Opinion

• Opinion

  Of Purim and St. Paddy’s, Land, Rebellion and Booze

  Purim falls this year on March 16, and St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. It appears that Jews will be nursing their hangovers on Monday morning just as the Irish are getting to work on theirs. What’s significant, year after year, is that the two peoples that did so much to define modern America have…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  An Unconventional Orthodox Rabbi

  It isn’t every day that I find myself truly inspired by an Orthodox rabbi; it isn’t often that Forward readers hear me espouse such sentiments. But when the Forward put out a call to readers to nominate a rabbi that inspired or touched them in some way, I felt it my duty to nominate the…

  By Frimet Goldberger Mar 16, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  If a Palestinian Did This, He’d Be Dead

  In an imagined juxtaposition, the Hebron settler meets Fiddler on the Roof. / Richard Goldwasser If you’re online and follow news out of Israel, you’ve probably already seen or at least heard of that wild-and-crazy video of a Hebron settler try to steal a Palestinian flag off a Palestinian roof. The guy gets caught on…

  By Emily L. Hauser Mar 14, 2014 | 3 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

  Enough Room for Two Peoples in Holy Land

  In his much celebrated new book “My Promised Land,” Ari Shavit reminds readers that the narrative people most often turn to to explain the trouble between Israelis and Palestinians is a grand illusion — though one that was and, for many, still is at the core of Zionism. It’s the belief that Jews were a…

  By Amitai Etzioni Mar 14, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Game Over for Religious Balance in Beit Shemesh?

  Getty Images In a rerun of a scandal-ridden poll in the fall, Beit Shemesh has reelected its ultra-Orthodox mayor. Rarely has a political campaign pitted Haredim and others against each other to the extent seen in this Israeli city. The original election in October was fought as a battle between two rival visions for the…

  By Nathan Jeffay Mar 13, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Honest Rabbi Returned $98K — and Inspired Us

  When Rabbi Noach Muroff needed a desk, he looked to Craigslist for a good deal. He got way more than he bargained for. The desk, purchased for $150 dollars, turned out to be hiding $98,000 stuffed in a ShopRite plastic bag, that had fallen behind the file cabinet. And Muroff gave it all back. Click…

  By Anne Cohen Mar 13, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Christian Conservative Blames ‘All Problems’ on Jews

  William “Jerry” Boykin / Getty Images William “Jerry” Boykin, a retired general and Christian conservative, has come under fire after telling an Israeli reporter that Jews are “the cause of all the problems in the world,” in what was seemingly an awkward attempt at humor. Boykin, executive vice president of the right-wing Family Research Council,…

  By Michael Kaplan Mar 12, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  The ‘Draft Dodgers’ in Our Midst

  When 50,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews flooded the streets of lower Manhattan this past Sunday, clogging the alleyways that curl through the Financial District with black hats and single-minded devotion, they did more than recite psalms in protest at what is now a new law in Israel. They introduced a new challenge to the Israel conversation at…

  Mar 12, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Janet Heiser, Gone Far Too Soon

  Every workplace, if it’s fortunate, has someone like Janet Heiser — someone who quietly and professionally solves problems, soothes hurt feelings, stands by her principles, and adds a sardonic splash of humor just when it’s needed. Our real Janet Heiser died on March 6 at 65, less than seven months after she was diagnosed with…

  By Jane Eisner Mar 12, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  EBSCO Backtracks On ‘Anti-Jewish’ BDS Index

  Pro-Palestinian activists hold a banner reading ‘Boycott Israel’ in Paris in 2010. / Getty Images Score this one in the victory column for BDS supporters and, much more broadly, for anyone who believes we should use language accurately — especially when we’re dealing with loaded terms like “anti-Semitism.” EBSCO Information Services, a major provider of…

  By Sigal Samuel Mar 11, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  3 Dangerous Bills That Will Rock Israel This Week

  Getty Images This is a big week in Israeli politics. Three sets of bills are being introduced into the Knesset for their second and third readings, and all of them have far-reaching consequences. Though there has been much handwringing over them, over fears that Israeli democracy is being ruined, there is no doubt that the…

  By Brent E. Sasley Mar 11, 2014 | 4 min read