Opinion

• Opinion

  Bibi Wins Battle of Temple Mount — For Now

  We have watched the meteoric rise of Benjamin Netanyahu’s nemesis in the ruling Likud party with considerable interest. Moshe Feiglin has been battling for years to represent the party in Knesset for years, and finally in this year’s general election, he was too strong for the party establishment to stop him. However, his fight was…

  By Nathan Jeffay

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Hey Jeffrey Goldberg, Why I Like Lists of Jews

  So Jeffrey Goldberg thinks that publishing lists of Jews is a bad idea. The fiercely smart, often snarky and well-travelled columnist is with Bloomberg Views now, and wrote a provocative piece calling on the Jerusalem Post and the Forward to, in his words, stop with the ranking, already. The occasion for his complaint was the…

  By Jane Eisner May 23, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  A Moral Responsibility

  In November 2010, when the Manhattan U.S. attorney announced the arrest of 17 Brooklyn residents on charges that they bilked the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany out of many millions of dollars, he minced no words. This was “perverse and pervasive fraud,” said prosecutor Preet Bharara. The leadership of what is known as…

  May 23, 2013 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman Gavin Newsom isn’t waffling on Israel — he’s voicing sensible ideas in an era of outrage

  

• Dan Perry An abominable new Israeli law is a death warrant for democracy

  

• Emily Tamkin We must rewrite the rulebook for fighting antisemitism — or conspiracists like Joe Kent will win the narrative wars

  

• Jay Michaelson Passover’s 4 cups of meaning

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Your Dad in Six Words

  There’s something about the number six in Judaism. God created the world in six days. Six times three is 18 — meaning Chai, or “life” in Hebrew. And six is the number of words we’re asking you to write about your father or grandfather in advance of Father’s Day. What better Jewish tribute to the…

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

  Garcetti Is Not L.A.’s 1st Jewish Mayor (Updated)

  As they used to say at the old Yiddish Forward, hold the back page! Not meaning to rain on anyone’s parade, I’m forced to point out that Eric Garcetti is not the first Jewish mayor of Los Angeles. In fact, he’s the third. The first was Don Abel Stearns (1798-1871), Boston-born, a naturalized Mexican citizen…

  By J.J. Goldberg May 22, 2013 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  News Quiz: Babs’s Honor, Israel’s Unlikely Ally

  What do Mel Gibson, Joyce Brothers, Barbra Streisand and Stephen Hawking have in common? Almost nothing! And yet, here they are, all together in this week’s news quiz, along with Isabella Rossellini, Anthony Weiner and the Zionist Organization of America. It’s got all the makings of a terrible movie — but a great quiz!

  By Lenore Skenazy May 22, 2013 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Does Anthony Weiner Have a Chance?

  Anthony Weiner’s entry into the New York City mayoral contest further crowds a packed Democratic primary field and gives the race its first major Jewish candidate. The disgraced ex-lawmaker, who resigned from Congress in 2011 after he sent racy pictures of himself to women online, announced his comeback candidacy in a YouTube video posted late…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis May 22, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Hugo Chavez Protege Insists He’s a Jew

  You can’t call me an anti-Semite. My grandparents were Jewish. That’s the message from newly elected Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, who rejected charges of anti-Semitism by revealing his Jewish roots in an interview with pro-government news site Apporea. But even if the Venezuelan president is a member of the tribe, some observers are questioning his…

  By Michael Kaminer May 22, 2013 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  End Orthodox Monopoly on Jewish Marriage in Israel

  After 65 years, the State of Israel is a thriving democracy of which we can all be very proud in many areas. But it is a democracy that continues to face many obstacles to preserving its Jewish and democratic character. One obstacle that is of particular concern to non-Orthodox Jews is the absence of any…

  By Nancy K. Kaufman May 22, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Tornadoes and Climate Change: Links and Doubts

  What do we know about the tornado that hit the Oklahoma City suburbs on Monday? And what can we learn from it? Specifically, how bad was it? How does it compare with other tornadoes? And was it related to climate change, as Democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Barbara Boxer are charging? For starters, the tornado…

  By J.J. Goldberg May 21, 2013 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  No ‘Israeli ABBA’ — Again

  A Romanian opera singer dressed like Dracula and wailing falsetto. Dancers in a Perspex boxes and drummers dosed in baby oil. Moustachioed Greeks dancing and singing about the joys of free alcohol. A Russian plea for world peace in three minutes with a key change. In case you missed it, that was the Eurovision Song…

  By Liam Hoare May 21, 2013 | 4 min read