H-e-c-h-s-h-e-r
Saryn Hooks didn’t end up winning the 79th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee last week in Washington. But before finishing third, the 14-year-old girl from Taylorsville, N.C., managed to stump the judges on the word “hechsher” — the endorsement signifying that something has been certified kosher.
The judges disqualified her, saying that the correct spelling was “hechscher.” But family members of other contestants, checking on their laptops, quickly reported that it was the judges who, in fact, were offering the treyf spelling.
Hooks was reinstated, but she was no match for “icteritious” (look it up).
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
