Rabbi Shira Stutman

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
“The congregation Rabbi Shira built at Sixth & I is large, thriving, innovative and almost entirely filled with Jews in their 20s and 30s. She’s the EXACT right rabbi at the exact right time, making a home for young Jews that is both intellectually and theologically challenging while also being contemporary and popular. Also, she is the master at the “conversion conversation,” bringing in dozens of otherwise interfaith couples into Jewish homes — including my own.”
—ADAM GERBER (also nominated by one other)
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.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
