Rabbi Asher Z. Lopatin

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
“Rabbi Lopatin is an intellectual, but his legacy is in what he accomplished on the ground: building a warm and growing community, a mikvah, a community day school and a non-profit kosher restaurant; bringing a female clergy member on staff; collaborating with rabbis from other denominations; speaking against worker abuse, and building relations with the Muslim community in Chicago. Personally, he demonstrated what a Modern Orthodox person in the 21st century can be.”
—IRENE LEHRER SANDALOW
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.
