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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Unless Jews start listening to each other, our future will be lost
About a week ago, I received an email from a longtime friend who headed one of America’s most prominent Jewish institutions for decades. He wrote that despite everything going on, he was excited about the Jewish people’s future. He asked for my thoughts. I wrote back that I am not optimistic about our future. In…
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Supreme Court ruling to uphold DACA is a triumph for human rights
More than 650,000 American immigrants have a reason to breathe a sigh of relief today following the Supreme Court ruling to protect immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. The court’s decision to block the current administration from proceeding with its plan to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program marks a…
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This November, our children are watching
In November 2016, I struggled to explain what the election of Donald Trump meant to my three young boys who had wanted to see a “girl” president. At the time, my oldest – then six – asked me if it meant we could ever leave the country again, out of fear that Trump’s border wall…
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We trolled Trump’s Tulsa rally with fake reservations. Here’s why.
It should be no surprise that thousands of Gen Z-ers took it upon themselves to infiltrate the Trump rally in Tulsa, Okla. this past Saturday. Social media is our voice, and it’s loud. You raise a generation of kids on Katniss Everdeen and Hermione Granger, and you get teens bold enough to lash out against…
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I’m jealous of the pandemic bar mitzvah
Sweaty palms, fresh new shoes and a streak of Bubbie-red lipstick was smeared across my cheek. My bar mitzvah had arrived, the ultimate coming of age. Walking into the synagogue on Shabbat morning I recall a grab-bag of emotions, mostly felt in my stomach. The pews were the Who’s-Who of my life; family, close friends…
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Changing course in the middle of a pandemic
The sun rises in spite of everything and the far cities are beautiful and bright. I lie here in a riot of sunlight watching the day break and the clouds flying. Everything is going to be all right. — Derek Mahon Our world is drowning under the weight of pandemic as we fight toward the…
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With COVID, ‘it’s Groundhog day. Every day.’
My child wears the same shirt every day. Admit it. Yours does too. If it wasn’t during the COVID pandemic, I might admit to being lazy, to having ignored the fact that he took the shirt out of the hamper and wore it again. But that’s not the case. The shirt he wears every day…
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The only unnatural way to be is alone
Lo tov heyot ha-adam levado, it is not good for the earthling to be alone (Gen. 2:18). As the product of a traditional Jewish education, I have always heard this verse cited as an aphoristic observation about human nature and the need for companionship. No one wants to be alone their whole life. Life is…
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‘You mean I’m gonna stay this color?!’ An homage to my Black mom
Black lives don’t just matter. For some of us, their influence is profound, shaping our understanding of ourselves as individuals -– and our place in American society. When I came to Los Angeles from Israel at the age of seven, reuniting with my dad after my parents separated, I also met my stepmom Pasha for…
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Fighting police brutality, the Johnnie Cochran way
When Johnnie Cochran and his entourage strode into the California Attorney General’s Los Angeles Office in 1989, a buzz rippled down the hallway. We stepped away from our onerous caseloads to catch a glimpse of LA’s premiere African American attorney, famous nationwide for winning multi-million-dollar jury verdicts in police brutality cases. As a 26-year-old newbie…
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Even Zoombombing can’t take away from the importance of civil rights education
Jewish schools must prioritize Jews of color. By recognizing there is a rainbow of diversity within the Jewish community, schools can be places where students become advocates and allies working closely with Jews of color to ensure they feel welcomed and supported. Yet unfortunately, the reality is that many Jews of color feel marginalized and…
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