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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Judaism knows how to handle death. But dying? Not so much
When Rick Tash, a member of my synagogue met his future wife on the Jewish dating app “Saw you at Sinai” — it was love at first sight. Bambi and Rick were both divorced, their children grown, and falling in love came as a surprise to both of them. There was only one thing standing…
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I’m a rabbi in Atlanta. Here’s my post-Senate race blessing
When you finish a book of Torah, as we did this past Shabbat, we utter the phrase “Hazak, Hazak, V’nithazek. From strength to strength, may we be strengthened.” On the eve of the election, this feels like the perfect blessing for this moment. This is a time where we must find resilience. In a time…
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The pain and pride of (finally) being a ‘battleground’ state
Like many Georgians, over the last 20 years, I have enviously watched my friends in so-called battleground states feel a real sense of purpose with respect to their votes. Those friends in Iowa who launch presidencies? Yeah, I was jealous. My brother in Philadelphia, whose vote would help determine a President? I wanted to be…
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My first New Year’s Eve in America
Every Dec. 31, amid the wild hype of New Year’s, I become five again
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What is the proper blessing for the COVID vaccine?
Many people around the world are experiencing powerful feelings of gratitude, relief, and joy upon hearing about the approval of a COVID-19 vaccine or upon receiving the vaccine personally. For religious people, these feelings might translate into a sense of God’s hand in our lives at this moment, likely a sense of gratitude towards God…
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Death over Zoom: a rabbi reflects on a year of loss
The call came from the family, asking me to visit their relative at a suburban hospital. I knew the congregant well and was devastated to learn she was dying. I was even more devastated to learn it was from COVID. Visiting would be out of the question. The woman, who was 98, died the next…
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Eulogy: Maggid Yitzhak Buxbaum told stories to wake people up
In a small apartment in Brooklyn Heights, no more than a room and a bit, Yitzhak Buxbaum worked, rested, taught and dined. He and his wife, Carole Forman, hosted friends and followers in that cluttered apartment, with manuscripts-in-progress scattered about and Hasidic paintings on the walls. Sitting there with him, as I did so many…
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Reform, Conservative, Haredi — it’s all in the family
I’m a Reform rabbi, my husband Seth is a Conservative rabbi, and one day our son will probably be a Haredi rabbi.
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Bringing my memoir from page to stage
Like President-elect Joe Biden, I am embarking on a challenging new path in my 70s. In early 2021, the Jewish Repertory Theatre of Western New York will have a Zoom staged reading of my play “Finding Mr. Rightstein.” A June 8, 2020 in-person reading there was canceled because of the pandemic. The artistic director, who…
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A prayer for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine
Several doctors and nurses reached out to me to ask if I would compose a prayer for them to recite at the moment they received their COVID-19 vaccinations. It didn’t occur to me to write this prayer, but instantly I realized that it is a holy step, a blessing and a miracle of science. We…
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Perfume before Zoom, I presume
I’ve always loved perfume: the final touch of preparation for a day of work or an evening out. My habit is rooted in memories of my mother and the sweet scent of her beloved Miss Dior. She kept the bottle on her dresser, near a photograph of the woman who protected and inspired her during…
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