Forward 50 2018
The Royal Addition — Our Forward 50 Gets A Plus 1! Say it with us: Meghan Markle — not a Jew. But oh, oh, in our hearts she is! Markle, the 37-year-old American television actress and activist became Duchess of Sussex in May when she wed the Duke, aka Prince Harry, the Queen’s grandson. In…
He Put The Yidl Into “Fiddler” Joel Grey, 86, who won an Oscar for his performance in “Cabaret,” has an enviable reputation as a performer. His directorial accomplishments, on the other hand, while impressive, have been relatively few and far between. So he was somewhat surprised when he received a call from Zalmen Mlotek, musical…
American Comedy’s Insurgent Genius And Jewish Mother What ties together “The Birdcage,” a mid-90s comedy about the clash between a gay couple and their conservative soon-to-be in-laws, “Labyrinth,” a terrifyingly weird children’s movie about a magical David Bowie, and “The Graduate”? Why, it’s Elaine May, who wrote the former two and made a fleeting cameo…
Champion of Gymnastics and Justice During the 2012 summer Olympic Games in London, the Jewish world watched with particular interest and pride when the American Jewish gymnast Alexandra “Aly” Raisman, then 18, became the first American woman in Olympic history to win a gold medal in the floor exercise. The achievement itself was a dayenu…
Man Booker Shortlisted Author And ‘Girl Citizen’ Speaking to The New Yorker’s Dana Goodyear this spring, the novelist Rachel Kushner explained that she thought of herself as a “girl citizen.” Kushner was soon to publish her third novel, “The Mars Room,” which is set inside a California women’s prison. She’d spent a good deal of…
Anti-Semites’ Favorite Boogeyman The newly empowered white nationalist movement has a favorite boogeyman — 88-year-old Jewish billionaire and Holocaust survivor George Soros. From neo-Nazi websites like The Daily Stormer to Republican campaign ads, from the NRA to presidential tweets, the racist trope of the Jewish conspiracy has made an unwelcome return — this time it’s…
Before And After Parkland School Gun Massacre, She Manages Real Drama There was nary a dry eye in the house when students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School performed “Seasons of Love” from the musical “Rent” at the 72nd annual Tony Awards this summer. They were honoring their drama teacher Melody Herzfeld, who hid with…
Building A Nationwide Jewish Resistance The advocacy group Bend the Arc emerged this year as one of the leaders of the so-called “Jewish Resistance” to President Trump’s administration. Led for the past four years by CEO Stosh Cotler, 50, Bend the Arc has been one of the most outspoken groups protesting Trump’s immigration policies. They…
These Loyalists Have Changed American Politics (For Better or Worse) Sheldon Adelson, Michael Cohen, David Friedman, Jared Kushner, Stephen Miller, Steven Mnuchin, Ivanka Trump Ever since Jimmy Carter served in the White House, every presidential administration has appointed a high-level official to serve as the authorized liaison with America’s organized Jewish community. Until the Trump…
Fast-Rising Star in Pennsylvania Politics This summer, Pennsylvania’s Jewish Attorney General unveiled one of the most shocking documents in the history of the international clergy abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Standing in front of a dozen sexual abuse victims, Josh Shapiro announced the release of a 1,400-page grand jury report that claimed church leaders…
Giving His Last Breath To Democracy You’re dying, but Ady Barkan, 34, is dying faster. Maybe there are abnormal cells in your skin; maybe there’s plaque in your interior arteries; maybe you’ll be hit by a car. Ady Barkan’s death is less of a mystery. His motor neurons are dying, melting his muscles and gradually…
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