Opinion

• Opinion

  Don’t Sign Uganda Anti-Gay Law

  The following is an open letter to Uganda President Yoweri Museveni Dear President Museveni: This week I received a call for help from your people that I cannot ignore. My lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender friends and colleagues in Uganda are frightened, and I am concerned that they have every reason to be. Over the…

  By Ruth Messinger

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Spain’s Sephardic Law Makes Israel Look Bad

  A night-time scene in the historic district of Córdoba, Spain. / Josh Nathan-Kazis It’s only been a week since Spain’s cabinet approved a law offering citizenship to Sephardic Jews, but Israelis are already tripping over each other in their race to apply. Between 700 and 800 have sent email inquiries to Maya Weiss-Tamir, an Israeli…

  By Sigal Samuel Feb 15, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Being Daniel Friedman

  It’s not easy being me, Daniel Friedman. On top of the cares of delightful family, domestic finance and the Jewish Daily Forward, there’s the existential angst of living in a world of doppelgangers — whole crowds of Daniel Friedmans swarming around me. It’s like living in Charlie Kaufman’s “Being John Malkovich” except instead of everyone…

  By Dan Friedman Feb 15, 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 I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry A US official just made history in the West Bank — did he imperil prospects for peace?

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Germany Weighs Flawed Bill on Nazi-Looted Art

  Art historian Meike Hoffmann speaks to the media regarding the seizure in 2011 of 1,500 paintings from Cornelius Gurlitt in Germany. / Getty Images Today the Bavarian Minister of Justice Dr. Winfried Bausback presented a bill to the Upper House of the German Parliament proposing retroactive abolition of the statute of limitation for claims on…

  By Rachel Stern Feb 14, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Lesson of the Talmud in an Iraq School Suicide Bombing

  School massacres have become so commonplace that they scarcely shock us anymore. And yet, occasionally mayhem invades the sanctity of the classroom in a way that can still puncture our complacency. At these moments we’re reminded how fragile is this thing we call civilization. Such was the case February 10 in a rural schoolroom outside…

  By J.J. Goldberg Feb 14, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Would Israel Reject Ancient Rabbis as Jews?

  Tired from his voyage, Abba Arikha is pleased to finally find the Jewish community at his destination. “I’m from Israel; I’m a Jew,” he tells its members. They reply: “Prove it!” He has a scribbled letter from one of his teachers, but the locals don’t trust it. He turns around, dejected. It’s amusing to impose…

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

  Why Are We Ignoring Palestinian Nonviolence?

  Palestinian and Israeli activists at a joint protest in the occupied West Bank in 2014 / Getty Images The Jewish and Israeli press is quick to report any and all Palestinian violence against any Jew, anywhere. Which makes sense, of course. Israelis and Palestinians are at war, Jews everywhere have a dog in the fight,…

  By Emily L. Hauser Feb 12, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  A Man of His Time

  Abraham Foxman is a man of his time. The man of his time. Foxman is so intertwined with our personification of American Jewish leadership that when he announced February 10 that he would retire as leader of the Anti-Defamation League — not until 2015, of course — the reaction seemed universal. Abe was the ADL….

  Feb 12, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  WhatsApp Is Way of Life for Israelis

  (JTA) — When my simple Nokia flip-phone broke last year and could not be repaired because it was so old, I upgraded – kicking and screaming – to an iPhone. My 14-year-old son – who is dying for a smartphone but has to make do with his iPod – handled downloading the apps, telling me…

  By Marcy Oster Feb 12, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Let’s Bet on Peace in Middle East — for Sake of Israel

  (JTA) — John Kerry is not a naive man. I met him recently at a luncheon at Georgetown University with a small group of Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith leaders brought together to hear the secretary of state’s frank reflections on the peace process. While deeply aware of the complexities and obstacles to peace, Kerry…

  By Sharon Brous Feb 11, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Tiger Mom, Why Not Raise a Little Mensch?

  The success of Jews has long been framed as a riddle to solve. Was it all that studying? The centuries of involvement in the money-lending business? Or maybe, the most controversial theory of them all, it’s genetic? The Chinese, for one, think our recipe for money-making lies in the Talmud. The latest attempt to crack…

  By Elissa Strauss Feb 11, 2014 | 4 min read