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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We Must Stop Sacrificing Americans To The Religion Of Guns
When Sarah heard that Abraham had almost sacrificed Isaac, she dropped dead: The horror of his act. The potential violence. The terror that Isaac must have felt. The willingness of Abraham to put their only son in grave peril. We can imagine that all of these conspired to stop her heart. Even the relief of…
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You Don’t Have to Be Jewish to Make A Big Dinner: The Hottest Thanksgiving Trends Of 2017
Many people across the country are frazzled by preparing for Thanksgiving, scribbling shopping lists, clipping coupons, searching recipes and inviting guests to what they feel is the the largest, most difficult, extremely fattening and most fun-filled family gathering of the year. We Jews laugh. After all, we prepare for this size event every Friday night…
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World Jewry Must Rise Above Its Own Inhibitions About ‘Interfering’ With Israeli Politics
I get the same sense of insolence from Israeli officials when the effects of the cancellation of the Kotel Agreement on World Jewry are discussed. “What will they do to us?” I was forced to spend 24 hours with a 5-year-old who isn’t family. I explained the rules of the house several times during his…
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Why Our Daughters Need Lilith Now More Than Ever
The time for red ribbons on the crib has come again as I await the birth of my second daughter. In 1900 Anzia Yezierska, a Polish-Jewish immigrant moved to the Lower East Side and wrote a book called Red Ribbon on a White Horse. She ran away from her orthodox family in search of words,…
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Over 200 Rabbis Affirm The Need To Protect The Adoption Tax Credit
The Torah is rooted in a belief of embracing community and family, celebrating diversity and inclusiveness, and upholding traditions. A constant thread throughout these beliefs is our work to improve the lives of children in the U.S. and across the world. As the Talmud says, “Whoever raises an orphan in their home, scripture considers them…
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America’s Socialist Revolution: The 1917 Election of Judge Jacob Panken
Over the past year, scholars and journalists have reflected on the centennial of the Russian Revolution. On November 7, 1917, Vladimir Lenin led the Bolsheviks in a coup against the Provisional Government, which triggered the Russian Civil War and led to the establishment of the Soviet Union. Nearly forgotten, however, is America’s own socialist revolution,…
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Birthright’s Move To Exclude Arab-Israelis From Its Narrative Is A Crisis — And Here’s How We Fix It.
Birthright Israel’s education department recently announced that all providers of its signature 10-day trip to Israel for young Jews must stop including meetings with Israeli Arabs in their programming. The move has hit a nerve. It has brought out the raw feelings surrounding the funders of the program, those who safeguard the educational content and…
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Who Gets To Judge The Converts?
The law “ואהבתם את הגר,” and you shall love the convert, is mentioned over 36 times in the Torah. The prolific rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote that “As a matter of normative practice, one should know that the mitzvah (commandment) to love the convert obligates us to bring them closer and to be lenient on all…
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EXCLUSIVE: The Secret Jewish History Of Charlie Daniels
In this new column, ‘You Don’t Have to be Jewish,” Cindy Grosz will sit down with non-Jewish friends of the Jewish people to discuss their connection to Israel and our tribe. Music legend Charlie Daniels is a prolific musician and fiddler best known for his hit song “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” He is…
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Rappers And Rabbis Are All Singing The Same Song
…I wanna rock your gypsy soul Just like way back in the days of old Then magnificently we will float Into the mystic. —Van Morrison Pop singers waxing eloquent about love and sex freely borrow from the religious vernacular. Religion returns the compliment. In many synagogues these days, Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah has been adopted as…
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Larry David: Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Tasteless
A different version of this essay appeared in the blog Martini Judaism: for those who want to be shaken and stirred, published Religion News Service. What is the sound of America cringing? Larry David now knows. And, it’s not pretty. This last Saturday night, comedian Larry David was the guest host on NBC’s “Saturday Night…
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Opinion I’m a Jew of color. Ta-Nehisi Coates can’t apply U.S. lessons to Israel
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Culture How my odious cousin Roy Cohn was responsible for creating Donald Trump — and me
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Fast Forward Was the viral Ta-Nehisi Coates interview a hit piece or fair play? A journalism ethics expert weighs in.
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Sports 5 Jewish things about the Mets — and why Jewish fans adore them
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