Opinion

• Opinion

  Modesty Is the New Black

  Fashion is a tricky one for feminists. There are two poles to navigate, each with deep roots in thousands of years of patriarchy, and few of us make it through uncompromised. On one side we feel the pressure to dress sexy and look attractive, and on the other, a pressure to cover-up, because it is…

  By Elissa Strauss

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Jewish Press Ad for Gay ‘Conversion’ Therapy Causes Outrage

  Getty Images The Jewish Press’ advertisement for JONAH International, an organization dedicated to gay “conversion” therapy, sparked outrage on social media today. The ad, featured on the site’s homepage, prominently displays the organization’s navy and white logo in the foreground, with their tagline mission statement — “Institute for Gender Affirmation: Overcoming Homosexuality” — and organizational…

  By Rachel Delia Benaim Sep 10, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Could Lieberman Topple Bibi? We’ll Know Soon

  Well, I said he’d do it and he’s doing it. Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has reportedly (see here and here) offered the job of United Nations ambassador to the information and homefront defense minister, Gilad Erdan, when current ambassador Ron Proshor steps down in December. Erdan’s departure would bring the next candidate on the…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 9, 2014 | 5 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz My summer plans prove it: The Jewish Catskills are alive and kicking

  

• Rob Eshman ‘Remember the Liberty’ has become code for ‘Israel Is Evil’ 

  

• Dan Perry A new proposal to radically destabilize Israel

  

• Emily Tamkin Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point

  

• Jay Michaelson When it comes to Israel/Palestine, everyone is sure that everyone else is a bigot

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Yeshiva Retracts ‘Mazel Tov’ to Gay Newlyweds

  A Jewish gay couple takes part in the annual pride parade in Jerusalem / Getty Images “Mazel tov on your engagement! Oops — actually, strike that. No mazel tov for you.” That’s essentially the message Israeli yeshiva Ma’ale Gilboa conveyed to one of its former students and his partner this week, upon realizing that the…

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

  Does Israel Buy Influence at U.S. Think Tanks?

  U.S. President Barack Obama speaks alongside Saban Forum Chairman Haim Saban / Getty Images The New York Times over the weekend shed some needed sunlight on the close ties between Washington think tanks and foreign governments. Digging into the funding practices of some of the nation’s most respected research institutions, the article outlined an impressive…

  By Nathan Guttman Sep 9, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: What Did Joan Rivers Say?

  Getty Images Joan Rivers, Marcel Proust and the U.S. Open would all, if they could, welcome you to this week’s quiz. After all, they’re in it!

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

  Sexual Assault and Double Standards

  Imagine we learned that 20% of Jews who attend college will experience an anti-Semitic assault by the time they are seniors. We’re talking about nice Jewish girls and boys who are just looking to have a regular college experience, including late-night trips home from the library and from drinking a little too much with friends…

  By Elissa Strauss Sep 9, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  500 Years Later, a Queer-Inclusive Bentsher

  A page from the Seder Oneg Shabbos bentsher / Courtesy of David Zvi Kalman Books are probably going extinct, but it doesn’t matter — in the Jewish world, ritual texts are still key players in the spread of ideology. Three texts, in particular, have been in print since the printing press was invented: the siddur…

  By David Zvi Kalman Sep 8, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  4 Ways Jews Are Thriving in France

  People stand outside the ‘As du Fallafel’ shop in the Marais district in Paris / Getty Images The news from France is bleak: anti-Semitic sentiment is on the rise, violent incidents are piling up, and Jews are packing up and leaving for Israel. Recently, I learned that one of my cousins, tired of feeling marginalized,…

  By Anne Cohen Sep 8, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  French Jews, Escaping to Israel Is Not the Answer

  Jewish and Muslim demonstrators advocate peace at a rally in Paris / Getty Images Is it the spike in anti-Semitic acts or rather their growing banality that drives Jews in Paris, Lyon and Marseille to seriously consider emigration? Maybe both. Caught between the rise of far-right movements like the Front National and the tide of…

  By Laurent-David Samama Sep 8, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Take Back Tzniut

  The first days of school are, once again, upon us. Teachers, parents and students alike are thinking about school supplies, those first lessons, the new routine. But for some students — especially female students in junior high and high school — and those who work with them, attention has also, once again, turned to the…

  By Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg Sep 8, 2014 | 3 min read