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
Terror on the Rue des Rosiers
Thirty years ago today, a terrorist commando exploded into the famed Jewish restaurant Jo Goldenberg’s, located on the rue des Rosiers in the Marais district of Paris. Spraying machine gun fire and grenades, they killed six people, wounded nearly two dozen others and escaped by foot into the neighborhood’s dense warren of streets. None of…
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Letters Undeserved Stigma
Your June 29 editorial “The Undeserving Poor?” argued that poverty in the Orthodox community is a “choice.” The premise is that Hasidic Jews refuse to go to work and earn an honest living. I beg to differ. I oversee a school where several hundred men and women are trained annually as junior accountants and about…
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Letters Not a Choice
In the editorial of June 29, “The Undeserving Poor?” the source of Orthodox poverty seems primarily attributed to the “choice” of having large families. But perhaps a more accurate description should be that they are “programmed” for communal survival. Worried about the continued existence of their culturally rich community, Haredis fear and instinctually know what…
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Letters Forgotten Alaskan
I’m surprised that the Forward, a Jewish newspaper, could have devoted a whole page to Alaska in its August 10 edition without once mentioning the great Ernest Gruening, who turned the territory into a state as one of the last territorial governors (1939-1953) and its first United States senator (1959-1969). The Vietnam War has faded…
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Opinion Occupation, Not ‘Culture,’ Holds Back Palestinians
As a Jew of Iraqi descent living in Israel, I was taught to take prideful note of the role that my ethnic group played in building the country. ”You see that bridge?” my uncle would ask me as we watched footage of a Tel Aviv sports event. “An Iraqi Jew built it.” And when the…
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Opinion Mitt’s Big Fat Jewish Wedding Snafu
Sometimes a candidate doesn’t have to chase after the Jewish vote. It chases him. That could be Mitt Romney’s conclusion from an unusual set of events he experienced in New Jersey today. Speeding from Newark Airport to Lake Terrace, N.J., Romney’s motorcade crossed paths with a Jewish Orthodox wedding party, posing for photos with the…
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Opinion Golden Gate Jumper Lives to Tell — and Pray
Twelve years ago, Kevin Hines jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge, suffering from bipolor disorder and wishing to end his life. As soon as he hit free-fall his first thought was, “What have I done? I don’t want to die! God, please save me.” After Hines, who is Catholic, hit the water, he struggled to…
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Opinion Sheldon’s $60M Suit Over Hooker Claim
Sheldon Adelson has filed a libel suit against the leadership of the National Jewish Democratic Council over a claim that Adelson condoned prostitution at his casinos, Bloomberg News reported today. The $60 million complaint, filed in federal court in New York, named the NJDC, CEO David Harris, and chairman Marc Stanley, according to Bloomberg. Adelson…
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Opinion Free Speech Movement Hits Back
A group of California free speech advocates is urging University of California President Mark Yudof to reject a proposal to ban hate speech at UC campuses, saying that it runs counter to the spirit of the free speech movement, which started at Berkeley in the 1960s. “We hereby remind the university of its stand affirming…
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Opinion Religious Freedom for Israelis, Too
I am the son of a Yekke. My father was born in Germany. His parents escaped to Palestine in the nick of time, just before World War II broke out. Both were doctors, but they came with no Hebrew and there was no work for them. It was tough. They may have left Germany behind…
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Opinion Mitt Romney Attacks….the Kibbutz
Maybe Mitt Romney didn’t know what he was talking about when he praised Israeli culture. The Republican presidential hopeful controversially explained during a trip to Israel last week that the country’s economic success was due to its culture. Now it turns out he’s no fan of the kibbutz. “America is not a collective where we…
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