Opinion

• Opinion

  Jack Lew’s New and Improved John Hancock

  When President Obama nominated Jack Lew to be his next treasury secretary, he could not avoid teasing Lew for his only known fault – his illegible signature. “Jack assures me that he is going to work to make at least one letter legible in order not to debase our currency should he be confirmed as…

  By Nathan Guttman

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Thanks, Haredim!

  Are the days numbered for second-class citizenship for women in Israel? Following two announcements in two days, it seems the exclusion of women from Israel’s public sphere may finally be nearing an end. The Attorney General Wednesday recommended criminalizing behavior that stops women from receiving “public services with equal conditions.” And today, Justice Minister Tzipi…

  By Nathan Jeffay May 9, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  The Case for a New Kotel

  To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the demise of a bold plan to provide equal space for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem are greatly exaggerated. But that doesn’t mean they may not become true. Which is why it is so important that American Jews find every bit of common ground they can…

  May 9, 2013 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry An Israeli media mainstay is crumbling. Will liberal democracy go with it?

  

• Emily Tamkin The Holocaust survivor writer who can help us through this ominous era

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Mark Sanford Wins: When Party Trumps Character?

  It’s sort of fun watching Democrats and liberals do headstands over the political redemption of Mark Sanford, the disgraced Republican ex-governor of South Carolina who was handily elected to the House of Representatives in a special election. Here was a champion of conservative values who narrowly escaped impeachment just four years ago after disappearing from…

  By J.J. Goldberg May 9, 2013 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Quiz: Warren Buffett and BBQ Joint’s Jewish Plan

  Welcome, readers! This week’s news quiz takes us from ultra-Orthodox England to Corky’s Ribs & BBQ in Memphis, Tenn. with a stop by Warren Buffett’s brain and heart to see what he believes in! And was that Kentucky Senator Rand Paul we just glimpsed? Did he really…?

  By Lenore Skenazy May 8, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Battle for Jerusalem Set Stage for Half-Century of Conflict

  Late in the afternoon on June 7, 1967, sober dark suits and homburgs mixed with the paratroopers’ battle dress as the leaders of the nation began to arrive at the Western Wall, most of them looking dazed. The paratroopers were, for the most part, too young to have seen the Wall before, yet young enough…

  By Abraham Rabinovich May 8, 2013 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  If Jews Are a Race — Which One?

  It’s no surprise that Johns Hopkins geneticist Eran Elhaik stirred a hornet’s nest of controversy with his claim to have debunked the scientific theory that Jews are mostly members of a single race, with origins in the land that is now Israel. But as Rita Rubin, the science writer who penned the Forward’s piece on…

  By Anne Cohen May 8, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Keeping the Faith in Gun Control Fight

  In an effort to push forward stalled gun control legislation, Vice President Joe Biden met on Monday at the White House with faith leaders, including three representatives of the Jewish community. In the meeting, which lasted two and a half hours, Biden discussed at length the current status of the background check legislation which failed…

  By Nathan Guttman May 7, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  A Father’s Pain at Overseeing Son’s Circumcision

  I’m in the shower at 6 a.m. with a sick feeling in my gut. Today, my 8-day-old son is going to be circumcised. This is my third round, and many people told me this time would be easier — and being an Orthodox Jew who embraces ritual in his life, you’d think it would be….

  By Elie Jesner May 7, 2013 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Stakes for Chief Rabbi: Marriage, Converts, Peace

  That fight within the Jewish Home party over nominations for chief rabbi has more to it than meets the eye. True, it opens up a fault line within the religious Zionist movement, between the liberal wing that backs Rabbi David Stav and the more religiously conservative wing that backs Rabbi Yaakov Ariel. But it’s also…

  By J.J. Goldberg May 6, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Taking Pulse of the Shtetl-Sphere

  In the legendary days of the Yiddish Forward, Ab. Cahan, the founding editor, could leave his office at 175 East Broadway and roam the streets, synagogues, restaurants, schools yards and tenements of the Lower East Side to listen to his readers. And he did, often. It helped him keep a finger on the pulse of…

  By Jane Eisner May 6, 2013 | 2 min read