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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Is Judaism An Antidote To The Harmful Social Conditioning Of Men?
As much as discussions of mental illness have become more common in our society, especially in faith communities, there is still a huge stigma attached to it. And right alongside mental illness is another stigmatized and poorly understood topic: the harmful social conditioning of men. The statistics unfortunately bear this out: 98% of mass shootings…
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Should Jews Be Singing Christmas Songs? Our Readers Have Some Strong Opinions:
One-third of the 141 readers polled have no shame in rocking around the Christmas tree — and another 19 percent will join them if they promise there will be no mention of Jesus. But one-third say “it’s blasphemy!” and 19 percent take a more diplomatic approach, saying, “not for me, but go for it.” ??Should…
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What The Jewish Establishment Got Wrong About The Princeton Hillel Controversy
Last week, a controversy at Princeton Hillel reverberated throughout the Jewish world. Kenneset Member Tzipi Hotovely, a deputy foreign minister from the Likud party, had been slated to speak about combatting BDS and justifying Israeli settlements. Following a protest from Jewish progressive students, Princeton Hillel decided at the last minute to revoke her invitation to…
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What LeBron James’ Awkward Train Encounter Teaches Us
Rabbi Goldsmith delivered the following remarks at the Annual Harrison Interfaith Thanksgiving Service on Thursday, November 16, 2017: Lebron James rode the subway this week. The C-train to be exact. After a morning shootaround at Madison Square Garden, he and his team decided to opt for a 6 minute subway ride back to the hotel…
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The Great Hanukkah Debate: Latkes vs. Sufganiyot
One is crispy, oily and savory. The other is fluffy, sweet and indulgent. Ideally, your Hanukkah will be filled with plenty of sticky Hanukkah doughnuts, known as sufganiyot, as well as platefuls of umami-filled latkes, the delicious potato pancakes that are ideally crunchy on the outside and pillow-soft on the inside. But if you had…
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What’s It Like To Be A Muslim-American Today? A Lot Like Being A Jew In The Early 1900s.
Tucked away in a small conference room in the basement of the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, a small group of Muslims and Jews listen quietly, some scribbling notes and eagerly awaiting the Q&A session to come. At the lectern stands an African-American Muslim, an expert from the Pew Research Center, providing…
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Are Our Popular Expressions In Line With Torah Values?
A version of this article originally appeared in the Texas Jewish Post. Recently, I’ve been thinking of the many moralistic adages and maxims that pepper our daily conversations with family and friends, curious to see how many of them are consistent with Torah thought and values. What I’ve discovered is that while some of the…
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It’s Time For Orthodox Jews To Spend More Time With ‘The Other’
Last week, election winners across the country broke glass ceilings and made history. Danica Roem became the first transgender person elected to a state legislature. Michelle De La Isla became the first Hispanic mayor of Topeka, Kansas. Ravi Bhalla, a Sikh man, was elected mayor in Hoboken, New Jersey. Sheila Oliver became the first Black…
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Should Jews Be Singing Christmas Songs?
Jews and Christmas music go together like bartenders and craft cocktails — they produce the vast majority of them, but things get awkward when they consume them in excess in front of the masses. But as the end of November draws near, it’s hard to escape Christmas music on every radio station. Some Jews have…
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Israel’s Most Controversial Journalist Isn’t Finished Fighting The Occupation
A version of this piece originally appeared in Plus61J, an Australian Jewish publication. It’s hard to imagine a more controversial Israeli journalist than Gideon Levy. The Tel Aviv native began his career in journalism as a soldier in 1971, reporting for Army Radio on Israeli politics. In 1978, at the age of 26, he joined…
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Northern Ireland Is A Perfect Model For Improving Jewish-Arab Relations In Israel
The field of creating a shared society in Israel, of equalizing and encouraging Jewish-Arab citizen relations, is much in debt to models and concepts developed in Northern Ireland. For the last 20 years, following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland has been a testing ground for projects of reconciliation and models of…
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