Jay Nixon, Obama administration officials and community leaders,…

  By Anthony Weiss Aug 24, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Dark Forces Behind the Balfour Declaration — And Its Lasting Legacy

  Why does the Balfour Declaration, written in 1917 during the darkest days of World War I, tug at our elbow, insisting we pay attention to it? Indeed even today, “Operation Protective Edge” in Gaza harkens back to Balfour. Political analyst Avishai Margalit said, “You can unspool this vendetta back to the Balfour Declaration.” The Balfour…

  By Jerome Chanes Aug 23, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Who Leaked Israel’s Top-Secret Briefing About Reoccupying Gaza?

  Six weeks into a Gaza conflict that continually lurches from cease-fire to live fire and back again, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is facing what could turn into the greatest challenge of his political career. Pressure is building in the Knesset and in the security services for a criminal investigation into the leak in early…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 22, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  In WWI, Jews Fought for Britain. So Why Didn’t Britain Fight for Jews?

  “Britain has been all she could be to Jews” — a recruitment poster issued at the beginning of World War I reads — “Jews will be all they can to Britain: Join the special Jewish unit.” At the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, it was the policy of the established Jewish community in Britain…

  By Liam Hoare Aug 22, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Should U.S. Teachers Talk to Kids About War in Gaza?

  Getty Images (JTA) — With the new school year nearly upon us, Jewish educational leaders are scrambling to prepare their teachers to discuss this summer’s Gaza War. The most pressing challenge is to design age-appropriate conversations: At which grade level might classroom discussions include potentially frightening topics, such as the wounding of non-combatants, kidnapping of young…

  By Jack Wertheimer Aug 21, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Jewish Silence on Ferguson Is Not an Option

  Demonstrators protest the killing of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri / Getty Images After weeks upon weeks of news reports that detail what seemed to be never-ending violence in Israel and Gaza, compounded by accounts of a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in Europe and Canada and even across the United States, it would have…

  By Rori Picker Neiss Aug 20, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Forward Remembers Leonard Fein

  Leonard Fein was part of this newspaper from the time the Forward began publishing a regular English edition in 1990. Fein had heard that founding editor Seth Lipsky was planning to create a serious national Jewish newspaper and called Lipsky from Boston. They met for a drink at the Harvard Club in New York —…

  Aug 20, 2014 | 3 min read