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
Whatever Happened to Kissing Babies?
The Israel Land Administration is a notorious government bureaucracy, whose precise functions are a mystery to most Israelis. And yet, one day before polling opens here in Israel, the whole country is talking about it. The reason is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced yesterday that the popular minister Moshe Kahlon, who aid ahead of…
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Opinion 5 Jewish Things at the Inauguration
President Obama’s first inauguration in 2009 was full of Jewish side events. There was a fancy ball at a downtown hotel co-sponsored by major Jewish groups and attended by Jewish politicos, activists and even Dr. Ruth Westhehimer, plus a string of private events hosted by Jewish Democratic donors and supporters. WATCH President Obama’s inauguration LIVE:…
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Opinion Israel’s Other Impending Election
While attention remains focused on the election of a new Knesset and the formation of a new government, the battle over another election — for Israel’s Chief Rabbinate — is just heating up. These elections, too, have far-reaching ramifications for the American Jewish community and for the well-being of Israel. In recent decades, the well-organized…
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Opinion Noah Pozner’s Emmett Till Moment
This week, the Forward’s web site was overwhelmed by traffic from the social news site Reddit, which featured my piece about the Newtown school rampage, “Wrestling With the Details of Noah Pozner’s Killing.” In the post, I outlined and explained the Forward’s decision to publish Noah’s mother’s description of her son’s body during our December…
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Opinion Dr. King’s Memory and the Jewish Conscience
This year, we commemorate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on January 21, the same day that we celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama to his second term as president of the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. Day also marks the beginning of a year-long observance of the 50th Anniversary of King’s…
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Opinion I Love Bibi — No, I Love Him More
In the past, Israeli political parties have gotten themselves in to trouble for slurring their opponents during campaigns, with election authorities clamping down on what they see as negative campaigning. Strangely enough, there’s the opposite problem this time — a contest to campaign for Bibi. Given that it’s pretty much taken-as-given that Prime Minister Benjamin…
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Opinion Lance Armstrong and the Meaning of Chutzpah
Two confessions: I am neither a speaker of Yiddish nor a fan of professional cycling. But as we hover in the halftime break of Lance Armstrong’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, I can’t help but wonder if the televised confession has implications for the meaning of chutzpah. Most of us are familiar with Leo Rosten’s classic…
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Opinion Who’s Afraid of Al-Jazeera?
When Al-Jazeera announced in early January that it was edging its way more aggressively into the American market (through the purchase of Al Gore’s fairly moribund channel, Current TV, for $500 million), the news was met with a predictable dollop of fear and loathing. Bill O’Reilly jumped to call the Qatari-based channel “anti-American.” Groups like…
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Opinion ‘Dear Abby’ Dies — And Ab Cahan Weeps
Pauline Phillips, who wrote the ‘Dear Abby’ advice column, died yesterday at the age of 94. The daughter of Russian immigrants was born on the Fourth of July in Iowa and learned the lexicon of everyday middle American life growing up in the heartland. Her advice was always sharp, witty and sound — and her…
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Opinion Hillel the Hacktivist
In an effort to drive home the point that everyone, regardless of their economic standing, is required to study Torah, the Talmud cites a story of Rabbi Hillel the Elder. Every day, Hillel worked and earned about half a dinar. He spent half of that to feed and clothe his family, and the other half…
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Opinion Israel’s Election Race for Second Place
So, we all kind of know who is going to take top spot in Tuesday’s general election in Israel — Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud-Yisrael Beytenu alliance. But who is going to come in second spot? Some Israelis were starting to eulogize the Labor party after its poor performance in the last election in 2009,…
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Opinion Trump is backed into a corner on Iran. Get ready for him to start blaming Jews
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