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 1: Let’s Fly
Sunday 9/4/16 Elul 1 5776 Dear me, age 22 Remember that Saturday night in NYC, Labor Day Weekend 1991, alone on the Hudson, on the edge of some pier downtown, staring into the dark water? The only time you ever paused for more than a second to consider jumping in and ending the pain already….
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40 Love Letters to Life: Why I Prepent
Your doctor just called. The procedure is set for 40 days from today. Chances of success are not high. Plan for the worst. How will each day count and matter? Your lawyer says the court date is set. 40 days from now. Prepare everything and be ready to defend your life. Chances are good but…
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A Jewish Trump Supporter vs. the Comments Section
I never realized how “stupid” I was until I wrote a piece supporting Donald J. Trump for president in the Forward. As you can see, “stupid” was actually one of the most mild insults directed towards me in the comments section. We are living in an age of online vitriol. We hate each other, and…
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Is Donald Trump God’s Nehemiah?
Nehemiah 6:15: “So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all of our enemies heard about this, all surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of God” Nehemiah’s life was an example of leadership and organization….
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Reflecting on the Pulse Nightclub Shooting: A Letter to My Daughter with Two Moms
A Letter to My Daughter This piece is the third in a series of reflections on mass violence from members of Sixth & I synagogue in Washington, DC. Little one, your mother and I love you very much. Both of us, both of your mothers whose names are on your birth certificate, who will claim…
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Yes, You Will Have Haters. Speak to Your Kids in Another Language Anyway.
My mother’s parents spoke Yiddish when they didn’t want the kids to know what they were talking about. Yeah – her parents, and everyone else’s, too! Of course, it’s ironic that now I’m speaking Yiddish – and only Yiddish – with my own child, specifically so that he’ll learn and use the language. It’s also…
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I’m a Jewish Cadet in Texas — and College Has Been Anti-Semitism Free
I’ll be the first to admit. College Station, Texas is an awkward place for a Jew. Living in Dallas for eighteen years, the Jewish community was as much a part of me as every other facet of my life. Most of my friends were Jewish, I was heavily involved with BBYO, and I attended religious…
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This Determined Ugandan Jew is Building a Well for His Village— and did the Fundraising, too.
I’ve always had a love and a talent for making things work out. When I see a problem in my community or a chance to improve, it’s in my nature to find a way to fix it – and from a young age, I was able to put my ability into practice. My father passed…
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Out of the Rubble, Syrian Jewish Music Reemerges — with an Electronic Flair
The 3,000 year-old Jewish community of Syria, one of the oldest and proudest Jewish communities in the world, was officially erased from history last November with an operation that extracted the last remaining Jewish family out of the war-torn country. Coincidentally, the family’s last name is “Halabi,” the term used broadly to refer to Syrian…
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Dear Incoming Freshman: Brace Yourself for Insane Anti-Semitism.
From openly anti-Semitic professors to swastika graffiti, the campus can be a hard place for Jews, and is certainly a hard place for Zionist Jews. The hype is true: anti-Zionism is alive and well. But my experiences at Brown University have taught me there is also hope to be found in pro-Israel activism. My first…
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Introducing Prepent with Lab/Shul’s Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie
Activate your new year this High Holy Days season with Amichai Lau-Lavie, founder of Lab/Shul in NYC and one of the Forward’s Most Inspiring Rabbi’s of 2016, joining him on an annual 40 day journey to return, refocus, recharge and restart. From the first day of the month of Elul – Sunday, September 4th –…
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Fast Forward ‘A Shonda’: Eric Adams and Brad Lander trade blows in bitter feud over antisemitism in NYC mayoral race
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Fast Forward South Africa’s chief rabbi supports Donald Trump — but says his refugee program for Afrikaners is a ‘mistake’
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