Opinion

• Opinion

  How Jews Are Honoring 3 Civil Rights Martyrs

  Last night, in my musical post in memory of the three civil rights workers slain in Mississippi 50 years ago, I argued that too little had been done to incorporate their martyrdom into our narrative of American Jewish history. It’s only fair that I take note of those Jewish organizations that did act to remember…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  5 min read
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  Opinion

  I Survived a Genocide That Could’ve Been Avoided

  Simba, 14, a child in conflict-ridden South Sudan / Getty Images The Forward’s Nathan Guttman recently reported that researchers may soon be able to predict where the world’s next genocide will take place. These number crunchers already have a good track record: apparently, their methodologies accurately predicted the recent genocide in South Sudan. As someone…

  By Logo Maya Jun 22, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Russian Jews Don’t Want to Hear About Being Saved

  The losses of Jacob Birnbaum on April 9, just a few days before Passover, and then Yuli Kosharovsky on April 15, the first day of the Festival of Freedom — both of them giants of the Soviet Jewry movement — seem particularly poignant. It happens to be the 50th anniversary of the first demonstration in…

  By Lea Zeltserman Jun 22, 2014 | 4 min read

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• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry The 3 responses to the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack that could make Jews safer

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why Aren’t We Honoring 3 Civil Rights Martyrs?

  This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, the three civil rights workers murdered by a lynch mob near Philadelphia, Mississippi, while registering voters during Freedom Summer 1964. Chaney, 21 at the time of his death, was an African American and a Mississippi native. Goodman and…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 22, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Michael Douglas in Israel for Son’s Bar Mitzvah

  Getty Images Ynet reports that Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are in Jerusalem with their children as part of the bar mitzvah celebration of their son Dylan. Eyewitnesses reported seeing them check in two days ago to the King David Hotel, where they’re staying in the presidential suite at a reported cost of 19,000 shekels…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 21, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  What Did the Orthodox Do Now?!

  Did you hear the one about the rabbi who blamed Hurricane Sandy on gay people? Or about the sex-segregated playground for Satmar children? What about the recent story about the ultra-Orthodox belief that shorter wigs lead to fewer tragedies? And did you read those personal stories from former Haredi Jews about being taught that the…

  By Elissa Strauss Jun 20, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Fault in Faulting #BringBackOurBoys

  A #BringBackOurGirls rally in New York included Jordan Soffer (center), Rabbi Avi Weiss (left) Sigal Samuel’s observation that the #BringBackOurBoys campaign is an “insensitive” appropriation of Nigeria’s #BringBackOurGirls does far more harm than good for advocates of both groups of innocent, young captives. Instead of expressing solidarity at a time of distress, it invents, through…

  By Philip Getz Jun 19, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  How Prayer Can #BringBackOurBoys

  Sad and frightening events can summon exemplary reactions, as we have seen in the recent coming together of diverse parts of the Jewish world to express collective anguish over the three boys who were abducted in Israel, and unified prayer for their return soon to their families, to us all. Less inspiring, though, are the…

  Jun 19, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Want a Job? Put ‘Jewish’ On Your Resume

  Thinkstock As a college student often working on my resume, I am always given impersonal directions. “Keep the sentences concise and specific — subject-verb-object, then get out,” college advisor wags; “Move that ‘Award’ section where it can be seen,” Mom presses; “Strong verbs are critical. Throw in an ‘Achieved’ or ‘Progressed’ for best results,” career…

  By Yardain Amron Jun 19, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Would Israelis Be Kidnapped If Not For Settlements?

  Jews gather for a mass prayer for the release of three Israeli teenagers / Getty Images On Monday the New York Times reported that the recent abduction of three Israeli teens in the occupied West Bank has raised a “hushed debate [within Israeli society] over the conduct of Jewish settlers.” While I think it’s fair…

  By Emily L. Hauser Jun 19, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Praying for Kidnapped Teens — and Israel’s Sanity

  Getty Images (Haaretz) — Like (almost) everyone else, I hope against hope for the safe return of the three kidnapped yeshiva students. One can only imagine their nightmarish ordeal as well as the agony and anguish of the father or mother whose child has disappeared under such bone-chilling circumstances. But it is not only the…

  By Chemi Shalev Jun 19, 2014 | 4 min read