Opinion

• Opinion

  Touting Circumcision’s Benefits

  The American Association of Pediatrics has doubled down on its position that the health benefits of infant male circumcision outweigh the risks. But the AAP’s new policy statement, released today, stops short of recommending routine circumcision of boys. The report did warn against “mouth-to-penis contact during circumcision,” which has been linked to a seldom-performed, ultra-Orthodox…

  By Paul Berger

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Predicting Jewish Vote for President

  The Republican Party has a death wish, and has for at least the last 32 years and longer. No, I am not talking here about the passing episodes of outright stupidity or sophomoric high jinks we have recently witnessed. I am talking about a fundamental and even willful misunderstanding of the connection between Jews and…

  By Leonard Fein Aug 26, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Keep Obama’s Rabbis

  The Republican Jewish Coalition and the Emergency Committee for Israel this week urged a group of rabbis supporting President Barack Obama’s reelection to purge members of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council from its ranks. The conservative groups claimed they were shocked by the inclusion in the “Rabbis for Obama” list of those whose…

  By Alissa Wise and Brant Rosen Aug 24, 2012 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Florida Fixation Warps Emphasis on Israel

  One of the inescapable narratives of the 2012 presidential election has been, and will continue to be, Mitt Romney’s attempts to woo a slice of Jewish voters away from the Democratic ticket. Except, of course, neither Romney nor President Barack Obama are wooing the entirety of American Jewry. Because the presidential election is determined by…

  By Liam Hoare Aug 24, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel Faces Extremists, U.S. Ignores Them

  The dog days of August brought serious wakeup calls for Israel and the United States in their respective struggles against terrorism. Both nations were shaken by violent attacks coming from a direction they hadn’t been watching: racist, right-wing nativists. The similarities between the crises are instructive, and disturbing. So are the differences. For Americans, the…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 24, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Conservatives Howl Over Veep Debate Moderator

  Conservatives are inflamed over a report that the moderator of the upcoming vice presidential debate is the former wife of a high-level Obama appointee. The moderator is ABC senior foreign correspondent Martha Raddatz, who is scheduled to moderate an Oct. 11 debate between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden. Her ex-husband is FCC chairman Julius Genachowski,…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Aug 23, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Israelis Fear Iran, But Don’t Want Solo Strike

  Listening to Israel’s political leaders, it sounds like the country might be at war by the time this piece goes to press. The government is counting on profound levels of fear in Israel to buoy its policies. Indeed, in January a survey of mine showed that Jewish respondents chose nuclear Iran as the top threat…

  By Dahlia Scheindlin Aug 23, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Whither Occupy Judaism?

  Whither Occupy Wall Street? And whither Occupy Judaism? September 17, the one-year anniversary of the launching of the movement/mood/fracas, has been declared the Occupy National Day of Action. September 17 — or #S17, as it has inevitably been hashtagged — also happens to be Rosh Hashanah. And so, inevitably, Occupy Judaism has announced that there…

  By David A.M. Wilensky Aug 23, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Jewish Innovation Needs Collaboration

  The Jewish innovation economy is booming. One study from 2010 claimed that about 600 new initiatives had been launched in the previous decade. These Jewish startups represent millions of dollars in investment on programs that reach thousands of American Jews. But despite this proliferation, another recent study, conducted by the organization Bikkurim, declared that “the…

  By Darren Kleinberg and Jerry Hirsch Aug 22, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Obama Rolls Out His Rabbis

  Obama’s reelection campaign launched its list of Rabbis for Obama, which includes some 600 rabbis of all denominations pledging their support for the president. The campaign takes pride in the number of rabbis on the list. In 2008 only 300 rabbis signed on, now the number has doubled. “Their ringing endorsement of President Obama speaks…

  By Nathan Guttman Aug 21, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘Lynching’ in Zion Square

  On August 17, a mob of several dozen Israeli Jewish teenagers — some reports say as many as 50 — assaulted four Palestinian youths in the center of Jerusalem in an attack that the Jerusalem police have labeled an attempted “lynching.” The young people shouted “death to Arabs” as they chased down and beat the…

  By Jill Jacobs Aug 21, 2012 | 4 min read