Opinion

• Opinion

  Danger Is Everywhere, Even the Waldorf

  A LETTER FROM THE WALDORF-ASTORIA For defenders of Israel, danger is everywhere — even in New York City, even on Park Avenue, even once they’ve passed a metal detector on the second story of the Waldorf Astoria hotel. Such was the conceit of the organizers of the Friends of the IDF gala, who posted two…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  A Mother Is Who I Am

  On Monday on the Forward, Judy Brown shared her perspective on motherhood, based on her experience in the Hasidic community that she left. Now, I’d like to share my perspective on motherhood from within the Hasidic community of Boro Park. Having children was always important to me and I chose to remain steadfast to Haredi…

  By Rachel Freier Mar 13, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Air-Raid Sirens on Israel Memorial Day Evoke Clarion Call for Jewish People

  There are those sounds, that when heard, instantaneously rouse within us trenchant thoughts and emotions frequently relegated to the deepest recesses of our psyche. While sound affects us in many ways, its psychological effects are undeniably the most profound. According to Jean-Luc Nancy, the French philosopher, “Sonority is both time and meaning.” Like no other…

  By Edward Jacobs Mar 13, 2013 | 3 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)

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  Israel Offers Teachable Moment To Build Bridges Among Jews, Not Walls

  ‘They should be ashamed,” a friend wrote me recently. He was referring to the resistance of some Orthodox Jews to joining the Israel Defense Forces. His communication joined the lists of emails and conversations I have had recently with many a friend on the rising tension between the so-called “Orthodox” and “secular” Jews in Israel….

  By Pinchas Allouche Mar 13, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Complex Problem of Dual Citizenship Especially Vexing When Israel Is Involved

  The two almost identical blue rectangular books are so tiny compared to the power they represent that it is almost laughable. As a dual citizen of Israel and America, I encounter the same problem before every trip I go on. Which passport do I use? Most of the time it makes little sense to debate…

  By Ari Jankelowitz Mar 12, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Behind Coalition Standoff: Likud MKs Can’t Face Loss

  With Prime Minister Netanyahu just days away from his final deadline to install a new government or lose the option, observers on all sides have their own ways of explaining what’s holding things up. Most of them are correct, but there’s a larger truth that overshadow them all: The Likud hasn’t internalized the fact that…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 11, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Talking Back to Anti-Muslim Subway Ads

  Akiva Freidlin’s maternal grandparents came from Warsaw and most of their family was killed in the Holocaust. So when the 30-year-old non-profit staffer saw subway posters “demonizing” Muslims last December, his “historical memory” kicked in. Alongside an image of the blazing Twin Towers, the ads attributed this quote to the Koran: “Soon shall we cast…

  By Michael Kaminer Mar 11, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Climate Change Poses Threat to National Security

  If you missed this one, don’t beat yourself up. Hardly anybody noticed it. It was just another one of those calls for action to combat climate change, an “open letter” to the president and Congress from about three dozen public figures. We’ve seen hundreds of these things by now. After a while, they all look…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 11, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  For Those Still Enslaved, Tomato Symbolizes Solidarity

  Last year I put a tomato on my Seder plate. I invite you this year to consider doing the same. The retelling of our liberation story at Passover is powerful, but we deepen the sense of the story through tasting it symbolically. We ingest the bitterness of slavery through the maror. The saltiness of the…

  By Joshua Lesser Mar 11, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Ms. Quinn Runs for Mayor

  New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced she was running for mayor Sunday, making official what had been all but acknowledged for months. In a whistle-stop tour of the city and a new campaign video, Quinn touted her middle-class roots and a campaign agenda that emphasizes housing and education. If she wins, Quinn would…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Mar 10, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Abandoning Education, the Great Equalizer

  As we all know, America is the quintessential Land of Opportunity. It turns out, however, that what we know is wrong — very wrong. As Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz wrote in The New York Times in mid-February, the gap between the American promise and the American reality “could hardly be wider.” That is a sobering…

  By Leonard Fein Mar 9, 2013 | 3 min read