They range in age from 23 to 71, and are spread across the United States from Los Angeles to Long Island. They are fathers and daughters, writers and readers, activists and community builders. They love Passover — and coffee. They…
Forward Shortlist 2021
The Latest
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News Meet Jake Cohen, the Jew-ish chef with 1 million TikTok followers
This is one of seven profiles of American Jews who fascinated us in 2021. Click here to see all seven and read an explanation of our Forward Shortlist. Editor’s note: On Jan. 5, about two weeks after this column was published, The Washington Post reported that Jake Cohen has been named in a lawsuit alleging…
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News Hannah Einbinder: Comedy Prodigy
This is one of seven profiles of American Jews who fascinated us in 2021. Click here to see all seven and read an explanation of our Forward Shortlist. Hannah Einbinder comes from comedy royalty; her mom, Laraine Newman, was part of the original cast of Saturday Night Live and her father, Chad Einbinder, is a…
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News Tom Gutherz: Rabbi Fighting the Far Right
Rabbi Tom Gutherz, 64, wants you to know that Charlottesville’s Jews did not cower as white supremacists marched outside Beth Israel synagogue
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News Debbie Nathan: Border Benefactor
This is one of seven profiles of American Jews who fascinated us in 2021. Click here to see all seven and read an explanation of our Forward Shortlist. For much of 2021, Debbie Nathan’s extended family included a mother, a father and three girls under 9 from Honduras. She created GoFundMe campaigns to bring them…
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News Sabrina Sojourner: Spiritual Soprano
This is one of seven profiles of American Jews who fascinated us in 2021. Click here to see all seven and read an explanation of our Forward Shortlist. After a difficult divorce more than 40 years ago, she was trying to figure out what to call herself. For reasons she can’t recall, two different groups…
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News Elliot Steinmetz: Sports Dad of the Year
This is one of seven profiles of American Jews who fascinated us in 2021. Click here to see all seven and read an explanation of our Forward Shortlist. When a late-game layup put his team down by one point at Sarah Lawrence in 2020, Elliot Steinmetz, head coach of the Yeshiva University men’s basketball team,…
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News Cameron Bernstein: TikTok Yiddishist
This is one of seven profiles of American Jews who fascinated us in 2021. Click here to see all seven and read an explanation of our Forward Shortlist. Yiddish is having a moment on social media, thanks in good part to Cameron Bernstein. Bernstein, 23, had her first encounter with the language during her senior…
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News Forward Shortlist: 7 American Jews who fascinated us in 2021
Editor’s note: On Jan. 5, about two weeks after this column was published, The Washington Post reported that Jake Cohen, on of the members on our list, has been named in a lawsuit alleging racism and sexism at a food-media company where he worked from 2018 to 2020. There’s a cook, a coach and a…
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