Ari Hoffman is a contributing columnist for the Forward, where he writes about politics and culture. He is an adjunct assistant professor at New York University, and has a doctorate in English Literature from Harvard and a law degree from Stanford.
Ari Hoffman
By Ari Hoffman
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Opinion As Jews, we cannot abandon America’s cities
There is an old Jewish practice to pray for the welfare of the government under which they live. It dates back to the Babylonian Captivity, when tradition has it that the prophet Jeremiah urged his exiled Judeans to put in a good word, even for those who had burned their Temple to the ground. Why?…
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Opinion Jews – and Americans – need Biden to stand against extremism from both sides
Joe Biden is undoubtedly a lion in winter, but so much depends on his ability to roar with conviction. The Democratic nominee actually has to run two campaigns: The first is to defeat Donald Trump and save the country from an ongoing nightmare. The second is to save the left from an illiberal future. It…
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Opinion Jews were once kept out of Harvard and Yale. Now Asians are. We must stand by them.
In the early years of the Roaring 20’s, Harvard’s President A. Lawrence Lowell was worried about the Jews. And the truth is, there were a lot of them to worry about in Harvard Yard. In 1900, just 7% of Harvard undergraduates were Jewish. By 1922, that number had tripled to 22%. Lowell reasoned that this…
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Opinion Debate | Who is the future of the Democratic Party and what does it mean for Jews?
On Tuesday evening, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced his pick for vice president: California Senator Kamala Harris. While that was going on, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was in the process of winning her primary. The two women pose starkly different versions of the Democratic Party, especially when it comes to Israel. Harris is a…
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Opinion Israel’s protests are an opportunity for American Jews to fall back in love with the Zionist dream
Jewish history is once again happening in Jerusalem. Saturday night saw tens of thousands of Israelis in front of the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Residence and all over the world expressing anger at a range of sources: Netanyahu’s endless tenure, his web of corruption, and a Covid response that started strong but has since buckled…
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Opinion What victories for BDS in Congress means for American Jews
It’s hard to know when the wave began, but there can be no doubt that it’s gaining strength. In a series of primaries across the nation, progressive challengers have succeeded in ousting incumbents in Democratic primaries. These incumbents have included some of the most pro-Israel stalwarts in government. Their ouster suggests a much bigger story:…
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Opinion The media is splintering. That’s a good thing.
There is a revolution in the air, but it’s not the one you’ve heard of happening on the streets. Like many changes in the intellectual weather, it is both in plain sight and not yet fully visible. The revolution is a series of events that have become a pattern: Yascha Mounk founding a new “community”…
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Opinion We need to allow ourselves to be persuaded by beauty
This article is part of a new series called “On Persuasion.” We asked thought leaders to consider what persuasion means to them. What works in terms of persuading people? Is it moot in 2020? What is the Jewish value of persuasion? Should we be opening our minds to other points of view, or closing them…
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