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
Do We Have Lag B’Omer All Wrong?
On April 28, Jews will light bonfires and celebrate Lag B’Omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer. For many, Lag B’Omer is a joyous respite from the customary mourning between Passover and Shavuot. But neither the festivities of the day, nor the sobriety of the seven weeks, have their origins in any…
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Opinion Quiz: Oklahoma Misstep and Winnipeg Divide
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Opinion French Chief Rabbi’s Fall From Grace in Plagiarism Scandal
Forty years ago, “The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob” had French audiences doubled over in laughter. Gerard Oury’s frantic comedy of an anti-Semitic businessman who finds himself mistaken for a famous rabbi — don’t ask — smashed box office records. The timing was important: Oury’s anarchic comedy reflected the end of a 30-year run of…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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