Rabbi Mark Sameth

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
“My father was a composer and a combat veteran of World War II; he had crippling PTSD all his life. When he died of Alzheimer’s disease, I was new to the synagogue, and Rabbi Mark didn’t know my family at all. But he spent a lot time with my mother, sister and me, coming to our home and getting a feel not just for my father, but our family. He “got” my father — his difficult life and Judaism’s place at the center of his art and worldview. At the funeral, the rabbi showed tremendous insight into a man he’d never met. He comforted us immensely.”
—AMY LYNN LEWIS (also nominated by 11 others)
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
