The Forward 50: 2008 Jews of the Year

By Jeremy Gillick

The Forward has published its annual list of America’s 50 most important Jews: the Forward 50.

Winners include Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s newly appointed Chief of Staff, about whom you can read here.

There’s also Morris Allen, a Conservative Rabbi from Minnesota who helped re-invent kashrut as a moral rather than merely legal imperative, just as Agriprocessors, America’s largest kosher meat producer, sunk deeper and deeper into sin, exploitation and eventually, bankruptcy.

Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder of the new, liberal Jewish, Israel lobby group J-Street, is at the top of the list too. Although this choice is perhaps more a reflection of the Forward‘s editorial stance than of Ben-Ami’s success, the creation of a viable alternative to AIPAC is, at the very least, a major symbolic accomplishment. And it could become much more than that. Here’s what Moment columnist Eric Alterman had to say about J-Street back in July.

Beijing Olympics: Jewish Update Part II

Alas, the über-hyped 2008 Beijing Olympics are upon us. A few weeks ago, we had an overview of Jewish news related to the Games, and we’re pleased to bring a second installment.

You’d probably like to know, for example, how many American-Jews will be competing. The answer to that is seven, led by four swimmers.

Jason Lezak, Ben Wildman-Tobriner, Garrett Weber-Gale, and Dara Torres lead the way. The three men, in fact, will most likely comprise three-fourths of the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay. And Torres, the 41 year-old sprinter who has nine medals to her name, is enshrined in the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and will be competing in her fifth Games, hardly needs an introduction.