In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
Opinion
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Opinion
Chicago’s Forgotten But Still Beautiful Agudas Achim
Chicago’s uptown neighborhood is better known for Vietnamese restaurants and crime than the home of one what was once one of the city’s most stunning synagogues. Agudas Achim North Shore Congregation, which sits closed on a residential street opened its doors this weekend as part of Chicago Architecture Foundation’s Open House Chicago festival. Designed by…
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Opinion Dear Pew: I Was Right. Here’s Why.
Well, I promised myself I wouldn’t do it again, but here I am, caught in another round of mud-wrestling over the minutiae of Jewish population statistics. You’re in for a treat. If you’re just joining our broadcast, here’s a quick recap: Pew Research Center published a demographic “Portrait of Jewish Americans” on October 1 that…
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Opinion Why Exactly Are We So Exceptional?
Several weeks ago, in a New York Times op-ed piece, Vladimir Putin wrote, “It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation.” It did not take long for President Obama to assert the contrary, in his address to the UN General Assembly: “Some may disagree, but I believe America…
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Opinion Behind the 42 Year Old Library Book
Last week 63-year-old Shimon Pepper returned the book “While Six Million Died,” to the Fall River, Mass. library — a remarkable 42 years late. But for Pepper, his trip to his hometown was about more than an old book. He came to rescue Torah scrolls and pay homage to a dying Jewish community. Three years…
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Opinion Meet the 94%: The Unseen Faces of American Jews
Amid the troubling statistics about the state of American Jewry in the recent Pew Research Center Survey there was one staggering, positive number that stood out to us: 94% of respondents to the survey said they were “proud” to identify as Jewish. So who makes up the 94%? We asked readers, to submit stories, anecdotes,…
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Opinion Editor’s Choice: The Real-Life ‘Argo’; Berkeley’s Center for Jewish Studies
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. From the Jewish Journal. Tony Mendez…
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Opinion A Victim of the Oy Vey Brigade
Some years back I wrote about my Uncle Morty, who left Long Island for Manhattan one day in 1959 and never returned. They found his Chevy alongside Grand Central Parkway, but no Morty. The loss was devastating. I was recalling the incident, I wrote, not for sympathy but to note that Uncle Morty was the…
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Opinion Is Israel Preparing To Cede Temple Mount?
Israel is working on a secret plan to cede the Temple Mount to the Palestinians, a lawmaker from the ruling Likud party has claimed. “The issue here is that the prime minister wants to be rid of the Temple Mount,” Moshe Feiglin, a powerful figure on the right flank of the ruling Likud party, wrote…
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Opinion Where Is the Good News in Pew Survey on #JewishAmerica?
Reaction to the Pew Research Center’s survey on American Jews is following its own version of the cycles of grief: first horror, then denial, then a shrugging acceptance. After the gloomy news reports of this first-ever independent survey, a second wave of commentators have focused on what they call the “good news”: the population numbers…
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Opinion Russian Jewish Region’s ‘Gay’ Flag Is Kosher!
The Kremlin’s self-styled flag experts have declared that the flag of Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Region —which bears an uncanny resemblance to the rainbow gay pride symbol — is in fact 100% kosher, Buzzfeed World reported. The flag, designed in 1996 for the Birobidzhan region, boasts colorful stripes on a white background. It was under review…
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Opinion Send Us Your Forward 50 Nominations
Each year, the Forward publishes the Forward 50, which is our opinionated list of American Jews who made a difference in the preceding 12 months. Creating the list is a long process for the staff of the Forward. Each of us is required to propose names of candidates — and defend our choices in meetings…
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