Opinion

• Opinion

  Israel Capt. Denies Anti-Semitism But Eyes U.S.

  Chelsea midfielder Yossi Benayoun says he is “trying everything to play in the MLS next season” ahead of the Israeli national team’s soccer friendly against Honduras in New York on Sunday, June 2. The game, Israel’s first in New York for over 35 years, will take place at Citi Field, after the annual Celebrate Israel…

  By Forward Staff

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  How Do You Spell ‘Knaidel’?

  Had Jack Lebewohl of the legendary 2nd Ave Deli been competing yesterday in the final round of 86th Scripps National Spelling Bee, he would have lost to the winner, 13-year-old Arvind Mahankali. The Jewish food maven would have misspelled the winning word: ‘knaidel’. “The thing is, we spell it k-n-e-i-d-e-l,” the deli man said in…

  By Renee Ghert-Zand May 31, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Real Winner of War on Terror: Osama Bin Laden

  President Obama’s big May 23 policy speech on terrorism was one for the history books, but not for the reason you think. It was one of those rare moments in the life of a nation when people rise to debate their future and we discover that everyone — but everyone — is full of baloney….

  By J.J. Goldberg May 31, 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

  Here’s the Thing About Inequality: It Kills

  The invaluable Thomas Edsall reports in his New York Times blog on a paper by an MIT economist, co-written with a Harvard political scientist and a French economist, that claims America can’t adopt more egalitarian social policies because it’s our “cut-throat capitalism” that allows countries like Sweden to have their “cuddly capitalism.” The idea is…

  By J.J. Goldberg May 31, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Weiner Dodges Question on Circumcision Rite

  Newly minted New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner dodged a question at a mayoral debate last night on the controversial Jewish circumcision practice known as metzitzah b’peh. The practice, which entails direct oral suction on an infant’s circumcised penis, has been blamed in a handful of cases of herpes. The city’s health department, under…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis May 30, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Horace Mann Says Sorry — and Stumbles

  Horace Mann alumni like me got emails in our in-boxes a few days ago and soon thereafter, the news was splashed everywhere: our alma mater had officially apologized. The school apologized for the many instances of child abuse, sexual assault and worse that journalists have revealed as occurring in its classrooms, hallways and teacher’s homes….

  By Sarah Seltzer May 30, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Breadwinner Moms

  Suddenly there’s a new term in our social lexicon to describe a trend both exciting and challenging: the breadwinner mom, the mother who is either the sole or primary breadwinner in her family. In 1960, only 11% of American households fit that description. Now, a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census data puts the…

  May 30, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Hearing Avital Sharansky Speak Again

  There is no shortage of people willing to take a credit for the Soviet Jewry movement. Take it from me. I know this to be true. While on tour with my book, I don’t remember a single reading where someone in the audience didn’t chew me out about why their Uncle Murray wasn’t included in…

  By Gal Beckerman May 29, 2013 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  News Quiz: ‘Jews’ in Senegal and a Model Prom

  Greetings! This week’s quiz takes us off on a hot date and then plunges into debt with a high-flying company that tanked. Plus we visit Milan for a treat, Senegal for a surprise and Brooklyn for a scare — and not just from the apartment prices. Take our quiz!

  By Lenore Skenazy May 29, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  10-Hour Detention Teaches Lesson About Israel

  Last weekend, I was detained for 10 hours and then deported back to the U.S. after flying to Panama for a weeklong vacation. I’m starting to get over the sheer frustration about the experience, which was caused by a Panamanian rule that visitors must have at least three months on their passports to gain entry…

  By Maya Paley May 29, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The ‘Unaffiliated’ Danger Within

  Is the “unchecked growth of Jewish fundamentalism” the greatest existential threat to the fabric of American Jewish life? Our columnist Jay Michaelson seems to think so. In a passionate (some might say incendiary) column on these pages last week, Michaelson called on mainstream Jewish organizations to distance themselves from the ultra-Orthodox fundamentalist leaders who he…

  By Jane Eisner May 29, 2013 | 3 min read