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
-
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
-
The Rabbi With The Christian Roommate, And Other Stories Of Our Forward Readers’ Christmas Trees
Do Jews put up Christmas trees? Absolutely — and absolutely not. On November 29, we asked our readers to share whether or not they put up a Christmas tree in their own homes. Many commented on our Facebook post or emailed us to share their stories. Here are a few that spoke to us: “I…
-
Whose Land Is Jerusalem, Anyway?
Some people have all the luck when it comes to living a purposeful life. R. J. Zwi Werblowsky was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1924. Frankfurt at that time was a vibrant place, Jewishly speaking. The philosopher Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929) founded a school for adult learning Lehrhaus Judaica. Martin Buber taught there; so did Gershom…
The Latest
-
Should Neo-Nazis Be Fired From Their Jobs? Not If You Ask Them.
A funny thing happened on the way through our recent Nazi poll. On November 30, the Forward’s opinion editor inquired of the Twitterverse, asking, “Should neo-Nazis be fired from their jobs?” Should neo-Nazis be fired from their jobs? — Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) November 30, 2017 In the first few hours of the poll, the dozens…
-
WATCH: Does Anti-Semitism Still Exist In Poland?
On November 11th, 60,000 protesters commemorated Polish Independence Day in a scene reminiscent of Charlottesville. As I later wrote in the Forward, a smaller contingency marched down my street, a part of the former Warsaw Jewish Ghetto. The march was organized in part by two self-proclaimed “radical nationalist” groups who take their name from anti-Semitic…
-
How to Prevent Fascism From The Left And The Right
In our culture it has become popular thinking to equate right wing, and especially extreme right wing, with the source of all evil. Nazism was a regime which brought to light the worst of human behavior. However, research has shown that the barbarity and cruelty of the Nazis is not necessarily a trait specific to…
-
Five Foods From the Torah You Should Be Eating Daily
You know that the Bible is filled ancient wisdom regarding everything from family relationships to business leadership, but you may not have known that God’s Word also tells us exactly how we should eat if are looking to live a long, healthy life. In fact, God promised access to these healing foods as proof of…
-
For Israeli Orthodox Leadership, Zionism Has Replaced The Torah
Israeli behavior is the moral analog of Murphy’s Law. Just when you think the Jewish supremacists can’t get any more vulgar or more cynical, they somehow manage to find a new low. Take Avi Gabbay — the “liberal” opposition’s Netanyahu Lite. Gabbay celebrated his recent elevation to the leadership of Israel’s Labor Party with insults…
-
This Year, Celebrate The Real Meaning Of Hanukkah
Hanukkah! Time for vodka-latke parties, the lingering smell of oil, and shopping when a retail store is as appealing as a crossfit gym. To be honest, I don’t love it. Yet Hanukkah was one of the few aspects of Jewish ritual we engaged in as a secular Jewish family, and Mom, I did love the…
-
WATCH: I’m Not White — I’m Jewish.
This slam poem was written in order to give a voice to this issue of being racially advantaged, but ethnically disadvantaged with the threat of persecution no matter what year it is. Now more than ever, it is crucial that we do not lose the ability to look back and see where we came from…
-
Yemen Is On The Edge Of The Abyss
Like many American Jews steeped since childhood in the ethos of “Never Again,” I have always been haunted by the question of what I would have done if I had lived in Europe in the 1930s, on the cusp of that unfathomable horror. Today we may have a chance to understand. In Yemen seven million…
-
Meet The Man Who Brings The Joy Of Christmas Trees To NYC — Including To Jews
As a New Yorker, I see Christmas tree stands pop up every few blocks every holiday season, but as a non tree-buying Jew, I never paid this phenomenon much attention. All of this changed a few years ago when I made Tree Man, a documentary film about Francois, the Christmas Tree Man of Broadway and…
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion I’m a Jew of color. Ta-Nehisi Coates can’t apply U.S. lessons to Israel
- 2
Culture How my odious cousin Roy Cohn was responsible for creating Donald Trump — and me
- 3
Fast Forward Was the viral Ta-Nehisi Coates interview a hit piece or fair play? A journalism ethics expert weighs in.
- 4
Culture New conspiracy theory just dropped — Jews are causing the hurricanes
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward In final stretch, Harris and Trump intensify outreach to Jewish voters in key swing states
-
Fast Forward On tour in South America, Paul McCartney attends Yom Kippur services in Santiago, Chile
-
Fast Forward Historic Prague synagogue used on Yom Kippur for the first time since the Holocaust
-
News From snoot to tail, a 3,000-year history of Jews and the pig
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism