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
-
Like the Maccabees, Vassar’s Jewish Community is Small But Mighty
My life began in the tight embrace of the Jewish Theological Seminary where my dad was undergoing rabbinical ordination and continued in the tighter squeeze of the approximate 100,000 Jews residing in the Greater Baltimore area. My senior year of high school, after attending a Jewish day school for nine years, spending seven summers at…
-
Hunter College Jews Are Thriving
I am deeply troubled by The Algemeiner’s inclusion of Hunter College on its list of The 40 Worst Colleges for Jewish Students in America. I spent four years on Hunter’s campus as a student and an additional six months as a Hillel professional, and I speak from experience when saying that Hunter’s Jewish life on…
The Latest
-
Oberlin Is The Most Jewish Place I’ve Ever Lived
When choosing the right graduate school, I wanted to make sure that I found a school that had good academics and a good sense of community. As an upperclassman at a conservatory of music within a small liberal arts college, it was only natural that I’d look at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, perhaps the…
-
Clickbait And Fear-Mongering Don’t Define Northwestern’s Thriving Jewish Community
Once again, Northwestern has been included on a wildly inaccurate and non-scientific list of “anti-Semitic” American college campuses. This time, it is Algemeiner’s “The 40 Worst Colleges for Jewish Students.” It is clear that Algemeiner’s editorial staff chose not to engage with the Jewish communities at the schools they listed; instead, they ranked them based…
-
McGill Shaped Me Into A Better And More Engaged Jew
Attending McGill was the best thing to happen to my Jewish identity. For the first time, I was no longer the token Jew, but a leader in a vibrant Jewish community. Measuring quality of Jewish life on campus solely on perceived anti-Zionist rhetoric is immensely reductionist. Algemeiner ignores the vibrant, active Jewish community infrastructure on…
-
At NYU, Cliques Aside, Jewish Culture Thrives
Walking onto NYU’s campus during my freshman year, I wasn’t sure what to expect but I feared the worst. I’d heard the stories about Students for Justice in Palestine antagonizing and threatening Jewish students, the administration and faculty taking part in the BDS movement, and Jewish students generally feeling unsafe. On top of the stress…
-
What Really Happened at the Presidents Conference Hanukkah Party
On December 14, 2016, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (the Presidents Conference) in concert with the Embassy of Azerbaijan held a historic Chanukah party in Washington, D.C. that will be talked about for some time. Controversy continues to swirl over not only who attended the party, but who did not; how many…
-
Despite An Active Anti-Israel Community, Columbia Is A Place Where Jews Thrive
Pundits have called this year the beginning of a new post-fact order, and a recent ranking of colleges by the Algemeiner lends credence to that classification. In a list entitled “The 40 Worst Colleges for Jewish Students, 2016,” the Algemeiner ranks Columbia University as #1. I graduated from Columbia University just this week, and I…
-
Jewish Life at SDSU is Not Defined By The Haters
For the second year in a row, San Diego State University, my campus, has been called an unsafe place to be Jewish. In 2015, David Horowitz listed SDSU as the “sixth most anti-Semitic campus” in the United States. This year, The Algemeiner’s first annual list of the “40 Worst Campuses for Jewish Students” in Canada…
-
Columbia Is Far From ‘The Worst College’ For Jews
A report by The Algemeiner recently named Columbia University as the “worst college for Jewish students in 2016.” In my five years leading The Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life, Columbia/Barnard Hillel, I have seen multiple articles and reports criticizing Columbia University as being hostile for Jewish students. I cannot express in strong enough terms…
-
Illinois and UChicago Administration Consistently Stand With Israel
For much of its history, The University of Chicago has been a leader in supporting free expression, and its current administration continues to uphold this legacy proudly. While there are certainly problems for Jews on campus —I received anonymous death threats in my first year for defending Israel — the administration has taken major steps…
Explore
Most Popular
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward British music festival apologizes after cutting mics of Irish band that displayed Palestinian flag
-
Books In the story of a trip to Auschwitz, family can be a real pain in the tuches
-
Holy Ground Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright built only one synagogue. It’s now a growing congregation.
-
Fast Forward Trump suggests fewer than 20 Israeli hostages remain alive in Gaza
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
