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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Why So-Called Orthodox LGBT ‘Allies’ Are Doing It All Wrong
In the past week, two high profile Orthodox rabbis have come out, in writing, in support of LGBT Orthodox Jews. In Gay and Orthodox: An Oxymoron No More Ysoscher Katz, Chair of Talmud at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, argues that it is not impossible to be both gay and Orthodox, arguing that today it is “no…
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Was Smoke on the Shavuot Mountain a Sign Ancient Jews Used Marijuana?
The upcoming festival of Shavuot, which means “weeks,” marks the end of a seven-week period that begins during Passover, and the receiving of the Torah under a cloud of smoke at Mount Sinai. “And all the people saw the thunder and lightning, and the sound of the shofar, and the mountain in smoke; when the…
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Response to Jewish Megatrends
My first question upon reading this interesting, well-written, and engaging chapter was: “Why?” Though I agree with a lot of what is laid out in this chapter (and also disagree with some), I feel that we need to take a step back before we can even begin the conversation around how to fix the problem…
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The Forgotten Jews of Ethiopia
In the local Amharic language, the forgotten Jews of Ethiopia are called the Falash-Mura – the people without a land. Numbering around 5,000 families, many have been waiting to make aliyah and immigrate to Israel for decades. I had heard about their struggle long before travelling to Ethiopia. I’d been told that in the 19th…
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Response to Jewish Megatrends
I once heard someone say in jest (or mockery): “When it comes to understanding and reacting to trends, most non-profit organizations lag five years behind the for-profit world. Jewish organizations are another five years behind the secular non-profits.” Not so funny when you think about it—but all too often true. I see the essay from…
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Trump Has Killed the GOP, an Obituary for the Grand Old Party
Paul Ryan’s announcement that he will vote for Donald Trump in November is the final nail in the coffin of what’s been a months-long death for the Republican Party. As a conservative, is it finally time to start the mourning process? Born in 1854, the GOP has contributed to the shaping of America’s domestic and…
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Response to Jewish Megatrends
The Jewish Megatrends thesis put forward by Rabbi Sid Schwarz offers a useful basic description of the current moment we are in as an American Jewish community. Here are some thoughts and reflections. Using Sid’s terms, I am a millennial and a covenantal Jew. Holding these identities, I have a lot of respect for the…
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Four Propositions of Megatrends and What They Mean For Us
In his book “Megatrends,” and essay on this blog, Sid Schwarz makes some strong propositions. Here I respond to four of them. Proposition 1: In an age of globalization, Jewish institutions need to offer multiple avenues to explore chochmah, the wisdom of our sacred texts put into the context of the world’s religions and in…
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When You Join IKAR, You Commit To Build
In 2004, when we founded IKAR and developed our membership model, we were acutely aware of the allergy most young Jews had to Jewish institutional life. We had an idea of how to address the pervasive sense of alienation and disaffection that many Jews, particularly those in their 20s and 30s, were experiencing. The four…
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Making a Spiritual Future for America’s Jewish Community
The Jewish community is in a time of transition. Those who are active in the community certainly know this. Many of the institutions that have been the backbone of the organized Jewish community—synagogues, JCCs, Federations, membership organizations—have been losing market share for more than two decades. This is a decline that cannot be attributed to…
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