Jewish Man, Yellow Cab, Green Street
After editing the national magazine American Jewish Life and wandering around the Bible Belt for a year Benyamin Cohen (“My Jesus Year: A Rabbi’s Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith,” HarperCollins, 2008) decided to save the world from itself.
Cohen joined up with the fledgling Mother Nature Network and, using his Jewish media experience, developed the role of Content Director. Just as Jewish media eschews limiting definitions of Jewishness to report broader Jewish culture the resulting content of this avowedly environmental news site often veers away from direct facts into what might be loosely called “environmental culture.”
Today marks the start of MNN’s most recent series, “On the Streets” featuring Forward contributor Jonathan Kesselman. When not writing his Machal pieces for us, he’s apparently making an environmental nuisance of himself on the streets of Manhattan and either causing or observing mayhem depending on how you view it.
It’s not exactly clear how new video-recorded craziness every Tuesday helps the Jews, but as long as it’s good for the environment we’re down with it.
Hello, fellow Forward reader! I’m Joel Brown, a Forward reader and supporter for more than 15 years, and currently the chair of the board of directors.
I’m an avid Forward reader because it ticks so many of my essential boxes: excellent journalism, Jewish focus and diverse viewpoints. In today’s political climate, what I most appreciate is the Forward’s independence — made possible by the generosity of its membership.
The Forward is committed to bringing you unbiased, nuanced Jewish news. From my position as board chair, I see an exciting future as we expand our position as the definitive independent voice of contemporary American Judaism.
— Joel Brown, Forward board chair
