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
-
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
-
Double and Triple-Marginalized, Trailblazing Arab Women Fight for Everyone
In March and April, women in the US and around the world marked Equal Pay Day, women’s history month, and International Women’s Day—testaments to the distance women’s issues have come, and the distance left to cover. Yet, for many minority populations, as it is for Arab women of Israel, the goals set and celebrated by…
-
Chronicles of #TheGirlWithTheCancer: Checking My Cancer Privilege
Stav Meishar, 28 years old, was born and raised in Israel. She is based in New York City where she founded the award-winning organization for creative Jewish education, Dreamcoat Experience. When she’s not shaping the futures of young Jewish minds, she is a stage artist specializing in Circus Arts. Stav’s biggest project at the moment…
The Latest
-
In Defense Of White Tablecloths
My Nana’s kitchen had wallpaper on the ceiling. You would look up and see this crisp delft blue pattern, not unlike a plate or mug she might have owned. There were two tables, one for the family behind the open shelf, and the other for her and my grandfather. It is this table that I…
-
Want To Stop BDS? Stop Alienating Progressives.
As an organizer on college campuses for J Street U, the campus wing of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement, I meet a lot of passionate students determined to stand up for a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike. But I also see how much of the American Jewish and pro-Israel establishment places far-right, extremist voices…
-
Operation Nissan: That Time I Smuggled Matzah Into An African Embassy
You can understand why security at the U.S. Embassy is tight. The first terrorist attack in the capital of this sub-Saharan country occurred only three months ago. Even under “normal” circumstances, no closed bags, including brief cases, are permitted beyond the guard house into the Embassy proper. Even before they pass through the X-Ray scanner,…
-
Tel Aviv Councilman: We Must Do More To Empower Jewish Students On College Campuses
For the past several years, I’ve had the honor of being hosted by Hillels on college campuses throughout the United States, invited to speak with Jewish and non-Jewish students about the state of Israel in the eyes of a political and social activist fighting for LGBTQ rights, as well as an environmental expert on the…
-
Rabbis Urge President Trump To “Act Decisively” In Syria
Dear President Trump, We write to you with angst just days before the Passover holiday when the Jews escaped the oppressive tyranny of Pharaoh in Egypt. The Assad regime in Syria appears to have conducted a nerve gas attack against Syrian civilians yesterday. At least 58 civilians have been killed in the attack, marking the…
-
The Tribal Case for Israel
Supporting Israel means supporting indigenous rights. Despite the obviousness and the power of this statement, much of the rhetoric used by the pro-Israel community revolve around Israel’s technological innovation, treatment of women and the LGBTQIA+ community, democratic character, and morality. While accurate, this paradigm is irrelevant to the average college student that supports BDS (the…
-
This Passover, We Need A Little Less Freedom and A Lot More Order
A version of this article was originally posted in the Texas Jewish Post It’s that special time of the year again when supermarkets in heavily Jewish neighborhoods advertise their Passover wares, all conveniently stocked under one roof. And inevitably, some cliched tagline along the lines of, “helping you celebrate freedom!” will grace those holiday ads….
-
Jewish Day Schools Must End The Silence On Sexual Harassment
My first confrontation with sexual harassment was not on the streets but within my small Modern Orthodox high school. As I walked down the hallways, its walls decorated with quotes from prominent rabbinical figures and pictures of students bent over Judaic texts, I heard my name being called alongside whistles and jeers, crude language and…
-
Are These Two Jewish Dudes The Aussie Voice Of The Alt-Right?
A version of this piece originally appeared in Plus61J. Nothing Left on Melbourne’s Jewish community radio station J-AIR has a niche firmly in the right. The show’s hosts, Alan Freedman and Michael Burd, say they are there to fill a gap created by what they see as the left-wing media and the political left. Are…
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Why saying ‘L’shana Tova’ on Rosh Hashanah may not be the correct phrase
- 2
Culture A Jewish prophet of the 1980s would be horrified to see that we didn’t heed his warnings
- 3
Opinion With killing of Hezbollah’s chief, Israel occupies the inarguable moral high ground
- 4
Opinion This is the most disorienting Rosh Hashanah in memory
In Case You Missed It
-
Film & TV How Leonard Cohen — and a Yom Kippur prayer — inspired a coming-of-age epic
-
Opinion A year after Oct. 7, Israel has the chance to remake its future — for better or worse
-
Opinion Campus protests defined the year since Oct. 7. Could they actually change U.S. policy?
-
Special Report At the kibbutz hit hardest on Oct. 7, a wrenching debate over how to rebuild
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism