In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
Opinion
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Opinion
Is Modern Orthodoxy the True Orthodoxy?
On Thursday night, Israel Prize Winner Rabbi Daniel Sperber gave a lecture at the Jewish Center in New York City on “Why Modern Orthodoxy is True Orthodoxy.” Sperber, a Talmud scholar at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, provided a thorough history of Orthodox Judaism before noting the differences between modern Orthodoxy and ultra-Orthodoxy, emphasizing that modern…
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Opinion The Courage of a Girl
Nearly 11 years ago, flushed with what we thought was victory over the Taliban, then-first lady Laura Bush led a noble campaign to highlight the poverty, violence, poor health and illiteracy endured by the women of Afghanistan. “That regime is now in retreat across much of the country, and the people of Afghanistan, especially women,…
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Opinion Silverman Boosts Obama (Not That One)
There’s a Silverman involved in the latest pro-Obama ad, but it’s not the one you’re thinking (or hoping) it is. Sarah Silverman’s sister, Rabbi Susan Silverman, who lives in Israel, co-produced “Israelis on Obama.” The piece features a number of Israeli talking heads (mainly defense officials, political scientists, and intellectuals) praising Obama’s financing of Israel’s…
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Opinion Rabbi’s Scandalous Crime? Using an iPhone.
Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak, a top leader of the Israeli Haredi community, in at the center of a massive scandal. No, he wasn’t seen with a female escort, accused of child abuse, or fingered in some kind of money-laundering operation. But to the Haredi community, what he did might even be worse: Yitzhak was photographed the…
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Opinion Going Talmudic on Lance Armstrong
If the accusations are true, it’s hard to defend Lance Armstrong. He is accused, with supporting testimony by those close to him, of engaging in a systematic campaign to cheat in order to win cycling races, including seven Tours de France. The allegations are that he used performance enhancing drugs and evaded testing by those…
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Opinion For Jewish Questioner, Debate Settled It
Jews aren’t known to be swing voters. Most, in fact, hold strong political convictions and are not easily swayed. Still, as Gal Beckerman noted, there were a whole lot of folks with Jewish names asking questions at the Tuesday night presidential debate — and all were undecided voters. Well, not any more. At least one,…
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Letters Who’s To Blame?
Jane Eisner’s comments on Monica Lewinsky (“Mulling Over Monica,” October 5) and her new book made me lose my breakfast. Coming off of the Yom Kippur fast, I did not need the loss of its nutritional value. In the contest between whose morality was lower, Clinton’s or Lewinsky’s, I would expect more from a married…
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Letters Jewish Dylan
In your rundown of Bob Dylan’s most Jewish songs (“The Bard’s 10 Most Jewish Songs,” October 5) you forgot “Father of Night” and “Drifter’s Escape.” The first is a doxology to an awe-inspiring God much like the God of Judaism; in the second, the drifter (a wanderer, like the Jewish people) is accused of an…
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Letters Word Choices
I am a subscriber to the Forward. I look forward to it and read it weekly. I am quite frustrated that a paper that professes to be a Jewish publication continues to use the phrases “Occupied Territories” and “Palestinians.” The British Balfour Declaration ratified by the League of Nations in 1922 set up Palestine as…
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Letters The Food Problem
Magen Tzedek is an initiative of utmost importance to the ongoing commitment of all religious communities to the just and ethical production of food, one of the most sacred of gifts. That the initiative is off to a “slow start” (“Magen Tzedek, a Response to Agriprocessors Scandal, Still Not in Operation,” October 5) is hardly…
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Opinion Mitt’s 4 Debate Disasters
Mitt Romney is a skilled debater. Despite his reputation for gaffes, he is usually very effective in structured settings. He makes his points, he makes them clearly and he moves on. That said, the second presidential debate was a disaster for Romney. Here are four moments where he threw away his latest best chance to…
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Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
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Books In ‘Something We Said,’ Richard Pryor’s daughter finds words to discuss the unspeakable
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Opinion It’s time for Jews who love Israel to give up on Zionism
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Opinion Trump’s humiliation of Netanyahu marks a sea change in the US-Israel relationship
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Books When a Jewish language is lost, we lose more than just words
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Fast Forward FBI charges 8 tied to U of Michigan pro-Palestinian movement with threatening officials, Jewish federation
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Fast Forward This Israeli filmmaker harshly criticizes his country. Pro-Palestinian activists boycotted him anyway
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Fast Forward Trump is imagining an Israel after Netanyahu. So are many Israelis. Netanyahu isn’t biting.