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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Is Screen Time Helpful for Bilingual Babies?
Parenting would be so much easier if babies came with manuals! Well, the good news is, there are seemingly millions of baby manuals sold in bookstores and parenting blogs. The bad news is, they all contradict each other, as Ava Neyer has brilliantly demonstrated in her hilarious blog post, “I Read All The Baby Sleep…
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How Trump Destroyed the Party of Lincoln
This past Sunday marked the 15th Anniversary of 9/11. It was one of the defining moments in American history; on that day, and in the days that followed, ordinary people transcended self-interest through heroic acts, self-sacrifice, and bravery. Sadly, during the 2016 presidential election cycle, much of this exuberance has been eroded by the polarizing…
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This Year, Don’t Forget About Your Cantors!
It’s that time of year again when we cantors, having been hard at work for months preparing for the upcoming High Holidays, pick up the local newspaper and inevitably find articles written by our rabbinic colleagues about the trials and tribulations of rabbis preparing for this difficult occasion. And we sigh… and go back to…
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Ask the Rebbetzin: How Can I Stop Being an Enabler?
Dear Rebbetzin, I have been an enabler in my past intimate relationships. I know this about myself and it makes me scared to enter a new relationship, though I am clear that I want and am ready for love. Sincerely, How to make a change? Dear How to, Knowing might be half the battle, but…
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Prepent Day 11: We Still Need to #BringBackOurGirls
Wednesday 9/14/16 Elul 11 5776 Dear Ms. #117, I’m sorry – but I don’t know your name. You are one of 218 schoolgirls kidnapped 883 days ago by Boko Haram in Nigeria, and one of more than 200 still in captivity. I’ve been told that keeping your name private may be helpful to your safety…
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WATCH: Israel Forever
My vision for Israel advocacy is to empower students through the power of narrative and to captivate audiences using the power of art. Israel gives expression to the sum and substance of peoplehood, and the destiny and promise of cultural revival that comes with self-rule. Thats what I wanted to capture in this video, created…
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Is the Bible Gender Bending?
God, Gender, and Grammar (Part One): An Interpretive Tradition New translations always bring controversy. The fact that translators have no choice but to bring out one aspect of a text at the expense of others as they reevaluate and reinterpret makes it so. In our time, the most significant reevaluation of the Hebrew Bible has…
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Prepent Day 10: I Owe You an Apology
Tuesday 9/13/16 Elul 10 5776 Dear E, Four months ago, I asked you to help me plan a celebratory event with specific goals and outcomes. Unfortunately and despite good intentions, things did not go as well as planned. By the time you sent me the proposal it was too late to raise the needed funds…
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We Must Stop Pretending Israel is an Outpost of Western Democracy
My host mother in Jordan this summer had complicated feelings about the United States. She was very supportive of King Abdullah and she was glad for the cooperation between Jordanian and American forces in regional conflicts, but she also believed that the American president had intentionally chosen not to prevent the 9/11 attacks and that…
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Prepent Day 9: A Love Letter to the Gay Jews of London
Monday 9/12/16 Elul 9 5776 Dear Gay Jews of London (25 of you, anyway), Hey guys, thank you for such a warm welcome and for joining me this past Saturday night for a moving conversation about what’s wrong in our lives as gay men despite so many privileges and what we can do to make…
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Prepent Day 8: Honoring the Dead
Sunday 9/11/16 Elul 8 5776 Dear Deceased, Today includes a pilgrimage to the burial place of my maternal ancestors on the outskirts of London. Three generations, spanning a century, welcome us in silence. I was here exactly a year ago with my mother, placing stones on the graves of her parents and grandparents, siblings and…
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