Forward 50 2018
Adding New Voices to the Siddur The standard American Orthodox prayer-book has been long overdue for an upgrade. For far too long, it has been defined by its non-literal translations of liturgy, hagiographical commentary, and male-centric language. So when Basil Herring, a South African-born rabbi and former executive president of the Rabbinical Council of America,…
Eduard Dolinsky went online about a year and a half ago and saw an image that shook him to his core. A large crowd, some in Nazi uniforms, was parading in the Ukranian city of L’viv to commemorate the establishment of a militia loyal to Hitler. “Division Galicia – the heroes of Ukraine,” the marchers…
A Model Jewish Activist Whether she wants it or not, supermodel, entrepreneur, activist and coder Karlie Kloss has our blessing. This brand new addition to the tribe converted to Judaism before marrying her partner of six years, Joshua Kushner (you may be familiar with his elder brother, Jared). Kloss, a 26-year-old St. Louis native, rocketed…
Inspired By The Times Seders tend to be noisy, but Elaine Luria’s Seder on an aircraft carrier in the Middle East took the kosher-for-Passover cake. “We’re going through the Haggadah … having our little makeshift Seder there while we’re launching and recovering aircraft that are striking terrorist targets in Afghanistan,” Luria told the Forward about…
Gay, Millionaire, Jewish Governor-Elect Of Colorado Breaks The Mold On November 6, Jared Polis, 43, was elected to become Colorado’s first Jewish governor, and the country’s first openly gay governor, when he beat his Republican opponent with 52.3% to Walker Stapleton’s 44%. A Democrat, Polis came to the job from Congress, where he was one…
Reflecting On Dad, His Legacy, Eccentricities And How He Lives On Growing up with Leonard Bernstein wasn’t always easy. The conductor and composer was brilliant and loving, but also controlling, inappropriate and so much larger than life that his presence could be suffocating. Jamie Bernstein, 66, his eldest daughter, gave powerful voice to the experience…
Making Jewish College Life In Kansas Accessible, Rewarding And Tasty! Our two years of producing a college guide has given us tremendous insight into the innovations and personalities affecting Jewish life at the colleges around the country. Yes, we’ve seen innovations at places better known for their Jewish life, like Brown and Harvard or even…
What does Rabbi Aviad Bodner, leader of Manhattan’s historic Stanton Street Shul, which seats 400, have in common with televangelist mega-preachers whose sermons reach millions of people around the world? All get a tax break on their housing costs — despite the fact that Bodner rents a two-bedroom in Manhattan’s East Village with his wife…
Proving It’s Never Too Late To Make History You don’t need to understand what optic tweezers are or how they have revolutionized contemporary physics to understand the achievement of Nobel Prize winner Arthur Ashkin. Indeed, even Bell Labs, his former employer, eschews the scientific to describe the tweezers as grabbing “particles, atoms, viruses and other…
Journalist Who Made a Lasting Impact It was a little more than a year ago, October 5, 2017, that The New York Times published an explosive front-page story by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, headlined, “Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades.” After years of rumors about Weinstein and his secret settlements with…
Exemplary Dad & Author of ‘Call Me By Your Name’ It is late 1993. My dad and I are eating peanuts on the back of the M11 bus. Remember this moment for the rest of your life, he tells me. Some moments are worth remembering even if you can’t understand why, and some things you…
