In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
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Opinion
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Opinion
Why Climate Change Denial Is Biggest Conservative Lie of All
Are conservatives ever right? They were wrong about slavery, wrong about women’s suffrage, wrong about segregation, wrong about gay rights. They were wrong about trickle down economics – it’s never worked and never will, as the ballooning wealth gap proves once again. They were wrong about Iraq (where are those WMD’s, anyway?) and wrong about…
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Opinion Should I Apply for Spanish Citizenship as Sephardic Jew?
Will I apply? That’s what people are asking me today, as news circulates of the law the Spanish cabinet just approved to offer citizenship to Sephardic Jews. Two weeks ago, the Forward published a long essay I wrote about this citizenship offer, which the Spanish justice and foreign ministers first proposed in 2012. I went…
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Opinion Sochi’s Olympic Games Are a Missed Opportunity
An activist wearing a mask of Russian President Vladimir Putin joins protesters on the opening day of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. / Getty Images As the winter Olympics open today, there has been a crescendo of condemnation in the West of Russia’s many human rights violations. Sadly, in spite of all the attention Vladimir…
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Opinion Shimon Peres’s Civics ‘Class’ That Wasn’t
Shimon Peres / Getty Images Israel’s President Shimon Peres has just secured his second appearance in the Guinness Book of Records. But he missed an opportunity when setting his new record yesterday. I was excited to watch Peres — who is already in the book as oldest head of state — teach the largest ever…
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Opinion Is the Jewish Swindler Ready for His Close-Up?
This year’s Oscar nominations are stirring angst in certain corners of the Internet, because of something that looks suspiciously like a new trend: movies about Jewish con men. Granted, it’s just a couple of movies. Hollywood makes all kinds. Everyone knows they’re fake. That’s why it’s called the Dream Factory. Sure, some movies try to…
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Opinion Britain’s Struggle To Engage Young Jews
Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner / YouTube “I believe that we are now at one of those critical, pivotal moments in our history,” Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi to the Movement for Reform Judaism, recently informed the Board of Deputies of British Jews. “It’s sneaking up on us. What is happening is an upheaval that threatens our…
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Opinion David Harris-Gershon Disinvited by Washington JCC
David Harris-Gershon signs copies of his book / Austin Hill When it comes to the communal tent of dialogue around Israel, the last few years have seen a concerted attempt by Jewish leaders and institutions to delineate who should be considered “in” and who should be kept “out.” On the heels of the controversy surrounding…
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Opinion Hacking SodaStream Debate
In addition to the Scarlett Johansson Super Bowl ad, part of the reason that SodaStream has gotten so much attention — as opposed to many other products on the boycott Israel list — is because it presents an ethical conundrum for its lefty customers. SodaStream has become a symbol for health and environmentalism, but also…
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Opinion Protect the Children, Mayor de Blasio
Regulating the ritual practice of a small number of New Yorkers is hardly the top priority of the city’s new mayor, nor should it be, not with the myriad of challenges facing Bill de Blasio, who is slowly remaking city government after 12 years of Michael Bloomberg’s highly successful, though occasionally problematic tenure. But neither…
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Opinion Who Are America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis? Tell Us!
“Adventure Rabbi” Jamie Korngold leads a Passover seminar in Moab, Utah. Photo by Jeff Finkelstein Last year, this project began with a hunch and a hope. The hunch was that amidst the depressing reports of the decline in organizational Judaism, synagogues struggling to stay afloat, rabbinical seminaries trying to stay relevant, and young Jews turning…
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Opinion John Kerry, Modern-Day Haman?
Secretary of State John Kerry and Haman / GettyImages/HipsterJew.com First he was described as “obsessive” and “messianic” by Israel’s defense minister Moshe Yaalon. Then he was accused by Israel’s intelligence minister Yuval Steinitz of “holding a gun to Israel’s head”. And now, Secretary of State John Kerry faces a new barrage of criticism coming from…
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Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
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Opinion The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel
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Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
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Film & TV In ‘Disclosure Day,’ Steven Spielberg finds himself at odds with Jewish thought about aliens
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Fast Forward Toronto police say young people are being recruited online to shoot at synagogues