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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Five Ways Harvey Milk Inspires My Work For Social Justice
It is difficult to imagine the contours of my life without the influence of one of my heroes: Harvey Milk, a social justice giant and the first openly gay elected official in California. I immigrated to the United States from South Africa in 1977, one year before Harvey’s assassination. As a young Jew who was…
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I Circumcised Myself — And Lived To Tell The Tale
As an infant, I was circumcised by my doctor. As an adult, I circumcised myself. After 15 years of attending weekly services and actively participating in most every facet of synagogue life at Congregation Beth Emek in Pleasanton, California, I finally took the leap of faith and decided to formally convert to Judaism. My rabbi…
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44 Rabbis Thank Catholics Of Iceland For Supporting Right To Circumcision
Dear Father Jakob Rolland, We the members of Torat Chayim would like to express our profound gratitude to you, your colleagues, and the Catholic Church in Iceland for your unwavering support in the face of multiple attacks lodged at our core practice — the ritual of circumcision. Your defense of our freedom of religion, in…
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A Look Inside The Lives Of Israeli Bedouins In The Negev
Both a land of compelling images that spontaneously present themselves and a trove of juxtaposing narratives, Israel is a naturally occurring studio where the past meets the present, where opposites co-exist, and a place where conflict and resolution play out in warp speed. More than anywhere else on earth, it’s the place where a picture…
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This Jewish Woman Is On An International Quest To End Food Waste
A version of this article originally appeared in Plus61J, an Australian-Jewish publication. Dan Goldberg’s first feature documentary, Food Fighter, has already won multiple awards (including Best Director and Best Feature at the 2018 Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards), though it doesn’t premiere in Australia until June 3 at Sydney’s State Theatre. The film is a…
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Why Is Change So Hard?
Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey know a thing or two about the nature of human change. For over two decades this highly decorated professorial pair from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education researched the subject, and in the process uncovered an underlying rationale that helps to explain why human beings find change so difficult and what…
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So Much More Than Just Cakes Are At Stake In Masterpiece Cakeshop SCOTUS Case
As June ushers in the arrival of “Wedding Season,” the air is filled with sounds of wedding bells, or in our community, the joyous smashing of glass. But millions of Americans are waiting for a United States Supreme Court decision that could determine whether the chimes of freedom ring equally for all Americans. At stake…
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My Daughter’s Eighth-Grade Class is in Israel — And I’m Conflicted
As I write these words, my 14-year-old daughter is in Israel with her eighth-grade day school class. I don’t know what to think about the trip. Are such trips a good idea for American Jews? Is it something I should welcome for my daughter? How much laundry will she bring back? I don’t have answers…
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Where Have All Of The Reform Synagogues Gone?
It was like entering my own personal Holy of Holies. That was how I felt this past weekend, as I visited the URJ Camp Eisner in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The occasion: the wedding of the son of beloved friends, who themselves have become like family. But, on a deeper level, it was an act of…
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I Discovered Myself At A Summer Camp For Jews of Color
In the sweltering March winds, a group of fellow volunteers from my high school in San Francisco and I trudged up a dusty road towards the Samarpan School in New Delhi. I was thousands of miles away from home, about to teach kids I had never met, unsure of whether or not I’d be able…
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Dennis Prager, Torah Scholar?
If I mention Dennis Prager, what comes to your mind? For most readers, I suspect it would be “he’s the guy I see on the news sometimes” or “he’s a radio talk show host.” Perhaps the word “conservative” would be inserted into those responses. But would you include the word “Jewish?” Not only is Prager…
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