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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A pandemic Simchat Torah done safely
From the start of the COVID-19 High Holiday season, I dreaded Simchat Torah. I knew that Rosh Hashanah in lockdown wouldn’t be an issue for me. Being a rabbi has its perks — I’m familiar with the prayer service, amused by my own off-key singing and accustomed to blowing the Shofar for my family every…
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A Talmudic duel with Death comes to life in mosaic form in new book
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi was a Jewish sage who lived in Palestine in the third century of the Common Era. While he was no doubt historical, in the legends of the Talmud and midrash, he became an otherworldly figure, the travelling companion between the worlds of Elijah the Prophet, who entered Paradise while still alive…
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Trading places, Jewishly
Most Saturday afternoons, at around 3:00, I sit on a bench across the street from my apartment waiting for a friend to join me (masked, of course, and at a distance of at least six feet). My friend is Orthodox, and for most of her life she has taken Shabbat afternoon walks. These days I…
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Scribe | We are 400 Rabbis who support Governor Cuomo And Mayor De Blasio
We are rabbis and other Jewish religious leaders representing every movement of Judaism, who stand in support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio for using data-driven, geographically-based efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. We condemn the lack of compliance with public health directives and recent violent reactions from some individuals within…
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Jewish tradition supports expanding the Supreme Court
The Torah demands of us: “Justice, Justice, you shall pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20). We are not told to sit back and wait for justice to come to us. In fact, midrash in Sifrei Devarim explains that this biblical verse means that we should strive to achieve justice specifically through the finest of courts. As our nation…
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As a new convert, I thought it was okay to use the word ‘schwartze’ when talking about Black people
The moment is seared in my memory: It’s 1990, and I’m carpooling to the University of Connecticut Storrs campus with my new best friend Adrienne, whose mother is Jewish and from Oslo, Norway, where I grew up. We are sitting at a light on Albany Avenue in Hartford, Conn., and I use the word schvartzes…
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Jewish leaders are running out of time to stand up to Donald Trump
In early 2017 and 2018, some of us warned about the clear-for-all-to-see dangers of President Donald Trump to the values and norms that keep Jews and other minorities safe in this nation. We asked other Jewish leaders to speak out on behalf of their organizations and the community about what was happening to our democracy….
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TED Talks take a walk in Covid times
My most sanity-saving activity during these Covid-19 pandemic months has been free and easy. Each evening my husband and I simply take a walk in our neighborhood. Back in March and April, the days dragged on with ever-changing news bulletins, talking media and celebrity heads, CDC announcements, White House pressers and anxious calls, texts and…
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Is Trump lying about when he tested positive for the virus?
There’s a good chance that President Donald Trump is lying about when he caught the virus and is thus downplaying the number of people he put in danger. Given his history of lying about everything, journalists should be skeptical about the timing of Trump’s disease. They should not rule out the possibility that he actually…
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My fellow Orthodox Jews: Character absolutely matters.
On Tuesday night, during the first of three presidential debates, it became clear from the get go that President Trump had arrived ready to betray every rule of sporting decorum. Trump’s constant interruptions and attacks helped destroy the objective of the debates: to clarify both candidates’ positions. But in a sense, the debate conveyed something…
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Everything Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Rosh Hashanah, which was also my birthday. My husband, Jonathan, and I found out on ‘breaking news’ on our cellphones minutes after I blew out my candle, made a long wish, and ate my cookie and homemade ice cream at Gramercy Tavern in the middle of Manhattan’s 20th Street at…
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Culture Will the next pope be good for the Jews?
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Yiddish איבערזעצערין קאַרעד אָברײַען שרײַבט בוך וועגן די שטערן סימאָר רעכטצײַט און מרים קרעסיןTranslator Caraid O’Brien writing book on Yiddish stars Seymour Rechtseit and Miriam Kressyn
זי שטעלט אויך צונויף אַ פּאָדקאַסט מיטן בראָדװײ־אַקטיאָר האַל ראָבינסאָן אין דער ראָלע פֿון רעכטצײַט.
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BINTEL BRIEF How do you deal with invitations from someone whose behavior drives you nuts?
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Fast Forward An Israeli think tank used AI to analyze 4,400 American synagogue sermons. Here’s what it found.
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