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.
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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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Jewish tribalism leaves some Jews out
In my decade doing interfaith work as a representative of the Jewish community, I often explained to my interlocutors that many (if not most) American Jews are concerned more with belonging than believing. For most of us, I said, the experience of being a member of the community — belonging to the Jewish people —…
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Is coronavirus a reason to skip the bris?
My son and daughter had a joint bar and bat mitzvah a few months into the Covid-19 pandemic. The service took place in our temple and was broadcast on Zoom. On the bema, our rabbi stood apart from our immediate family and just a few congregation staffers were physically present. Everyone else, including grandparents, watched…
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What will you write in the Book of Life?
For more than two decades, we have served as congregational rabbis in some of the largest synagogues in the United States. We’ve faced all sorts of challenges throughout our careers but we’ve never experienced anything like the present moment. Just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic led to stay-at-home orders in our communities, the…
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A letter to Miriam Adelson
Dear Dr. Miriam Adelson, I was given the opportunity to travel to Israel last summer through the Taglit-Birthright Organization, an experience that made a lasting imprint on my life. I connected with about 30 gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, non-binary and transgender Jews on my trip, all a part of a specialized “Pride” Taglit group departing…
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Do we need a Jewish History Month?
Recently, I spoke with one of my former students and she asked me a question about anti- Semitism that left me entirely speechless. I’ve known her since she was eight years old when she first walked into one of the dance classes that I teach for an organization in downtown Los Angeles that serves mostly…
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In the face of evil, choose life
One recent morning when my laptop suddenly died, I scurried to the comfort of our family computer to make a few online purchases. Some days earlier, a new credit card had mysteriously arrived in the mail for me, three years before the expiration date of my old one. This move by the card company, I…
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Jewish compassion isn’t just for Jews
At the end of the summer, synagogue pews tend to thin out. Congregants (and rabbis) are often on vacation, taking a break before the High Holidays. Some of us secular-cultural Jews who don’t attend synagogue in the first place also tend to detach from our engagement with organized Jewish life. This summer proves even more…
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There are some we won’t be seeing after lockdown?
As quarantine drags into its sixth month, I find myself missing my friends more than ever. I long for the days when I could fly across the country, eat at restaurants, and ultimately feel a sense of safety around me. My friends are spread across the country and my family is spread across the world….
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A pitch for the High Holy Days season: Follow the lead of Major League Baseball
I recently received an email from my favorite baseball team advertising fan cutouts as an antidote to empty stadiums. As quick as a fastball, I threw on my best team jersey and cap, snapped a photo and uploaded it to the website. My husband did the same so that we could sit together in cardboard…
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Adin Steinsaltz was essential to the revival of the Russian Jewish community
In the wake of his passing on August 7, 2020, I remember Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz in conversation, as the ever youthful rebel, questioning the whole universe, with a biting sense of humour. In the Orthodox world, where clothing defines the person, he made sure to stand out as a unique creature, combining worn jeans with…
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My daughter, the voter
As Jewish mothers, we brag about our kids all the time. My son the doctor, his brother the lawyer, my daughter the scientist who is going to cure cancer. But something happened yesterday that made me the proudest kind of Jewish mom, my kid got her voter registration card. Long ago in the last century,…
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