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
News Quiz: Eliot Spitzer’s Return, Edward Snowden
This week’s news quiz deals with obsessions political, sexual and Jewish. (You were expecting, maybe, Irish?) Plus, more anti-Semitism than you can shake a stick at — so don’t even bother looking for a stick.
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Opinion Ramadan Arrives — With Unique Challenge for Israel
Ramadan has just started, and an estimated 1 million Muslims from the West Bank will enter Israel to spend part of the holiday with relations here. The defense establishment has become more confident about giving access to Israel for Arab holidays — and for the main part things have been smooth. The opening of the…
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Opinion The Ignored Jewish Poor
Forty years ago, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty was founded in response to growing concerns that Jewish poverty was largely overlooked, something that was too taboo to discuss. We were all shocked when the 2002 Jewish Community Study first showed that there were 226,000 Jews living in poverty in New York City. Unfortunately the…
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Opinion Is Haredi Draft Glass Full — or Empty?
After years of debate, pressure and protest, on Sunday Israel’s cabinet approved legislation to draft ultra-Orthodox men for national service. The lobby that agitated for legislation has been quick to label it a sellout, counter-productive, and a passing of the buck. Pro-draft activists say that they wanted a law that makes service for Haredim compulsory…
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Opinion Britain’s U-Turn on Teaching Hebrew
The British Department for Education (DfE) today announced a U-turn on its previously-proposed policy that would have limited the scope of Jewish elementary schools in the United Kingdom to teach Hebrew as a modern foreign language. As The Forward previously reported, under controversial plans released last December as part of an overall reform of the…
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Opinion Benjamin Netanyahu’s Indecision Is Roadblock to Peace Push
I was on the phone the other day with a very senior adviser to a string of former Likud leaders and prime ministers, mostly listening while he talked about Secretary of State John Kerry and his marathon Israeli-Palestinian peace-processing. He wasn’t optimistic. His main reason for pessimism: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reluctance to risk collapsing…
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Opinion Camp Tawonga’s Missed Opportunity
It was surely difficult for leaders of Camp Tawonga to arrive at their decision not to tell their young charges about the shocking death of 21-year-old art counselor Annais Rittenberg after she was hit by a falling tree last week. My colleague Renee Ghert-Zand deftly captured their challenge in her Forward Thinking post yesterday. Since…
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Opinion Revolt Grows Against ‘Racist’ Chief Rabbi Bids
The race for Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel keeps getting uglier. The lead contender, Safed’s municipal Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, is the subject of a legal investigation by state attorney general Yehuda Weinstein. Weinstein’s action comes in response to a formal complaint by Labor Party lawmaker Eitan Cabel over Eliyahu’s 2010 ban on sale or…
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Opinion Madiba, Zayde of Our Rainbow Nation
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the iconic leader of our nation, has died. To South Africans — including Jews — he will always be much more than merely the first democratically elected president. He will be forever remembered as the “father of the nation” as he was truly the architect of the inclusive South Africa we know…
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Opinion The 2 Sides of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela, who died December 5, has come to symbolize the triumph of hope over despair, of love over hatred, and of goodness over evil. I have recently written what an inspiration he has been to me personally as a rabbi who led a congregation in South Africa in the immediate post-apartheid period. I wrote…
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Opinion Client 9 vs. Mr. Clean
Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer returned from political exile Sunday night, throwing New York City Democrats into a frenzy as he announced an ultra-late entry into the race for New York City Comptroller. Spitzer will face Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who was running uncontested in the Democratic primary. Both candidates are Jewish, but…
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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.
In Case You Missed It
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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 It’s not just a myth that Jews head to Chinese restaurants on Christmas. It’s science.
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Fast Forward Tucker Carlson named ‘Antisemite of the Year’
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Fast Forward Jewish groups defend European media monitors banned for what State Dept. calls ‘censorship’
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