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
Who Are the Israeli Centrists and Why Did They Vote for Yair Lapid?
People overseas don’t understand the amazing success of Yair Lapid in Israel’s January 22 parliamentary elections. He hardly said a word about the Palestinians, the peace process, terrorism, war — all those things that Israelis are supposedly preoccupied with every waking minute. But I understand. For the past 15 years, I’ve been living in the…
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Opinion Where are the Women? (Again)
Last December, as we at the Forward were putting the finishing touches on our fourth annual salary survey of Jewish communal leadership, the Chronicle of Philanthropy asked me to write about why I have become so committed to reporting and writing about the gender imbalance in nonprofit leadership. The short answer: Because it persists! The…
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Opinion Egypt on the Edge
Amid the blaze of graffiti in and around Cairo’s Tahrir Square — from hastily scribbled political slogans to elaborate portraits of the many martyrs of Egypt’s unfinished revolution — is an arresting image that encapsulates some of the rage engulfing the country right now. It shows the easily recognizable face of Mohamed Morsi, the embattled…
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Opinion Yiddish 4.0
What mazel! Last week, Yiddishists round the world woke up to find an article by Joseph Berger about the Forverts — in the New York Times, no less — entitled: “For Yiddish A Fresh Presence Online”. The next day, a Hebrew translation of the article appeared in the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, with a slightly different…
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Opinion Syria Defense Belt Eyed To Defend Golan Heights
Israeli news media are citing a London Sunday Times report that claims Israel is considering establishing a security zone along its border with Syria to protect itself against attacks by jihadist forces following the expected fall of the Assad regime. The zone would extend 10 miles into Syria and would have two infantry brigades and…
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Opinion The President’s Glaring Omission
Now that President Obama’s second-term agenda is coming into focus, this seems like the appropriate time to start getting nervous. Not scared, necessarily. Scared can wait until after the State of the Union address on February 12. Meanwhile, just nervous. The good news is that Obama appears at last to have found his mojo. He’s…
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Opinion A Jewish Summer Camp That Doesn’t Feel Like One
‘Please can we go to this camp?” my older son asked me after a parlor meeting in my town with the director of an overnight camp. “I really want to go!” my younger son said. I wasn’t ready for this. Sure, one could argue that when you go to a parlor meeting about an overnight…
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Opinion Dinner with Ed Koch
When Ed Koch died this morning, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo released a statement. “I will miss his friendship,” the 55-year-old governor said. Ed Koch thought that Andrew Cuomo was a schmuck. He said so on election night in 2010, in a conversation preserved in a new documentary about Koch’s life. Koch said what he…
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Opinion My Early Days with Ed Koch
The first thing I learned about Ed Koch is how unusually accessible he was. It was September, 1977, and I was a new, eager student at the Columbia School of Journalism, passionate about city news and interested in learning photography. The school published a weekly newspaper at the time, and I wanted to be the…
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Opinion Does Israel Need a Gay Lobby?
The recent Israeli elections ended with a predictable scene: a victory speech delivered by Benjamin Netanyahu to hundreds of Likud party supporters. But if this moment of triumph appeared to be a foregone conclusion, there was much that was new — and alarming — about this recent election campaign. It saw the birth of a…
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Opinion You’re the Rabbi; What Would You Do?
When traditional Jewish law, or Halacha, hampers observance for congregants with disabilities, rabbis face tough questions. At a recent conference, Orthodox rabbinical students in Manhattan grappled with disability-related dilemmas. What would you decide? Step into the rabbi’s shoes and let us know what you think in the comments section. Question 1 Your impoverished and shrinking…
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