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The State Prosecutor’s Office appealed Thursday to the Haifa District Court to dismiss outright the civil suit filed by U.S. activist Rachel Corrie’s family against the Defense Ministry for unspecified compensation for their daughter’s death. Read More »
Jewish Daily Forward 
The Forward, an independent, high-profile weekly newspaper, is a fearless and indispensable source of news and opinion on Jewish affairs.
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Biden, in Israel: Says Bond With Israel ‘Unbreakable’ but U.S. Will Note Missteps
The U.S.-Israel bond is unbreakable, but the United States will keep both sides accountable for their actions, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said. Read More »
Pesach on My Mind
A friend, knowing how dense my Haggadah is — much of the traditional text, my own interpolations, sundry gems from here and there — asks whether by now I can’t just take for granted that the people at my Seder table know what needs to be known about slavery, about memory, about elements large and small. Read More »
The Forward This Week
In this week’s podcast, Forward editor Jane Eisner has a roundup of the stories in the March 12 issue of the Forward and Arts and Culture editor Dan Friedman interviews Efraim Zuroff. Read More »
We Can’t Afford to Give Up on the United Nations
For many Americans, and most Israelis, the words “United Nations” conjure up an image of an albatross at best, and a vulture at worst. Anti-Israel agendas, advanced by Islamic nations, routinely dominate the General Assembly and the U.N. human rights entities. Read More »
Non-Zero Sum: Helping Others And Ourselves
Should Jews first take care of our own, or first serve the needs of society as a whole? Read More »
Only Israelis and Palestinians Can Make Peace
There may be one point in the Middle East conflict on which we can all agree: It’s complicated. Read More »
Dark Clouds Behind Survey’s Silver Lining
Friends of Israel got a nice lift in late February when the Gallup Organization released a new poll showing that Americans favor Israel over the Palestinians in the Middle East conflict by a margin of more than 4-to-1 — fully 63% believe Israel is more in the right, while just 15% back the Palestinian side. Read More »
March 19, 2010
Maybe Agency Should Call it Quits: Sometimes organizations should declare victory and close (“Embattled Jewish Agency To Promote Identity Over Aliyah,” March 12). If the Jewish Agency has achieved the best it can on immigration, if it is not being supported by Jews around the world, that might be the honorable choice. Read More »
Unfriendly Fire
There were the expected handshakes and bear hugs, the slaps on the back and supportive words amiably expressed before the media. Just what ought to happen when Israel welcomes the vice president of the United States, the second in command of its greatest ally and the highest-ranking official of a still-new administration to visit Jerusalem. Read More »
Whose History?
The diagnosis is correct. The prescription is troubling. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wise to be concerned about the weakening Jewish identity of many Israelis, an issue for Jews everywhere but especially poignant in what is supposed to be the national homeland. Read More »
Promoting Israel As a ‘Cultural Hotbed’ Isn’t Always a Winner
Jacob Dayan, Israel’s consul general in Los Angeles, is dreaming of an Israeli “Lord of the Rings” movie. “I want people to see the movie and say, ‘Wow, I want to go to that place. Read More »
New Restaurant Seal Meets With Approval
The small kosher falafel joint called Soom Soom, on West 72nd Street in Manhattan, was bubbling with activity on a recent afternoon. Read More »
A College With 80 Tongues Tries To Speak in One Voice
A sophomore leaning toward a major in political science, Charlie Wohlberg was walking home from a Yonkers, N.Y., synagogue one night three summers ago, when a group of young men approached him. Read More »
In Dispute Over Using ‘Rabba,’ Supporters Find Reason for Optimism
The news that the leading Orthodox advocate for female spiritual leadership reversed his decision to embrace the title “ rabba ” seemed at first a major setback for Orthodox feminists. Read More »
Hadassah and Hospital Resolve Rift
A feud between Hadassah and its hospital in Jerusalem has finally been resolved, though the circumstances surrounding the dispute remain mysterious. Read More »
Jewish Lobby Sits Out Vote On Armenian Genocide
Deteriorating relations between Turkey and Israel led Jewish groups to step back from active lobbying this year against a congressional resolution declaring the 1915 Turkish slaughter of Armenians a case of genocide. Read More »
Miss Congeniality’s Mishegas
In the category of “Latest Yiddish Word To Find Crossover Appeal,” the March 7 Academy Awards telecast produced a dark-horse winner: mishegas , which roughly translates to “madness or folly. Read More »
How Curious George Fought the Nazis
It’s hard to imagine a cartoon monkey saving the day anywhere other than in storybooks. But Curious George, the signature monkey of author and artist duo H. A. and Margret Rey, did just that, according to “Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H. A. Read More »
In Israel, Metallica Ticket Prices Stir Backlash
The ultimate heavy metal band Metallica does whatever the hell it likes, right? Well not when faced with disgruntled Israelis. Read More »
Writing About Survival
In the 1920s, David Meyerowich wrote the music and lyrics to the wrenching Yiddish lament “ Vu Nemt MenParnosseh ?” (“How Does One Make a Living?”); in 1931, Yip Harburg wrote the lyrics to Jay Gorney’s Great Depression anthem, “Brother, Read More »
Hot Lands of Clay
Considering how often the word “fragile” is used to describe Israel — its politics, peace, peoplehood — it makes perfect sense that a new exhibit at Toronto’s Gardiner Museum uses ceramic art to explore modern life there. Read More »
Going Down to Funky Town
Here are a few lyrics from “Tweet Tweet,” the title track from Abraham Inc.’s recently released debut album: “We bring the niggas from the street/Get off your seat/Stamp your feet/Come and touch me in the tweet tweet/Ya da di bum bum, ya da di bum bum, ya da di bum bum. Read More »
Jews Displaced From Arab Lands Finally Recognized
Jerusalem — For the first time since they came to Israel , all 10 Jewish communities displaced from Arab countries have agreed on a course … Read More »
Remember Bitter Herb?
About 30 years ago, when Illinois businessman David Brimm’s son was 2 years old, the family turned off the TV just before guests arrived for Passover dinner. Read More »
New E-Haggadah Brings a Fifth Child to the Table
Pity the humble Haggadah, the never-quite-good-enough book that Jews seem compelled to improve upon each year. ArtScroll’s general director Rabbi Nosson Scherman guesses there are more than 1,000 versions of the Haggadah in print today. Read More »
March 19, 2010
100 Years Ago in the forward: As tragedies go, it will be difficult to beat the story of Solomon Schwalb, a resident of 86th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, who, in biblical fashion, was tricked into marrying the sister of the woman he loved. Having recently arrived in America, he was taken in by a family from his shtetl, the Elshveigs. Read More »
Bibi to Biden: We Did Not Seek To Embarrass You Over Settlement Issue
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to alleviate new tensions with the United States on Tuesday, after an announcement that Israel will build 1,600 new homes in an ultra-Orthodox East Jerusalem neighborhood drew strong condemnation from the White House, and visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. Read More »
Brooklyn Rabbi Found Guilty in Teen Sex Assault Case
A Brooklyn rabbi was found guilty of sexually assaulting a male teenager. Read More »
An Inquisition for the 21st Century
One of the most striking things about “Conviction,” a new adaptation of Oren Neeman’s play by Mark Williams and Ami Dayan (who also stars), is the impassioned, dreamy description of Jewish rituals by the 15th-century Spanish priest Andrés González (Dayan) as he learns them from his beloved, the Jewess Isabel. Read More »