Opinion

• Opinion

  Stop Palestinian Aid Over Hamas? Not So Fast

  Israel appears to be sending mixed signals to Washington on U.S. aid to the new Palestinian unity government. On one hand, the Netanyahu government wants everyone to know it’s furious over the new “reconciliation government” that Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has formed with the reviled terrorist organization Hamas. Officials from Prime Minister Netanyahu to…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Awkwardness Is Reuven Rivlin’s Gift to the Left

  Newly elected Israeli President Reuven Rivlin with Benjamin Netanyahu / Getty Images Is Reuven Rivlin’s ascendancy to the post of president good news for left-wing Israelis? Yes, but not for the reasons most left-wing commentators are suggesting. Progressives should cheer Rivlin’s election not because he supports equal rights for Israeli Arabs or because he wants…

  By Sigal Samuel Jun 10, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Israeli Left Should Cheer Reuven Rivlin

  Israel’s newly elected president Reuven Rivlin / Getty Images For some reason, whenever a Palestinian (or an Arab American, for that matter) expresses one-state views, he’s accused of threatening Israel’s existence. When an Israeli voices the exact same view, he’s labeled a hawk, a Zionist hard-liner. That’s precisely what happened when Reuven Rivlin, the former…

  By Anna Momigliano Jun 10, 2014 | 3 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

  Alexander Imich, Czar’s Last Bar Mitzvah Boy

  Alexander Imich at 111 years old / Guinness Book of World Records Ray Bradbury, in his classic 1955 story “The Last, the Very Last,” has a child encounter a 108-year-old man believed to be the last known Civil War veteran. The story, reworked as a chapter in his novel Dandelion Wine, introduces the veteran to…

  By Jordan Kutzik Jun 10, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Include Me Out of This Jewish Community

  Let me start with gratitude. As a gay Jewish man, I am profoundly humbled by the strides the Jewish community has taken over the last several years. Among almost all denominations, in all geographical areas, Jewish institutions have become more inclusive of LGBT people, and, I think, have been enriched as a result. But “inclusion”…

  By Jay Michaelson Jun 10, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel’s Bitter Splits Boil Over in Open

  Israel gave the world an unusually raw look at its internal divisions this week when the annual Herzliya Security Conference, traditionally the top showcase for the country’s defense doctrines, turned into an extended food fight. By the end of Day 2 of the three-day gabfest, angry exchanges of retorts and threats had broken out on…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 10, 2014 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel Gets Gender-Segregated Elevator — Finally!

  Gender-segregated elevator in Jerusalem / Walla Apparently, gender-segregated classrooms, playgrounds, buses, sidewalks and healthcare centers aren’t enough. Now Israel has gender-segregated elevators. Yosef Cohen, the owner of Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox event venue Armonot Chen, has started divvying up elevator space using a nylon mechitza, with stickers inside and outside the elevator directing men to one side…

  By Sigal Samuel Jun 9, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Did You Hear the One About the Beastie Boys?

  The Beastie Boys, Groucho and brisket are all together here. It’s the quiz equivalent of a Reuben!

  By Lenore Skenazy Jun 9, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Time for Jewish Evangelizing

  If we’re serious about renewing Jewish life in the future, we must confront the challenge of evangelizing for Jewish tradition in public space. One of the reasons that the tension between the tribal and the universal in Jewish life isn’t addressed directly is because most Jews lack confidence in their knowledge of Jewish tradition to…

  By Nigel Savage Jun 9, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Bother Converting to ‘Cat GIF’ Judaism?

  Grumpy Cat In her recent editorial, Jane Eisner confronts what she views as the problems with Judaism’s current conversion process — and conversion’s potential usefulness in “sustaining the future” of the Jewish people. When we speak of the modern conversion process, it’s important to separate social practices from religious mandate. Many of the issues that…

  By Mordechai Lightstone Jun 9, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Will Reuven Rivlin Call ‘Em Reform ‘Rabbis’?

  Getty Images ()TA) — Will he refer to Reform rabbis as rabbis? We still don’t know. Reuven Rivlin, Israel’s front-runner in this week’s presidential election, has signaled recently that should he be elected, his goal will be to embrace non-Orthodox Jewish communities rather than antagonize them. Rivlin got a boost in the race on Saturday…

  By Ben Sales Jun 9, 2014 | 2 min read