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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Pittsburgh Jews Don’t Need Politics Right Now — We Need Support
In the last 24 hours, my home became a headline. 11 Jews were shot during Saturday morning services at Tree of Life Synagogue — where my sister taught Hebrew school and I went to my first bat mitzvah. The Squirrel Hill Jewish community, which has been such a glowing and prominent feature of my upbringing,…
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Remembering My Happy Jewish Childhood In Squirrel Hill
Reprinted with permission from the author I recently visited my mom. She lives in Mt. Lebanon, which is a southern suburb of Pittsburgh. She still lives in the house we grew up in. I make several trips a year back to the town of my childhood. This particular trip, however, was more than just a…
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My Recipe For Healing In Squirrel Hill
I don’t know why, as a country, we expect our political leaders to provide comfort when the world is in chaos. As a state senator, I know my constituents usually want me to use my position to ensure their voices are heard. Traditionally, we have looked to the president to provide words that unify us…
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We Can Heal Squirrel Hill By Standing Together — As We Have Always Done
I’ve lived in New York City longer than I lived in Pittsburgh, but I still consider the ‘burg’ my home. While I root for the Yankees, I’m still a Pirates fan at heart. Admittedly, football is not my favorite sport, but if it comes to following the Steelers over any other team, I’m in! Years…
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Pittsburgh Doesn’t Need More Guns — We Need Less White Supremacy
When I heard about the shooting at Tree of Life synagogue, the first thought that ran through my mind was, “I wonder if I know the attacker.” Growing up in a small town outside of Pittsburgh, I was often the only Jew that any of my classmates had met. I began to receive death threats…
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Slain Pittsburgh Doctor Treated My HIV When No One Else Would
My doctor, Jerry Rabinowitz, was among those killed in the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting on October 27, 2018. He took care of me and treated my HIV up until I left Pittsburgh for NYC in 2004. In the old days for HIV patients in Pittsburgh, he was the doctor to go to. Before there was an…
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Hundreds Mourn Those Killed In Pittsburgh During A Moving NYC Havdalah Service
Mir veln zey iberlebn, their signs proclaimed — we will outlive them. The night of the terrible shooting at Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh, hundreds gathered in Union Square in New York City to mourn. They conducted a Havdalah service at sunset, which marks the transition between Shabbat and the rest of the week….
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I’m A Jew Who Just Moved To Pittsburgh — And I’m Outraged
I just moved to Pittsburgh. I’ve been checking out the congregations in my new city and went to a shul around the corner from Tree of Life Or L’Simcha a couple of weeks ago. This attack, along with recent attacks against African Americans, immigrants and the transgender community have filled me with anger and grief….
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Dear Jewish Trump Supporters: You Can’t Have It Both Ways After Synagogue Bloodbath
Dear Jewish Trump supporters, first let me say I’m a proud Jew and a progressive. I’ve watched with horror, but only a modest amount of surprise, as you have embraced the presidency of an unspeakable individual. You have looked aside at evidence of debauchery, ceaseless lying, likely treason and much else. Because, you have claimed,…
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Stop Politicising Pittsburgh
Etz Chaim: The Tree of Life. How painfully ironic. The metaphoric expression “Tree of Life” ( Etz Chaim in Hebrew) is a mystical symbol within the Kabbala of esoteric Judaism used to describe the path to God. Yesterday’s unredeemable act of evil within the walls of The Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburg is physically,…
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Today I Am Weeping For Pittsburgh — But We Must Stand Strong Together
Sometimes, maybe it is the same for you, I come to shul on Shabbat and just look around. I am trying to understand the stories of all the people who have come to pray. There are the wide-eyed newcomers, so polite. There are the insiders, and the ones who came for the bar mitzvah, unmistakable…
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