Opinion

• Opinion

  What Are You First, Jew or Journalist?

  Are you a journalist first? Or a Jew first? Shmuel Rosner, who writes for The New York Times and the L.A. Jewish Journal, asked the provocative question at the opening panel of the Jewish Media Summit, which brought over a hundred journalists from around the Diaspora to Jerusalem in late June. Had the conference been…

  By Jane Eisner

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Unruly Hebron Clan Pushes Hamas — and Israel — to Brink

  Mourners at the fresh grave of Naftali Fraenkel, one of three Israeli teens murdered, allegedly by members of the Hamas-linked Qawasmeh family of Hebron. / Getty Images Now that the bodies of the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers have been found and laid to rest, the crisis is rapidly turning into a wickedly complex, five-sided tug-of-war…

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

  Teens’ Funeral Changed Israeli Youth Forever

  Funeral ceremony for the three Israeli teenagers / Getty Images When the city of Modi’in was built in 1993, I don’t think the planners envisioned the scene that took place here today. Tens of thousands of Israelis — nearly the equivalent of Modi’in’s entire population — descended on the modest cemetery at the outskirts of…

  By Elana Sztokman Jul 1, 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 Netanyahu’s new Gaza plan is a disaster. But it contains a tiny kernel of wisdom

  

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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  The Perks of Being a Lubavitcher

  Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, seen here (at left) in 1993 / Getty Images There’s a hidden perk to being a Lubavitcher, one often not talked about but widely experienced: People like to talk to you. I’ve been called out as a Lubavitcher and brought into impromptu conversations everywhere from a small bridge over the Bled…

  By Mordechai Lightstone Jul 1, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: The One with Michael Douglas’s Jewish Injury

  Getty Images Michael Douglas, Russian oligarchs and a whole lot of chickens (human and otherwise) come home to roost in this week’s quiz.

  By Lenore Skenazy Jun 30, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  A Kidnapping That Made Israel Into One Family

  With news that the bodies of the three kidnapped boys — Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, 16 — were found near Hebron, a collective sigh of grief has been released throughout Israel. It is one of these moments that brings both tragedy and closure — the former, which Israel already has…

  By Elana Sztokman Jun 30, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Spooks Warn Pols: Don’t Strike Hamas Over Kidnap

  Israeli troops search for evidence at site where the bodies of 3 kidnapped youths were found near village of Halhoul. / Getty Images Israel’s security cabinet was due to convene at 9:30 pm (2:30 New York time) to discuss Israeli responses to the murder of the three teenagers whose bodies were found just before 6…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 30, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Murkiness of the Hobby Lobby Ruling

  Today, the Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. The case considered whether the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) prohibited enforcing the Affordable Care Act’s “contraception mandate” — the requirement that employers provide employees with health insurance that covers contraception — against for-profit corporations. On one level, the case pitted…

  By Michael A. Helfand Jun 30, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  A Threat to Jews in Hobby Lobby Decision

  Much ink will be spilled about the Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case. It affects many things: women’s freedom, the rights of religious conservatives, and, potentially, religious exemptions from a variety of civil rights laws and Obamacare. The Court’s bitterly divided 5-4 opinion split on party lines: four conservatives siding with the conservatives,…

  By Jay Michaelson Jun 30, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘Pinkwashing’ Washed Out at Toronto Gay Pride

  Getty Images “I knished a girl and I liked it.” That placard, waved by a member of Toronto Jewish gay group Kulanu, captured the spirit of yesterday’s massive WorldPride parade in Canada’s largest city: Joyful, fearless and boisterously irreverent. About 100 Kulanu participants joined an estimated 12,000 marchers cheered by more than a million spectators…

  By Michael Kaminer Jun 30, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  A Non-Giggly Girl Causes Problems Among the Ultra-Orthodox

  Ultra-Orthodox girls lean out of a classroom window / Getty Images “What do you mean he abused her?” The question was shrill and innocuous. The teacher, Mrs. Stern, looked incredibly uncomfortable. But hey, she had brought it up. “He got into the bed with her, and he abused her.” Mrs. Stern shrugged her shoulders at…

  By DeDe Jacobs-Komisar Jun 30, 2014 | 5 min read