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
The French Intellectual Who Is Both in the Shadows and in the Spotlight
Have you heard about the sinister role the French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy, in cahoots with the Israeli government, played in bringing down the government of Egypt’s president, Mohamed Morsi? And that BHL — aka He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-but-Wears-White-Shirts-Opened-to-the-Navel — used telekinesis to achieve his nefarious goal? These, at least, are the questions that recent news dispatches from Turkey…
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Opinion Back to School Reflects British Success Story
In London’s school uniform shops, the experienced sales clerks know what Jewish parents will order before they open their mouths. The shops carry the clothing with embroidered crests for numerous schools, but today, you can normally guess from the parents which school their children go to, and therefore which uniform they want. The frum-ness level…
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Opinion Suffer the Children
It was right and proper that President Obama address the American public from a simple podium with no special effects or distractions, methodically laying out his reasons for a military strike against Syria and addressing the doubts of so many about the wisdom and efficacy of such a risky move. But part of me wished…
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Opinion Could Stanley Fischer Make the Perfect Fed Chair?
As the clock ticks down to Barack Obama’s final decision on Ben Bernanke’s replacement to head the Fed, it seems more and more certain that Larry Summers, the controversial former Treasury Secretary, will get the nod. But in elite financial circles, it has been Stanley Fischer, a naturalized-American and the former head of the bank…
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Opinion A Clarifying Moment of Disunity on Yom Kippur
Sometime around noon on Saturday, September 14, Jewish life around the world will experience something of a climactic moment — a peak instance of unity that will also be, paradoxically, a moment of unmatched division. Unity, because Yom Kippur is the one point on the calendar, research shows, when most of the world’s Jews come…
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Opinion News Quiz: Andy Samberg’s New Gig
As we enter the New Year with all its promise, we can’t help but ponder a few mysteries of life: What has King Solomon left for the ages? What is Andy Samberg doing this fall? And what job has a young Hasidic man snagged that is as surprising as gefilte fish at the Oyster Bar?…
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Opinion What If Matthew Shepard’s Murder Wasn’t an Anti-Gay Hate Crime?
How important is historical truth? The obvious answer is “very.” Just think of Holocaust denial, which is anti-Semitism built upon historical distortions. But what if an effort to counter hate is based on an inspirational story — and that story is a lie? That’s the moral quandary at the heart of journalist Steve Jimenez’s newly…
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Opinion Swing a Fish for Kapparot
Thousands of Orthodox Jews are preparing to swing live chickens over their heads before Yom Kippur, symbolically transferring their sins to the chicken. The chicken is then slaughtered and donated to the poor for consumption. This practice is called ‘Kapparot,’ which literally means “atonement.” Using fish, money or chickens are acceptable methods of performing this…
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Opinion Israel Can Never Be Too Jewish
Last June, Jane Eisner participated in a private roundtable discussion at the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem about Israel’s Jewish identity. What came out of the talks was the sense that Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora face a similar challenge — how to be a modern people in a modern world while holding…
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Opinion Unholy Alliance of Orthodox Judaism and Political Power Harms Israeli Democracy
Last June, Forward editor Jane Eisner participated in a private roundtable discussion at the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem about Israel’s Jewish identity. What came out of the talks was the sense that Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora face a similar challenge — how to be a modern people in a modern world…
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Opinion Chemical Weapons Are Different. Here’s Why.
One of the strangest aspects of the Syria debate is how much energy and passion is going into it, on both sides — for and against American air strikes — and how little light is being shed on the central issue, namely chemical weapons. Secretary of State John Kerry, in his supposedly game-changing speech August…
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Opinion Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear
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News That whites-only, no Jews allowed Arkansas community is legal, says state’s attorney general. How?
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Film & TV How Jon Stewart evolved on Israel — at least on ‘The Daily Show’
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Opinion I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel
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Opinion A beloved peace activist was killed in the West Bank. Can his death finally teach us empathy?
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Opinion As an Israeli political scientist, I resisted thinking this war was a genocide. Here’s what changed my mind
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Opinion Israelis want out of the Gaza war. But all the exit routes feel like traps
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Fast Forward Antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein are proliferating — and entering the mainstream
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