In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
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Opinion
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Opinion
Annexation Was Always Naftali Bennett’s Plan A
Israel’s Naftali Bennett / Getty Images On Wednesday, the multi-portfolioed Naftali Bennett – Israel’s Minister of the Economy, Minister of Religious Services, and Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs – sent a letter to his Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. In that letter, according to Israeli Army Radio, Bennett called for a cabinet meeting “to begin…
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Opinion Two Moroccan Bangles Bind Generations
Photo by Martyna Starosta Editor’s note: Whether it’s a silver kiddush cup, a siddur that survived the Holocaust, or a wedding ring — heirlooms tell the story of our families. Please share your Jewish heirloom stories with us below by April 25. Several submissions will be featured in the Forward in May. In my family,…
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Opinion How You Would Spend Jewish Charity Billions
Do the spending priorities of American Jewish charities match those of American Jews? Judging by an informal but highly revealing poll of Forward readers, the answer is no. As in NO. As in: spend more money on education, culture and community, about the same on general advocacy and much less on Israel. The Forward’s poll…
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Opinion My Passover Seders from Warsaw to Disneyworld
The author with her parents a few weeks before the Passover Seder / Courtesy of Masha Leon I don’t remember having a Pesach Seder as a child in pre-war Warsaw. There must have been matzo. But what I do recall is my parents’ presentation of the Exodus saga as an exemplar of liberation, of courage,…
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Opinion 7 Coolest Haggadahs for Your Passover Seder
1. The world’s oldest illuminated Haggadah This 14th century Haggadah is the earliest known Ashkenazi attempt to artistically depict the story of Passover. It’s a pretty creative retelling of the story, mainly because the people depicted in the story have the heads of animals — hence the manuscript’s title, “The Bird’s Head Haggadah.” This is…
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Opinion How China’s Lost Jews Celebrate Passover
Tsuri (Heng) Shi, far left, with Michael Freund, right, and Kaifeng Jews. / Shavei Israel A new Passover destination is being added to the maps this year. Those bored of celebrating the holiday in Florida or Israel can now head to Kaifeng, a city of four million in China’s central Honan province. For the first…
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Opinion Taking Extreme Steps To Banish Hametz Misses Point of Pesach
Our definition of hametz is expanding. The pun is intentional. But here’s my point: Many Jews go to ridiculous extremes to redefine and root out hametz for Passover, losing sight of the simplicity and subtlety of this extraordinary holiday. Hametz is narrowly defined as leavened bread, and Jews are not supposed to own, eat or…
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Opinion The Things We Carried — Share Your Stories
It’s the smell that hits me first — musty, almost sweet, emanating from the green felt that cradles each piece of silver cutlery in its own place. Every year as I ready for Passover, I unlock the nondescript cabinet tucked into a corner of my New York apartment, pull out the two shaky drawers, and…
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Opinion A Digital Haggadah? Now That’s Just Wrong.
The “Ultimate Digital Haggadah” as viewed on an iPad. On my shelf I must have a dozen Haggadahs, some annotated, others illustrated and one even illuminated. I have thick hardcover tomes and soft Maxwell House prints — each one serves a different purpose. But the Haggadah that I use each year, the one that I…
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Opinion Can Brooklyn Jews Talk Civilly About Israel?
Young Jews discuss Israel at a ‘Resetting the Table’ event in Brooklyn. / Ezra Weinberg This past Sunday, in the high-beamed, chilly Brooklyn Lyceum, a group of 20- and 30-somethings tried to talk about Israel — no small feat. The program, called “Resetting the Table,” was designed to allow young people to get together and…
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Letters A Challenge to J Street
In its April 4 issue, the Forward reported that some Philadelphia Jewish officials objected to the March 27 screening of our film, “The J Street Challenge,” in the City of Brotherly Love (“Tough Road for J Street as It Bids for an Official Place Within the Communal Tent”). We are perplexed. We made the film…
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