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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What My Mother Risked on Kristallnacht
What is it in life that inspires or compels each of us to tell our stories? Is it the realization that we, too, have lived important historical events? Or is it something much more personal, some nugget of our experiences we want our children’s grandchildren to know? And if we have an important story that…
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A Letter to Our Children on Election Night
Before you were born, the excitement of pending parenthood and preparation for infancy were the focus – writing birth plans and researching bottles. We were dedicated to creating a home steeped in our [Jewish] values, but didn’t yet know what that would look like beyond Shabbat dinners and Shema at bedtime. We rejoiced when we…
The Latest
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Six Reasons Jews Should Support Donald Trump
On policy, there is no question that Donald Trump is the most pro-Israel, pro-Jewish candidate to ever run for the U.S. presidency. And this year’s Republican Party platform is the most pro-Israel political platform in the history of the United States, on either side of the political aisle. That is why when Jewish and pro-Israel…
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Why I’m Not Going to College This Year
I just graduated high school with perfect grades, an acceptance letter to my number one university, and what I thought was a sense of what I wanted to do with my life. Yet, to the surprise of many, I am not attending college this year. While my friends were choosing their classes and buying textbooks,…
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Disturbed by Inhumane Kosher Slaughter? Here Are Four Things You Can Do.
I am a shochet. A shochet is a trained and certified practitioner of kosher slaughter (shechita). I am also an individual who cares deeply about animal welfare. My interest led me to help co-found The Jewish Initiative for Animals, an innovative new faith based animal welfare organization, and serve as their Kosher Meat and Animal…
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5 Powerful Ways to Make Jewish Art Matter
This piece is part of a series on next-generation engagement following a panel discussion at the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (The Foundation). This universal topic is front of mind with Jewish leaders striving to create pathways of inclusion and connectivity to Judaism for “Gen X” and millennial Jews. Each panelist, including this author,…
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5 Real Relationship Goals to Work Towards in the Age of Social Media
Click here to anonymously submit a dating question for Sonya’s weekly column. #Relationshipgoals is a tag often used on social media that makes us wish we had that kind of relationship with our significant other. It makes us goes “aww” with slight hints of envy. I want cold mornings, coffee, cinnamon rolls, and you pic.twitter.com/aErbb3JVbL…
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The Terrifying Thing Donald Trump and the Story of Noah Have in Common
Donald trump likes to get away with things. The Hebrew Bible has a word for “getting away with” these little assaults: hamas. Hamas means violence, but a special kind of violence. It means that a person can injure another without paying the consequences, without acknowledging that a crime has been committed. The great 19th century…
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Ask the Rebbetzin: I Hated Hebrew School. Do I Have to Send My Kids?
Dear Rebbetzin, I never really liked Hebrew school when I was younger; how important is it for my kids to go? I think of it as a rite of passage, but maybe it’s one I don’t have to insist my kids experience. But, if I don’t send them to Hebrew school, is that doing a…
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A Trump Supporter’s Final Pre-Election Thoughts
This is a bittersweet time. I truly love politics and have ever since my dad of blessed memory took me to stand on line with him in 1960 as he prepared to vote in the Kennedy-Nixon contest in Sheepshead Bay. Four years later, I remember my dad taking me to brief meetings of the North…
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In Uganda, Abayudaya Jews Fight for Survival— One Well at a Time
As Jews around the world celebrate the restarting of the Torah, among them is probably the world’s newest, and unlikeliest, group of Jews. The Abayudaya are converts twice over – once converted to Christianity by British missionaries in the late 1800s and again to Judaism in the early 1900s when their leader, inspired by the…
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Culture Why saying ‘L’shana Tova’ on Rosh Hashanah may not be the correct phrase
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Opinion This is the most disorienting Rosh Hashanah in memory
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Culture How my odious cousin Roy Cohn was responsible for creating Donald Trump — and me
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Fast Forward Was the viral Ta-Nehisi Coates interview a hit piece or fair play? A journalism ethics expert weighs in.
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Fast Forward As Florida braces for Hurricane Milton, this rabbi is defying an evacuation order so he can help
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Yiddish ווי האָבן ייִדן געהיט די ייִדיש־קולטור אױף יענער זײַט „אײַזערנעם פֿאָרהאַנג“?How did Jews maintain their Yiddish culture behind the Iron Curtain?
ייִדישע ליטעראַטן, װאָס האָבן געטרײַ געדינט די קאָמוניסטישע רעזשימען, האָבן גענוצט זײערע פּריװילעגיעס כּדי אָפּצוהיטן ייִדיש.
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Fast Forward All the Jewish NHL players to watch in the 2024-2025 season
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