Opinion

• 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,…

  By Masha Leon

  3 min read
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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…

  By Michael Kaplan Apr 9, 2014 | 4 min read
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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…

  By Anna Goldenberg Apr 9, 2014 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman Gavin Newsom isn’t waffling on Israel — he’s voicing sensible ideas in an era of outrage

  

• Dan Perry An abominable new Israeli law is a death warrant for democracy

  

• Emily Tamkin We must rewrite the rulebook for fighting antisemitism — or conspiracists like Joe Kent will win the narrative wars

  

• Jay Michaelson Passover’s 4 cups of meaning

  

The Latest

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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…

  By Jane Eisner Apr 9, 2014 | 2 min read
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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…

  By Jane Eisner Apr 8, 2014 | 2 min read
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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…

  By Mordechai Lightstone Apr 8, 2014 | 3 min read
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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…

  By Elisheva Goldberg Apr 8, 2014 | 3 min read
• 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…

  Apr 8, 2014 | < 1 min read
• Letters

  A Bubble Not Burst

  Martin Buber tells the story of Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev. Before Passover, the great rabbi was inspecting the local matzo factory to make sure it was kosher. Afterward, he said, ”This factory is not kosher.” When the shocked factory owner said, “We have followed all of the laws of kashrut,” the rabbi explained: “The…

  Apr 8, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Abbas Was Right to Blink

  The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Right? That’s the joke anyway — has been for the last fifty years. And it’s what I thought when I first heard that the Abbas government picked now, of all moments, to apply for membership in fifteen UN organizations. Couldn’t they have waited a month,…

  By Jay Michaelson Apr 8, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Palestinians Seen Easing Terms for Renewing Talks

  The Palestinian daily Al Quds reported on its website Monday afternoon, quoting a “knowledgeable source,” that the Palestinian leadership had decided to return to the negotiating table for two more months, with the aim of laying out the borders between Israel and a potential Palestinian state, according to Walla! News reporter Amir Tibon. The source…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 7, 2014 | 2 min read