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
Abraham Lincoln the Jew
“He,” a somber Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise intoned after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, “is a sin-offering for our iniquities.” This sentiment, expressed in a black-draped congregation in Cincinnati, was echoed in countless other memorial services across the North. Peace had been declared but days before; now, synagogues recited the Kaddish for the fallen president….
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Opinion ‘Solidarity Forever’ Means Now
When it was announced that the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) had signed contracts with Hyatt Hotels for upcoming conventions — including their signature Consultation on Conscience and L’Taken Social Justice Seminars — many who stood in solidarity with Hyatt workers believed it was moment of truth for the Jewish community. Would the…
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Opinion Tiptoeing Along the Fiscal Cliff
With Congress plunging into talks to avoid the much-feared fiscal cliff, the Jewish community’s umbrella organization for policy is cautiously weighing in. In a letter to Congress, Rabbi Steve Gutow, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs’s president and CEO, urged lawmakers to keep in mind the impact of budget cuts on the poor and needy…
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Opinion No Divisions Between Jews When Rockets Fly
Like many Jewish leaders, I have devoted the majority of my professional life to advocating on behalf of my denomination. Sometimes the need is concrete, other times ideological. From supporting the worldwide network of the 600-plus Conservative kehillot to agitating on behalf of a Judaism that is pluralistic, intellectually compelling and rooted in tradition, my…
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Opinion Who Will Pay the Bills?
A week ago, I spent part of the day scrambling in ditches in the south of Israel as rocket alarms sounded when I was on the road. Today, the situation is calm and the children are back at school. But residents are left wondering who will foot the bill. They aren’t talking about the cost…
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Opinion From a Tel Aviv Under the Iron Dome
Imagine every car on a main street suddenly screeching to a stop and all the passengers running out, with only a siren wailing in the background. When the first siren went off, we thought it was a test. It took us 10 seconds to realize that it was the real thing. We hurried to our…
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Opinion The American in Havana
A few weeks ago, more than 500 rabbis signed their names to a letter urging the Cuban government to release Alan Gross. He’s the 63-year-old Jew who has served three years of a 15-year term in a Cuban jail for “crimes against the state” — that is, spying for the United States. He has lost…
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Opinion Shhh: NY Times Reports on Orthodox GOP Vote
Some news, apparently, is fit to print, but not too boldly. Take, for example, the demure self-censorship on display Saturday in the New York Times’ eye-opening report, headlined “On Island, Largely Blue, an Exception: Trump Tower,” on the handful of New York City neighborhoods that voted for Mitt Romney over President Obama. Overall, the city…
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Opinion Gangnam and Bibi on the Gaza Border
By all accounts, it was a nerve-wracking time for the 75,000 Israeli reservists called up in preparation for a ground offensive in Gaza last week. “The next days were an emotional roller coaster ride,” wrote Marc Goldberg, who reported to duty on November 18, in a blog post for The Times of Israel. “I was…
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Opinion Raining on Likud’s Parade
It looked as if today’s primaries to choose the candidate roster for Israel’s ruling Likud party was going to be delayed by Operation Pillar of Defense. But the party showed resilience and went to the polls as scheduled — only to have the process descend in to a shambles by problems with the snazzy computerized…
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Opinion Gaza’s Hard Truths
Whatever happens in Gaza — and the news changes by the minute as this editorial is being written — all sides have to accept some very hard truths. If not, the bloodshed will resume, the anger and frustration will spread and the region, Israel’s neighborhood, will squander the hope and potential of the fragile cease-fire….
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