Valerie Lieber

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Rabbi Valerie Lieber is a constant source of new ideas and fun. She takes Hebrew school students all over to bring Jewish history and values alive. My kids have volunteered at soup kitchens and collected tzedakah outside Trader Joe’s. Rabbi Val was instrumental in combining three junior services with the main congregational service. Now old and young mingle at our “sustainable Kiddush.” Rabbi Val is passionate about respecting the earth. She procured a grant from Hazon’s Jewish Greening Fellowship to found our Green Team. She also created a partnership with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and led us on cleanups. Under her leadership, we installed energy efficient lights in our historic sanctuary. A leader who balances thinking and action, Rabbi Val gets it done while inspiring everyone around her to pitch in, too.
— Ariel Krasnow
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.
