Opinion articles that represent the views of the Forward’s editors.
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Opinion Centuries Later, Spinoza Back in the Fold
After more than 350 years of enforced exile, Baruch Spinoza has been invited back into the Jewish community — at least by the people who participated in a mock trial and symposium at Theatre J in Washington D.C. earlier this month. The vote was 108 to 41. The controversial writ of excommunication was lifted by…
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Opinion Who Speaks for Israel?
The back-to-back national policy conferences of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and J Street — the Jewish version of March Madness for Israel advocates — have now concluded. The subtext of these gatherings is a desire to represent American Jewish opinion in the halls of Congress, the inner sanctum of the White House and…
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Opinion Trayvon and the Rodef
As federal and state authorities investigate the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, and pundits debate the value of the Florida law that, so far, is protecting George Zimmerman from being charged with murder, we would do well to consult the “din rodef.” Jewish law has much to say about a lot of things, and the…
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Opinion Free Gross, Free Cuba
The photos of Alan Gross before and during his imprisonment in Cuba are striking: The ruddy-faced man with bulging cheeks now looks thin and sallow. His wife, Judy Gross, says that he has lost 100 pounds in the last two years, and it shows. For humanitarian reasons alone, the ailing 62-year-old Jew ought to be…
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Opinion What To Do?
If well-meaning American Jews who love Israel believe that the occupation of Palestinian land and people is detrimental and wrong, what are those Jews to do? How can they express those beliefs and take actions that protect Israel, support their fellow Jews, and also hold Palestinians appropriately accountable for their own actions? One response to…
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Opinion A Fine Line on Title VI
Do Jewish students deserve the same federal civil rights protections as African Americans, women and the disabled in the nation’s schools and universities? The official answer now is in the affirmative, and in principle, that seems only just and fair. After years of lobbying, Jewish groups led by the Zionist Organization of America managed to…
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Opinion The Muslim ‘Other’
A survey by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, released the morning of the Mississippi and Alabama primaries, found that about half of the Republicans queried believe that President Obama is a Muslim. We use the word “believe” here purposely, because this is indeed a matter of belief, not fact. The fact is he’s a…
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Opinion The Sound of Silence
In the video broadcast widely on Israeli television, Salim Joubran was staring straight ahead, his square face quite still but for his eyes, which occasionally darted back and forth. Oh, and his mouth. That was the key feature here. It was fixed in a closed, downturned shape, the opposite of a smile. And it didn’t…
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