Opinion

• Opinion

  Praying Alone

  Be careful what you wish for. My friend Sharon Cohen has introduced me to a rapidly growing phenomenon — to wit, streaming services. For those of you who may be technological laggards, a streaming service is a live broadcast of a worship service. Sit back, relax, and you can watch the Friday night service from…

  By Leonard Fein

  3 min read
• Letters

  Dialogue, Not Diktat

  A column from March 21, “Only One Way To Change Hillel: Leave,” contains some gross inaccuracies that need to be corrected. It suggests that, in 2009, the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco issued a “gag rule” regarding Israel-Palestine, and that we did so because “two major California-based foundations said that if one dime of…

  Mar 28, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Jews for Jesus Use Pew ‘34%’ in Ad

  The Messianic Jewish movement’s new marketing tool / Hody Nemes If you went searching for a mainstream Jewish organization that welcomed the findings of the Pew study of American Jews, which showed declining levels of Jewish affiliation and high levels of intermarriage, you’d be hard pressed to find one. But so-called Jews for Jesus found…

  By Hody Nemes Mar 28, 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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Vassar’s Israel Debate Takes ‘Raw’ Racial Turn

  An ugly confrontation took place at Vassar College March 3 between pro-BDS activists and a group of students and professors who were about to embark on a college-sponsored trip to study water issues in Israel and Palestine. A college forum convened to discuss the tensions surrounding the trip – and more specifically, the protests against…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 28, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘Parenthood’ Reveals Enduring Value of Brotherly (or Sisterly) Love

  If you don’t watch the NBC show “Parenthood,” you should. It can make a grown man cry. Or maybe I just know especially sensitive men. Either way, it is the most poignant and sincere portrayal of family life I have seen in a very long time. The show follows the goings-on of the three generations…

  By Elissa Strauss Mar 27, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Jewish Brides Make British Gay Marriage History

  Tania Ward and Nicola Pettit / Courtesy of Nicola Pettit (Haaretz) — Tania Ward and Nicola Pettit will make history this Saturday when they become one of the first same-sex couples to legally marry in Britain. More than that, their marriage will be among the first to receive a Jewish blessing, as Liberal and Reform…

  By Daniella Peled Mar 27, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Real Roots of Austria’s Nazi Comparisons

  Supporters listen to Austrian Freedom Party head Heinz-Christian Strache in 2013. / Getty Images Last Friday, a German magazine article quoted Andreas Moelzer, a member of the European Parliament for the far-right Freedom Party of Austria, saying that the Third Reich had fewer rules, regulations and bans than the European Union, and probably looked informal…

  By Anna Goldenberg Mar 27, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Did Nate Silver Hire Climate Change Skeptic To Cover Environment?

  Nate Silver, the former New York Times data maven, has launched his own data-driven news site, and the reviews aren’t good. Liberals who once lionized him for his spot-on 2012 election predictions are now dismissing him as a chump. What’s wrong? Well, a few pundits question his naïve use of statistics to tackle subjective questions…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 27, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Stop Comparing Jewish and Palestinian Refugees

  Yemeni Jews get instruction at a center for immigrants in Israel. / Getty Images As the Israeli-Palestinian peace process grinds on, and the issue of Palestinian refugees continues to be a sticking point, some Jewish groups are arguing that these aren’t the only refugees we should be considering as the parties move forward in negotiations….

  By Michael Kaplan Mar 26, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Town Called ‘Jew Killer’

  (JTA) — There is a town in Spain called Castrillo Matajudios, and in Colombia “Matajudios” is a common surname. The problem is, in Spanish one meaning of the name is “Kills Jews.” Which has led a Colombian emigre cashier in Argentina to attract the ire of a Jewish organization there. It all started when Adrian…

  By Diego Melamed Mar 26, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  The Right Plan To Save Jews?

  Americans donate about $1.4 billion to Israel-related charities each year. Now the government of Israel is asking for more. And, at the same time, it wants to send some money our way. In the next few weeks, the Netanyahu government and the Jewish Agency for Israel are supposed to announce the framework for what’s being…

  Mar 26, 2014 | 4 min read