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
New on 50-Shekel Bill: Bard of Zionist Humanism
The Bank of Israel, the Jewish state’s central bank (equivalent to the Fed), has rolled out the design for its new 50 shekel note, and the face on the front is of someone you wouldn’t particularly expect from a government widely depicted as rightist, xenophobic and religious-dominated: the great socialist Hebrew poet Shaul Tchernichovsky. The…
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Opinion The Haredi Community Isn’t ‘Ultra.’ Really?
Ultra-Orthodox bride Rivka Hannah (Hofman) at her Jerusalem wedding in 2014. / Getty Images About 20 years ago, when I was a staff writer for JTA, the editor and I were called into Agudath Israel of America for a meeting on the “ultra-Orthodox” issue. Rabbi Avi Shafran and other Agudah representatives were unhappy even then…
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Opinion WATCH: Netanyahu Speech to Congress Streaming Live
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Opinion The Children Left Out of Judaism
My grandchild with special needs failed Sunday school. Actually, to be accurate, Sunday school failed her. Because the teacher had no idea how to include her in the class, even after her mother shared some ideas, she spent most of her time coloring with a teen volunteer. She was “welcome,” but only in the sense…
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Opinion Ukraine Crisis: Bad for AIPAC, Good for Bibi
Pro-Russian activists rally March 1 in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk / Getty Images The AIPAC conference may be opening at an awkward time for the lobby, as the Forward’s Nathan Guttman writes today. Beyond the fact that it’s still licking its wounds from the Iran sanctions imbroglio and has no clear message to…
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Opinion Israel Continues To Erase the Green Line
Regular readers of my columns in this newspaper will perhaps have noticed that I’ve written very little about Israel in recent weeks. There’s a reason for that — to wit, my conviction that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is so harmful to the country, to say nothing of its manifest harm to the Palestinian…
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Opinion Why We Use the ‘U-Word’ to Describe Very Observant Orthodox
The debate prompted by Rabbi Avi Shafran’s request published last week — “Don’t Call Us ‘Ultra-Orthodox,’” as its online headline read — is not a new one, but this will be the first time in more than five years as editor-in-chief that I publicly provide an answer and an explanation. The Forward will continue to…
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Opinion AIPAC vs. the Oscars
With the AIPAC conference competing with the Oscars, Jewish politicos will have to choose between watching willowy Natalie Portman grace the red carpet and Jacob Lew explain the White House’s policy on Israel. (JTA)— Anti-Semites say that Jews control Hollywood. And they say that Jews control Washington. But can we control both at once? The…
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Opinion Powerlessness of Unions Is Loss to Us All
When 1,338 Volkswagen factory workers in Tennessee voted to reject the union this past Valentine’s Day, folks across the country sensed that something important had just happened. Newspapers splashed it on their front pages. Every national newscast covered it. This was a big deal, not just for Chattanooga or the United Auto Workers but for…
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Opinion Will Voters Punish Dems for Not Stopping GOP?
Profiles in democracy: The latest New York Times-CBS News poll indicates that voters are favoring Republicans over Democrats 42-to-39 in the upcoming midterm congressional elections. The reason? They’re angry at Democrats for failing to implement their agenda, which voters largely favor — including greater economic equality, higher minimum wage, abortion access, marriage equality, legalized pot,…
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Opinion The Limits of Religious Freedom
From 1985 to 1989, Priscilla M. Lippincott Adams refused to pay her federal taxes. She was a devout Quaker — she worked as a Peace Field secretary for the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends — and believed that participating in war was contrary to God’s will. Since her federal taxes would…
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