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
Ultra-Orthodox Win Race to the Kotel
Today, Haredi activists headed en masse to the women’s section of the Western Wall before the interdenominational feminist group Women of the Wall (WOW) were due to assemble for their monthly prayer service. Citing concern for the women’s’ “personal safety” police said that the high concentration of Haredi opponents to the group assembled by the…
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Opinion Norman Lamm’s Legacy
True character, the man wrote, requires the courage to admit that, despite one’s best intentions, “I now recognize that I was wrong.” Imagine if every leader had the strength and the humility to write those words and to believe them, to acknowledge a mistake plainly and publicly, without embellishment or justification. Imagine if leaders simply…
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Opinion Sheryl Sandberg’s Plane Crash Narrow Escape
Facebook COO and bestselling “Lean In” author Sheryl Sandberg and her family narrowly avoided having been on the Asiana Airlines flight that crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday morning. Two people were killed and 49 seriously injured when Asiana Airlines Flight 214, a Boeing 777, slammed in to the ground just short of…
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Opinion Camp Tawonga and the Truth
Camp Tawonga’s leadership faced a difficult decision last week when 21-year-old art counselor Annaïs Rittenberg, was killed by a falling tree. They needed to decide what to tell the campers. The camp decided not to tell the children that Rittenberg had died — a decision that angers Rittenberg’s father. “It’s a tragedy,” Mark Rittenberg wrote…
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Opinion The Crossword Clue That Raised an Age-Old ‘Shylock’ Anti-Semitic Trope
For me, it started with a thrown penny. It clattered to the parking lot asphalt of the swim club I frequented as a child, and in my innocence I bent to pick it up, looking around to see who had lost it. Two teenage girls stared at me, giggling, and refused to take back the…
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Opinion If I Were Israel — I’d Move
If I were Israel, I’d move. The entire neighborhood, once more or less bearable even though always problematic, has gone to hell. Egypt: In 1978, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin shared the Nobel Peace Prize. (Jimmy Carter, who brokered the Egypt/Israel peace treaty, remained a bridesmaid rather then being recognized as the officiant.) Since that…
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Opinion Accused Racists Leading Field in Chief Rabbi Race
The race has been getting ugly
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Opinion Texas-Sized Hypocrisy
Let’s focus now on two bits of news that made headlines as July opened. The first came from the Texas Capitol in Austin, where the newly famous Wendy Davis joined fellow lawmakers in a rally against legislation that would effectively restrict most abortions in the state. Davis, you remember, spent more than 10 hours on…
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Opinion Egypt: U.S. Strategists’ Fail, Turkey’s Nightmare
Looking at Egypt’s latest earthquake from the sober distance of a few solid hours, two important takeaways, each nicely captured in an eye-catching headline. One frames a fresh column by Bloomberg Businessweek deputy editor Romesh Ratnesar: “Revolt in Egypt Marks the End of America’s Illusions About Arab Democracy.” The other sits atop a column by…
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Opinion Can Orthodox Jews Watch Fireworks On The Fourth Of July?
When, in the course of Jewish events, it becomes necessary for one people to both be Orthodox Jews and patriotic Americans on the Fourth of July, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires a bit of explanation. About every three years, American Orthodox Jews are faced with a painful dilemma. The Fourth of…
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Opinion Fighting Anti-Refugee Tide in Canada
Progressive laws and generous benefits have long made Canada a haven for refugees. But the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been raising the drawbridge with laws that strip new immigrants of health-care benefits – and restrict immigration from countries that are supposedly “safe” to stay in. Jewish leaders have formed an advocacy…
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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 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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