Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
- 504,450 Jews live in New Jersey, representing 5.7% of the population.
- New Jersey officially afforded Jews religious tolerance in 1665.
- Organized Jewish communities exist in all 21 New Jersey counties.
- Newark, once home to Philip Roth, used to be the center of Jewish life in New Jersey, containing 80,000 Jews.
- Contrary to popular opinion, hometown favorite Bruce Springsteen is not Jewish. But his drummer is.
- In a short humor piece for the New Yorker, Woody Allen wrote, “The curtain rises on a vast primitive wasteland, not unlike certain parts of New jersey.”
- Frank Lautenberg, U.S. senator from 1982-2001, was the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia.
- Henry Orenstein, Holocaust survivor and toymaker, best known for creating Transformers, lives in Verona, N.J.
- After fleeing Nazi Germany, Albert Einstein worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.
- Daughter of Rudolph and Esther Sussman, author Judy Blume was born in Elizabeth, N.J., which is celebrating its 350th anniversary this year.
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.
