June 1, 2007
100 Years Ago In the Forward
Socialist comrade Sol Fieldman was arrested this week on charges of disturbing the peace. He was brought before the magistrate, who ordered him held on $100 bail. Fieldman, who has relentlessly disrupted Socialist Party meetings with attempts to force his own political agenda on the party, refused to pay the bail and was sent to The Tombs. In the meantime, local police have harassed Toronto socialists and have arrested those who attempt to give speeches in public forums. The police are also accusing socialists of “disturbing the peace,” no matter what they do.
75 Years Ago In the Forward
Nowadays, everyone has a public relations agent. Many athletes have publicity people who cook up stories about them to get them fame and fortune. Some of the most outrageous tales come from the world of wrestling, where an agent advertised a wrestler as being a descendant of King David. The agent went so far as to claim that the wrestler was descended from the Spanish aristocratic family of Don Isaac Abravenel, also claimed to be descended from King David. Other English-language newspapers ate up this story. We didn’t buy it: We found this wrestler’s parents, and they’re regular old Ashkenazim from Poland.
50 Years Ago In the Forward
Famed playwright Arthur Miller was found guilty of contempt for refusing to testify before the Congressional House Un-American Activities Committee. Miller, who testified before the committee in 1947, admitted to having attended meetings of writers affiliated with the Communist Party, but when asked to divulge who the other writers were, he refused to name names. Miller’s attorneys said they would appeal the decision.
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.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
