In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
Opinion
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Opinion
Using Ex-Nazis as Spies? I Saw It Happen.
Hubertus Strughold worked for Hitler’s Luftwaffe throughout World War II — and was later recruited by the U.S. / U.S. Air Force I got an email the other day from a Jewish man who saw something in Germany 60 years ago that he can’t forget. The man reached out to me after reading my story…
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Opinion Divesting From Immorality
Could it get any more catastrophic? The latest report on global warming from the United Nations, released on November 3, describes a vision of the future that should make us snap to attention: massive food shortages leading to widespread hunger, refugee crises, the flooding of major cities and entire island nations, mass extinction of plants…
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Opinion Jewish Defense League Meets Pastrami
The register at Ben and Izzy’s Deli in Toronto / Courtesy of Menachem Freedman When the news hit my Facebook feed that Ben and Izzy’s, a restaurant in Toronto, had been named “North America’s Top Kosher Deli,” I immediately packed my bags. Under the guise of visiting family, I began a pilgrimage to what shalomlife.org…
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Opinion Switzerland Begins To Confront Its Own Holocaust Past
What will it take for Switzerland to emerge, at long last, from the shadows of the Holocaust? The question comes up, yet again, with two recent news items. First, a Holocaust survivor family has filed suit in both Switzerland and the United States, alleging that restitution payments for family art stolen by the Nazis went…
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Opinion Learning to Undo ‘Ashkenormativity’
Maimonides, one of the most famous Sephardic Jews, as portrayed on an Israeli banknote Like most Jews with ties to South Africa, my heritage is extremely Ashkenazi. In fact, both sides of my family largely originate from the same region of what is now northeastern Lithuania and northern Belarus. Growing up in New York, most…
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Opinion Fear and (Jew) Loathing in Venezuela
A “Hello, Hitler” shirt for sale in Venezuela It started with the Hello, Hitler t-shirt. Just after arriving for a month in Caracas, I saw a teenage girl on the subway wearing a snug red tee whose logo warped the familiar “Hello, Kitty” character into a cute parody of… Der Fuhrer. A giant swastika dominated…
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Opinion Our ‘Car Talk’ Rebbe in God’s Auto Repair Shop
“Car Talk” hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi It’s a stereotype, but Jewish men have an ancient and mostly well-earned reputation for not being able to fix things. (There have been many notable exceptions to this, including my father, who could fix anything). I have done my best to uphold this proud tradition of our people….
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Opinion Should You Give Jewishly?
As the end of the year approaches, our inboxes and mailboxes fill with solicitations for giving, as organizations seek to capitalize on our holiday season generosity and desire to boost our tax write-offs. So who to give to? It is hard to give well. It takes time to figure out one’s priorities and then determine…
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Opinion 7 Best Jewish Comebacks to Catcalling
I’m sure you’ve seen it by now. A video made by the anti-street harassment group Hollaback shows a woman, the Jewish actress Shoshana Roberts, walking around in New York City getting unwanted attention from men. The video struck me because, when I moved to New York ten years ago, two things happened: street harassment became…
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Opinion IDF Generals’ Letter: ‘Embrace Saudi Plan’
Here’s the complete text of the open letter to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from 100-plus retired generals, Mossad directors and national police commissioners. The translation was supplied by the Israel Policy Forum and appears on their website here. The Hebrew original, which was prepared as an advertisement in the Israeli press, is here. Reading…
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Opinion A Double Standard That Works in Israel’s Favor
A few days ago a reader wrote to chastise me for something I’d written about Israeli construction in East Jerusalem (“Why Benjamin Netanyahu Is Wrong To Cite ‘American Values’ in Jerusalem Feud,” October 17). Since this reader happens to be a serious, thoughtful writer whose work I admire, I owe a serious answer. I had…
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