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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Inflexibility Puts All Of Judaism In Jeopardy
Throughout the Tanach, God models extraordinary behavior and spotlights key virtues for the benefit of humankind, simultaneously sparing us pain and setting an example worth following. In fact, from the very first interaction with man, God establishes a precedent for acting and reacting with patience and compassion, and emphasizes the importance of living a life…
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America’s Legal System Is Rife With Injustice — And Jews Need To Help Fix It
Troubled greatly these days by the injustices all around us, I sat in synagogue some weeks back and came once again upon the ritual of the Sotah: the bizarre, seemingly barbaric procedure employed in Biblical times to placate a man consumed by suspicion over his wife’s unfaithfulness. Is it curious why he is so jealous?…
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I Taught My Grandfather English — Without Even Realizing It
I lived in Shiraz, Iran during the 1970’s. The Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran had money from selling oil and was buying early warning radar from Westinghouse. The contract called for Westinghouse engineers to go to Iran and teach the Iranian engineers how to operate the equipment — and so, we went. In a small…
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Rabbi Rick Jacobs: Israel Turning Away BDS Supporter Ariel Gold Was ‘Disgraceful’
Dear Elijah, I enjoyed sitting and speaking with you and your fellow URJ Eisner Camp Machon campers just a few days ago. As you note in your well-argued essay, we talked seriously and thoughtfully about exactly the issues you raise. In our conversation we discussed a variety of critical issues, including having a frank conversation…
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Israel Banned My Mother. Does The Reform Movement Care?
Dear Rabbi Rick Jacobs, I write this to you from my room at URJ Eisner camp in the Berkshires on the eve of Tisha B’Av. You visited my Machon (counselor-in-training) group last week and spoke about interfaith marriage, gender equality and the growth of the Reform movement in Israel. I grew up and became bar…
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Can Syrians Find Political Asylum In Israel?
A version of this article originally appeared in Plus61J, an Australian-Jewish publication. The first text message arrived on July 2, and it was frantic. “I expect our area to be handed over to the criminal [Assad regime] in a very humiliating agreement,” my contact wrote. “I am one of those people who will not be…
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I Witnessed A Mass Trial At Immigration Court — And It Was A Mockery Of Justice
I recently witnessed mass federal immigration proceedings in Laredo, and I was deeply ashamed at how far our country has fallen from its ideals. On a recent trip organized by Rabbi Neil Blumofe of Austin’s Congregation Agudas Achim and Virginia Raymond, a congregant who represents asylees through Justice for Our Neighbors, I and other congregants…
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All Immigrants Lie
There’s an oft-repeated idea about undocumented immigrants that circulates through internet discussion forums, the comments sections of news sites and in the mouths of politicians. The claim is that undocumented people are living off of the rest of us, whose ancestors dotted every “i” and crossed every “t” when they immigrated to the United States….
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What Do IfNotNow Birthright Protestors Really Want? We Asked Them
On July 23, our Deputy Opinion Editor Laura E. Adkins sat down with IfNotNow activists Noah Wagner, Rebecca Oliver and Danielle Raskin to discuss their recent Birthright Israel walk-offs. Watch: What do you think? Let us know.
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Stop Treating Israel Like A Black-And-White Issue
It’s jarring, frustrating and fruitless the way people determine that all things are either black or white, good or bad, right or wrong. Nearly everyone, it seems, has a side, a cause, an oppressor and a victim. And if you don’t agree — completely — not only are you wrong, but you are also one…
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How Art Can Bridge Divides Between Jewish And Black Communities
2018 has not been a good year for those of us who care about the relationship between the black and Jewish communities — or for those whose Jewish identities comprise a mix of both. At the heart of these rising tensions seems to be a debate over power: who has it, who doesn’t, who can…
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