The Soloveichik Who Could Help Challenge Specter
Everybody noticed when Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, the last Jewish Republican in the Senate, switched over to the Democratic Party on April 28. But there was also another, less noted, shift of Jewish power on the same day.
As Politico reported, Republican primary candidate Pat Toomey, a potential Specter opponent in the 2010 Pennsylvania Senate race, hired Nachama Soloveichik to be his new press secretary. Toomey lured her away from the low-tax, limited-government Club for Growth (of which Toomey used to be president).
In a phone interview with the Forward, Soloveichik confirmed that she is indeed an offspring of the famed Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty, which has produced some of the most important and revered scholars of American Orthodox Judaism. Her great-uncle was Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, known to his followers as “The Rav,” who almost single-handedly forged the framework of Modern Orthodoxy, and who is studied across the spectrum of Jewish thought. Her grandfather was Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, himself an important Talmudic scholar and the long-time head of Yeshivas Brisk in Chicago.
Nachama Soloveichik said that she had not known The Rav, but said that she was close to her grandfather, as they both lived in Chicago while she was growing up.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Life A comprehensive guide to the best Hanukkah songs of all time, from ‘I have a little dreidel’ to the latest Wicked parodies
-
Life What is Tu B’shvat? A guide to Judaism’s most underrated holiday
-
Life Chanel had a complicated relationship with Jews — until Karl Lagerfeld showed up
-
Life COVID-19 changed shiva traditions — will one of the most beloved ever return?
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 2
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 3
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
- 4
News Why Zohran Mamdani believes he’ll win over Jewish voters, as Israel critic surges to second behind Cuomo in NYC mayoral race
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward A ‘Golden Dome for America,’ inspired by Israel, is part of Trump’s 2026 budget request
-
Books How Jews shaped the Western – and how the Western shaped Jews
-
Culture Cardinals are Catholic not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
-
Fast Forward Halal restaurant opening in Congress is like ‘Muslim conquest of Jerusalem,’ says GOP congressman
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.