Forward 50 2012
It’s nearly impossible to separate the achievements of Evan Bloom and Leo Beckerman, the co-owners of Wise Sons deli in downtown San Francisco. But because we could only put one of these talented deli entrepreneurs on our list, we chose the marginally more vocal Bloom. The pair is responsible for bringing serious deli to a…
Brian Roberts was a toddler when his father, Ralph, founded Comcast in Tupelo, Miss., in 1963 — a time when cable television seemed as exotic as sushi at a bar mitzvah. Nearly half a century later, Roberts is chairman and CEO of a company that is the nation’s largest video provider, largest Internet service provider…
Having won a 2012 MacArthur Fellowship implies that 35-year-old mathematician Maria Chudnovsky is a genius. But other committees have been explicit in calling her a “genius” — as well as “brilliant” and “distinguished” — when bestowing honors upon her. A conversation with the Columbia University professor isn’t all quantum theories and equations, though. In fact,…
Mark Yudof, 68, is one of the nation’s foremost free speech experts. And, as the president of the University of California, that means he often finds himself defending the free speech rights of those with whom he disagrees, such as harsh critics of Israel. The 10-campus system, which Yudof has overseen since 2008, is deeply…
Bruce Ratner may not have Barbra Streisand’s voice or Jay-Z’s rep on the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant. But the developer had every right to trumpet himself as the King of Brooklyn after his long-delayed Barclays Center finally opened its doors. Ratner beamed as the arena opened to sold-out shows by Babs and hip-hop’s big- gest star,…
On August 28, Meir Soloveichik, a 35-year old rabbi, stepped into the national spotlight at the Republican National Convention, delivering the opening invocation, the capstone of a year that saw his influence spread widely throughout political circles. In May, Soloveichik led a widely praised discussion on religion in education with Newark Mayor Cory Booker at…
In the lead-up to the first national conference of the movement to boycott, divest from, and implement sanctions (BDS) against Israel on the University of Pennsylvania campus in February, tensions were high. Activists on both sides of the aisle anticipated major protests and a breakdown in campus civility. But then the campus quieted. For the…
How does an Israeli cosmetics company dramatically expand in America? First it hires Elana Drell-Szyfer, a 20-year veteran of the beauty industry who was named one of Jewish Women International’s 2012 Women to Watch and one of Pink magazine’s Top 10 Women in Business — and then it lets her run the show. As general…
In 2004, when Rabbi Sharon Brous launched IKAR as a unique spiritual community within the sprawling landscape of conventional Los Angeles Jewry, she was hailed as a bold and charismatic leader who maybe had figured out how to attract and hold younger, unaffiliated Jews. But there was no telling whether her experiment, like so many…
Singer, actress and Jewish megastar Barbra Streisand marked her 50th year in show business with a high-profile return to her hometown, performing two sold-out concerts at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center as part of her first United States tour since 2006. In a nod to her Flatbush roots, she tweaked the lyrics of “As If We Never…
A family operation that started off as a local effort to support Israel during the second intifada has turned into a $4 million operation under the energetic leadership of Roz Rothstein. With 15 branches and a growing presence across the country, StandWithUs, founded by Rothstein, 60, a family therapist by training, celebrated its 10th anniversary…
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