Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Life

A Living Lens: Rockville, Md.

I had the privilege to be introduced by Herman Taube, a longtime contributor to the Forverts. In his short speech, Taube — a prolific poet — told the audience that his relationship with the paper began on April 18, 1947, four days before its fabled 50th anniversary (see above picture).

As Taube and his wife, both refugees from World War II, disembarked from the S.S. Ernie Pyle, they were approached by a young writer named Isaac Metzker, who asked to interview them. Taube noticed Yiddish letters on the paper stuffed in Metzker’s pocket, and he asked the newspaperman what sort of publication it was. The rest, as they say, is history: Taube contributed to the Forverts for next 60 years.


Alana Newhouse, the Forward’s Arts & Culture editor, is touring the country, speaking about her new book, “A Living Lens: Photographs of Jewish Life From the Pages of the Forward.”

A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren

We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.

With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.

—  Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief 

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

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 credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link 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.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.