Rabbi Andrea London

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
In 2002, a recording of Martin Luther King giving a speech at Beth Emet The Free Synagogue in 1958 was discovered in a congregant’s home. In 2012, the tape prompted Rabbi Andrea London to invite members of a nearby Baptist church to co-host a Shabbat evening to discuss race relations in our community. The evening of courageous conversation attracted several hundred people to services and a dinner which spurred interfaith, race-related book and play discussions; bibliodrama workshops, and a bus trip to the civil rights sites in the South, with 38 high school students from both congregations. On their return, the students met on their own to continue to explore ways they might be agents of change. She inspires us to find innovative ways to make a difference in our community, become a bridge between the faiths and discover our own Jewish spirituality.
— Ellen Blum Barish and 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.
