This is the Forward’s coverage of former U.S. president Barack Obama and his relationship to the Jewish community.
Barack Obama
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Life Obama and the Christian-Muslim-Jewish Nation
One staple of any great speech is that everyone hears it in a different way. For some, President Obama’s inaugural address was all about hope and optimism; for others, it was about the nation’s resilience. For the Zionist Organization of America’s Morton Klein, it was all about one sentence: “We are a nation of Christians…
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Life Helen Suzman, Barack Obama, and 100 Years of Black-Jewish Relations
Helen Suzman, the Jewish anti-apartheid activist who died earlier this month, was long critical of South Africa’s organized Jewish community for its policy of political non-involvement during the apartheid years. When the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) gave her a humanitarian award in 2007, she accepted the honor with the words, “It’s about…
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Life Obama Breaks His Silence on Gaza, but Doesn’t Say Much
The Associated Press reports: President-elect Barack Obama broke his silence on the crisis Tuesday, saying that “the loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel is a source of deep concern for me.” He declined to go further, reiterating his stance that the U.S. has only one president at a time. Obama had been…
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Life Beyond Rick Warren’s Invocation
The Orthodox Union’s Nathan Diament has some advice for Barack Obama. Writing in The New Republic, Diament — the OU’s public policy director — urges the incoming president to do more than offer religious voters symbols, like an inaugural invocation by Rev. Rick Warren. Obama, Diament writes, has an opportunity to “advance policies that are…
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News Jewish Influence in Capital Soars
It’s difficult to quantify whether Jews are in line to hold any sort of a record number of top positions in the Obama administration or the next Congress, but it’s clear that a large number of Jews stand to serve in key positions. Among the latest is U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman. The California Democrat dethroned…
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News Bill Clinton, Obama Want Joe Lieberman to Stay With Democrats
After not only supporting John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, but criticizing the Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman is fighting for his job as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. And Democrats must decide whether they want him to caucus with them. While they have enough votes to remain in the majority regardless…
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News Obama to Name Rahm Emanuel Chief of Staff
UPDATE 2:15 p.m. Jews still questioning whether they will have a strong ally in the next White House may have their answer. In one of his first decisions, President-elect Barack Obama has asked Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel to be White House chief of staff, according to three leaders in the Jewish community and Washington insiders….
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News Republican Jewish Leader Claims Win in Obama Victory
UPDATED 8:21 A.M With exit polls showing that Democrat Barack Obama won an estimated 77 percent of the Jewish vote, you would think that all Republicans would be disappointed. Yet other than the fact that Obama won, Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, is declaring the election a success. “The reality is…
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BINTEL BRIEF I prepare bodies as part of my synagogue’s burial society, but I’m an anti-Zionist. Is that OK?
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