The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life, 2021

In honor of The Algemeiner’s eighth annual gala, we are delighted to unveil our eighth ‘J100’ list of the top one hundred individuals who have positively influenced Jewish life this past year. Before you work your way through this exciting list, we wanted to first share some of the thoughts that we discussed as we developed it. If we could group these ideas together, the first would be about creating lists, in general; then, what’s unique about lists and Judaism; some finer points differentiating our honorees from the organizations they lead; and important reflections on all those every day and anonymous-to-us heroes we also want to celebrate without ever knowing their names. And, of course, to thank everyone who helped create the list and worked hard to put together our ‘J100’ gala.

It’s no secret that the Jewish community and the Jewish state of Israel has seen significant and rising challenges over the past 12 months, specifically during the Gaza war in May. History has shown that misinformation and false accusations lead to hate speech, which rapidly evolves into the widespread attacks on Jewish people that we saw in cities around the world. It affirmed for us our shared long-held belief that truth saves lives. As such, in the compilation of this year’s ‘J100’ list we’ve placed particular emphasis on those standing at the forefront of the battle for truth. We hope you find your review of the list to be as valuable as we did.

On Lists

There are lists, and there are lists. From the Forbes 400 to the Time 100, we are witness today to a proliferation of many lists in various magazines and newspapers. The New Yorker even made a list of The Hundred Best Lists of All Time! It seems that in the feeding frenzy of our information overloaded society, categorizations and listings get our attention by presumably helping us make sense of the data flooding our psyches. Lists also carry an element of sensationalism – who made the list, who didn’t – feeding the hunger for competition – yet another staple of our superficial times. No wonder we don’t find such popularity contests waged in earlier centuries; living as desert nomads or inside of a shtetl, where everyone knew virtually no one else but their neighbors by name (for good or for bad), did not exactly lend itself to creating a top ten list of favorites. This is an exclusive product of the communications revolution and the global village it created.

Jewish Lists

Jewish sages, in particular, did not create such lists. Indeed, some actually dismissed the categorization of lists (even of the 13 Principles of Faith of Maimonides, let alone of a list of the “best” one thing or another). It begs the uneasy question of how one can even attempt to measure the value of a person? Isn’t everyone a hero in some way? On what grounds can we presume to judge who is more valuable than the next? With the ‘J100’ list we tried to create something more meaningful, a list aligned with our core mission: the 100 people who have the most positive impact on Jewish life and Israel – men and women, Jew or non-Jew, who have lifted the quality of Jewish life in the past year. Think of it this way: Without these ‘J100’ – either the individuals or the organizations they represent – Jewish life would not be at the caliber it is today. Despite the artificial, superficial, and sensational nature of any list, we sought to transform the information deluge of our times by using the list to shine a spotlight on those gems in our midst, those people who are making a real difference in others’ lives.

We also seek to inspire and motivate our young and the next generation, our future emerging leaders, in rising to the occasion and perpetuating the highest standards of our proud tradition and legacy – in serving and championing the cause of Jews and Israel. Because, as we know, when the quality of Jewish life is raised, the quality of all lives is raised. However, the most exciting part of our work in choosing the ‘J100,’ frankly, was sifting through hundreds of candidates and nominees to discover some surprising finalists. It was a joy to see the breadth of all those who merited a mention, to understand some of the great work being performed around the world on behalf of the Jewish people, and to celebrate their victories by bringing this great work to renewed public attention via this endeavor.

Individual vs. Organization

Inevitably, any list recognizing those that have positively influenced Jewish life will include the “usual suspects,” well-known leaders and officials of governments, organizations, and institutions. Like it or not, bureaucracy is part of the fabric of our society, feeding and supporting Jewish life around the globe, and it is that fabric that provides strength and cohesion to our disparate Jewish population.

Not all the names on the ‘J100’ were included for the same reason. Some are being honored for their personal contributions, others for their work at the organizations or nations they head. Some on the ‘J100’ are long established stars, others newcomers.

Like in any dynamic entity, we included both stalwart leaders with deep roots holding the foundation, while also introducing new branches that will lead us into the future.

This type of list – “The top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life” – has its inherent challenges. First, what defines “positive”? What some consider positive, others consider destructive. Jews notoriously disagree on what positive impact means. Fully cognizant of the controversy such a list could stir, we approached the creation of this list with a particular strategy, infused with a sense of humility and respect, to be as all-inclusive as possible while maintaining our integrity. This list should not be seen as an endorsement of anyone or any entity and way of thinking; rather, the people on this list are a reflection of the rich and broad spectrum of Jewish life – those who have positively contributed and helped shape the Jewish future.

We want this list to not be a definitive one, but a type of snapshot and perspective of the Jewish world today. The ‘J100’ is far from perfect – but which list of this type would not be? Rather, we want it to serve as a provocateur, challenging us all to think about what we value and consider precious; what we honor as being a positive influence on Jewish life and on Israel.

Anonymous Heroes

Jewish life, now and throughout history, is fraught with innumerable heroes – mostly unsung. A mother unceremoniously bringing up a beautiful family. A quiet nurse attending to the ill. An anonymous philanthropist sending food packages to the needy. The unobtrusive kindergarten teacher lovingly attending to and shaping young lives. Positive influences abound, yet few are called out.

Moreover, the Jewish community is decentralized. A leader in one city or town who has a major impact on their community may be completely irrelevant in another city. No list – not of 100, not of 1,000 – could capture and do justice to the countless daily acts of heroism and nobility impacting Jews and Israel.

There are innumerable rabbis, lay leaders, educators, and administrators who are beloved and are transforming their Jewish communities. As important as these individuals may be – and they certainly deserve their own list – the ‘J100’ does not include these heroes. Instead it focuses on individuals that have global and international impact, and that come from diverse groups – such as writers, teachers, government officials, and NGOs. In some ways, the ‘J100’ should be looked at not as a bunch of disjointed individuals, but as a mosaic – a confluence of many different colors and hues that create a diverse painting.

Thank You

In the spirit of The Algemeiner, we want this list to lift the quality of our discourse and standards in seeking out the best within and among us. We hope you enjoy reviewing and studying this list, and we welcome all your feedback, critiques, and suggestions to be included next year, in what has become a tradition at our annual gala event.

We extend our deep gratitude to our ‘J100’ honorees and special guests, to those who support this great institution, and ultimately to our readers, the Jewish people, and friends of the Jewish people whom we serve.

Disclosure: Algemeiner staff and their immediate families were disqualified for inclusion on the list. Some of the ‘J100’ finalists are friends and associates of The Algemeiner. As a media entity with many relationships, The Algemeiner inevitably has many friends and supporters; yet we didn’t feel it fair to disqualify highly qualified candidates simply due to their connection with us. Instead, fully cognizant of that reality, we placed special emphasis on impartiality and objectivity to choose only those who fit the criteria.

— The Algemeiner editors

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Avi Bell

Law professor

Abraham (Avi) Bell is an Israeli Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law and at Bar-Ilan University's Faculty of Law. With Israel condemned by much of the media during 2021 in relation to the dispute over property ownership in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, Bell provided much needed commentary and insight explaining Israel’s position. “Critics claim that the Israeli government should -- or even that international law requires it to -- deny the owners their property rights, but these claims are not based on any credible legal argument,” Bell wrote. “The critics demand that Israel discriminate against and disregard the property owners’ lawful property rights due to their Jewish ethnicity. It’s obvious that critics of Israel would pay no notice to the dispute if the owners were Palestinian and the squatters and overstaying tenants were Palestinian.” (Photo: courtesy)

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Barbara Engelking and Jan Grabowski

Historians

Two of the leading historians of the Holocaust of 3 million Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland, Barbara Engelking and Jan Grabowski have been locked in a legal battle for much of 2021 that is now headed for Poland’s Supreme Court. The co-editors of the 1,600 page volume Night Without End: The Fate of Jews in Selected Counties in Occupied Poland, both scholars have run afoul of Polish legislation that enables the prosecution of historians who examine the issue of Polish collusion with the Nazi extermination program -- part of a broader strategy by the Polish government to control the narrative of the Holocaust, with new legislation passed this year denying restitution payments to Holocaust survivors. Speaking to The Algemeiner in February, Grabowski – a professor in the history department of the University of Ottawa -- warned that the Polish government’s campaign would chill academic research. “If the state controls 90 or 95 percent of grant activities, then anything that smacks of an attack on national mythology will not be funded,” he said. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

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Jarrod Tanny

Professor

Jarrod Tanny is Associate Professor of History at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He is the author of City of Rogues and Schnorrers: Russia’s Jews and the Myth of Old Odessa and is currently writing a book on Jewish humor in America. In June, Tanny stepped into the febrile debate about Israel following the recent hostilities in Gaza with a piece titled “The Loneliness of the Liberal Zionist.” In a passionate defense of his political position, Tanny remarked that “liberal Zionism in America is not merely a political position. It is also an expression of American Jewish identity. Liberal Zionists believe that American Jews, much like other minorities who have suffered oppression throughout history, have the right to celebrate their Jewish pride in public, to be a so-called hyphenated nationality, like African Americans, Latinx Americans, and Asian Americans. This is the underlying premise of American multiculturalism as preached (if not always practiced) since the 1960s.” (Photo: courtesy)

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Lars Fischer

Academic

A scholar of Hebrew and Jewish studies and editor of an academic journal on Jewish history based at University College London (UCL), Lars Fischer abruptly resigned from his post in February. Fischer was disgusted by the demand of UCL’s Academic Board that the university’s administration rescind its adoption of the leading definition of antisemitism drawn up by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Acknowledging that his decision might deal a “likely fatal blow to my ability to function as a scholar,” Fischer wrote in a blog post that when he had “embarked on the academic study of antisemitism, it was still taken for granted that one did so in order to combat antisemitism.” He continued: “These days have long gone, and the academy is now full of academics who specialize in explaining why only some forms of antisemitism are harmful and others are not actually forms of antisemitism anyway.” (Photo: Critical Theories of Antisemitism Network)

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Sean Kingsley

Maritime archaeologist

British maritime archaeologist Dr. Sean Kingsley announced a sensational discovery in April: evidence that proved the existence of the Israelite kingdom ruled by King Solomon. Based on his exploration of the Mediterranean basin for evidence of the empire that the Bible says Solomon built in alliance with the Phoenician king Hiram, Kingsley asserted that his findings appeared to confirm that Solomon was indeed the wealthy and powerful monarch described in the Bible who built a maritime empire through an alliance with the ancient Phoenicians. Kingsley added that while archeological excavations in Israel had found “nothing definitive that fits the book of Kings’ and Chronicles’ epic accounts of Solomon’s palace and temple, by exploring traces of ports, warehouses, industry, and shipwrecks, new evidence shakes up the quest for truth.” (Photo: courtesy)

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