Opinion

• Opinion

  Why I Am Making ‘Aliyah’ to Reform Jewry

  (JTA) — I grew up Jewish. Simply Jewish. My late father, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, raised us in an observant Orthodox household. Our lives were filled with beautiful ritual and we celebrated the wonder of a familial spiritual connection. That said, we also danced along the fine line of progressive Judaism. My father’s Torah was an…

  By Neshama Carlebach

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Blood-Libel Trial of Mendel Beilis Reverberates a Century Later

  One hundred years ago, czarist Russia was convulsed by the “Beilis Affair” — the trial of my grandfather, Mendel Beilis, on charges that he ritually murdered a Christian child and used his blood to make matzo for Passover. Beilis was arrested in Kiev by the czarist secret police and imprisoned for more than two years,…

  By Jay Beilis Dec 18, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Now They Come for the Gays

  The Jewish community should feel a sense of déjà vu as it witnesses the government-sponsored persecution of LGBT people in Russia. We should respond with a statement of determination nearly as familiar to us as the Shema: Never again. In the 1960s, with our awareness of the Holocaust very fresh in our memory, American Jews…

  By Sharon Kleinbaum and Yelena Goltsman Dec 18, 2013 | 3 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

  Why I Support the Academic Boycott of Israel

  On Sunday, the American Studies Association, of which I am a member, voted to support the academic boycott of Israel called for by Palestinian civil society. Included in their announcement of the vote are the statements of 13 scholars in support of the vote, among which I am included. Here is my statement: I am…

  By Eric Cheyfitz Dec 17, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Calling Out the Overpaid

  When the Madoff scandal slammed the Jewish communal world like a ferocious storm just five years ago, there was a lot of talk about the need to strengthen governance of those not-for-profits who lost millions of dollars because of lax oversight of their investments. This past summer, when once-esteemed charity executives were charged with thefts…

  Dec 17, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Exodus at the 92 Street Y

  Well, I certainly never had that happen before. In years of moderating sometimes heated public conversations, never has a panelist just walked off the stage. But that’s what Commentary editor John Podhoretz did Monday night. And I’m still trying to figure out why. Of course, I expected a feisty evening when the venerable 92nd Street…

  By Jane Eisner Dec 17, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  How Long Is the Road From Jerusalem to Damascus?

  Have you ever tried Google Mapping the directions from Jerusalem to Damascus? I have, and the site’s recommendations came as a bit of a shock. I decided to look up the travel route after reading Mairav Zonszein’s blog post about how the recent snowstorm in Israel reminded her of that country’s geographical connectedness to the…

  By Michael Kaplan Dec 16, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Lady Gaga, Alan Dershowitz and Bibi

  Lady Gaga, Alan Dershowitz and Bibi? Yes, it’s time for the Jewish News quiz again. This week also featuring a brand new pastry!

  By Lenore Skenazy Dec 16, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Is the Israel of Today Becoming 1980s South Africa?

  Today’s college students were not yet born when Nelson Mandela, F.W. De Klerk, Yasser Arafat, and Yitzhak Rabin shared Time’s “Man of the Year” award in 1990. As the world mourns Mandela and celebrates his legacy, it is worth looking back at that moment — and looking toward the future that it might signify. There…

  By Jay Michaelson Dec 16, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Never Too Late For Justice in Y.U. Abuse Case

  It’s one year since the Forward published its first story about abuse allegations at Yeshiva University’s High School for Boys in Manhattan. Little did we know then that the recollections of four former students would prompt dozens of men to come forward with their own claims of abuse. Nor could we have foreseen that it…

  By Paul Berger Dec 16, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why We Need Yeshiva University

  The Jewish community needs Yeshiva University. For many years, this claim would have been considered uncontroversial within the Orthodox Jewish community. Orthodox Jewish students needed a place where they could pursue their religious education comfortably while earning undergraduate degrees — and the structure of the Y.U. curriculum undeniably afforded students this opportunity. But Y.U.’s rash…

  By Michael A. Helfand Dec 16, 2013 | 3 min read