Opinion

• Opinion

  It’s a Christmas Tree, Stupid

  In a Yuletide shift, Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee finally agreed to call a 17-foot statehouse spruce a Christmas tree, admitting that his past practice of calling it a “holiday tree” generated too much anger. No kidding. Naming a Christmas tree a holiday tree or Hanukkah bush should be offensive to both the religious and…

  By Eliyahu Federman

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  American Jew Struggles With Divided Emotions at Ukraine Rally

  (JTA) — As I stood as one of the few Americans among the masses of protesters at Kiev’s Independence Square, the frigid cold reminded me that this was my fourth year trying to survive a harsh Ukrainian winter. The crowd seemed be warming up thanks to the incessant chants – and hot breath – that…

  By Jeremy Borovitz Dec 22, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Al Goldstein and Me

  There are many words to describe Screw Magazine publisher Al Goldstein: vile, repugnant, crass, filthy, grotesque and even downright disgusting. His obituary in the New York Times referred to him as “scabrous” — a high-brow description for him that only the Old Gray Lady would use. The Brooklyn-born Jew, who died last week at age…

  By Lukas I. Alpert Dec 22, 2013 | 5 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once

  

• Rob Eshman A precise, Chekhovian logic guided Israel’s strike on Iran — but chaos could come next

  

• Nora Berman Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla was never going to help Palestinians

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s strike on Iran was necessary. But for real change, the US must join the fray

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s latest move makes Mahmoud Khalil a Joseph for our times

  

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  Opinion

  Edgar Bronfman Sr. Dead at 84

  Edgar Bronfman Sr. (left) shakes hands with Swiss consul general Alfred Defago following the completion of the Swiss banks agreement, 1997. In the middle is U.S. envoy Stuart Eizenstat. (Getty Images) Edgar M. Bronfman Sr. died Saturday at age 84, the New York Times reported. The Montreal-born Bronfman was chief executive until retiring in 1994…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 22, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Debunking a Libelous Myth of American Jewish Indifference to Looming Holocaust

  Well, another year is almost finished, and good riddance. Before we say goodbye to 2013, though, we should take a moment to note one of its overlooked milestones. This was the 30th anniversary of “Indicting American Jews,” the probing, angry, magisterial essay by the late Holocaust historian Lucy Dawidowicz, published in Commentary in June 1983….

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 20, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Jewish Groups Back New Sanctions, Senators Split

  Backing new sanctions: Senators John McCain, Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez (from June 2013) (Getty Images) The Capitol Hill debate over authorizing new sanctions on Iran is getting pretty nasty. Administration officials are warning, anonymously so far, that passage of the Robert Menendez-Mark Kirk bill to stiffen the West’s negotiating terms and compel new sanctions…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 20, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  My Friends Suspected Me of Spying for Israel

  A Palestinian worker passes near the Aida refugee camp on December 21, 2005. / Getty Images Reading the recent reports about Jewish American spies like Robert Levinson and Alan Gross, I can’t help but think back on my own experiences in the Middle East. A friend and I lived and volunteered in the Aida refugee…

  By Michael Kaplan Dec 19, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  When a Jewish Child Learns To Love Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny

  (JTA) — Last spring, I found myself averting my eyes when my 4-year-old mentioned something about the Easter bunny in front of my dad. We were at my parents’ home in Michigan for Passover and my son said, “When I get back to Brooklyn, the Easter bunny is going to bring me a basket!” I…

  By Annette Powers Dec 19, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Forward on Film

  What do Hasidic hats, the Borscht Belt, the king of competitive dreidel-ing and a tiny row house shul have in common? They all played starring roles in the Forward best videos of 2013 — along with a poignant portrait of the Jewish mother who lost her son in the Newtown school massacre. This year saw…

  By Martyna Starosta Dec 19, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  13 Stories That Rattled the Shtetlsphere in 2013

  We’ve got all the Jewish names that lit up 2013, for better or worse — and everything in between. There’s Titi Aynaw, the trailblazing first black Miss Israel who parlayed her pageant win into a “dream date” with President Barack Obama. You might not recognize Jake Davidson’s name but the day school kid from Los…

  By Anne Cohen Dec 19, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Peace Now Was Wrong To Exclude Einat Wilf

  Peace Now members call for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire on January 10, 2009. / Getty Images Former Knesset member Dr. Einat Wilf was recently invited and then uninvited by the influential Israeli NGO Peace Now to participate in its annual “Conference of the Left” meeting. In attempting to justify the abrupt reversal, Yariv Oppenheimer, the organization’s…

  By Gerald M. Steinberg Dec 18, 2013 | 3 min read