Opinion

• Opinion

  What Does Jewish Law Say About NSA Snooping Scandal?

  As the drama of the massive National Security Agency tapping of telephone lines and surveillance of Internet sites keeps unfolding, it is fascinating to trace the fundamental questions at the heart of this story back to the early stages of Jewish ethical discourse. It is tempting to think of the moral dilemma of national security…

  By Reuven Namdar

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Did Rabbi’s Forged Letter Boost Anti-Draft Rally?

  Was the weekend rally in New York against Israel’s plans to draft ultra-Orthodox Jews boosted by a prominent rabbi’s forged endorsement? According to a writer on the Hasidic Yiddish forum KaveShtiebel.com, a letter in support of the Satmar-led demonstration by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the foremost leaders of the Lithuanian Haredi sector, was forged….

  By Shulem Deen Jun 11, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  What Fury Over Iconic Video of Palestinian Boy Says About Israel

  The death of Mohammed al-Dura, the 12-year-old Palestinian boy whose iconic last moments have been captured on postage stamps all over the Middle East, happened almost a year before the September 11 attacks, on September 30, 2000. Thirteen years have passed since a cameraman for France 2 captured the horrifying scene of a father and…

  By Gal Beckerman Jun 11, 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 There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  How Bibi’s Right Flank Maneuvers To Box Him In

  The guessing game continues: Will he or won’t he? Will Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree to open peace negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative — meaning, in effect, agreeing to start from the pre-1967 armistice lines as the basis for negotiating future borders? Netanyahu is under pressure. He…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 10, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Kotel is for Us, Too

  At the Kotel, the Jewish value of elu v’elu (“These and these are the words of the living God”) has degenerated into name-calling as well as into rock, trash and coffee throwing. These objectors claim that the women who come together on Rosh Hodesh — the beginning of the Jewish month — to pray in…

  By Susan Silverman and Dahlia Lithwick Jun 10, 2013 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Facing Up to the Fraud

  When board members of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany gather next month at their annual meeting, they must seriously consider the continued leadership of their chair, Julius Berman. Berman is a rabbi, a lawyer — first in the class of 1960 at New York University Law School — a longtime communal volunteer…

  Jun 10, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  At Massive Anti-Draft Protest, Haredi Jews Came Together — But Not on Zionism

  In an unusual show of unity, various streams of ultra-Orthodox Jews joined together June 9 in a massive rally in downtown Manhattan to protest the Israeli government’s recent efforts to draft yeshiva students into the military. Even the dueling factions within the Satmar Hasidic movement put aside their differences to organize the protest, and the…

  By Frimet Goldberger and Yermi Brenner Jun 10, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Shin Bet Big: Bibi’s Stand Keeps Abbas from Talks

  Speaking of intelligence leaks, Israel had one last week that speaks volumes about the prospects for Secretary of State Kerry’s Middle East peace mission. Consider how a June 4 classified briefing to the Knesset foreign affairs and defense committee was described the next day in Maariv’s lead headline: “Shin Bet chief: Abu Mazen Doesn’t Believe…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 9, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  At Women of the Wall Service, Tables Are Turned

  The tables were well and truly turned at the Western Wall this morning, as the Israeli Police, which until this spring detained women holding communal prayers, executed a mass operation to protect them and facilitate their worship. Until April 25, the police treated the monthly gatherings by the feminist alliance Women of the Wall as…

  By Nathan Jeffay Jun 9, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  On Palestinians, Israel’s Leadership Has a Split Personality

  In late February 2002, shortly after Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah presented columnist Thomas Friedman with his famous Saudi peace plan, the director of Israel’s vaunted Mossad went to his boss, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. His advice: Welcome the initiative as a bold step toward peace. The plan offered Israel full recognition and normalized relations with…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 9, 2013 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Artist and Writer Rachel Abrams Dies

  Writer, editor and artist Rachel Abrams died June 7 of stomach cancer, at age 62. Abrams came from a noted neo-conservative family that included her mother, Midge Decter, a founder of the Project for a New American Century; her stepfather and longtime Commentary editor Norman Podhoretz, and her husband, political scientist and diplomat Elliott Abrams….

  By Forward Staff Jun 7, 2013 | < 1 min read