Opinion

• Opinion

  News Quiz: The One with Mila Kunis and the Mock Katz’s Deli

  Getty Images This week brings us Mila Kunis, Katz’s Deli and, yes, a schmaltz joke. Always with the schmaltz jokes.

  By Lenore Skenazy

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Presbyterians: Choose Impact Investing Over BDS

  Members of the Presbyterian Church in Ohio attend a service in 2012 / Getty Images Since the Presbyterian Church’s General Assembly convened in Detroit on June 14, attendees have been preparing to vote on a resolution to divest from Israel-related investments. If we can assume the goal of the Presbyterian Church is to promote peace…

  By Julie Hammerman Jun 16, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m a Rabbi and I Support Presbyterians’ Partial Israel Divestment

  Jewish divestment advocates at the Presbyterian Church’s General Assembly in 2012 / JVP A few years ago I was walking in the woods with a friend, a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church in Cape Town, South Africa. The Dutch Reformed Church was the leading promulgator of apartheid in South Africa, and they upheld the…

  By Margaret Holub Jun 16, 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 There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

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  Opinion

  ‘911’ Call From Kidnapped Youth Ignored as Prank

  Israel’s police emergency line received a desperate call from one of the three youths kidnapped near Kibbutz Kfar Etzion Thursday night, but dismissed it as a prank call and failed to report it to the military. Only four and a half hours later, when a relative of one of the boys showed up at a…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 16, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Isn’t Alan Gross on Next Plane Home After Bowe Bergdahl?

  The Obama administration’s bungling of its media strategy with the release of the captive Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has obscured the essential fact that negotiations — even with interlocutors we can’t stand — do work. Anyone doing the American government’s bidding overseas deserves our protection and, if problems arise, our commitment to get him or…

  By Fulton T. Armstrong Jun 16, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m Making Aliyah Days After Israelis’ Kidnapping

  The three kidnapped Israelis / Twitter The kidnapping of three Israeli teens from the Gush Etzion area is especially poignant for us now as it (and please God, their safe return) is the lead story in the weeks leading up to my family’s aliyah in 12 days. My obsession over the past six months —…

  By Dasee Berkowitz Jun 15, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Israel’s #BringBackOurBoys Is Offensive

  Natan Sharansky holds up a #BringBackOurBoys sign on behalf of the Jewish Agency / Twitter What’s in a hashtag? Soon after news broke about the three kidnapped Israeli teens who went missing in the West Bank on Thursday night, Israel supporters began using #BringBackOurBoys to signal their desire to see the students safely returned to…

  By Sigal Samuel Jun 15, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Taking Different Lessons From Same Threat

  Yeshiva students pray for safe return of three kidnapped youths With the terrorist kidnapping of three teenagers dominating the news cycle and nearly every private conversation for the past two days, Israelis have had little attention to spare for America’s national agony in Iraq. It’s hard to think of a time when the two nations’…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 15, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Reuven Rivlin, an Israeli President Who Wants One-State Solution

  Israel’s election of a new state president to succeed Shimon Peres ends an embarrassing moment in the country’s political history, one that was surprisingly ugly even by the messy standards of Israeli politics. On the other hand, the Knesset’s choice of the respected Likud veteran, Reuven Rivlin, opens a whole new chapter that could prove…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 15, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  On Father’s Day, Let’s End Violence Against Women

  Jodie Rivas, 23, shows scars caused by stab wounds in Nicaragua / Getty Images What does it mean to be a man in the world? This question looms large in public life, especially on the heels of Twitter’s recent #YesAllWomen campaign — a social media initiative that drew attention to the prevalence of violence, harassment…

  By Rabbi Menachem Creditor Jun 15, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Kidnapped Students Could’ve Been Us

  Phil Getz, center, relaxes with fellow yeshiva students in Gush Etzion several years ago Like many students and graduates of Israeli yeshiva, I have been refreshing my computer browser non-stop since Friday morning looking for any sign of hope for the three Israeli teenage boys who were kidnapped on Thursday evening. For those of us…

  By Phil Getz Jun 14, 2014 | 2 min read