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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5 Things I Learned From Creating A Jewish Emoji App — With Zero Tech Experience
You know when you have those What the heck am I doing with my life type of panic moments while you’re drinking your morning coffee? About a year ago, that exact thought clouded my mind on the daily — until I had an epiphany one Shabbat evening. I wanted to send a Shabbat Shalom text…
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Who Knows What’s Best For Jerusalem?
For the centuries between the destruction of the Jewish Temple and the reclamation of the holy city, Jerusalem’s role to the Jewish nation was largely symbolic. One might imagine that Zionism, and the return of Jews to their ancestral land starting in the late 19th century, would have changed this. But the early Zionists were…
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Will Nadler Join Fellow Congressional Jews In Opposing The Demolition Of Palestinian Villages?
For years now, the residents of Khan al-Ahmar have faced countless verbal, physical, and legal challenges to their homes and structures, including their one and only school. As part of the Israeli government’s broader campaign to expand settlements and limit Palestinian development in the West Bank, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has announced Israel’s intention to…
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Why Wendy’s Is The Worst Place For A Shabbat Dinner
Abby Myers’ short film “Wendy’s Shabbat” has been the sleeper hit of this year’s Jewish film festival circuit. This feel-good documentary introduces us to a group of California seniors with an unconventional, but surprisingly spiritual, Kabbalat Shabbat tradition: gathering for a communal dinner at their local Wendy’s. “Wendy’s Shabbat” is heartwarming, with a message about…
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The Dark Side Of Dairy
Shavuot begins at sunset on May 19th this year, and, as always, it will mark a celebration full of dairy-rich delicacies. While each bite of blintz or cheesecake is sure to be tasty, it’s also important to remember that overindulging in dairy products — or choosing the wrong type of dairy — can cause a…
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Machine Guns And A Minyan At The NRA
The 2018 NRA Annual Meeting, held May 4 through 6, featured a full 15 acres of firearms, shooting and hunting equipment — and a minyan. “I’m on my way back from Dallas where I took part in the NRA annual meetings — there was a nice crowd of fellow Jews,” Jonathan Burstyn of Chi-Defense, which…
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Will El Al Ever Fly To Tehran Again?
In 2018, Israel celebrated the 70th anniversary of its independence. In 2019, Iran will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Islamic Republic. In 1897, at the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, Theodor Hertzl predicted that a Jewish state would exist in fifty years. In 2018, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic…
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A shonda for the Jews
On April 25, sitting in the “Louis B. Mayer” auditorium of the Jesuit university where I teach, I said the words “I’m white and I’m proud” over and over again. At first, I barely mouthed them, shifting uncomfortably in my seat and looking around. And then my voice became audible. And then I awkwardly shouted,…
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Would The Torah Be Different If Written Today?
The Torah is a chameleon. Its words, its laws, its protocols and its dictates all reflect the color of the environment in which it was written. One imagines, though, that God Himself is a constant — what He wanted from mankind during biblical times is the same as what He wants from us today. Or…
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Chicago May Day In The Time Of Trump
The sidewalks on Des Plaines Avenue beside the memorial sculpture in Chicago’s tiny Haymarket Square were already crowded a half-hour ahead of the scheduled annual May Day rally. Plenty of unions were represented in variously uniform bright colored t-shirts along with families, an ethnically diverse population and the regular activist spectrum of radical students, artists,…
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Pro Two-State American Jews Should Act More Like Sheldon Adelson
American Jewry’s relationship with Israel is characterized by a critical paradox: Most American Jews oppose Netanyahu’s policy of de-facto annexation of 2.8 million West-Bank Palestinians that would transform Israel into a bi-national state, and by that bringing an end to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Only a minority supports Netanyahu’s policy of “Greater…
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