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.
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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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Prepent Day 23: The King in the Fields
Monday 9/26/16 Elul 23 5776 Dear Field, There is a king whose palace is open all days of the year to receive his subjects and their petitions, but the process is complicated and the lines are long and not everybody gets to see His Majesty. One month out of the year the king leaves the…
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Why the Vacant Supreme Court Seat Still Matters
As Jews in the United States and worldwide usher in the New Year on October 3, 2016, the US Supreme Court will be starting its new year as well. The first Monday in October is the traditional start of the Supreme Court term. This year, in deference to Rosh Hashanah, the court will meet but…
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Prepent Day 22: An Element of Fun
Sunday 9/25/16 Elul 22 5776 Dear Discipline, It’s a slippery slope: I stay up late, wake up late, miss my morning writing, meditation, then catch up for the rest of the day, tired, and something is missing. Self discipline, when calm and when chaotic, is what helps me ground the most. And yet so much…
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Prepent Day 20+21: Grief and Kindness
Friday 9/23/16 Elul 20 5776 Today, we are publishing a double love letter for your double super Sabbath souls. Wishing you a restful, peaceful, and love-ful Sabbath. Be back on Sunday! Dear Grief, Two nights this week I met you face to face, in many people’s faces. One late night, inside the Park Avenue Armory,…
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Prepent Day 19: Not Just an Old Carpet
Thursday 9/22/16 Elul 19 5776 Dear Matthew, Ten years ago, when you moved out of NYC, you gave me a beautiful carpet, for safekeeping and use. One day, you said, you may be back to get it. Well, now you can’t. I’m really sorry. Yesterday, as part of my anti-moth campaign, I finally moved around…
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The Deplorable Values of a Trump Supporter
I suppose I am as deplorable as the next guy, as long as the next guy or woman is backing Donald J. Trump for president as I am proudly doing. I’ve tried to determine the roots of my deplorability and I am sure I can provide enough cannon fodder for every politically correct progressive to…
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Trump is Another False Messiah
Last week, I argued that Trump’s campaign of fear against the Other is anathema to the Jewish experience. This week, I summarize my Jewish aversion to Trump’s assertion that he and only he can bring salvation to our people. Overwhelmed by Ego Donald Trump wants us to see America as a bleak, threatening, and disintegrating…
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To End Mass Violence, We Must All Work Together
This piece is the third in a series of reflections on mass violence from members of Sixth & I synagogue in Washington, DC. France, Orlando, Tel Aviv, Sandy Hook, Dallas and Turkey. When each of these places became the news story for the week because of another incident of mass violence, my heart drops. It…
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Ask the Rebbetzin: What Exactly is a Rebbetzin?
Dear Rebbetzin, What is a Rebbetzin? Sincerely, Genuinely Curious Dear Curious, There are two answers to your question: The simple one is that Rebbetzin is a term for Rabbi’s wife. But the second answer feels, to me, as complicated as if you had asked “What is a wife?” I hadn’t heard the term Rebbetzin until…
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Prepent Day 18: The Periodic Table of Being a Mensch
Wednesday 9/21/16 Elul 18 5776 Dear Sarah, For the past few days I was on the strangest email chain that engaged a few people in considering your legacy and virtues: Can Sarah the Matriarch, the one from Genesis, count as a Jewish heroine worthy of representing the character trait of ‘forgiveness’? I’m sorry – but…
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To Drown Out Gun Violence, Faith Leaders Unite in Song
Is anyone else tired of the interminable noise of this election season? Even more disquieting than the din of the politicians, their surrogates, the pundits and the crowds is the unrelenting sound of gunfire in our communities. If you can’t hear it, you aren’t listening. No neighborhood – no person – is immune, even when…
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