Rabbi Naftali Harcsztark

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A founder of the innovative SAR High School in New York City and a powerful advocate for open and engaged Orthodox Judaism, Rabbi Naftali Harcsztark has taken a risk in allowing women students to wear tefillin. He has not only created a first-rate school, but one that embodies what is best about Orthodoxy, without being pulled to the religious right and without compromising principles. He recognizes that Judaism can be committed both to religious observance and engagement with the present. That lesson is a source of inspiration when so many run away from such beliefs.
— Samuel Heilman
"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.
