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
Congress Does Kabuki Dance on Israel
Too many people give Washington politics a bum rap. Sure, it can be excruciating if you’re following the issues and hoping for a certain result. It’s frustratingly predictable, infuriating in its futility and perhaps even a bit terrifying in its inability to address the most urgent crises. If you stand back and watch the choreography,…
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Opinion Transfixed by Aly’s Roller-Coaster Ride
I sort of felt like a schizophrenic, jumping between screens on my 15-inch screen computer, from word document to word document, from news website to low-quality live-streaming of Aly Raisman wobbling on the balance beam. The video kept freezing. The loading button wouldn’t move from the middle of the screen. The commentary was in French….
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Opinion Neither Rain Nor Traffic Slows Siyum (See Video)
Despite rain and traffic jams, the mood was jubilant at MetLife stadium on August 1, as some 90,000 Orthodox Jews gathered to celebrate the completion of the study of the Talmud, or Siyum HaShas. A massive crowd of mostly ultra-Orthodox men in dark suits and hats packed the East Rutherford, N.J., football stadium, spilling out…
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Opinion Alive and Well?
Judaism, the Economist magazine says in its latest edition, is “alive and well.” And not just in that “I’m okay, you’re okay” sort of way that seems more like treading water than riding the waves. “Judaism is enjoying an unexpected revival,” opens an 11-page special report of the British weekly magazine — enjoying the kind…
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Opinion Crunch Time for Haredi Draft? Try 2013
Today was supposed to be the start of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his “historic change” for Israel. But in reality, everything stayed the same. At midnight, the law that exempted Haredi men from national service expired. Which means that over the coming weeks, legally speaking at least, Haredi 18-year-olds are liable to be…
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Opinion It Ain’t Just ‘Culture,’ Mitt
Jon Stewart skewered Mitt Romney for his “culture” comments that suggested that Israelis are somehow superior to Palestinians. With frequent references to Romney’s gaffe-prone ways, Stewart reported on Romney’s controversial comments during his visit to Israel that attempted to pay homage to Israeli know-how and ingenuity. The late-night comic pointed out that there must be…
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Opinion How ‘Personhood’ Hurts Real People
If you’re discouraged by the nasty, vapid tone of this year’s presidential politics, you might want to take a fresh look at our states and counties, where hand-to-hand battles are being fought over a critical issue of real substance: Who (or what) is a person? Most of us think we know the answer intuitively. A…
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Opinion ‘Bibi Can’t OK Iran Strike As Defense Chiefs Demur’
Ynet’s Atilla Shomfalvi quotes unnamed government insiders who say Prime Minister Netanyahu can’t order a military strike against Iran, even though it’s his decision to make, because the security establishment is unanimously opposed and the cabinet won’t approve an action over the defense chiefs’ opposition. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared last night [Tuesday] that he…
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Opinion Team Barack: Mitt ‘Failed Audition’ on Trip
The Mitt Romney world tour is over, and now it’s time for President Obama’s team to put its own (negative) spin on the globe-trotting GOP candidate. The Obama campaign put together a press call today with senior advisers Robert Gibbs and Colin Kahl, to poke some fun at Romeny’s gaffes and to remind angry reporters…
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Opinion Pink May Not Fly in Deep Blue District
Kevin Parker doesn’t have any catchy monikers like his pink-loving opponent, Mindy Meyer, in a race for state Senate in Brooklyn. “She says she’s ‘senator and she knows it,’ but I actually am senator,” said Parker, an incumbent Democrat. “I really do have responsibilities.” Meyer is now well known by her self-appointed name, Diva of…
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Opinion Egypt President To Peres: I’ll Work for Peace
Egypt’s new Muslim Brotherhood-linked president, Mohamed Morsy, has written to Israeli President Shimon Peres, the Israeli news site Mako-News 2 reports. In the letter Morsy thanks Peres for his Ramadan greetings and pledges “our best efforts to get the Middle east [sic] Peace Process back to the right track in order to achieve security and…
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Holy Ground A Jewish farmer broke ground on a synagogue in an Illinois cornfield. His neighbors showed up to help.
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Opinion I discovered anti-Zionism at the University of Michigan. I’m glad it lives on there
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Opinion An alarming new battleground in campus fights over Israel
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Culture An Israeli genocide scholar looks to Israel’s history to understand ‘what went wrong’
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