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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Meet The Man Perking Up Indie Coffee Stores Worldwide
Editor’s Note: In this series — Why Is This Interview Different From All Other Interviews — we will introduce you to pioneering Jewish leaders across a variety of industries. Alon Ezer is an Israeli entrepreneur and mentor to other Startups. Alon co-founded CUPS, a virtual coffee chain that connects independent coffee shops together to create…
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What Are The ‘Women Of The Wall’ Haters So Afraid Of?
Women are used to being silenced. Women are used to having their ideas belittled and their success made to seem unimportant. Today I went to the Kotel to join Women of the Wall — whose only goal was to make our voices heard—in prayer, at the holiest site in modern Judaism. I joined a service…
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On The Borderland: Big Ideas In A Little Polish Town
The scene: a bright red porch in the northeast corner of Poland, close to the borders of Lithuania, Belarus, and Russian Kaliningrad. I’m holding a steaming cup of tea, brewed from local herbs and sweetened with local honey. I’m talking with a cultural activist named Krzysztof Czyzewski (k-SHISH-toff chi-ZEF-ski). Our topic: the agora. Agora is…
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Where Did All The Jewish People Go?
“Everywhere around the world They’re coming to America Every time that flag’s unfurled They’re coming to America Got a dream to take them there They’re coming to America Got a dream they’ve come to share They’re coming to America.” — Neil Diamond, America The words of the song express the hopes and dreams of all…
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J Street President On Trump Administration: ‘We’re Here If They’re Partners To Work With’
At the annual J Street conference in Washington, DC, J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami discussed new opportunities for outreach for the liberal advocacy group. Ben-Ami, who founded the group eight years ago and serves as its president, expressed a willingness to work on common goals with members and offices of the new administration. “We would…
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In The Age of Trump, Should Jews Resist or Persist?
Earlier this month, I was privileged to attend a three-day conference convened by T’ruah, an organization of rabbis fighting for human rights in the U.S. and beyond. I joined with fellow rabbis from all over the country and across the denominational spectrum for learning, prayer, fellowship and training in Jewish social activism. T’ruah organized the…
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Our Living Purim Nightmare
Usually, I love Purim. I cherish that Jewish tradition promotes a day, just one, to undermine its whole system of laws, where we are compelled to cross-dress, to give endless charity, to drink until one knows not the difference between “blessed is Mordechai and cursed is Haman,” good and evil. But, a teacher of mine…
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Are You an #AppallingYoungJew?
A version of this article originally appeared in New Voices. This week, social media users witnessed a beautiful onslaught of snark and defiance from the Jewish millennial corner of the Twitterverse. Young Jews took to Twitter appalled by a swiftly deleted tweet – with a quote loosely attributed to Israeli MK Michael Oren suggesting their…
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BREAKING: Westboro Baptist Church To Protest Outside Modern Orthodox LA School
I just got word that an anti-Semitic, anti-LBGT group, the Westboro Baptist Church, plans to hold a protest outside a Modern Orthodox high school in our area on Monday morning, February 27. The school is called Shalhevet, which means small flame in Hebrew. It educates kids with a religious and secular education. It certainly isn’t…
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Radical Inclusivity In The Red States: A Look Inside Hilton Head’s Small But Thriving Jewish Community
Hilton Head, South Carolina has earned a worldwide reputation for its top flight golf courses and as a paradise for spectacular beaches. Yet, this community, commonly referred to as the Low Country, has a history that goes back to the Civil War period. Hilton Head Island became the Union’s southern headquarters during the war, and…
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The Secret Jewish History of Penicillin
In the small country town of Castlebar, Ireland, you’ll find a road named after a German Jewish refugee and Nobel Prize winner, Bothar Sior Ernst Chain. Chain was awarded the Nobel for his work in developing penicillin. Sir Ernst Chain Road is a major road in the center of the small town. Visitors and local…
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Culture Why saying ‘L’shana Tova’ on Rosh Hashanah may not be the correct phrase
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Culture A Jewish prophet of the 1980s would be horrified to see that we didn’t heed his warnings
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Opinion This is the most disorienting Rosh Hashanah in memory
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Fast Forward Meet Lev Kreitman, who brought down Tel Aviv shooter and survived Nova music festival on Oct. 7
In Case You Missed It
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Oct. 7: One Year Later On the eve of this grim anniversary, what we can — and cannot — control
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Fast Forward Antisemitism hits record high in the U.S.; new report shows most-ever incidents in single year
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Culture He founded the Harlem Globetrotters and is the shortest man in the basketball hall of fame. A new book tells his story.
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Oct. 7: One Year Later One year after Oct. 7, a Yom Kippur ritual of communal mourning takes on fresh meaning
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