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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In Abraham, a model for our divisive times
Whatever your feelings about the outcomes of the 2020 election, one thing is certain: We are a deeply divided country. We see these divisions even in our own families. Friendships have been destroyed, there have been online spats, and disagreements at family gatherings. Searching for answers, longing for comfort, we turn to our tradition. It’s…
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A rabbinic call to uphold truth and democracy
To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. This political moment is a time for rabbis and clergy of all faiths to speak out forcefully to protect both truth and democracy. At several times during the presidential campaign, President Trump refused to commit to accepting the outcome of the…
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A prayer for our country after the election
Our nation has chosen a new leader To guide us forward in this challenging time. Help us, God, to unite our great country In the wake of a contentious election. Teach us to listen to one another, To heal our divisions and to restore hope. The days that lie before us will not be easy,…
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My father Elie Wiesel is invoked daily. So why are we so far from his legacy?
I look for my father’s wisdom as we approach this next chapter of the American story. I find him quoted in media feeds and on handheld signs protesting injustice in all its forms. My father’s legacy seems to have never been more alive. “We must always take sides,” he pleaded. “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never…
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I grew up with Jonathan Sacks. What his loss means for the Jewish world.
On Saturday, Vice President Joe Biden won enough of the electoral college to make him next president of the United States. But Saturday will also be remembered as the day the Jewish world lost a spokesman the likes of which it has not seen in generations: Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Baron Sacks of Aldgate, was…
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Despite everything, poll-watching in Trump country gives me hope
Much about this year’s election has been disappointing, even disheartening, with incivility and hatred dominating the discourse. But I can say that my experience standing outside a polling station in a very blue-collar corner of a bellwether district gives me some hope that neither our election system nor the social fabric of this country is…
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Election night with my 91-year-old Bubbie
“When I wake up tomorrow, I don’t expect to know anything.” That’s what my 91 year-old Bubbie told me the morning of the election. Unlike many of us who are glued to our screens monitoring every change of the needle, my grandmother elected for an early night’s sleep after watching Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune…
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Jews are voting on climate like our lives depend on it
In this election, American Jews are voting on climate like our lives depend on it — because they do. Over the past eight weeks, we — together with more than 800 other Jews and in partnership with more than 40 Jewish organizations — have been reaching out to voters across the country as part of…
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California Proposition 14 is about pikuach nefesh — here’s why
Only two decades ago, stem cell therapy was highly regulated in the United States and other countries — but it was well underway in Hadassah Hospital’s labs in Jerusalem. Never would we have imagined that the US expansion of one of the key clinical trials conducted in our labs in Israel would be later funded…
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I’m phone banking for Biden. Here’s what I’ve learned.
I call someone named Joel. “Hi, is Joel there? My name is Roei and I’m calling on behalf of Colorado Democrats and can we count on your support?.” “Hell no, Trump’s gonna screw you guys.” Click. Lesson number one of phone banking in an environment of hyperpartisanship: take nothing personally. We were less than two…
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Why this Florida rabbi urges every Jew to vote
With just a few days until Election Day, I feel a call as a private citizen and rabbi to describe the values that implore me to vote as I will. I do not believe that clergy should tell people how to vote, but I do believe in clergy’s responsibility to point out their guiding values….
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