Opinion

• Opinion

  Chuck Hagel’s Gifts: New Weapons, New Trust

  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s April 23 visit to Israel has yielded some interesting fallout. Not least is the apparent puncturing of the image his opponents tried to paint of a sworn enemy of Israel. Haaretz’s Chemi Shalev does a pretty nifty job of skewering the anti-Hagel crowd, suggesting satirically that the secretary’s effusive embrace of…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  John Liu Opposes Forms for Circumcision Rite

  New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate John Liu opposes new city regulations that require parents to sign consent forms before their baby may undergo a controversial oral suctioning technique employed as part of a ritual circumcision, Liu told the Forward today. The regulations, championed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, were imposed this January in response…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Apr 23, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Reform Jewry Grapples With Intermarriage Among Rabbinic Students

  There’s a new controversy roiling the Reform movement: Can an applicant to rabbinic school be married to a non-Jewish partner? Everyone knows that many American Jews date men and women from other religious backgrounds. But rabbis? This might shock some readers — even today, when nothing shocks us anymore. But actually, the phenomenon is not…

  By Dana Evan Kaplan Apr 23, 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 is not deliberately killing journalists in Gaza. But it does bear responsibility for their deaths

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s attack on George Soros is ludicrous. It also endangers Jews (and everyone else)

  

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  Opinion

  Your Jewish Mother in Six Words

  What if you had to sum up your feelings about your mother in six words? That’s right, exactly six words. No more, no less. We know, some famous writers take hundreds of pages to work out their mommy issues. But the Forward’s challenge to you, dear readers, is to capture your Jewish mom in a…

  By Naomi Zeveloff Apr 23, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Hunting for Greener (Jewish) Pastures

  I have an Orthodox Jewish friend here in New York who is always yapping about Dallas (not the television show). “The people are so nice,” he says. “The weather is better… The houses are cheaper.” He’s been there only once in his life, but would like nothing more than to find a job northern Texas…

  By Seth Berkman Apr 22, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Let ‘Em Eat Airplane Food

  Yesterday, Israel’s cabinet passed its first reform of the new Knesset, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced afterwards: “The goal of the reform that we approved today is to lower the prices of flights to and from Israel and to increase incoming tourism… We will continue to advance reforms to lower the cost of living…

  By Nathan Jeffay Apr 22, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Sex Trade, Then and Now

  Three years before he would go on to become the founding editor of the Yiddish Forward, Abraham Cahan was already deeply worried about the prostitution and, indeed, enslavement of Jewish immigrant women on New York City’s Lower East Side and the police corruption that enabled it to flourish. “The most disgusting area of the city…

  Apr 22, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  In Israel, Guns Signal Failure Not Strength

  You know, I really do think the alliance that has emerged over the past generation between the American right and the State of Israel is a good thing. Having been born a dual citizen of Israel and America, and having spent the past two decades living in Israel and speaking Hebrew, I can understand the…

  By David Hazony Apr 21, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Deadly Identity Crisis Along Islam’s Borders

  In the first few days after the Boston bombings, liberal pundits (like David Sirota, Cenk Uygur and Michael Shure) were hoping aloud that the perpetrators would turn out to be “white” rather than Muslim or Middle Eastern, so that the incident wouldn’t further inflame grass-roots anti-Muslim passions. Well, it looks like this was a twofer…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 19, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Misplaced Focus on Chechen Identity?

  When news broke that the alleged Boston marathon bombers were from Chechnya, the Russian republic suddenly became part of the world map for many Americans who hadn’t previously given it much thought. On Twitter, the instant reactions were so bewildered, they were eventually parodied: We think it’s the Czech Republic, but actually it’s Chechnya. CNN,…

  By Susan Armitage Apr 19, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Seeing Our Own Bitter Division Through the Prism of Boston Marathon Bombings

  Moments after the bombs exploded on Monday, April 15 along the Boston Marathon route, it was already clear what the attack’s main goal was. It was a deliberate assault on America’s public order and national self-confidence. That’s the purpose of all terrorist actions, whoever their perpetrators. They’re intended to terrorize, to unsettle. That’s why President…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 19, 2013 | 4 min read