Opinion

• 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

  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

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry The 3 responses to the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack that could make Jews safer

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

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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
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  Opinion

  Seeking Salvation? Dial 1 for Baruch Goldstein

  Right-wing activist Baruch Marzel wipes his eyes at the grave of Baruch Goldstein. / Getty Images These days, you can order almost anything by phone. Books. Movies. Food. Sex. Salvation? Sure, why not. Salvation. And not just any old kind, but the kind you can only get by virtue of an appeal to one of…

  By Sigal Samuel Mar 25, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  A GOP Plan to Save the Jews: Buy White House

  Miriam and Sheldon Adelson address Shimon Peres’s Israel Presidential Conference, Jerusalem, May 2008 / Getty Images Amid mounting alarm that anti-Semitism is on the rise in key spots around the globe — and fears that Israel could be a prime target — a prominent Republican group has come up with a unique approach to fighting…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 25, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Partnership Minyan and the Egalitarian Threat

  Mainstream Orthodoxy has been taking pains to publicize its disapproval of partnership minyanim, Orthodox prayer groups where women lead some of the prayers and read from the Torah. Yeshiva University threatened to withhold ordination of a graduating student who held a partnership minyan in his home. Large, leading Orthodox institutions like the Orthodox Union and…

  By Aurora Mendelsohn Mar 25, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  A New Relationship Between Israel and the Diaspora

  The relationship of the State of Israel with Diaspora Jewry is undergoing a historic shift that is at once inevitable and surprising, a healthy and welcome calibration but one fraught with worrying consequences. No longer is Israel the poor, scrappy cousin dependent on a financial lifeline from its wealthier relatives in exile — a lifeline…

  Mar 25, 2014 | 4 min read