Scribe, the Forward’s curated contributor network, is a place for showcasing personal experiences and perspective from across our Jewish communities. Here you will find a wide array of reflections on Jewish issues, life-cycle events, spirituality, culture and more.
Community
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You say matzah — and matzo and matzuh and matzee and more
Readers respond to our editor-in-chief’s column about a Passover copy-editing conundrum
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Perfume before Zoom, I presume
I’ve always loved perfume: the final touch of preparation for a day of work or an evening out. My habit is rooted in memories of my mother and the sweet scent of her beloved Miss Dior. She kept the bottle on her dresser, near a photograph of the woman who protected and inspired her during…
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Why a Jewish American living in Israel is celebrating Christmas
Growing up in Duluth, Minnesota, I was surrounded by Christmas. I was one of five or fewer Jewish students during my years at our 1,000-person high school, where the choir led by sweet Mr. Mix always sang beautiful Christmas songs. I know every word to “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.” (Sometimes, Mr. Mix…
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Due to the pandemic, thousands are stuck at home with their abusers. My organization is helping them.
As the pandemic set in, many peoples’ lives came to a screeching halt. Not mine. I work as the graphic and web designer at Amudim, an organization that deals with crises in the Jewish community. Amudim has been around since 2014, and we specialize in emergency cases. Every week, I put together our weekly newsletter,…
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Uri Bar Lev thwarted Leila Khaled’s hijacking; I was a passenger on that plane
Recently, an article in The Forward that caught my attention. It was an article about Uri Bar Lev, a pilot who thwarted an attempted hijacking by Leila Khaled and Patrick Aguerllo. I was a 9-year-old passenger on that plane. The rest of my family members and I have told our story of the attempted hijacking…
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My grandmother never talked about her experience in World War II. Until now.
As a kid, your grandparents seem to be these larger than life people who are only capable of love. As you grow older, you come to realize that they have lived many experiences before you came along. They have loved and lost. They have fought for their rights and the rights of everyone around them….
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Helping God bring light, unity, and compassion back into our fractured world and nation
There is a deep human need to bring light into darkness. Traditions across the globe have light festivals in the darkest days to remind us that the light will return. Perhaps even in their origins they are sympathetic magic, that by lighting candles we can compel the light to return to our universe. Every tradition…
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This Hanukkah, we have to embrace both darkness and light
It has been one of most traumatic weeks in the history of our country. Celebrating and singing Hanukkah songs seems somewhat of a farce when ICUs are nearly full; mental health clinics overrun from those suffering with anxiety and suicidal ideation. This is the first time in which embracing the light has been difficult and…
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Hope and the Fall of Icarus
At some point during the past 10 months, you probably caught yourself playing “what do I miss most?” Whether it’s a leisurely coffee with a group of friends at a sidewalk café or feeling alive at a blaring rock concert, I hope the memory gnawing at you arouses heartfelt longing rather than self-pity. In my…
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The Hanukkah miracle of a UAE-Israel menorah lighting
Do miracles still happen? If you ask me, yes. But as the story of Hanukkah exemplifies, they are often lived out by human beings doing holy work. This week, we might have borne witness to another one. Never did I imagine that I would be standing on a 31st floor balcony in Manhattan with the…
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A Baal Teshuva, I chose this community. In Covid, they keep choosing to hurt my family.
'What you do, you do directly to everyone else'
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Without Jewish family, converts usually celebrate Jewish holidays; in quarantine, she found a way
My husband and I celebrated our first Hanukkah together before we were formally Jewish. It was a month before our conversion classes at Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago had even begun, but I didn’t want to wait. We had just suffered our second consecutive pregnancy loss and I was desperate to be embraced by the…
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