Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Back to Opinion

Your Dad in Six Words

There’s something about the number six in Judaism. God created the world in six days. Six times three is 18 — meaning Chai, or “life” in Hebrew. And six is the number of words we’re asking you to write about your father or grandfather in advance of Father’s Day. What better Jewish tribute to the man who raised you?

That’s right, the Forward is partnering with Larry Smith, editor of SMITH Magazine, home of the Six-Word Memoir®, to launch our latest six-word challenge. Submit your six-word memoir on your father or grandfather below before May 29th. Larry and the Forward staff will pick our 12 favorites and publish them in the Forward for Father’s Day. Those people will receive a copy of the new book “Oy! Only Six? Why Not More? Six-Word Memoirs on Jewish Life,” published in collaboration with the Jewish cultural mavens at Reboot.

Need some help getting the wheels turning? Check out these examples from SMITH Magazine’s library of six-word memoirs. For more examples, check out smithmag.net/jewish

Dad? Italian. Mom? Jewish. Me? Curly.
— Dave Cirilli

Matzo on Easter? Meet Father Gelfenbien.
— Robin Gelfenbien

My father is a rabbi: therapy.
— David Wolkin

Mother: Psychiatrist. Father: Lawyer. Definitely Jewish.
— Mike Gannon

Jewish father. Goy mother. Jewish soul.
— Nicki Moffat

“Dad, six Jewish words?” “Enough, Sandi!”
— Sandi DuBowski & Elliot DuBowski

This survey is now closed. Six Words on the Jewish Father will be published online and in print soon.

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.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version