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
Why a Rabbi Should Not Marry Outside the Faith
When Jews choose to become Jewish leaders, their actions leave the realm of private decisions rendered for their personal benefit and become public decisions that carry deep symbolic and practical significance for us all. Of course, not everyone agrees. Rabbi Ellen Lippmann recently described in these pages her experience as an intermarried rabbi, arguing that…
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Opinion Does Jewish Law Permit Snooping To Prevent Terrorism?
As we now know, the National Security Agency has been engaged, for at least six years now, in massive surveillance of electronic communications in order to locate and apprehend terrorists. Opponents say that this is a case of the government spying on millions of innocent people without their knowledge, while those in favor say that…
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Opinion Trying To Reach Out to Unaffiliated Jews
In her recent piece “The ‘Unaffiliated’ Danger Within,” the Forward’s editor, Jane Eisner, cites the growing numbers of Jews who do not engage personally with Jewish communal life. Eisner raises the troubling question of how these numbers will affect the future of American Jewry, implying that the answer is intra-Jewish outreach. Eisner says, “Many non-Orthodox…
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Opinion How CIA-FBI Tech Fiasco Spawned the NSA Scandal
Of all the startling disclosures to emerge from the unfolding NSA data-collection scandal, perhaps the most shocking is this: As the Washington Post reported on June 8, the material collected from Internet company servers is electronically “pushed” to classified FBI computers in Quantico, Virginia, and then “shared with the NSA or other authorized intelligence agencies.”…
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Opinion When It Comes to Peace, Benjamin Netanyahu Torn Between Head and Heart
Secretary of State John Kerry was supposed to make his fifth Middle East trip in five months in pursuit of two states for two peoples during the second week of June, but he delayed for one week for emergency talks about the Syria crisis, which the White House was leaning toward doing something about, unlike…
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Opinion Yair Lapid Feuds With Allies on Arab Peace Bid
Three weeks after Israeli finance minister Yair Lapid stunned his liberal base by staking out a hardline stance on peace issues, his disappointed lieutenants are coming out in open rebellion. Lapid, the journalist-turned-politician who scored big in January elections as the champion of the center-left, told New York Times correspondent Jodi Rudoren in an interview…
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Opinion Kerry’s Call Ignored
Imagine this scenario: The United States and one of its closest allies heartily agree on a certain policy goal important to both countries. The secretary of state addresses American supporters of that ally and urges them to prod their leaders to move along the process. The Americans applaud the speech. And then, near silence. Ever…
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Opinion There Is No Death
Consolation is on my mind, doubtless because just the other day I addressed a convention of a truly extraordinary organization called Kavod v’Nichum, Honor and Comfort. They’d gathered in Philadelphia, and because I once wrote some words expressing my awe at their devotion and their decency, they invited me to be with them. They are…
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Opinion Raging Fire Rousts Jewish Western Sleepaway Camp
The raging forest fire outside of Colorado Springs has displaced tens of thousands of people, including 143 children from the JCC Ranch Camp in Elbert, Colorado, where I used to spend my summers as a kid. A Jewish sleepaway camp with the feel of a Western dude ranch, the JCC Ranch Camp taught me to…
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Opinion As Iran Prepares Another Sham Vote, Action Is More Important Than Ever
As Iran approaches another fraudulent presidential election on June 14, it is important to remember the 2009 protests in Iran over the results of the rigged election. The heart-wrenching picture of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman who was shot dead by regime thugs, was not an isolated event. Neda’s tragic death should serve as a…
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Opinion In Syria, 2 Clashing Goals: End Killing or Stop Iran
Now that the White House has officially acknowledged the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons, the question is no longer whether we get involved in the Syrian civil war, but how. This represents a victory for the smallish, outspoken group of liberal interventionists who have been arguing for an American military role, while trying to…
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