Evan Jaffe

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Rabbi Evan Jaffe gives a voice to those who go ignored or have been abandoned. Flemington Jewish Community Center’s humble spiritual leader is a champion of compassion and justice for all. In March, he will be recognized by Volunteer Guardianship One-on-One, Inc. for his work with people with dementia and for mentoring new caretakers. He serves as emergency guardian for those abandoned at Hunterdon Medical Center. In December, when his synagogue completed its new Torah in honor of the congregation’s 90th anniversary, Rabbi Jaffe arranged for several severely disabled residents from centers for people with developmental disabilities to participate in the Torah writing process. He conducts weekly services for Hunterdon Center residents and regularly integrates them in synagogue. He is a founder of OPEN Religious Organizations Accepting Disabilities, which regularly arranges transportation to churches for the disabled. He also provides outreach to the poor and the homeless, and to Jewish inmates; co-sponsors African refugees; and volunteers with Meals on Wheels.
— Eileen Schwalb
"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.
