Opinion

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  Don’t Rent Apartments to Lesbians, Says Rabbi

  Getty Images “A nice girl came to me and expressed interest in renting my apartment. She also informed me that she was in a relationship with a woman. Given her relationship status, is there a Jewish law preventing me from renting the apartment to her?” When this question was recently posted to one of Israel’s…

  By Sigal Samuel

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Is Laos the Least Anti-Semitic Country?

  Chabad Lubavitchers bring religious Jewish life to Laos in 2008. If you saw the Anti-Defamation League’s scary new report on global anti-Semitism, you might have been intrigued to learn that the least anti-Semitic country in the word is…Laos. Laos? Yes, Laos. But why Laos, you ask? Good question. Maybe the landlocked Southeast Asian country has…

  By Sigal Samuel May 14, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Lessons of Holocaust for 9/11 Museum

  Imagine: It is 1958, 13 years after the end of the Holocaust that devastated much of a continent and buried six million Jews along with million of others. Imagine now trying to build a museum to memorialize what happened, educate visitors about the atrocities, and confront the legacy of European genocide in a global context….

  By Jane Eisner May 14, 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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Did Open Hillel Just Score a Real Victory?

  Hillel President Eric Fingerhut chats with a student / Flickr: Hillel News and Views As members of Open Hillel’s steering committee, my fellow organizers and I commend Hillel International’s recent announcement to create the “Hillel International Israel Strategy Committee,” which will review the organization’s current approach to dialogue on Israel and Palestine and make recommendations…

  By Aryeh Younger May 14, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Is the Nigerian Schoolgirls Kidnapping Just Another ‘Never Again’ Moment?

  I was 14, maybe 15, the first time I visited the then recently-opened Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. My classmates and I awaited our turn to receive our individual photo passport cards, each featuring the face and the name of a child who experienced the Holocaust. As we moved through the museum we would…

  By Elissa Strauss May 14, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Talking to the Rabbis About Sex

  An ultra-Orthodox bride at her Jerusalem wedding in 2014. / Getty Images This past Sunday, I spoke about sexuality and modesty in front of a group of ultra-Orthodox rabbis. Both professionally and personally, it was a profound moment for me, a formerly ultra-Orthodox woman, to sit there and name experiences that the ultra-Orthodox community hasn’t…

  By Leah Vincent May 13, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Was Amos Oz Right About ‘Hebrew Neo-Nazis’?

  An extremist Jew is arrested at a 2012 rally for ‘price tag’ attacker comrades / Getty Images Over at Tablet, Liel Leibovitz is unhappy that Israeli author Amos Oz is going around calling violent Israeli settlers “Hebrew neo-Nazis.” He claims Oz’s statement suffers from “a logical flaw,” one that has “more to do with philosophy…

  By Sigal Samuel May 13, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Tony the Tiger and Rahm Emanuel are Great!

  Getty Images Rahm Emanuel and Sarah Silverman are an ITEM? Sort of… in that they are both items in this week’s quiz. They are joined by Godzilla, Santa and Tony the Tiger. And Portnoy!

  By Lenore Skenazy May 13, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Checking Your Jewish Privilege

  Forty-seven years ago this spring, the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered United Nations peacekeepers out of Sinai. His decision set off the chain of events leading to Israel’s pre-emptive strike on Cairo’s air force and its lightning victory over Egypt, Syria and Jordan in the Six-Day War. Back in those anxious weeks of 1967,…

  By Samuel G. Freedman May 12, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Making Fun of Haredim — Bad for All Israelis

  Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest plans to enlist them in the Israeli army / Getty Images When it comes to off-the-cuff remarks, we all know that stuff happens. Jokes are made that blur the boundaries of decency, people get offended, and apologies are (sometimes) made. And when it comes to broadcast media dependent on audience share, the…

  By Mira Sucharov May 12, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Even Lefties Should Support David the Nahlawi

  Israeli soldiers support a comrade punished for pointing a gun at a Palestinian teenager. / Facebook We should all be with David the Nahlawi. Yes, I am talking about the 19-year-old Israeli soldier who pointed a gun and cursed at Palestinian youths in Hebron. Yes, I know that the brass knuckles one of his antagonists…

  By Raphael Magarik May 12, 2014 | 3 min read