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
Trayvon Martin, Crown Heights and a Civil Rights Case Against George Zimmerman
The preamble to the U.S. Constitution — which speaks of preserving justice, domestic tranquility, general welfare, liberty and, not least, a sense of national unity — could read like a CliffNotes version of the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman debate. Taken together, these words suggest that the feds have a duty to intervene. But how? I’d argue…
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Opinion News Quiz: Of Archaeologists and Anti-Circumcision Activists
Hollywood hunks, NBA stars, Ginsu knives — they’re all here in this week’s news quiz, ready to amuse, amaze and Amar’e. Follow the jump for the quiz!
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Opinion Dave Goldiner and Abigail Jones Win Promotions
I am pleased to announce that two members of the Forward editing team are being promoted to positions that reflect their journalistic strengths and skills. Dave Goldiner is the new director of digital media. Dave has shared responsibility for the digital team for the past year, and deserves credit for the enormous growth in our…
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Opinion Untold Stories of the ‘T’ Folks in LGBT
This week, the Forward launched our month-long series on the lives of transgender Jews. Our project kicked off with six profiles of transgender rabbis and rabbinical students. As the editor of the series, I first became interested in transgender issues after I spent a year reporting on gay and lesbian inclusion in Jewish settings. In…
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Opinion Pope John Paul II’s Divided Loyalties to Jews
The Vatican has recently announced that two popes who were pioneers in Christian-Jewish relations — John XXIII and John Paul II — are leading candidates for canonization as saints in the Roman Catholic Church. John Paul II was, of course, the pope who followed in the steps of John XXIII in his forthright condemnation of…
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Opinion At Scandal-Plagued IRS, Agents Make Crucial Judgments About God and Taxes
Of all the things we’ve learned about the Internal Revenue Service these past few weeks, the most amazing item is this: The IRS has a highly attenuated sense for the proper place for God in our lives. Just listen in on a telephone conversation from 2012: An IRS agent named Sherry Wan is telling the…
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Opinion Jews on 1st? Baseball and the Quest for Identity
This year’s Major League Baseball All Stars game had two arguably Jewish players on the roster (out of 78 players total): second-baseman Jason Kipnis of Cleveland (American League) and first-baseman Paul Goldschmidt of Arizona (National League). Both have Jewish fathers and Christian mothers (same as the two arguably Jewish players on last year’s All Star…
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Opinion Saving Trayvon Martin — With Jewish Law
Under Jewish law one must protect oneself by injuring, instead of killing, a potential assailant, unless killing is the only option. One is also required to avoid any situation in which one’s life may be placed in danger. If George Zimmerman had abided by these simple principles, he should have chosen to avoid conflict and…
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Opinion Don’t Send Eritreans Back to Hell Homeland
The following is an open letter to Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States We are deeply concerned that Israel is about to return Eritrean asylum seekers before allowing for an appropriate refugee status determination process to take place. According to those detained in the Saharonim internment camp for asylum seekers, on July 14,…
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Opinion How Fracking Conflicts With Kabbalah
Every year, more than 100 billion gallons of water are used in the United States for hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” a process that breaks up rock in order to force out millions of cubic feet of natural gas. What people may not realize is that most of this water stays deep underground. The 20%–50% of…
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Opinion What Makes Democracy — in Egypt and the U.S.?
“… whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.” —U.S. Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 It’s funny how watching the news can take you to new places and remind you how alike we are under the skin. Take this…
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Sports First Puka Nacua, now Mookie Betts: Why do sports stars keep getting antisemitic around a Jewish streamer?
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Culture Why do Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas?
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Culture We tried to fix Hallmark’s Hanukkah problem. Here’s the movie we made instead
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Holy Ground One of America’s first Jewish farms was nearly lost to history. Now these Brooklyn parents are risking everything to keep their family’s legacy alive.
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Culture Waiting on line on Christmas is a time-honored New York tradition — was it ever thus?
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Fast Forward The data is in: For many in the Northeast, Christmas isn’t Christmas without Chinese food
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Fast Forward StopAntisemitism names Tucker Carlson ‘Antisemite of the Year’ as 2024 winner Candace Owens ramps up anti-Jewish rhetoric
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Fast Forward Jewish groups defend European media monitors banned for what State Dept. calls ‘censorship’
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