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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Why We Jews Cannot Abandon the Movement for Black Lives
Since its release three weeks ago, the new Black Lives Matter platform has divided the Jewish community over how to respond. Now that the dust is settled, perhaps there is space to consider that both sides might be right – and that supporting Black Lives Matter and standing up for Jews (or, for some, Israel)…
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Three Jewish Ghettos That Have Made History
Recently we took a cruise from Barcelona, Spain to Venice, Italy. During this cruise we did excursions to three Jewish ghetto’s and learned many interesting facts about Jewish history and culture. For example, the Barcelona cathedral is built with stolen stones from a Jewish cemetery probably from Montjuic, “Jews mountain.” This is evident by the…
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Dining or Dying – A Jew’s Conundrum in Zimbabwe
Food, food, everywhere, but not a morsel to eat. My play on words exaggerate, but as a traveler in a strange land, my eyes often feasted upon a surfeit of food my commitment to kosher forbade I consume. In late 2015 my father died in Harare, Zimbabwe and I inherited his property which included land….
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I’m a Jew, and I’m a Member of the Alt-Right.
Better defined by what it isn’t than what it is, the “Alt-right,” broadly speaking, is a reaction to left wing identity politics and the failure of traditional Conservatism to formulate a reply. The alt-right opposes interventionist neocon policies with the same ferocity as illegal immigration and gun control. They share more similarities with European “far…
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Why I’m Giving Donald Trump a Chance
The rapidly approaching 2016 Presidential election seems to be more about voting against a particular candidate than voting for one’s favorite candidate. This may be an over-simplification, yet there are clearly large pockets of voters who seem paralyzed by an inability to commit to either of the two candidates – both of whom they deem…
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How a Discussion on Syrian Refugees Brought Me Back to Communal Judaism
Last year (and still today), America found itself in the middle of a heated debate. The country was divided by those who wanted to allow Syrian refugees to settle here and those who opposed it. This was especially evident in my hometown, West Bloomfield, Michigan. After an ugly township board meeting where members of the…
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Dustin “The White Tiger” Fleischer’s Final Birthright Reflections
A particular right of possession or privilege one has from birth is known as a birthright. The Taglit-Birthright trip is something that every Jew around the world should take advantage of whether you are Reform or Orthodox, whether both of your parents are Jewish or just one. The trip allows you to see the country…
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Letter: Jews, Democrat or Republican, Should be Very Wary of Mr. Trump
In his essay attempting to explain why he, as a Jewish Democrat, will vote for Donald Trump (Donald Trump is a Wild Man and a Populist. That is Exactly What America Needs), Neil Berro ignores what Mr. Trump has said. In asserting that “his message is one of caring and concern for very average, ordinary…
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The Burden of Survival
I am sitting on his shoulders as the words “Ruch Dva Tri” proudly emanate from the depths of my lungs in a singsong, our age old anthem. “A hunting here we go, a hunting here we go, high ho a cheerio a hunting here we go. Ruch, Dva, Tri!” We travel from room to room…
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How Truman and Vandenberg Made America Great
It is hard to imagine, in today’s 24-7 news cycle made up of equal parts visual necessity plus a profound political divide that often reduces America’s two main political parties to cartoonish food fights, finding and creating common ground to shape an American foreign policy that would last for decades. Yet that is precisely what…
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Dustin “The White Tiger” Fleischer has Second Bar Mitzvah on Masada
I chose to be bar mitzvahed again in the land of my people on top of the historical landmark of Masada, a mountain that was originally used as a fortress by King Herod the Great. Herod built a palace on the mountain as an escape for any possible revolt that may occur in the country….
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