Opinion

• Opinion

  What Should Be on the 2014 Jewish Agenda?

  The Thanksgiving leftovers are gone by now. The countdown of Hanukkah candles is nearing its triumphant finish. It’s time to start thinking about the new year. For our first issue of 2014, the Forward will be looking forward, to the people, stories, issues and debates that will and ought to frame the Jewish experience in…

  By Forward Editors

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Bar Mitzvah Boy Talks Gay Marriage

  At my bar mitzvah, many moons ago, I took the daring step to talk about… I can’t remember. Like most Bar and Bat Mitzvah kids, my remarks were pretty perfunctory. But not those of Duncan McAlpine Sennett. In a talk now trending on YouTube, Duncan starts out in straightforward fashion, talking about his Torah portion….

  By Jay Michaelson Dec 2, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  A Conspicuous Silence in Congress

  If there is one so-far unexplained mystery about the agreement with the mullahs in Iran, it is this: Why are Senate Democrats so silent? This is, after all, President Obama’s biggest diplomatic overture ever. Right or wrong, nothing else he does overseas will be remembered or noted with as much attention. Normally, a party’s leadership…

  By Noam Neusner Dec 2, 2013 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman Gavin Newsom isn’t waffling on Israel — he’s voicing sensible ideas in an era of outrage

  

• Dan Perry An abominable new Israeli law is a death warrant for democracy

  

• Emily Tamkin We must rewrite the rulebook for fighting antisemitism — or conspiracists like Joe Kent will win the narrative wars

  

• Jay Michaelson Passover’s 4 cups of meaning

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  In Reaction to Iran Deal, a Clash of Worldviews

  In recent days, the Israeli and American media have been full of talk about a crisis in relations between the two countries — and, more specifically, between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two governments are at loggerheads over the first stage of a nuclear agreement the United States and five other…

  By Jeremy Ben-Ami Dec 2, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  After Sandy, One Shul Celebrated Hanukkah Without Lights

  It has become my annual ritual. I flippantly say, minutes before the first night of Hanukkah, “I’m going to 116th Street to blur the separation between church and state.” Apparently, some very well-meaning and generous person from Indiana donated a large, electric menorah to the Jewish community of the Rockaways following 9/11, because our community…

  By Marjorie Slome Dec 2, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  What’s Wrong With These Selfies? Everything.

  There are many positive things about social media. Selfies, or photos of themselves, taken by young people at Holocaust sites and memorials are not among them. The German version of Vice magazine collected and published a bunch of these totally tasteless Instagram posts to drive home the point. Don’t read German? No worries. You just…

  By Renee Ghert-Zand Dec 1, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Saveur Declares State of Palestine

  Jews and Arabs appaerently still can’t work out terms for a mutually acceptable nation for the Palestinian people. But Saveur, an upscale food magazine, has it all figured out. Throughout an opulently photographed feature headlined “Heart of Palestine” in Saveur’s December issue, writer Nancy Harmon Jenkins — who’s written cookbooks on the Mediterranean and Italy…

  By Michael Kaminer Dec 1, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  From Our Archives: Hanukkah, Forever New

  Sebastiano Conca: ‘Alexander the Great in the Temple of Jerusalem’ (1737) / Wikimedia Commons What follows is a Forward editorial in celebration of Hanukkah from back in December 2004, when I was editor. I was rather proud of it then, and I think the message holds up pretty well. Down at the bottom is an…

  By J.J. Goldberg Nov 29, 2013 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Obama’s Thanksgivukkah Greeting Has Different Meaning for Israelis

  (JTA) President Obama, always up on the latest Jewish internet fads, sent out an official Thanksgivukkah greeting yesterday: “For the first time since the late 1800s – and for the last time until some 70,000 years from now – the first day of Hanukkah falls on Thanksgiving. It’s an event so rare some have even…

  By Ben Sales Nov 29, 2013 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Occupy Thanksgivukkah

  The santas who sunbathe on Sydney beaches, barbecuing their lunch on December 25th are revelling in the duality of the Christmas holiday. On the one hand it’s a universal holiday, celebrating the birth of the Christian messiah who was born for us all and so it’s perfectly appropriate for Australians (and their tourist visitors) to…

  By Dan Friedman Nov 29, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Arik Einstein: A Few of My Faves (with Translation)

  It’s tough picking out the best, the most representative and my own favorites, so I went with my favorites and then narrowed it down. If you want a few more, try this selection from Haaretz or, if you don’t need translation, just check out YouTube (though if you don’t need translation there’s a pretty good…

  By J.J. Goldberg Nov 29, 2013 | 6 min read