Opinion

• Opinion

  On Thanksgiving, Confronting Our Country’s Bitter Past of Slavery

  “A person is obligated to see himself as if he were leaving Egypt.” This instruction from the Talmud may not seem timely at the moment, as American Jews prepare to celebrate the conjoined holidays of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving rather than Passover. But thanks to the visceral, devastating film “12 Years a Slave,” we have a…

  By Jay Michaelson

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  For Africans in Israel, Time for Justice

  Israel’s High Court of Justice struck down Israel’s practice of indefinitely detaining many non-Jewish African asylum seekers without due process in September. The unanimous court ruled that this detention policy violated Israel’s Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty and ordered the government to assess the individual cases of the 1,750 detained asylum seekers for…

  By Maya Paley Nov 27, 2013 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  My MSNBC appearance

  By J.J. Goldberg Nov 26, 2013 | < 1 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman A new humanitarian outrage is unfolding in the Middle East. It’s not in Gaza

  

• Nora Berman The left is turning on AOC over Israel — and imperiling its own agenda

  

• Dan Perry Actually, Trump made things between Israel and Iran way worse

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Was Valerie Jarrett Obama’s Secret Iran Link?

  That bombshell Associated Press report on Sunday about the months of secret U.S.-Iranian talks that led up to the Geneva agreement has added whole new layers of mystery and intrigue, not to mention venom, to the news of the nuclear agreement itself. What’s fascinating is how much isn’t being said. The story was first broken…

  By J.J. Goldberg Nov 26, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Trouble With Idealizing Hasidim

  Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein have yet to sell shtreimels. But one fashion commentator — and a whole lot of YouTube viewers — think Hasidic garb is worth another look. “The Substance of Hasidic Style,” a video posted by fashion platform StyleLikeU (and reposted by Upworthy), has garnered more than 170,000 views after it was…

  By Hody Nemes Nov 26, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Slouching Towards Sochi

  In three months from now, athletes from all over the world will arrive in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi, Russia, for the start of the Winter Olympic Games. We will experience all the requisite Olympic fanfare — the fluttering flags, blaring trumpets, nationalistic tallies of silver and gold. And the host, Russia, will…

  Nov 26, 2013 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Adam Levine’s New Title

  Adam Levine meets Chiwetel Ejiofor and Nazi gold in what SOUNDS like a really bad movie, but is actually this week’s really fun Jewish news quiz. And guess who else is here? King Solomon and Brad Pitt! Ok… so maybe that’s a movie I’d see.

  By Lenore Skenazy Nov 25, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Could Spreading European Anti-Semitism Drive Jews From Homelands?

  As the gnashing of teeth about the fate of American Jewry in the wake of the Pew Research Center survey continues, a newer and far more troublesome study of European Jewry ought to keep the supposed problem of defining Jewishness by the food you eat and the jokes you tell in some sort of perspective….

  By Liam Hoare Nov 25, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  In Israel, Preparing for an Influx of European Jews

  On November 18, French President François Hollande spoke in Israel’s Knesset and showered praise on Israel and on the Jewish people in general. He also made special mention of the French expatriate community in Israel, and assured his audiences — in France as well as in Israel — that he would “not rest in fighting…

  By Pinchas Landau Nov 25, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Seeing Palestinian Resistance for Ourselves

  Who will are the change agents of our world? Is it our elected officials and politicians or the ones who march in the streets in order to hold them accountable? These questions were clarified for me in profound ways during my recent trip to the West Bank as part of a delegation of Chicago-area Jews…

  By Brant Rosen Nov 25, 2013 | 6 min read
• Opinion

  Israel Packs Up Typhoon Relief Effort

  The Israeli military’s emergency mission to the Philippines packed up its field hospital today — but not before leaving giving a new x-ray machine, used only during this mission, to the local hospital. A week-and-a-half ago the Israel Defense Forces set up the only medical aid facility in the island of Cebu. The 125 medics…

  By Nathan Jeffay Nov 25, 2013 | < 1 min read