Opinion

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  Coma Case Could Mean Leap Forward for Agunot

  A woman gestures at a Jerusalem demonstration to help agunot / Haaretz We’re familiar with the stories of recalcitrant husbands who refuse to give their wives a get, a religious writ of divorce, effectively preventing them from remarrying. But less discussed is the heart-wrenching experience of women whose husbands are alive, but unable to interact…

  By Nathan Jeffay

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Step Right Up to Sept. 11 Museum — and See My Husband’s Remains

  I spend a lot of time in my Subaru Outback. On a good day, the roof is not leaking but the radio is permanently broken. Not an easy fix, and the Great God of Radio has gone ahead and chosen a station and volume for me. I can’t turn the sound up, down or off,…

  By Meg Bloom Glasser May 22, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Is Pa.’s Tom Wolf a Big JCC Macher?

  Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolf is a JCC macher, but is not Jewish / Flicker: WolfForPa Campaign (JTA) — In his coverage of last night’s primary elections, Slate political reporter Dave Weigel mentioned an odd fact: Tom Wolf, Pennsylvania’s newly crowned gubernatorial nominee, has given so much to his local Jewish community center in York, Pa., that…

  By Anthony Weiss May 21, 2014 | 2 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

  Posing as Jewish Women — To Beat Up Arab Men

  Still from a video produced by anti-miscegenation group Yad L’Achim Imagine this: You’re a young guy in Israel. Scrolling through Facebook, you see the profile of an attractive Jewish girl. She seems interested in finding a date, so you send her a message. She writes back! The two of you make plans to meet up…

  By Sigal Samuel May 21, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  3 Things the Jewish World Can Learn From Abramson-Gate

  It even has a name now. Abramson-gate. The abrupt firing of Jill Abramson as executive editor of The New York Times, and the unfolding public relations disaster for one of journalism’s premier brands is a story of unending fascination for media mavens and for those who like to see the mighty mess up. But Abramson-gate…

  By Jane Eisner May 21, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Jonathan Sarna Is My Best Source

  Brandeis University We often think of historians as dry academics walled off in their ivory towers. But the level of concern about the health of historian Jonathan Sarna, who is hospitalized in critical condition after collapsing, shows that Sarna is something special. Sarna, a professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, is not just…

  By Paul Berger May 20, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Pam Geller — Secret to Interfaith Healing?

  The controversial new bus ad. Pamela Geller is at it again. Her new set of black and white posters on Metro buses in Washington, D.C. declare: “Islamic Jew-Hatred: It’s In the Quran. Two Thirds of All U.S. Aid Goes to Islamic Countries. Stop Racism. End All Aid to Islamic Countries.” An accompanying photo shows Adolph…

  By Mira Sucharov May 20, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Jay Michaelson Wins Deadline Club Award

  Forward contributing editor Jay Michaelson has won the 2014 Deadline Club award for opinion writing. The columnist edged out Forward editor-in-chief Jane Eisner and Fortune magazine’s Allan Sloan to grab the prestigious annual award handed out by the New York City chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists. “I am so proud of Jay Michaelson…

  By Forward Staff May 20, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  I Am 1 Billionth ‘Anti-Semite’

  Why is anyone taking the Anti-Defamation League’s survey on global anti-Semitism seriously? Like catnip to a calico tabby, the ADL’s recent “findings” that one-quarter of the world is anti-Semitic has indeed thrown much of the Jewish press into a feeding frenzy. As if confirming what some — read, conservative — Jews have been telling us…

  By Jay Michaelson May 20, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Sexism in Journalism Really Lives on the Opinion Page

  With all the worries about the founded or unfounded role of sexism in Jill Abramson’s firing from The New York Times, it’s worth remembering the very well documented way that gender discrimination plays out on the opinion pages of major publications. Recently both the Women’s Media Center and VIDA: Women in Literary Arts released their…

  By Elissa Strauss May 19, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Zionism Was Kidnapped, Talmudically Speaking

  Getty Images “Zionism has been taken, kidnapped even, by the far right.” So says Pulitzer-winning Holocaust historian Saul Friedlander in a Haaretz interview published over the weekend. Explaining that he was “a normal Zionist until 1968,” the professor says that nowadays he can no longer call himself a Zionist — thanks to the movement’s right-wing…

  By Sigal Samuel May 19, 2014 | 2 min read