Newark Mayor Corey Booker. Photo:screenshot via NBC's Meet the Press program.

Cory Booker

Mayor of Newark, NJ

Booker’s relationship with Judaism began at Oxford when he served as one of the co-presidents of Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s Jewish organization, L’Chaim. Over the years, he has increasingly cited universal Jewish ideas and values as the basis of a healthy society. Today, as Newark’s Mayor, he is known for his erudite knowledge of the weekly Parsha (Torah portion), citing from them often in his talks and lectures. “I found Jewish wisdom and ideals and great Jewish thinkers really very compelling to me,” he told reporters in 2012. Booker, as mayor, is a well-known fixture in the state’s Jewish community circuit. A self-proclaimed student of the Torah, watching him successfully maneuver the political landscape and serving as a strong moral voice is a perfect example of Jewish values in action as a “light unto nations.”