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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Orthodox children need access to a secular education
Silence is complicity. These words rang out over the past few months as we watched the Movement for Black Lives Matter take to the streets to demand change in our society. These words are still ringing in my head as I approach the holidays this year and prepare myself for 10 days of reflection and…
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I accused my neighbor of stealing my snake
Tradition has it that King David used to remind himself, every Yom Kippur or so, of his past sins. Every Yom Kippur, whether I like it or not, I am reminded of a past sin of my own. It was one of the worst things I ever did. I was living on a kibbutz in…
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Just in time for Yom Kippur, a better way to say ‘I’m sorry’
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” said James Baldwin. Clinical psychologist Molly Howes takes Baldwin’s reflection to heart in her excellent and engaging book, “A Good Apology: Four Steps to Make Things Right.” Culled from her decades-long experience as a therapist, Howes presents engaging…
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‘Let us consider this woman’: Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg
This is the message I shared with my congregation during this past weekend’s Rosh Hashanah services, before we said the mourner’s Kaddish for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and from the Congress floor today. We have to resist what may be our first impulse over the loss of Justice Ginsburg – the political horror of it….
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Ignoring Jewish poverty is a sin we can’t afford
On Yom Kippur, the global Jewish community will look back on tremendous losses. Among them are loved ones, the comforts of individual and community connections, shared simchas and holidays, and a way of life driven by all of the above. But there is another loss that jeopardizes those closest to us and our collective future:…
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Online services serve the already committed, our research shows
This season of the High Holy Days or Yamim Noraim, like much of life in the past months, can be characterized in a single word: disruption. Faced with the inability to gather in person, many synagogues launched unprecedented experiments to maintain their communities. Some created online services, some provided outdoor services, and others disseminated guides…
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For those who cannot fast, Yom Kippur should still be meaningful
Yom Kippur is almost upon us. According to Torah law, the Jewish people are mandated to fast the entire day. This can be difficult enough for most people, but particularly so for those with eating disorders. Fasting itself is not just the issue. For them, Yom Kippur can be a triggering holiday that creates and…
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An ‘Al Cheyt’ for white Jews in 5781
An “Al Cheyt” for White Jews in 5781 It’s been a long year (The lunar one) And we’ve got atoning to do We could beat our chests But we are buying books And adding Facebook photo frames (I’m telling on myself here) So, it’s time to ground our feet and dig in deep to the…
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Who decides what authentic Jewish practice looks like?
Thousands of years ago the central practice of Yom Kippur involved two goats. These goats would be taken by the high priest who would draw lots to decide which one would be immediately sacrificed in the Jerusalem temple and which one would be led out into the desert only to be pushed off a cliff…
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Does upholding the law require punishment? Rabbinic tradition says no
Can the law unite us, inspire us, and keep us safe? As American institutions become politicized – from the NFL to the CDC – so too the law: the politics around policing, cash bail, and both recent and impending Supreme Court nomination hearings (to name but a few instances) have diminished the law’s ability to…
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s ‘Yom Kippur Controversy’
In 2003, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, fell on October 6. That year, October 6 was also the first Monday in October. By federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court term commences on the first Monday in October of each year. And since 1975, the Court opened each term with oral argument…
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