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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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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When Jews Were ‘Illegals,’ They Took Away Our Children
We don’t know how exactly many Jews were forced out of Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella’s cruel Edict of Expulsion in 1492, but conservative estimates put the number of refugees somewhere between 100,000 and 160,000. We climbed the northern mountains to escape into Navarre, and from there we took to the sea, hoping to find…
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Can The Torah Help Us Overcome The Temptation Of Instant Gratification?
A version of this article originally appeared in the Texas Jewish Post. I think we can all relate to the challenge of overcoming the lure of instant gratification. Whether it’s the magnetic pull of the glazed doughnut, the couch or a forbidden act, exercising self-control is one of the greatest challenges of life. And generally,…
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5 Can’t-Miss Events At This Year’s San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
The 38th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, presented by the Jewish Film Institute, returns July 19–August 5, 2018 in five Bay Area cities. SFJFF is the largest Jewish cultural event in Northern California and the Bay Area’s annual celebration of excellence in independent cinema that showcases the diversity of global Jewish life. See complete film…
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Explainer: What Is The Nation-State Bill? Why Is It A Big Deal?
What is the Nation-State Bill? The Nation-State Bill is a proposed Basic Law that would anchor Israel’s status as the national homeland of the Jewish people. The bill clauses contain, for example, the “Law of Return,” state symbols, Jewish festivals and the Hebrew language. It is Israel’s first attempt to constitutionally anchor its identity in…
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Remembering Richard Siegel, A Pioneering Jewish Leader
At the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), we educate Jewish leaders as klei kodesh; that is, skilled organizational visionaries in the service of God and the Jewish people. None embodied that mission with more unadorned authenticity than Richard Siegel, of blessed memory. In 2007, Richard became interim director of the School of Jewish…
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Want To Make ‘Doing Jewish’ Affordable? Focus On Our Schools
I’m spending a year in Israel, a country in which you can have a low-income job and still afford to live in a Jewish community. As my husband and I are looking for housing in America close to Jewish day schools for our children and a synagogue for our communal life, we’re finding that we…
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What I Wish Other White Jews Knew About Raising A Black Son
Like all Jewish parents, I worry about my child’s safety. But as an adoptive parent of an African American young man, I have worries that other Jewish parents don’t have. My son, Benjamin, faces risks that people who look white do not face. If my son enters a store, he can expect to be followed….
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4 All-Natural Kosher Ways To Improve Symptoms Of Anxiety And Depression
All of us have had days when it seemed like nothing was going right, and all we wanted to do was just crawl back into bed. But having a bad day and being depressed and anxious with seemingly no end in sight are two different things — and based on the rash of celebrity suicides…
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Israel’s Nation-State Bill Would Undermine Jewish Democracy
I first heard of the Nation-State Bill about eight years ago, when I was a Member of the Knesset. I was stopped in the hallway by a fellow M.K. from my party who asked me to support a bill affirming that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people. My initial reaction was that this…
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Israel Is Repeating The Mistakes That Led To The Temple’s Destruction
What message of Tisha B’Av is relevant for life in a sovereign state like Israel? Does the American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel make the day of mourning for “the city that is in mourning, laid waste, despised and desolate” an anachronism? Generations of rabbis and scholars have endeavored to understand the…
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Fast Forward Why some Satmar Hasidic leaders endorsed Zohran Mamdani as mayor, stunning many Jewish voters
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Opinion I’m an Israeli who lives in New York. Here’s why I’m voting for Mamdani
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Sports It’s so cool that Sandy Koufax was there for that
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News How Mamdani became New York’s next mayor, with Jews divided between fierce opposition and fiery support
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion The three profound Jewish lessons of Mamdani’s astonishing victory
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News Mamdani’s victory divides Jewish leaders one more way: Whether to say congratulations
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Fast Forward In a first, a ballot initiative to divest from Israel has won at the ballot box in Boston suburb
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Fast Forward In NJ governor’s race, Mikie Sherrill fends off GOP candidate whose aide spurned ‘money from Jews’
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