Opinion

• Opinion

  From Gaza Battles to the New York Marathon

  Aharon Karov barely survived his time as an Israeli soldier in the 2009 Gaza operation Cast Lead. When he was transferred from hospital to rehab and first tried to walk, he took just one step and fainted. This Sunday, he took his place among the 47,000 runners in the ING New York Marathon and finished…

  By Peter Hellman

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  7 Best Jewish Comebacks to Catcalling

  I’m sure you’ve seen it by now. A video made by the anti-street harassment group Hollaback shows a woman, the Jewish actress Shoshana Roberts, walking around in New York City getting unwanted attention from men. The video struck me because, when I moved to New York ten years ago, two things happened: street harassment became…

  By Lilit Marcus Nov 3, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Laughing Until We Cry (Thanks, Pew Survey on #JewishAmerica!)

  And what do American Jews view as “essential” to their sense of Jewishness? Large majorities of U.S. Jews say that remembering the Holocaust (73%) and leading an ethical life (69%) are essential. More than half (56%) say that working for justice and equality is essential to what being Jewish means to them. And about four-in-ten…

  By Leonard Fein Nov 1, 2013 | 4 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 Americans keep getting killed in the West Bank. Here’s how the US could fight that awful trend

  

• Nora Berman First Camp Auschwitz, now Alligator Alcatraz — why the right is obsessed with commodifying brutality

  

• Dan Perry What exactly is going on between Israel and Syria — and is the prospect of peace dead?

  

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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Vote Titi Aynaw (for Miss Universe)!

  The Forward is a non-profit news organization and as such is barred from telling you whom to vote for. There’s also this little thing called journalistic integrity. But we have decided to toss both policies out the window — just this once. Vote for Titi! There, we said it. Let the IRS do what it…

  By Renee Ghert-Zand Nov 1, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why American Jews Shouldn’t Be Afraid To Put Israel First

  Now that distribution of its questionnaire has been canceled, the proposed poll of American Jews and Israeli immigrants to America, commissioned by a Los Angeles organization called the Israeli American Council with the initial collaboration of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, will presumably fade from the headlines. Yet the issues raised by it are real;…

  By Hillel Halkin Nov 1, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Editor’s Choice: 6 Million Recalled With Stamps

  The Forward is partnering with other Jewish newspapers to offer our readers a peek at some of the best stories from around the country, as selected by the editors at those papers. We will offer a selection of unedited links with brief introductions from the editors of the papers. Stamping Out Intolerance By Melissa Gerr…

  By Forward Staff Oct 31, 2013 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Is Jewish Home Overplaying Hand?

  In Israel over the last few months, the religious-Zionist right wing has been buoyant. Its political party, Jewish Home, reached an all time low in the 2009 general election, winning just 3 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, but then in this year’s election won a remarkable 12 seats. It had finally managed to galvanize the…

  By Nathan Jeffay Oct 31, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Max Blumenthal’s ‘Goliath’ Is Anti-Israel Book That Makes Even Anti-Zionists Blush

  There’s an unpleasant little debate sloshing around the Web lately that tells you all you need to know — and perhaps more than you want to hear — about the current state of relations between Israel and the left. The debate revolves around an unpleasant book published October 1 by Nation Books, titled “Goliath: Life…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 31, 2013 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Confessions of a Jewish Halloween Grinch

  At this time of year I feel like a Jewish Halloween Grinch. My children, 4, 8 and 10, are old enough to know that their mother takes no joy in Halloween. My four year old asked me, upon walking up to someoneʼs house in town, why our house isnʼt decorated for Halloween. I explain, again,…

  By Laura Hodes Oct 30, 2013 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Roma Girl’s Deportation Drama Forces France To Relive Holocaust History

  It’s déjà vu all over again for the French, with memories of the past washing up against experiences in the present. Tragically, an innocent teenage girl named Leonarda Dibrani has served as the spark for the most recent episode of this recurring national trauma. Two weeks ago, the French police stopped a bus taking Leonarda…

  By Robert Zaretsky Oct 30, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  When Lou Reed Partied at My Place

  (JTA) — Lou Reed’s death on Sunday has made me think not just of his music but of his life, and specifically about when his life and mine briefly intersected, back when my brother Frank and I entertained him at our parents’ Philadelphia home, unbeknownst to mom and dad. It was 1969 and Frank, then…

  By Ruth Ellen Gruber Oct 29, 2013 | 2 min read