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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Passover with my COVID-positive grandmother
This year the themes of the Passover seder resonated differently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For my family, it has been all the more significant because my grandmother (whom we call bubbie) is one of the many people who has the virus. In a way, we’re reliving the experience of our ancestors who were quarantined…
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When every day feels like Shabbat — except for the pork patties
More than a decade ago, my husband and I took our sons to Israel to visit my husband’s first cousin, Ziggy, his wife Siggy, and their four kids. They lived on a moshav an hour south of Tel Aviv that grew grapes and every day while we were there, Ziggy, Siggy and their kids took…
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Sorry not sorry
Sorry. A simple word. Honest. Unpretentious. Kind. Forgiving. Sorry glides off the tongue; a knee-jerk reaction like sneezing or scratching an itch. Stripped down to its most basic form, sorry eludes judgment. In fact, it skates circles around it, even on the unpredictable Rideau Canal ice. In Canada’s prim and proper capital, sorry is carefree….
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How to reintegrate after social distancing, from someone who did it 23 times
Social distancing is unusual. For most people, not seeing friends, chatting with colleagues, or encountering strangers at restaurants is oddly uncomfortable. For me, social isolation is strangely familiar. I’ve endured it 23 times before. At 13, I was a perfectly healthy kid who came home from summer camp and abruptly fell sick with a rare…
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Why on this night do we sit when we could be dancing?
As I sat down for my family’s teleseder this year, the parallels between slavery and the physical confinement of quarantine were irresistible. We discussed how Pharaoh was or wasn’t like an oppressive pandemic, or how the virus is or isn’t like a plague. And while I appreciate those questions, I would also like to bring…
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Meet the guy keeping your synagogue running during the coronavirus crisis
A lot of you don’t know me… I’m usually busy behind the scenes. But allow me to introduce myself. I’m a producer. A director. A tech expert. A monitor of social media chat. I’m on seven days a week, mornings, nights, candle lightings, havdalahs, minyans, meet-ups, adult ed sessions, parent talks and preschool classes. I’m…
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Protecting a woman’s freedom of choice this Passover —even in PPE
What makes this Pesach different from all other Pesachs? Quite a bit. What makes this fight for abortion access different from all other fights? You would be surprised. On Erev Pesach, I received a mass email asking if anyone would be available to pick up a patient after her abortion procedure the next day. She…
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Coronavirus and the Age of Empires
When coronavirus was just getting started in Israel, with some people in quarantine but most of us living life as usual, I made a wish list. A “Quarantine Wish List.” There were six books I would read, and three shows I would watch. I would run and walk, practice yoga, learn belly dancing and do…
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We are all Egyptians today
This week Jews around the world continue to celebrate Passover. We commemorate the story in Exodus, the core narrative of Judaism: the journey from slavery to freedom. At Passover meals, we are enjoined to imagine ourselves as the Israelites of yore, freedom fighters seeking to struggle against tyranny. Some psychologize the shackles that bind, reflecting…
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A Bar Mitzvah postponed and a lesson learned
Postponing a Bar Mitzvah is not on the list of what Jewish mothers worry about before their child’s big day: Will he get sick? Will there be a blizzard that prevents people from coming? Will the husband get the montage done in time? These were the thoughts that had plagued me in the weeks leading…
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Passovers of long ago, reflected in this year’s celebration
We all know the story of Passover. Like most stories in the Old and New testaments, the Passover story is replete with lessons that are applicable to everyday life, even thousands of years later. We can debate the historical accuracy of any biblical event, but we usually agree on the metaphorical significance. Often there is…
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