Opinion

• Opinion

  Being a Jew in ‘Bombingham’ Alabama

  Investigators probe bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama./FBI Photo Holocaust analogies abound in Birmingham. That became clear within minutes of meeting Sol Kimerling, the 84-year-old historian who embodies Southern charm — and who served as our tour guide for the day. Dressed in a blue checkered shirt, brown corduroys and dapper black…

  By Anne Cohen and Sigal Samuel

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Is This Best Defense Israel Can Muster?

  Getty Images Israel’s consul for public affairs in New York, Gil Lainer, has offered a spirited reply to my June 10 column, “How Politics and Lies Triggered an Unintended War In Gaza.” As a devout Zionist, I’m glad to see a strong, cogent defense of the state of Israel. Unfortunately, as Groucho Marx once put…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 14, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  When Reb Zalman Hummed ‘Home on the Range’

  I first met Zalman Schachter (not yet-Shalomi) in 1971 in Warwick, N.Y., at Kutz, a Reform Jewish camp where my wife, Elana, and I spent our first married summer as teachers and counselors. Our friend, newly ordained rabbi, Larry Kushner, had hired me along with a few other rabbinical students to work with him and…

  By James E. Ponet Jul 13, 2014 | 6 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

  How To Save $163K on Jewish Day School Bill

  Getty Images (JTA) — When the parents of three school-age children sat down with their financial adviser to try to figure out how to minimize their anticipated private school tuition bill of $810,000 through high school, they came up with a plan that shrunk the bill by $163,000. How’d they do it? Well, mostly by pre-paying,…

  By Uriel Heilman Jul 13, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Gaza War ‘Unintended’? Nope, Hamas Is Sworn to Destroy Israel

  I feel the need to respond to a recent column by J.J. Goldberg, “How Politics and Lies Triggered an Unintended War in Gaza.” There are a series of false assumptions littered throughout the piece, which unfortunately lead Goldberg to imagine a conspiracy theory that does not exist. Firstly, Goldberg quotes an Israeli military official referring…

  By Gil Lainer Jul 13, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Feeling ‘Chosen’ in Alabama

  Anne and Sigal’s flight path. Next stop, Birmingham. We landed in Birmingham and were hit by a wall of heat — and a Bible. The taxi driver who ushered us from the airport to our hotel keeps a copy of the Holy Bible on his passenger seat. Welcome to Alabama. That was tame compared to…

  By Anne Cohen and Sigal Samuel Jul 12, 2014 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  What Does 192-to-1 Death Toll Say About Gaza War?

  (JTA) — The ratio of Palestinian deaths to Israeli deaths is one of the most important measurements of the Gaza war. The toll clearly disproportionate — as of this writing, about 192:1. There are a few different ways to look at this rate. Critics of Israel herald the lopsided figure as evidence of Israeli barbarism….

  By Uriel Heilman Jul 12, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Where’s Jewish Fury Over Tariq Abu Khdeir Beating?

  Tariq Abu Khdeir is hugged by his mother following his beating in East Jerusalem / Getty Images I have no idea what Tariq Khdeir was doing on the day he was savagely beaten. I have no idea if — like the American high school student in my own home – Tariq woke up late and…

  By Emily L. Hauser Jul 11, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Jews in Israel and Diaspora Share Fate

  This is one of those times when the gulf between we American Jews and our Israeli kin seems wider than the ocean. As sirens blare and rockets whoosh through the sky there, we here can only empathize, support and, for those so inclined, pray. We can hope for a speedy end to the attacks and…

  Jul 11, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  8 Best Jewish Road Trips

  Editor’s Note: As part of the Forward’s Our Promised Lands project, which will cover 50 states in 50 weeks, Anne Cohen and Sigal Samuel are setting out on a Southern adventure. Over the next eight days, they will travel to Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, so keep an eye on this blog to follow their…

  By Anne Cohen and Sigal Samuel Jul 11, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How the Gaza War Started — and How It Can End

  The Forward has my latest column on how Israel and Hamas stumbled through a series of accidents and misunderstandings into a war nobody wanted. Because it’s written for print (unlike this blog) it has limits on length, and even though the paper generously lets me run way over my limit every week, there are inevitably…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 10, 2014 | 5 min read