Saturday, February 8th | 10 Shevat 5785

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The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life, 2023

In honor of The Algemeiner‘s 10th annual gala, we are pleased to unveil our 10th ‘J100’ list of the top 100 individuals who have positively influenced Jewish life over the past year. Before you work your way through the 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.

Please keep in mind that this year’s list was mostly compiled before the unprecedented tragic attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that has left the global Jewish community reeling. We had time to add in a few notable individuals who stood out in their response to the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. They include, for example, the head of operations for the southern region of Zaka — Israel’s volunteer civilian emergency service organization — who oversaw the recovery of the victims’ bodies and gave testimony to the heinous crimes that were committed, and mega donors Bill Ackman and Marc Rowan who took a stand against universities who failed to adequately condemn Hamas and their supporters on campuses. There are many other heroes, however, who have emerged in the wake of the atrocity and are deserving of our recognition. In the coming weeks and months we will be highlighting their courage and stories.

Most of all, we stand in full solidarity with the families of the slain and those taken hostage. We are committed to campaigning on their behalf in The Algemeiner and bringing their voices to the widest possible audience.

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 10 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 and 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 New York 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

1 .

ACADEMIA

Ksenia Krimer

Historian

Russian Jewish historian Ksenia Krimer, a fellow at the Leibniz Center for Contemporary History in Potsdam, Germany, has spent much of 2023 tracking the growing climate of antisemitism in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022. "Two years ago, I would have said no, but I think that today, the worst forecasts carry greater weight," Krimer told The Algemeiner in an interview in August. Born in Moscow into what she described as a "fairly assimilated Jewish family," she started attending synagogue in the relatively liberal environment that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, progressing to an academic career in Jewish history that won her fellowships at Yad Vashem in Israel and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. "We have to look at the milieu of ideas that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin floats in," Krimer argued. "There are people around him infected with antisemitic ideas, as well as anti-Western and anti-Polish prejudice. He cannot remain immune." (Photo: LinkedIn)

ACADEMIA

2 .

ACADEMIA

Alvin Rosenfeld

Professor

Prof. Alvin Rosenfeld, founder of the Borns Jewish Studies Program and the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism (ISCA) at Indiana University Bloomington, was honored as a Hoosier Jewish Legend in the Indiana Jewish Historical Society's Hall of Fame last August. "Alvin embodies the phrase 'Never Again' and has devoted his life's work to combating antisemitic and anti-Israel actions locally and globally," wrote Emily Berman Pevnick, an Indiana University alumna who was one of several people to nominate Rosenfeld for the award. "I'll be forever grateful to IU for allowing me the latitude to develop in new ways," Rosenfeld said after receiving his honor. "Serious study of the Holocaust was one of those ways. I never expected, however, to also have to focus on post-Holocaust antisemitism — largely because I thought the scandal of the Holocaust was so great that most people would be ashamed to voice antisemitic sentiments, let alone carry out brutal attacks against Jews. I was simply wrong." (Photo: Indiana University)

ACADEMIA

3 .

ACADEMIA

Moussa Youdim

Professor

Iranian-born Prof. Moussa B. H. Youdim of Haifa's prestigious Technion is an internationally renowned Israeli neuroscientist specializing in neurochemistry and neuropharmacology. He is the discoverer of both monoamine oxidase B inhibitors l-deprenyl and rasagiline as anti-Parkinson drugs which possess neuroprotective activities. In April 2023, Youdim was awarded the Israel Prize in Life Sciences. The award lauded Youdim for his "pioneering, groundbreaking scientific achievements in the field of neuropharmacology. He has placed generations of undergraduates and graduates, many of whom hold key positions, in Israeli academia and in the biotechnology industry. His publications have received wide international acclaim and have won him many awards." (Photo: American Technion Society)

ACADEMIA

4 .

ACADEMIA

Michal Schwartz

Professor

Prof. Michal Schwartz of the Weizmann Institute of Science is the recipient of the 2023 Israel Prize in Life Sciences for her groundbreaking discoveries that led to a new understanding of the interactions between the immune system and the brain. "Her work opened new directions of research in neuroscience and shed light on incurable neurodegenerative diseases," the awarding committee noted. "Her discoveries include the key role played by immune system cells in repair processes within the central nervous system, the importance of the immune system to the functioning of the healthy brain, and the link between the decline in immune system function and dementia." (Photo: Imperial College London)

ACADEMIA

5 .

ACADEMIA

Ruth Wisse

Professor

Prof. Ruth Wisse is the Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and Comparative Literature Emerita at Harvard University. Wisse was the first editor-in-chief of the Library of Yiddish Classics and published a number of anthologies of Yiddish literature. She also wrote literary histories and political commentaries, most famously If I Am Not for Myself: The Liberal Betrayal of the Jews. In 2000, she won the National Jewish Book Award for The Modern Jewish Canon. Born in Romania in 1936 into a Jewish family that found refuge in North America, Wisse's academic work has tackled two fundamental questions of Jewish literature: "What makes a great Jewish book?" and "what makes a book 'Jewish' in the first place?" Wisse is currently distinguished senior fellow at the Tikvah Fund. Her latest book, No Joke: Making Jewish Humor, a volume in the Tikvah-sponsored Library of Jewish Ideas, was recently published by Princeton University Press. (Photo: Harvard University/Matt Craig)

ACADEMIA

6 .

ACADEMIA

Eliyahu Stern

Professor

Eliyahu Stern is professor of modern Jewish intellectual and cultural history in the departments of Religious Studies and History at Yale. Previously, he was a William Golding Junior fellow in the humanities at Brasenose College and the Oriental Institute, University of Oxford. He is the author of the award-winning, The Genius: Elijah of Vilna and the Making of Modern Judaism (Yale University Press in 2012). His second monograph Jewish Materialism: The Intellectual Revolution of the 1870s (Yale University Press, 2018) details the ideological background to Jews' involvement in Zionism, capitalism, and communism. In 2023, Stern was instrumental in changing the name of Yale's Judaic Studies program to Jewish Studies. "Increasingly students are interested in the various ways in which Jewish identity has been constituted," Stern explained. "Jewish studies includes much of the meaning attached to the previous name, but emphasizes the social and global aspects of Jewish life." (Photo: the Board of Rabbis of Southern California)

ACADEMIA

7 .

ACTIVISM

Adi Ramot

Humanitarian

A trailblazer in Israel's vibrant humanitarian aid community, Adi Ramot is a founder and board member of NATAN — an agency currently providing aid and comfort to victims of wars and natural disasters around the world, from Ukraine to Nepal to Morocco. During the last year, NATAN has worked with the Ukrainian government to set up resilience centers for locals and displaced persons alike, while in Morocco, the agency responded to the Sept. 2023 devastating earthquake by dispatching search and rescue teams, medical specialists, and other experts. A member of Kibbutz Yotvata in the Negev, Ramot initiated NATAN's first disaster relief operation in Sri Lanka in 2004. Her humanitarian relief mission has since taken her to Haiti, Jordan, and many other countries. (Photo: Natan Worldwide Disaster Relief)

ACTIVISM

8 .

ACTIVISM

Shai Kalach

Israeli Air Force Major

Amid the furious political struggle in Israel over the present government's program of judicial reform, Israeli Air Force Maj. Shai Kalach founded the advocacy group "Pilots Against Refusal" as a counter to those military personnel campaigning for the refusal of military service as a form of protest. "Our group already has over 100 members, including senior and high-ranking officers such as [Yom Kippur War hero] Avigdor Kahalani," Kalach said in a 2023 interview. "Our group aims to represent the general public, the vast majority of reservists who want to serve and contribute." Explaining his wider philosophy, Kalach railed against "postmodernity, progressivism, and neo-Marxism," arguing that "although it is a very positive thing to be a free nation in our land and to create a sovereign state that will prevent us from being destroyed in another Holocaust, ultimately that's a negative purpose. The nation of Israel has a positive purpose, as is written in the Declaration of Independence, 'According to the vision of the Prophets of Israel.'" (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

ACTIVISM

9 .

ACTIVISM

Natan Sharansky

Activist

The symbol of the movement among Soviet Jews to make aliyah to Israel during the darkest days of communist rule, former Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky remains one of the authoritative voices in the Jewish world. During 2023, Sharansky was active in pushing for open Israeli support of Ukraine as it confronted invading Russian forces, as well as criticizing the Israeli government's judicial reforms while encouraging protesters not to conclude that Israeli democracy was in jeopardy. On Ukraine, Sharansky called for an international tribunal to try the Russian regime for "genocide." Expressing his conviction that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be "defeated," Sharansky told a meeting at the Ukrainian Embassy in Tel Aviv that it was "very important that there be an international court regarding crimes against humanity by the leadership of Russia." Closer to home, Sharansky has urged the clashing sides in the judicial overhaul debate to reach a consensus. "We will not stop being a democracy," he said of the proposed changes, but "we will have to fight much harder in order to restore the balance between the [Supreme] Court and the Knesset." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

ACTIVISM

10 .

ACTIVISM

Elizabeth Pipko is a model, author, and media personality who regularly appears on major cable news channels and radio programs across the country providing commentary on current affairs in the United States and abroad. Her work regularly focuses on fighting anti-semitism and encouraging support for the State of Israel. As a model, Pipko has appeared on the covers of top fashion magazines like L’officiel and Harper’s Bazaar. 2023 saw the launch of Pipko's new Holocaust education project -- her latest offering in the fight against antisemitism that she, as the daughter of Soviet Jewish immigrants, takes very seriously. The site, "Lest People Forget," the first digital Holocaust museum utilizing Web3 technology, features multiple clear steps for ways to get involved in the preservation of Holocaust materials and memory. "These options allow for anyone anywhere in the world to participate in a small way in the preservation of Holocaust history," Pipko explained in an interview. Elizabeth holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She was previously honored by the Batsheva organization for empowering Jewish women leaders.
(Photo: Instagram)

ACTIVISM

11 .

ACTIVISM

The CEO of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, Abby Leibman is determined to underline her conviction that food insecurity in our communities — which impacts nearly 40 million Americans — is a basic issue that challenges core Jewish values. "We're not only trying to lift the awareness of this issue and how pervasive it is in the United States, but also to say that there is a possibility of ending hunger in this country," Leibman said in a 2023 interview. "We almost did it once. And we can do it again." Based in Los Angeles, self-described foodie Leibman has spent the last 12 years with MAZON, which was founded during the 1980s. "It isn't possible for me to invite everybody who's food insecure in my neighborhood, let alone in Los Angeles into my kitchen," she said. "What I can do is press our board of supervisors to make sure that they are doing everything they can to facilitate people accessing programs that give them nutrition and support." (Photo: LinkedIn)

ACTIVISM

12 .

ACTIVISM

David Ibsen

Executive Director

A former State Department official and US diplomat at the United Nations, David Ibsen serves as the executive director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) — a long-standing bipartisan organization dedicated to informing the public of the dangers posed by the Iranian regime's nuclear program. A frequent commentator online and on broadcast outlets, Ibsen also offers a critical perspective on Iran's backing for terrorist groups throughout the Middle East and around the world. Throughout 2023, Ibsen has been campaigning against a potential decision by US President Joe Biden's administration to revive the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). "It's time to face reality," Ibsen declared last January. "The JCPOA is dead." (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

ACTIVISM

13 .

ACTIVISM

Rachel Heber

Activist

Following the passing of her much-admired husband Rabbi Yeshayahu Heber from Covid-19, Rachel Heber has assertively taken over the reins of Matnat Chaim, the charity he launched that facilitates and promotes live kidney donations. Between 2020-22, when the world was ravaged by the pandemic, Heber nonetheless achieved the expansion of both the organization's reach and success rate. In 2023, Israel's Minister of Education Yoav Kish announced that Heber was the recipient of the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement, which she received on the occasion of Israel's Independence Day. "We are thrilled and proud to have received this award," Matnat Chaim said. (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

ACTIVISM

14 .

ACTIVISM

Amal Nasser el-Din is an Israeli Druze author and former politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Likud Party between 1977 and 1988. In 1969, his son Lutfi was killed on the last day of his national service. In 2008, his grandson, also named Lutfi, was killed during Operation Cast Lead, the IDF's counter-offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He is the founder of the "Zionist Druze Circle," which aimed to encourage support and understanding for Israel among the Druze community. "We believe in the same Bible as the Jews," he famously said. "We believe that Isaac, not Ishmael, was brought for sacrifice. Muhammed is not our prophet. We are the descendants of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law." In 2023, el-Din was a recipient of the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

ACTIVISM

15 .

ACTIVISM

Yossi Landau

Humanitarian

Yossi Landau — the head of operations for the southern region of Zaka, Israel's volunteer civilian emergency service organization — was one of the first humanitarian workers to witness the devastation and bloodshed wrought by the Oct 7. Hamas onslaught against Israel. Zaka's job is to collect every part of the remains of the dead, including their blood, so that they can be buried in accordance with Jewish religious law. His organization is called on to deal with the most traumatic events, including natural disasters, suicides from buildings, and terrorism. In his 33 years with Zaka, Landau said he had never witnessed such scenes of carnage. "I felt that I'm falling apart, not only me, my whole crew," he recalled, fighting back tears, after entering and finding a dead woman. "Her stomach was ripped open, a baby was there, still connected with the cord, and stabbed," said Landau. He later reflected, "We just take our feelings, with our job, and we separate it. And that's what we have to do." (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

ACTIVISM

16 .

ACTIVISM

Eli Bin

CEO

Eli Bin is the CEO of Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance, and blood bank service. Two weeks before the pogrom launched by Hamas terrorists against communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, Bin announced a campaign to provide 300 additional ambulances to its current fleet of 1,400. "We know that Hezbollah is ... capable of striking virtually any part of Israel, and the devastation from a conflict with that group would inflict many more casualties," he said. "And that means our ability to treat the wounded and transport them quickly to Israeli hospitals will be of paramount importance." Bin added that "these are challenging times. MDA and Israel face much more complex challenges today than we did five, 10 or 15 years ago ... With the continued help of our American friends, however, we'll be ready to respond and provide critical care wherever it's needed." (Photo: AFMDA)

ACTIVISM

17 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Ariel Frenkel

TV Personality

A contestant on the reality show "The Bachelor," Ariel Frenkel used her date with potential suitor Zach Shallcross to showcase the Jewish heritage and culture of New York City. "When someone enters my family or enters my life, they need to know how important it is for me to be proud of my Judaism, to be proud of my family, and to be proud of where I come from," the daughter of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants explained. On one date, the couple dined at Sarge's Jewish deli in Manhattan on pastrami, tongue, and gefilte fish. Before Zach met her family, Ariel also took the time to explain her parents' experience as immigrants to the United States and the effect it's had on her. "My parents fled the Soviet Union and it was very difficult for them," she said. "They were persecuted for being Jewish." She then added, "Being first generation, I spend every day being extremely proud of what my family created and who they made me out to be." (Photo: Instagram)

ARTS AND CULTURE

18 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Dani Zoldan

Comedy Club Owner

Dani Zoldan has been shaking up an already active Jewish comedy scene in New York. The owner of the Upper West Side comedy club Stand Up NY, Zoldan is also the co-founder of The Chosen Comedy Festival along with Jewish comedians Elon Gold and Modi Rosenfeld. Since their inaugural festival in Coney Island last summer, they've produced additional Jewish comedy festivals in Miami and Los Angeles. "My Jewish identity influences my work in many ways, including having worked with comedians to create content and promote multiple Jewish causes," Zoldan said in an interview. "The Chosen Comedy Festival unites Jews from all backgrounds over a shared experience. We also carry kosher wine at the club!" (Photo: Skittish Media)

ARTS AND CULTURE

19 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Luc Bernard

Video Game Designer

French-Jewish gaming designer Luc Bernard revolutionized Holocaust education in 2023 when he created an online museum about the Nazi genocide of the Jewish people to be showcased inside "Fortnite," a wildly popular game that boasts 70 million users a month. In an interview with The Algemeiner from August, Bernard asserted that his goal was to "stop the rise of Nazism and antisemitism in the US and worldwide." In "Fortnite's "Voices of the Forgotten Museum," players can walk the halls of the building and read plaques describing Jewish victims, resistance fighters, and Holocaust heroes, whose photos are also on display. However, Bernard's singular achievement made him a target for neo-Nazis and white supremacists, including the US-based Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. "I will not let happen to the US what happened to Europe," Bernard said defiantly. "My work isn't really based on who I am as a [Jewish] person. But really it's to stop the rise of Nazism and antisemitism now. We can no longer count on politicians and people in power to stop the rise of Nazism in the USA." (Photo: X)

ARTS AND CULTURE

20 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Natan Levy

Athlete

Israeli MMA fighter Natan Levy took the struggle against antisemitism into the ring in 2023, thrashing a white supremacist who challenged the UFC professional to a fight during an exchange on social media. After pounding his opponent into submission at the cage fight in a Las Vegas gym, Levy secured an apology from his opponent as well as an acknowledgement that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. "I don't believe in solving things or changing people's minds though violence," Levy reflected afterwards. "I don't go around and beat every troll who says something online, something stupid, that would take a lifetime and it wouldn't do much of a difference. The only reason why I did spar with him is because he came to my gym, my house, disrespecting my people, my heritage, and myself, and I had to teach him a lesson." (Photo: Photo: Reuters)

ARTS AND CULTURE

21 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Aleeza Ben Shalom

Matchmaker

Professional Jewish matchmaker and dating coach Aleeza Ben Shalom achieved worldwide fame in 2023 when she fronted the Netflix series "Jewish Matchmaking." "No matter what religion you practice or what country you come from — it's hard for anybody to find love," the married mother of five, who is based in Israel and grew up in Philadelphia, explained. "Our goal every time is to hit the nail on the head and make a match. Hopefully they'll live happily ever after." Ben Shalom, who has shepherded over 200 couples into marriage, added that her own children, ranging from ages 9 to 19, also know that they can turn to their mother for help when they want to get married. "One of them joked with me and said, 'Well, if I can't find somebody, I'm not really worried because you'll just set me up,'" she recalled. "I said, 'Yeah, exactly!'" (Photo: LinkedIn)

ARTS AND CULTURE

22 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

The daughter of Jewish actor Adam Sandler, actor Sunny Sandler starred in her father's hit 2023 film, "You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah." In the comedic coming-of-age story, best friends Stacy (played by Sunny) and Lydia (Samantha Lorraine) are planning epic bat mitzvah parties but their plans — and friendship — get derailed by a popular boy in their Hebrew school named Andy Goldfarb (Dylan Hoffman), who Lydia kisses even though she knew Stacy had a crush on him. "It was the best," director Sammi Cohen said about making the movie with the entire Sandler family. "The Sandlers made me part of the family. It was this really beautiful thing where everyone had space to do their own thing, but always had support when they needed it. There's a natural chemistry you get with the Sandlers that makes everything feel real and slice-of-life." (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

ARTS AND CULTURE

23 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Sarah Mintz

Actor

Sarah Mintz is a Colombian actress and former telenovela star who converted from Catholicism to Judaism. Born Maritza Rodríguez Gómez, in 2001 the Spanish-language soap opera star met Emmy Award-winning Mexican television producer Joshua Mintz, a Conservative Jew who "went to shul two days a year," he said. She said the couple grew together spiritually, married in 2005, and together with their twin boys, Akiva and Yehuda, moved to Jerusalem in April 2023. In an Israeli TV interview following the move, Mintz grew emotional discussing the moment when she stood in front of the rabbinic court in Israel to complete her conversion to Judaism. "The rabbis asked me: Are you sure?" she recalled. "I'm proud to be Jewish, it's a joy for me, it's easy — it's like being born again without dying. It's being in the right place. It's wonderful." Most recently the star of the Telemundo show “Silvana sin lana," she now describes herself on Instagram as a "Jewish orthodox fashion and lifestyle influencer." (Photo: Facebook)

ARTS AND CULTURE

24 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Inbar Lanir

Athlete

Israeli judoka Inbar Lanir became a world champion in May 2023 when she won the gold medal at the 2023 World Judo Championship in Doha, Qatar. The 23-year-old, who is ranked third in the world, beat French judoka Audrey Tcheuméo, 33, in the under-78 kilogram category. She became the third Israeli to win gold at the World Judo Championship following Yarden Gerbi in 2013 and Sagi Muki in 2019. Because of her win, Israel's national anthem "Hatikvah" played during the medal ceremony in Qatar. "I said before I fought that being on the podium would be enough for me," Lanir said following her triumph. "Never in my sweetest dreams would I have thought of being world champion today." (Photo: Instagram)

ARTS AND CULTURE

25 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Alfred Uhry

Playwright

Atlanta-born Alfred Uhry is one of the most storied playwrights and screenwriters in the US today, having won an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and the Pulitzer Prize. The author of the "Atlanta" trilogy of plays, which includes 1987's "Driving Miss Daisy," Uhry's latest stage offering, a revival of his 1998 musical "Parade," tells the story of Leo Frank, an American Jew falsely convicted of rape by a court in Georgia in 1913 who was then brutally lynched two years later. In an interview earlier this year, Uhry explained that he had a personal connection to the story through Frank's wife. "I was always fascinated by the story, in part because my grandmother personally knew Lucille Frank," he recalled. Frank's story is "set to what was then an astonishing score by a 20-something newcomer and which, 25 years later, comes across as not only astonishing but pretty much perfectly wrought," the New York Stage Review wrote of the musical's current outing. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

ARTS AND CULTURE

26 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Dean Cain

Actor

Actor Dean Cain — the co-host of The Algemeiner's 2023 gala — has enjoyed a successful career playing a range of roles, including Superman in the 1990s hit series "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." Cain's recent hits include "The Follower," "Skydog," and "Break Every Chain." A warm supporter of Israel, Cain paid his first visit to the country five years ago, noting that "Israel has a special place in the heart of the people of the US. The two countries are special friends." Cain is also a board member of From the Depths, a nonprofit organization that aims to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, to give a name to those who were brutally murdered and to continue the message to the next generations of those who survived. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

ARTS AND CULTURE

27 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

British novelist, lyricist, and journalist Polly Samson is the author of several well-regarded works, including "Perfect Lives" and "The Kindness." Married to former Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, Samson caused a social media storm in 2023 when she accused her husband's estranged bandmate, Roger Waters, of antisemitism. "You are antisemitic to your rotten core," she told Waters, an active backer of the BDS movement targeting Israel and vocal supporter of the Russian regime, in a social media post. "Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense." The post drew applause across social media, not least from Gilmour himself, who retweeted it. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

ARTS AND CULTURE

28 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Ben Platt

Actor

Back in February, Tony Award-winning actor Ben Platt chose social media to address antisemitic protesters who gathered outside the first preview performance of the Broadway revival of "Parade," which tells the true story of Jewish businessman Leo Frank who was lynched in Georgia in the early 20th century. Platt attacked the "neo-Nazi protesters from a really disgusting group outside of the theater, bothering some of our patrons on their way in and saying antisemitic things about Leo Frank, who the show is about, and just spreading antisemitic rhetoric that led to this whole story in the first place." He emphasized that the white supremacists had not succeeded in wrecking an evening that was "so wonderful and special," expressing gratitude for the show's cast and crew members. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

ARTS AND CULTURE

29 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Eden Ben Zaken

Musician

Over the summer, Israeli vocalist Eden Ben Zaken joined Christina Aguilera on stage for a special duet at the American singer's concert in Israel. The pair sang Aguilera's original song "Hurt." Ben Zaken's music career took off after she performed on the televised singing competition "The X Factor" in Israel almost a decade ago at the age of 19, and she auditioned for the show by performing "Hurt." Ben Zaken declared herself "excited about the collaboration with Christina Aguilera, one of the greatest singers in the world." More than 14,000 people turned out to the Rishon Lezion Live Park for the concert, which saw Aguilera greet the crowd by saying, "Shalom, this is my very first time here and I'm so excited." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

ARTS AND CULTURE

30 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Nissim Black

Musician

"I feel like there's a major lacking in the world of people who talk about God, spirituality and these things on podcasts and in a public forum. And I have a platform so I feel like [this podcast] is just something that needed to happen," Hassidic international recording artist Nissim Black told The Algemeiner in August about his new online show. A native of Seattle, the hip-hop artist and his wife converted to Judaism in 2013 and made aliyah in 2016. They now live with their seven children in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. Black also has a new album, titled "Glory," slated for release in November. "I'm really laying out my heart on a platter," he said of his latest record, his first since 2019. (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

ARTS AND CULTURE

31 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Helen Mirren

Actor

Multiple award-winning British actress Dame Helen Mirren returned to a Jewish role in 2023, playing the legendary Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in Israeli director Guy Nattiv's movie, "Golda." The movie tells the true story of Meir's leadership during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Mirren came to Israel for the first time after the war and worked as a volunteer at Kibbutz Ha'on by the Sea of Galilee. "The extraordinary magical energy of a country just beginning to put its roots in the ground — it was an amazing time to be here," she told an Israeli broadcaster. In the same interview, Mirren took aim at the BDS movement targeting Israel, saying, "I've met great artists in Israel. To abandon those artists didn't seem the right thing to me. On the contrary, work with the artists of Israel. It's the artistic community that I believe will carry Israel forward." Mirren has portrayed Jewish characters in several other films, including "The Debut" in 2010 and "Woman in Gold" in 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

ARTS AND CULTURE

32 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Ina Garten

Chef

Acclaimed Jewish chef and cookbook author Ina Garten took Rosh Hashanah this year as an opportunity to share her favorite holiday recipes. "Even if you didn't grow up celebrating the Jewish New Year, these classic recipes are still so comforting and delicious," Garten told her readers, sharing pictures of all the dishes: bourbon honey cake, matzo ball soup, brisket with onions and leeks, orange-roasted rainbow carrots, and challah. Garten, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, has said that her love of being in the kitchen only developed after she got married at the age of 20. "The minute I got married, I really started cooking," she said. "I think a lot of what I do is creating what I always wanted, rather than a memory of something." (Photo: Instagram)

ARTS AND CULTURE

33 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Jonathan Glazer

Filmmaker

Film director and screenwriter Jonathan Glazer was born into a Jewish family in London. After working in theater and directing music videos, he transitioned into film in the early 2000s, directing hits that included "Sexy Beast" (2000) and "Under the Skin" (2013). This year saw the release of Glazer's latest film "Zone of Interest" — a Holocaust movie that focuses on the family of Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss as they carve out an existence in a house that abuts a wall of the Auschwitz extermination camp. Interviewed about the production, Glazer said he knew he wanted to make something that looked like no other Holocaust film. Said one reviewer: "He wanted the film to feel anthropological and unemotional, like the audience has dropped in on a slice of SS officer family life and can use that time to think about disassociation and apathy to violence, which is illustrated only by glowing red skies, billowing smoke, and a chilling soundscape of screams and beatings." (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

ARTS AND CULTURE

34 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Alexey Shor

Composer

Born in Ukraine in 1970, composer Alexey Shor immigrated to Israel in 1991 and now resides mainly in the US. His compositions have enjoyed an international reception. Shor composes for a variety of musical media, most especially orchestral and chamber works. He is currently composer-in-residence at the InClassica Festival in the United Arab Emirates. Following a concert at the festival in Feb. 2023 where he performed Shor's Piano Concerto No. 2 “From my Bookshelf,” the Israeli pianist Saleem Ashkar praised the composers' "melodic inventiveness." Ashkar said, "The idea of beauty and meaning and depth in lightness, that comes to mind with Shor."  (Photo: AlexeyShor.com)

ARTS AND CULTURE

35 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Lahav Shani

Musician

Last December, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra made its historic debut in Dubai with its homegrown star Lahav Shani, formerly the principal conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Rotterdam, serving as artistic director.

Shani first appeared as a guest pianist in 2007. In 2010, conductor Zubin Mehta engaged Shani as pianist and assistant conductor for a tour with the Israel Philharmonic. With the orchestra, Shani conducted the Israel Philharmonic's opening season concerts in 2013. He has returned each year subsequently as a guest conductor with the orchestra. In Feb. 2023, Shani was announced as the next conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany, a post he will not assume until 2026. "Lahav Shani is a perfect fit for the Munich Philharmonic. The city orchestra, with its tradition and renown, has been rejuvenated and is awakening a new excitement for classical music," said the city's mayor, Dieter Reiter. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

ARTS AND CULTURE

36 .

ARTS AND CULTURE

Bianca Stigter

Filmmaker

Dutch film director Bianca Stigter was the creative force behind the highly acclaimed 2022 documentary, "Three Minutes: A Lengthening." The film is based on the 2014 non-fiction book Three Minutes in Poland: Discovering a Lost World in a 1938 Family Film by American musician Glenn Kurz, whose grandfather David shot three minutes of color footage of the Jewish community in the Polish village of Nasielsk in 1938, shortly before it was decimated during the Holocaust. "This is a very rare thing that we have this footage, in color, of the Jewish community in 1938, in a small town in Poland, one year before the Germans invaded. I see it as a film against the erasure because that's what was happening," she reflected after the film's release. "The whole community was erased. So, here we have a document that shows you the raw power of recording, and an inkling of what it was like." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

ARTS AND CULTURE

37 .

BUSINESS

Neil Barofsky

Investigator

Independent investigator Neil Barofsky was fired by Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse in Nov. 2022 after having been hired, together with former US antisemitism envoy Ira Forman, for an investigation of its ties to Nazis. The investigation came after the Simon Wiesenthal Center identified 12,000 Nazis who lived in Argentina in the 1930s and deposited money stolen from Jewish victims of the Holocaust into accounts administered by Schweizerische Kreditanstalt, which was later renamed Credit Suisse. Citing Barofsky's report The New York Times wrote earlier this year that his removal had left several questions unanswered, including those "about the thoroughness of its prior investigative efforts, the extent to which it served Nazi interests, and the bank's role in servicing Nazis fleeing justice after the war." The World Jewish Congress was among the organizations protesting the Credit Suisse decision, saying that it was "deeply disappointed that Credit Suisse abruptly fired these two highly respected individuals, who had worked to create a comprehensive report detailing the bank's shortcomings." (Photo: Jenner and Block LLP)

BUSINESS

38 .

BUSINESS

Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger was the driving force behind what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in June 2023 identified as the "largest investment ever by an international company in Israel." The investment is part of a broader plan to expand and modernize Intel's factory network to accommodate new generations of manufacturing technology and renewed demand for its microprocessors. The Israeli factory, located in Kiryat Gat, is expected to open by 2027 and remain in operation until at least 2035, employing thousands of workers at higher-than-average wages, according to the Israeli Finance Ministry. "Israel is a global center of technical talent and innovation and one of Intel's significant global manufacturing and R&D centers," Intel said in a statement announcing the project. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

BUSINESS

39 .

BUSINESS

Moses Wendel

Founder/Owner

The founder and owner of the popular kosher Patis Bakery in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, 2023 saw Moses Wendel launch an ambitious expansion of his brand, opening a new outlet on West 37th Street in the heart of Manhattan. The opening of the New York City store marks the fifth Patis bakery in the New York/New Jersey region. Wendel's goal is to serve his customers delicious foods that are expertly crafted with all-natural and locally-sourced ingredients. As a fully kosher bakery, the quality of its ingredients is especially important to Wendel, who ensures that guests have equal options for quality dairy and non-dairy options. Fully kosher certified by the Orthodox Union, Patis offers both Pareve and dairy options, and ensures that all dairy is chalav yisrael. (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

BUSINESS

40 .

BUSINESS

Lachlan Murdoch

CEO, Executive Chairman

The appointed successor of his father Rupert's global media empire, Lachlan Murdoch is the executive chairman of Nova Entertainment, chairman of News Corp, executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, and the founder of Australian investment company Illyria Pty Ltd. A graduate of Princeton University, he spent much of his career in his native Australia, managing his father's businesses. Lachlan has been CEO for Fox Corp. since 2019, following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Before the merger, he served as executive chairman of 21st Century Fox, starting in 2015 — while his brother, James, was CEO of Fox's then-entertainment business in what analysts described as a competitive power-share devised by their father, who ended the speculation by announcing Lachlan's accession in Sept. 2023. (Photo: courtesy)

BUSINESS

41 .

BUSINESS

IDF Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yoav Har-Even is president and CEO of Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. Before joining Rafael in 2015, he served as head of the Israel Defense Forces Operations Directorate. Prior to that, he was commander of the 319th Division and head of the GOC Army Headquarters. In Feb. 2023, he inaugurated a new Rafael facility in the United Arab Emirates. "We are encouraged by yet another concrete step in strengthening Rafael's ties with the UAE. We can now say that we have built the bridge to the United Arab Emirates by this inaugural investment and are excited to continue to expand the relationships that have been cultivated thus far," Har-Even said. The Gulf is a new market for Israel in the wake of the Abraham Accords, which saw the Jewish state assume diplomatic relations with several Arab countries. (Photo: Raphael)

BUSINESS

42 .

BUSINESS

Chaya Fishman

Founder

Founded in 2011 by Chaya Fishman, the Jewish Woman Entrepreneur & Executive (The JWE) helps Jewish women build the lives they love by pursuing their professional aspirations while embracing their Jewish values. Through education, community, and mentorship, The JWE cultivates financial independence, improving the lives of the women supported and the Jewish community at large. In interviews, Fishman has described her mother as "creative" and her father as a "no-nonsense, let's-get-the-job-done" kind of person. While Fishman was growing up, her parents ensured that she and her seven siblings each had a personal bank account and stressed the importance of working hard. The JWE's mission is to assist observant Jewish women looking to get involved in entrepreneurship "from the start to the finish line," Fishman has said. (Photo: LinkedIn)

BUSINESS

43 .

BUSINESS

Hanan Friedman

President and CEO

Hanan Friedman is the president and chief executive officer of Bank Leumi, the leading banking institution in Israel and one of the largest corporations in the Middle East. Friedman joined Bank Leumi in 2014 and served as the general counsel of the bank. Addressing growing economic pressures during a speech to a technology conference in London in 2023, Friedman remarked: "Especially during these times, it is important to demonstrate creativity and innovation, and to find new channels for the continued development of the high-tech industry. I believe that banks today have a significant role to support companies that have substantial potential for development, and to help them overcome this challenging period." (Photo: LinkedIn)

BUSINESS

44 .

BUSINESS

Ron Ayalon is the CEO of Yes, the sole direct broadcast satellite television provider in Israel. It broadcasts multichannel TV and Video-On-Demand services via the Israeli satellites Amos-3 and Amos-7. Yes provides television services to more than half a million customers. The company broadcasts more than 200 television stations from around the world, along with exclusive Israeli channels. The company markets itself as a "disassembled" TV service, customized to each customer, and offers specific content packages that can be ordered separately and can be combined. The packages offered include movies, series, children, sport ONE, sports 1, and science and nature. (Photo: company logo)

BUSINESS

45 .

COMMUNITY

Argentine diplomat María Fabiana Loguzzo made history in 2023 when she became the first envoy to combat antisemitism appointed by a Latin American nation. Given the history of antisemitic terror attacks in Argentina, with the devastating bombing of the Israeli embassy in 1992 followed by the AMIA Jewish center in 1994 — at the time the worst single antisemitic atrocity since the Holocaust — Loguzzo's appointment was strongly symbolic. "Although we consider that those attacks were committed against Argentine society as a whole, we cannot ignore that very important institutions for the Argentine Jewish community were attacked," Loguzzo said in an interview this year. "The growth of antisemitism is a complex phenomenon that needs to be analyzed in detail, starting with its causes, its new manifestations, and the danger it poses for democratic systems," she added. (Photo: Simon Wiesenthal Center)

COMMUNITY

46 .

COMMUNITY

Rabbi Shloime Bochner and his wife Chanie are the co-founders of Bonei Olam, a charity that provides support to couples dealing with infertility. Since its founding in 1999, Bonei Olam has set its mission to provide the means or resources necessary to allow childless couples facing infertility the opportunity to pursue medical fertility treatment. Bonei Olam receives requests ranging from doctor referrals to requests to pay for complex medical treatments. "With every call for help, we understand that a couple yearns for a child," the group explains. "Every story and every need is unique, and that is why every person calling is treated with care and dignity." (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

COMMUNITY

47 .

COMMUNITY

Jonny Daniels is the founder of From the Depths, a nonprofit organization that aims to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, give a name to those who were brutally murdered, and continue the message to the next generations of those who survived. Working intensively in Poland and around Eastern Europe, Daniels' group also works with Holocaust survivors and their descendants from around the world. In May 2023, with the group's assistance, Canadian Holocaust survivor Sol Nayman returned to the village of Stoczek in Poland, bringing with him 100 participants from the annual "March of the Living" event. Unveiling a monument to the village's Holocaust victims, Daniels observed that "many of them are lying in a mass grave not far from here. This monument, shaped like a headstone, will give the rest of us an address to remember them by." (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

COMMUNITY

48 .

COMMUNITY

In December 2022, the Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemet LeYisrael announced that Ifat Ovadia-Luski will serve as the organization's new chair, the first time that a woman will hold the position in the organization's 121-year history. Ovadia-Luski, a member of the Likud Party and the first female CEO of the World Likud organization, replaced outgoing JNF-KKL chairman Avraham Duvdevani. "The decision of the JNF board of directors today is historic and represents good news. As someone who has been active in national institutions for more than two decades, I'm proud of my selection to lead an important Zionist institution and I am aware of the national responsibility placed on my shoulders," Ovadia-Luski said following the announcement. (Photo: World Zionist Organization)

COMMUNITY

49 .

COMMUNITY

Gidi Mark

CEO

The first employee of the wildly successful Jewish nonprofit Taglit-Birthright Israel, Gidi Mark is still with the organization 23 years later. Mark is considered to be the most senior and experienced CEO of any nonprofit Jewish organization in Israel and worldwide. Mark was able to bring together philanthropists from across the Jewish religious and political spectrum to create an empire whose budget is hundreds of millions of dollars a year. At the mega-event of Birthright in Tel Aviv in the summer of 2022 that celebrated the 800,000th participant, Mark said that he hopes to reach a million participants by the time the organization celebrates its 25th anniversary. Then, he explained, a generation of young Jews will have been to Israel and "connected or re-connected to their Jewish values." (Photo: courtesy)

COMMUNITY

50 .

COMMUNITY

Finance gurus Bill Ackman and Marc Rowan leapt into action following the Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel by Hamas terrorists, calling on US universities to take action against the wave of Hamas solidarity activities in its wake. Ackman, CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square, demanded that Harvard University publish the names of students who signed a pro-Hamas statement, so that recruiters could avoid hiring them, while Rowan, CEO of Apollo Global Management, urged the University of Pennsylvania leadership to resign over their failure to combat antisemitism on campus. "One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other inconceivably despicable acts," wrote Ackman. (Photos: Apollo Global Management, YouTube screenshot)

COMMUNITY

51 .

COMMUNITY

Sarah Rivkah Kohn was nine years old when she lost her mother in 1993. In 2006, she started a magazine for teenage girls who had lost a parent, providing them with a platform to connect with other girls in the same situation as well as mentors and role models who had "been there" themselves. The success of the magazine led to more programming, eventually becoming Links, a forum for girls to bond with and learn from others who share their experience. Links, a project of Mishkan Yecheskel, supports children and teens who have lost one or both parents by connecting them with peers and mentors who have been through the same experience. (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

COMMUNITY

52 .

COMMUNITY

The Hostages

Victims of War Crimes

The human toll of the Hamas invasion of Israel on Oct. 7 was unprecedented in the history of the Jewish state. With 1,400 people murdered by Hamas terrorists — the greatest loss of Jewish lives in a single day since the Holocaust — and thousands more wounded, the national trauma was intensified dramatically by the terrorist organization's seizure of over 200 hostages. Those kidnapped were mainly Israeli citizens, but also included nationals of the US, Germany, Mexico, Thailand, and other countries. At least 13 of those who were kidnapped from their homes in Israel and forcibly removed to Gaza are children, with several elderly people also among them. "I just want to approach whoever can hear me in the international community: Please bring back my baby girls," Yoni Asher — a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz — told a UN meeting one week after the attack, expressing a desperate wish shared by the families of the other hostages. (Photo: StandWithUs)

COMMUNITY

53 .

COMMUNITY

Maury Litwack

Founder/CEO

Maury Litwack is the founder and CEO of the Teach Coalition, a multi-state, grassroots movement devoted to advocating for nonpublic school funding and resources. In his role as managing director at the Orthodox Union, Litwack develops and implements state-by-state advocacy plans for the OU's many communities around the country. Prior to working with the Orthodox Union, Litwack served as a policy staffer for two members of Congress and helped launch the Washington lobbying office of Miami Dade-County, the sixth largest county in the country. A sought-after expert in lobbying strategy, educational policy, and nonprofit fundraising, Litwack is a go-to source for journalists. Litwack has been regularly named to City and State Magazine and Insider NJ's annual list of the most influential people in NJ & NY politics. (Photo: Synagogue Initiatives)

COMMUNITY

54 .

COMMUNITY

In Sept. 2023, after 25 years of planning, chairman Sallai Meridor of the Israel National Library inaugurated its new campus in Jerusalem. "It took international committees, Israeli committees, a law in the Knesset, it was a birth," said Meridor during a recent press tour of the new, NIS 860 million ($225 million) building that will open to the public toward the end of October 2023. Oren Weinberg will serve as the institution's director-general. The new building is envisioned as a home for both traditional books and digital texts, giving weight to the library's history as an academic research institution with considerable collections. "This will be the national story center and there's stories behind the stories," said Meridor. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

COMMUNITY

55 .

GOVERNMENT

Chuck Grassley

Senator

A long-standing supporter of the State of Israel and Jewish causes more broadly, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa entered the fray in 2023 over Swiss bank Credit Suisse providing financial services to thousands of former Nazis. As head of the Senate Budget Committee, the Iowa senator attacked the bank's attempt to muddy the historical record. "When it comes to investigating Nazi matters, righteous justice demands that we must leave no stone unturned," Grassley said. "Credit Suisse has thus far failed to meet that standard." Grassley has been centrally involved in efforts within the US Congress to support Israel, signing a bipartisan and bicameral letter urging the US president to deepen and expand the Abraham Accords, and also condemning the recently passed law in Iraq that criminalizes relations with Israel. Grassley has also pressured World Vision, a humanitarian agency, for clarification over whether some of the approximately $500 million it received from the US government for its work in Gaza was diverted to Palestinian terrorist groups. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

56 .

GOVERNMENT

Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister

2023 has been arguably the most challenging year yet in the storied career of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After winning the Israeli election at the end of 2022, Netanyahu formed a governing coalition with a program of judicial overhaul at the center of its agenda. After months of protests and growing polarization within Israeli society, Netanyahu has still not been able to forge a consensus over his government's reforms. At the same time, he has underlined that the internal crisis should not derail Israel's foreign relations and its efforts to enhance its security, pushing for a historic peace deal with Saudi Arabia that would transform the Middle East's political landscape. "One thing is certain and one thing will never change, and that is Israel's commitment to democracy," Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden during a meeting in New York in September. "We will continue to uphold the values that both our proud democracies cherish." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

57 .

GOVERNMENT

Yoav Gallant

Defense Minister

Israeli Defense Minister and former IDF General Yoav Gallant has braved a torrid year on both the domestic and international fronts. Ever mindful of Iran's military build-up on Israel's borders, in Sept. 2023, Gallant revealed an Iranian-constructed airfield in Lebanon, just 12 miles north of Israel's border before the world's media. "The land is Lebanese, the control is Iranian, and the target is Israel," Gallant said. "If it comes to a conflict, we will not hesitate to activate the lethal force of the IDF. Hezbollah and Lebanon will pay a heavy and painful price." In tandem, Gallant has also found himself at the center of the political disputes over the government's judicial reform program. As one of the more liberal members of the governing coalition, Gallant spoke out against the reforms, causing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire him, only to then hold off on executing that decision. "The security of the State of Israel is my life's mission," Gallant said at the time. "Clothed in the IDF's uniform, I have risked my life dozens of times for the State of Israel, and at this time, for the sake of our country, I am willing to take any risk and pay any price." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

58 .

GOVERNMENT

Herzi Halevi

Chief of Staff

Israeli Lt. Gen. Herzl Halevi was appointed as the 23rd chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces in Jan. 2023. Known as a deep strategic thinker who incorporates long-term historical trends into his worldview, Halevi possesses extensive operational and command experience in dealing with Israel's adversaries. Named after his uncle who died while serving in the 1967 Six-Day War, Halevi was born in Jerusalem. For much of this year, he has been attempting to diminish the impact of Israel's internal political crisis on the IDF's morale and combat-readiness. "I will make sure that outside pressure — political, legal, and otherwise — stops at me and does not reach the gates of the IDF," he told an interviewer, adding that his goal is to keep Israel's armed forces "free of any consideration other than security." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

59 .

GOVERNMENT

David Barnea

Director

Since becoming the director of Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, in June 2021, David Barnea has repeatedly emphasized the threat that Iran poses to Israel's existence. In August 2022, Barnea was reported to have told colleagues that a revival of the 2015 international nuclear deal with the Iranian regime would amount to a "strategic disaster" for Israel. "The agreement is a bad deal that gives Iran a license to manufacture a bomb," he reportedly commented, pledging that Israel would respond accordingly. In 2023, Barnea underlined the importance of Israel managing its own security despite its alliance with the US. "We must not underestimate the enemy and its capabilities," he stressed. "We should not forget that around us there are countries and organizations that continue to grow stronger to threaten our peace here. We should not exaggerate the support of our allies in times of crisis — we will build our strength and capabilities ... Our strength is in our internal unity." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

60 .

GOVERNMENT

Ron Dermer

Strategic Affairs

Following Israel's elections of Dec. 2022, former Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer was named as strategic affairs minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government. Among his tasks, Dermer is the main liaison between the Israeli government and the US administration, and he is also responsible for bringing Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords, the 2020 agreement that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states. "Let's not underestimate the impact that an Israeli-Saudi peace agreement could have on the region and the world," Dermer asserted in an interview with PBS in August. "I think, if you get a Saudi-Israeli peace, you're going to have several other Arab countries and Muslim countries that are going to follow. And I think it's the ultimate game-changer." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

61 .

GOVERNMENT

Nikki Haley

Ambassador

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley launched her campaign to win the Republican presidential nomination for the 2024 election, entering a crowded field of candidates dominated by former President Donald Trump. A stalwart supporter of Israel who played a key role in the 2018 decision to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the Jewish state's capital, Haley has emphasized her continued backing of Israel during her campaign. Israel is on "the front line of defense when it comes to taking on Islamic terrorism," Haley declared at a Republican primary debate in August. "They're the front line of defense when it comes to taking on Iran. They've been an amazing partner with us. And as president, I will absolutely have the back of Israel so that they can have the back of America." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

62 .

GOVERNMENT

The mayor of Paris for the last nine years, Anne Hidalgo has frequently expressed her support for the city's Jewish community in its struggles with widespread antisemitism. In September, Hidalgo announced that she was stripping Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, of the Grand Vermeil medal, the city's highest honor which she bestowed on him in 2015. Protesting a virulently antisemitic speech by Abbas in which he falsely claimed that the Holocaust had been provoked by the Jews' "social role," Hidalgo accused the Palestinian leader of having "justified the extermination of the Jews of Europe during the Second World War with a clear desire to deny the genocide to which the Jewish populations of Europe were victims at the hands of the Nazi regime and its allies." Abbas' comments were "contrary to our universal values and the historical truth of the Shoah," she added. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

63 .

GOVERNMENT

Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Prime Minister

The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis won a historic second term in office with the victory of his New Democracy Party in the general election of 2023. A strong ally of Israel, Mitsotakis has been a key architect of the closer economic, energy, and security ties between Greece, Cyprus, and their Jewish neighbor across the Mediterranean. He has also been a stalwart backer of Israel's right to defend itself from attack from terrorists in Gaza, Lebanon, and elsewhere in the region. Following the invasion of Israel by Hamas terrorists in October, Mitsotakis declared: "We stand by the people of Israel and fully support its right to self-defense." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

64 .

GOVERNMENT

Yaël Braun-Pivet is a French lawyer and politician who has served as president of the French National Assembly since June 2022. Born into a Jewish family in the city of Strasbourg, Braun-Pivet is the first Jewish female to hold the post. Following the devastating Hamas invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, Braun-Pivet did not miss an opportunity to declare solidarity with Israel, lighting the National Assembly building in the colors of the Israeli flag in the days after the massacre and calling for "unconditional solidarity" with the Jewish state. Together with another Jewish parliamentarian, Meyer Habib, Braun-Pivet is currently under the 24-hour protection of the French police, having received death threats from Hamas supporters because of her stance. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

65 .

GOVERNMENT

Joe Chialo

Senator

Senator Joe Chialo is a German singer, music manager, and politician of Tanzanian descent who was appointed as minister for culture in the government of Berlin, Germany's capital, in 2023. A supporter of the center-right CDU Party who began his political career with the left-wing Green Party, Chialo has been a strong supporter of Israel and a reliable ally of a Jewish community facing rising antisemitism on Berlin's streets. Earlier this year, when the viscerally anti-Zionist former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters toured Germany, Chialo called for the concert's cancelation. "A valuable asset such as freedom of expression and freedom of art must never be misused as a license for antisemitism," Chialo said. "In this matter, all Berliners should stand together." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

66 .

GOVERNMENT

Javier Milei

Candidate

Javier Gerardo Milei is an Argentine economist and politician. He has authored several books on politics and economics, and hosted the radio programs "Demoliendo mitos" and "Cátedra libre." A candidate in Argentina's 2023 presidential election, Milei has vowed to move Argentina's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in the event of victory. In an interview earlier this year with a Spanish newspaper, Milei spoke of his desire to convert to Judaism and the potential challenges that might arise from doing so. "If I'm president and it's Shabbat, what do I do? Am I going to disconnect from the country from Friday to Saturday? There are some issues that would make [the religion] incompatible. The rabbi who helps me study says that I should read the Torah from the point of view of economic analysis," he said. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

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GOVERNMENT

Lloyd Austin

Defense Secretary

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has dealt with a range of extreme threats during 2023, ranging from the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the wider threat to America's NATO allies to the October 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel, which resulted in the slaughter, maiming, and kidnapping of thousands of Israeli civilians. Following the atrocities in Israel, Austin denounced the "abhorrent terrorism" of Hamas. "My thoughts continue to be with the people of Israel and the many families who have lost loved ones," he said. Backing words with action, Austin ordered the deployment of several warships to the Middle East as part of a new strategy to shore up the US military presence in the region given the growing threat faced by Israel. (Photo: Department of Defense)

GOVERNMENT

68 .

GOVERNMENT

James Cleverly

Foreign Secretary

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly flew to Israel in an important gesture of solidarity following the October invasion by Hamas terrorists. While visiting the southern town of Ofakim just hours after Israeli forces drove out the last remaining terrorists, Cleverly was forced to take cover from a Hamas rocket barrage fired from Gaza. "Today I've seen a glimpse of what millions experience every day. The threat of Hamas rockets lingers over every Israeli man, woman, and child," he said later. "This is why we are standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel." Cleverly also met survivors of the Hamas atrocities and senior Israeli leaders to outline Britain's support for Israel's right to defend itself. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

69 .

GOVERNMENT

Dean Phillips

Congressman

Dean Phillips is a father, businessman, civic leader, self-described "eternal optimist," and Representative for Minnesota's Third Congressional District in the US Congress for the Democratic Party. A Gold Star Son who lost his birth father, Artie, in the Vietnam War, Dean was adopted into the Phillips family when his mother DeeDee married Eddie Phillips, who raised him to work hard and always share success. Phillips is the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Middle East, Northern Africa, and Central Asia Subcommittee. A stalwart supporter of Israel, Phillips has been instrumental in pushing back against the anti-Zionist agenda adopted by some on the left of his party. After Hamas terrorists invaded Israel in October 2023, Phillips railed against the "monsters" of Hamas, who "cut off babies' heads, massacred entire families, slaughtered 260 teens at a festival, murdered innocents in their homes, and kidnapped civilians. The blood of Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans, and of Jews, Muslims, and Christians, has stained their hands." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

70 .

GOVERNMENT

Shlomo Karhi

Communications Minister

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi made history in October 2023 when he became the first Israeli politician to deliver a speech in Saudi Arabia, which had previously refused any such ties with the Jewish state and its citizens. "Today, as I stand before you, I am reminded of the great leaders of our past, who envisioned a world united in purpose, and bound by shared values," Karhi told the Universal Postal Union's Fourth Extraordinary Congress. Holding up a small optical fiber cable, he continued: "It may appear delicate, but it embodies the promise of a connected future. Envision, if you will, a vast digital highway, a conduit for huge amounts of data, connecting Asia and Arab countries to Europe, passing through Israel. This is the same route that Abraham, our common ancestor, walked thousands of years ago." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

71 .

GOVERNMENT

Gilad Erdan

Ambassador to the UN

Gilad Erdan, Israel's Ambassador to the UN, has retained a sharp focus throughout 2023 on the world organization's double standards towards Israel, as well as the presence in its corridors of arch-foes of the Jewish state like Iran. Among the numerous blows that Erdan has countered was a resolution from the UN Human Rights Council following the October invasion of Israel by Hamas terrorists that condemned the loss of Palestinian lives without mentioning the atrocities inflicted on Israelis. "Israel just suffered the gravest human rights atrocity since the Holocaust," Erdan said. "How many dead Jews does it take to justify a proportionate response against a genocidal terror organization? Is it 1,000? Six million? Maybe it’s 10 million — the population of Israel? This is, after all, Hamas' publicly declared goal. So I ask you, how many murdered Jews does it take for you to support Israel's right to self-defense?" Erdan also added that Israel will "continue to protect itself" and that the council had been making "false, immoral comparisons." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

GOVERNMENT

72 .

INNOVATION

Avital Gasith

Professor

Tel Aviv University Prof. Avital Gasith's interests lie in freshwater ecology, conservation, and rehabilitation of aquatic systems (stream pollution and rehabilitation, structure and function of the littoral zone in lacustrine ecosystems, and conservation of rain-pool ecosystem). His research includes the role of flooded shore vegetation in the ecology of Lake Kinneret (fish reproduction), the impact of stone quarrying on the ecosystem of dryland Negev streams, integrating road runoff in roadside ecosystems, and restoration of abandoned agricultural land (creation of a community nature park by restoring native vegetation and construction of a rain-pool). He is head of the Environmental Studies Master's Program at Tel Aviv University's Porter School. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

INNOVATION

73 .

INNOVATION

Dr. Polina Stepensky heads the Hadassah Medical Organization's Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immunotherapy for Adults and Children. She has adapted CAR T-cell therapy, a method of using immune cells to fight cancer, to make it available and affordable to potentially save the more than 160,000 patients diagnosed worldwide each year. Clinical trials show a 90 percent positive response for Israeli patients for whom traditional treatments have not stopped the disease. Speaking at a Hadassah USA event in Feb. 2023, Stepensky spoke of her love and dedication to her work. "Dream big dreams and take practical steps to make them a reality," she said, adding: "I'm always asking, 'What is the next step?'" (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

INNOVATION

74 .

PHILANTHROPY

Arthur Langerman

Historical artificat collector

Belgian Jewish Holocaust survivor Arthur Langerman has revolutionized the study of antisemitism with his unique collection of more than 10,000 artifacts of "antisemitica" — postcards, photos, paintings, cartoons, and trinkets that visually showcase several centuries of hostility and animus towards the Jewish people. In an extensive interview with The Algemeiner in April 2023, Langerman explained that he had begun collecting the items as a teenager struggling to understand his family's ordeal during the Holocaust. "Looking at my collection, no Holocaust denier can deny the truth of the Holocaust, or claim that antisemitism isn't a problem, because I have 10,000 images showing just that," he noted. Arguing that the profusion of antisemitic images paved the way to the Nazi extermination program, Langerman added, "that's why I collect images, not books — because with an image, you can understand what it means instantly." (Photo: Arthur Langerman Foundation)

PHILANTHROPY

75 .

PHILANTHROPY

Sandor Frankel

Attorney

Sandor Frankel is a practicing attorney with over 50 years of experience, the author of several books, and a trustee of The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Since beginning active grant-making in 2008, the Helmsley Charitable Trust has committed more than $3 billion to a wide range of charitable causes to benefit humankind, focusing on health, medical research, and select place-based initiatives, including Israel. Under the visionary leadership of Mr. Frankel, the trust's Israel program has been a pivotal benefactor of major endeavors in Israel, improving access to quality health care throughout the country, strengthening Israel's leadership in scientific, technological, and medical research, and promoting global understanding and appreciation of Israel and its people. (Photo: Helmsley Charitable Trust)

PHILANTHROPY

76 .

PHILANTHROPY

Joseph Feit is the chairman and his son Jeremy is the president of Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry (SSEJ), which serves as the main source of humanitarian assistance for the Jewish community in Ethiopia. Its programs include feeding centers, medical care, Jewish and secular education, and religious and other communal activities. SSEJ also assists Ethiopian Jews in Israel, although the great majority of its funds are devoted to the Jews awaiting aliyah in Ethiopia. In a jointly-authored op-ed published in 2023, the Feits criticized the Israeli government for failing to bring the remaining 12,500 Jews in Ethiopia to the Jewish state. "The miraculous airlifts implemented by prior Israeli governments — Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Solomon in 1991 — refuted the antisemitic trope that Zionism is a form of racism. The current government's immigration policy runs counter to Israel's Declaration of Independence, which guarantees that all Jews, without regard to their educational or occupational status, have the right to immigrate to Israel," they wrote. (Photo: Times of Israel and YouTube screenshot)

PHILANTHROPY

77 .

RELIGION

Efraim Mintz

Rabbi

Rabbi Efraim Mintz is the founding executive director of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI). The largest institute of adult Jewish learning of its kind, JLI provides educational offerings in over 1,000 chapters across the globe. Rabbi Mintz directs a vibrant network of education departments including teens, university students, women's studies, Talmud study, online learning, and continuing professional education. He directs the annual National Jewish Retreat, missions to Israel, and TorahCafé.com, a premier online learning destination. (Photo: Tamima Academy)

RELIGION

78 .

RELIGION

Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky is the director of the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries and vice chairman of Merkos L'lnyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Rabbi Kotlarsky travels the globe establishing Jewish centers for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, becoming known as "Judaism's Globe Trotter” in the process. In many countries he is the public face of Chabad, visiting heads of state and opening new Chabad centers worldwide. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

RELIGION

79 .

RELIGION

The chairman of the educational arm of the Chabad movement, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky began his career as an emissary of the legendary Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. "Today, in my estimation, Chabad-Lubavitch is the largest Jewish organization in the world," Krinsky said in a recent interview. "You have over 3,500 Batei Chabad [Chabad Houses] all over the world, and along with spreading Torah and mitzvot, our people save people in natural disasters. They save non-Jews, too." (Photo: Chabad)

RELIGION

80 .

RELIGION

Dov Schwartz

Professor

Prof. Dov Schwartz was born in Israel in 1961 to Holocaust survivors. He studied in the Hesder Yeshiva Kerem B'Yavne and later at the Advanced Judaic Studies Program at Bet Ariel in Jerusalem. For 10 years he taught Jewish thought at the Horev Religious Girls' High School, while beginning studies towards a BA and then a PhD at the Philosophy Department of Bar Ilan University. While still a BA student, he was asked to teach three courses in place of a lecturer who had fallen ill, and thus the student became a teacher. He completed his PhD just three and a half years after first entering through the university gates, receiving distinction for his work on the religious philosophy of R. Samuel Ibn Zarza. He subsequently became full professor at Bar Ilan University. (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

RELIGION

81 .

RELIGION

Robert Stearns

Bishop, Executive Director

Bishop Robert Stearns is the founder and executive director of Eagles' Wings, a dynamic relational ministry involved in a variety of outreaches and strategic projects around the world. He has ministered in more than 30 nations around the world, with a central focus on the nation of Israel. A powerful communicator, Stearns is the author of seven books, and speaks around the country at various churches, conferences, and venues. Stearns is also an accomplished recording artist and soloist, with performances in the US, Europe, and Israel, including both the prestigious Carnegie Hall and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. Stearns is the visionary of the worldwide prayer initiative, "The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem," which is observed annually on the first Sunday of October and has the participation of over 500,000 churches in over 175 nations. (Photo: Eagles' Wings)

RELIGION

82 .

RELIGION

Haim Korsia

Chief Rabbi

The son of Algerian Jewish immigrants to France, Haim Korsia is the chief rabbi of France, a position he has held since 2014. Korsia served as a rabbi in France for more than two decades, heading a rabbinical school in Paris and also serving as Jewish chaplain of the French army. Korsia's role as the spiritual head of French Jews, the largest community in Western Europe, has overlapped with a dramatic rise in antisemitism along with bitter political polarization in the country at large. Following the antisemitic murder of Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll in 2018, Korsia declared that "we will fight and we will win" in the battle against Jew-hatred. In 2023, Korsia was himself the target of antisemitism when he visited Algeria as a member of the official delegation of French President Emmanuel Macron, with Islamist members of the Algerian parliament depicting him as an agent of a "Zionist conspiracy." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

RELIGION

83 .

TOMORROW

Harvard Jewish student leader Sabrina Goldfischer became so concerned about antisemitism and anti-Zionism on campus that she decided to write her senior thesis about it in 2023. The resulting work — titled "The Death of Discourse: Antisemitism at Harvard College" — was based on interviews with 60 individuals, including students and Hillel staff members, mostly from Harvard, with some representation from other universities. Goldfischer's supervisor, Jeffrey Frieden, highlighted one critical aspect of the thesis — "that a very large number of the Jewish students on campus feel the necessity to censor themselves, especially when they talk about the Israel issue." According to the research conducted by Goldfischer, who also serves as Harvard Hillel's intern for combating antisemitism, 62.5 percent of students reported experiencing antisemitism or personally know someone who has, 68.7 percent said they self-censor in academic and social settings, and 83 percent said they have experienced anti-Zionism. (Photo: X)

TOMORROW

84 .

TOMORROW

Sasha Spielberg

Musician, Podcast Host

The daughter of movie director Steven Spielberg, Sasha Spielberg is a recording artist and podcast host. In an interview in 2023, Sasha recalled that she had played a band called "The Rabbis" in ninth grade, saying that only once she started studying for her bat mitzvah did she begin to feel pride in her Jewish heritage. "And then of course, my dad showed me 'Schindler's List,' which was such a pivotal moment for my relationship to Judaism," she added about the iconic film that her father directed. "He had said I had to wait until I had my bat mitzvah to see it. And so there was this switch. Pre-bat mitzvah, I saw temple as like, three hours and boring. And then it turned into something way more spiritual ... I feel so happy to be Jewish." (Photo: Instagram)

TOMORROW

85 .

TOMORROW

UK Jewish student Danielle Greyman was at the sharp end of campus anti-Zionism when her thesis on the oppression of Palestinians in Gaza by the ruling Hamas regime was failed by an examiner at the University of Leeds. "I was given a failing grade of 35," she wrote in an opinion piece for The Algemeiner. "I know students who have written their essays drunk, at 2 AM the night before it was due, and still received a 50. The grader and university were saying my essay had absolutely no academic merit whatsoever." Greyman said that she then researched the examiner, Claudia Radiven. "I had never spoken to her, never had a class with her, and never interacted with her," she wrote. "Yet, I found I was blocked by her on Twitter. This is enough for me to believe the anonymity of marking was breached." Greyman's protest led to her thesis being reassessed, receiving a passing grade the second time around. To date, however, the University of Leeds has still not apologized or even acknowledged the discrimination that took place. (Photo: Jewish Chronicle)

TOMORROW

86 .

TOMORROW

In May 2023, Hillel International, the world's largest Jewish campus organization, announced the selection of Jillian Lederman, a rising senior at Brown University, to serve as chair of its Israel Leadership Network (ILN). "I am absolutely thrilled and honored to serve as the executive chair of Hillel International's Israel Leadership Network this coming year," she said. "The pro-Israel campus movement has inspired and infinitely enhanced my college experience, and it means the world to me to expand my involvement alongside hundreds of passionate and intelligent students from campuses across the country." Her predecessor, Jasmine Beroukhim, added that she was "confident that ILN will reach new heights under Jillian's leadership.” (Photo: Hillel International)

TOMORROW

87 .

VOICES

Lucy Lipiner

Author

Holocaust survivor Lucy Lipiner is the author of the newly-published memoir, Long Journey Home, A Young Girl's Memoir of Surviving the Holocaust. In an opinion piece for The Algemeiner published to mark Holocaust Memorial Day in January, Lipiner wrote that for her, "each day is Holocaust Remembrance Day. The memories come to me at night in my dreams, and upon waking, the first blurred images to cross my closed eyes are those of my many aunts, uncles, and little cousins, all murdered in the gas chamber at Auschwitz." Describing her relationship with her daughter Rena, who also wrote a memoir based on their conversations about Lucy's wartime experiences, Lipiner recalled that she "did not know how to hide my story from my daughter; it did not occur to me that it should have been concealed or at least revealed when she could better understand and assimilate it. There was a particular story I told Rena, more than once, about how my own mother would push her bread rations into my hands, telling me she was not hungry." Lipiner underlined that her goal is to preserve the memory of Holocaust victims and "treasure the state of Israel, our ancient homeland that affirms with its very existence: Never Again." (Photo: Audible.com)

VOICES

88 .

VOICES

Ellie Zeiler

Influencer

Social media influencer Ellie Zeiler shares her posts with more than 10 million followers on TikTok and over one million on Instagram. While much of her output concentrates on lifestyle and fashion, Zeiler also emphasizes her Jewish identity and her support for Israel. "I am incredibly proud to be Jewish," she said in a 2023 interview. "Feeling connected to Judaism has given me a sense of belonging and security as I've grown up. Knowing that I am part of such a remarkable community of thought and business leaders, spiritual mentors, and true survivors gives me a sense of comfort and courage wherever I am." She reflected that "developing a personal brand and creating high quality content that communicates who you are requires a lot of time, vulnerability and effort. I absolutely love what I do and wake up excited to create new content every day." (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

VOICES

89 .

VOICES

Marion Deichmann

Survivor

Holocaust survivor Marion Deichmann is the subject and star of a new virtual reality film "Letters from Drancy" — the concentration camp constructed by the Nazis outside Paris. "My mother died in the gas chambers [at Auschwitz] and that to me is the ultimate evil that man has done to man, so I want the world to know what happened," Deichmann told The Algemeiner in July. "I want to tell the world what it is to be chased [and] to be hunted." The film was selected by the prestigious Venice Film Festival as part of its official line-up in 2023. The film is a tribute to Deichmann's mother, Alice, and the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. "Marion's story is a testament to the strength of the human spirit, and we believe it has the potential to leave a profound impact on viewers, urging them to embrace empathy, compassion, and understanding," the producers of the documentary pointed out in their announcement of its release. (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

VOICES

90 .

VOICES

Jessica Seinfeld is better known as a cookbook author than an activist. Her popular books include 2007's Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food —  a bestseller — and, most recently, Vegan, at Times: 120+ Recipes for Every Day or Every So Often. Last October, however, in response to a spate of antisemitic incidents that began with rapper Kanye West's antisemitic tweets, Seinfeld shared an Instagram message of solidarity with her 580,000 followers. "I support my Jewish friends and Jewish people," it read. "If you don't know what to say, you can just say this in your feed." The post went viral and was shared by a number of celebrities, including comic Amy Schumer and three members of the Kardashian/Jenner clan. The post also earned praise from her famous husband, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who remarked, "She found a simple, and I thought non-aggressive, way to say something that, as we said, unfortunately needs to be said." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

VOICES

91 .

VOICES

Mattie Kahn

Writer

Mattie Kahn, 31, is a writer whose work has been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Vogue, Elle, Glamour and more. In an extensive 2023 interview, Kahn spoke about her Jewish upbringing in New York City. "I was educated at Ramaz in New York for over a decade," she remembered. "But also: I am the daughter of a mother and father who have hosted between 15 and 30 people for Shabbat lunch each week for their entire adult lives ... That culture of hosting and eating together and spending long hours talking about art and literature and the contents of Peoplemagazine (our other Torah) shaped me." Asked about the influence of her Jewish identity on her writing, Kahn replied that "Jews are natural reporters: We love asking questions, pestering, never taking no for an answer." (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

VOICES

92 .

VOICES

Kassy Dillon

Journalist

In 2023, Kassy Dillon, a reporter and Fox News journalist based in Boston, completed a 7-year conversion process of becoming a Jew, having undergone extensive learning to complete an Orthodox conversion. Dillon announced the completion of her conversion on Twitter, where she thanked all those who had supported her through "a very long journey with lots of ups and downs" and shared a photo of herself with a Star of David and the words "Devorah Ruth Bat Sarah" — her new Hebrew name. Dillon, a long-time supporter of the State of Israel, is also known for her contributions to US presidential candidate Nikki Haley's organization, Stand For America. In 2023, Dillon announced she was joining Fox News. Her interest in Israel was sparked by a tragedy in the Jewish state when three Israeli teens were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, leading to Operation Protective Edge in 2014. At the time, Dillon herself was only 18 years old. (Photo: Instagram)

VOICES

93 .

VOICES

Talia Carner

Author

A seventh-generation Sabra who lives in New York, author Talia Carner has authored five well-regarded suspense novels, including Jerusalem Maiden and Hotel Moscow. Her forthcoming novel The Boy With the Star Tattoo will be released in Feb. 2024. Active in the Jewish community, Carner serves as a board member of Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, the Jewish women's research center at Brandeis University. She is also an honorary board member of several anti-domestic violence and child-abuse-intervention organizations. Born in Tel Aviv, Carner served in the Israel Defense Forces and received a BA degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in psychology and sociology. (Photo: Facebook)

VOICES

94 .

VOICES

Alana New­house is the edi­tor in chief of Tablet, a dai­ly online magazine of Jew­ish news, ideas, and cul­ture which she found­ed in 2009. A grad­u­ate of Barnard Col­lege and Columbia's Grad­u­ate School of Jour­nal­ism, New­house has con­tributed to The New York Times, The Wash­ing­ton Post, The Boston Globe, and Slate. In a recent article for Tablet, Newhouse argued that the "most vital debate in America today is between those who believe there is something fundamentally broken in America, and that it's an emergency, and those who do not ... which is why this is the debate that has, over the past few years, been given center stage at Tablet." (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

VOICES

95 .

VOICES

Avi Issacharoff

Journalist

Journalist and strategic analyst Avi Issacharoff is the co-author of the award-winning Israeli TV series "Fauda." A fluent Arabic speaker, Issacharoff worked as a reporter for several major Israeli news outlets, including Israel Radio and Haaretz. Born to a Bukharan Jewish family in Jerusalem, Issacharoff grew up in the city's Givat Shaul quarter. Prior to the release of "Fauda," Issacharoff was a field reporter, suffering an assault in 2014 when Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank accused him of being an Israeli intelligence agent. After its release, "Fauda" enjoyed the status of an international hit, netting a total of 24 of the prestigious Ophir Awards sponsored by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. (Photo: Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles)

VOICES

96 .

VOICES

Seth Lipsky

Editor

Seth Lipsky is the founding editor of the New York Sun, an independent conservative daily based in New York City.  He has been described in the The Boston Globe as "a legendary figure in contemporary journalism," in The Atlantic as having "the most interesting mind in journalism," and in New Criterion as "one of our age's great journalists." His numerous awards include the Emma Lazarus Prize of the American Jewish Historical Society. A 1968 graduate of Harvard College, Lipsky served as a private soldier in the United States Army, assigned as a combat reporter in Vietnam for Pacific Stars and Stripes. After the war he joined the The Wall Street Journal, becoming a roving correspondent in Asia and a member of the founding staff of the Asian Wall Street Journal, where he served as managing editor. He covered the Fall of Saigon for The Wall Street Journal. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

VOICES

97 .

VOICES

Evan Gershkovich

Journalist

Jewish journalist Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, was detained by invading Russian forces in Ukraine in March 2023. The first American journalist since the Cold War to face fabricated charges of espionage from the Russian authorities, Gershkovich is presently incarcerated in the notorious Lefortovo Prison in Moscow. Gershkovich garnered international attention and bipartisan support in the US House of Representatives, which in June voted unanimously to approve a resolution calling on Russia to immediately free him and demanding that Moscow provide the reporter unconstrained access to US consular officials during his imprisonment. Over the recent Rosh Hashanah holiday, Gershkovich received more than 2,000 messages of support through an online campaign organized by the Jewish Federations of North America. (Photo: LinkedIn)

VOICES

98 .

VOICES

Paul Gigot

Editor, Vice President

Paul Gigot is the editorial page editor and vice president of The Wall Street Journal, a position he has held since 2001. He is responsible for the newspaper's editorials, op-ed articles, and Leisure & Arts criticism and directs the editorial pages of the paper's Asian and European editions and the OpinionJournal.com website. He is also the host of the weekly half-hour news program, the "Journal Editorial Report," on the Fox News Channel. In 2000, Gigot was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, winning praise for his "insightful columns on politics and government." In the wake of the October invasion of Israel by Hamas terrorists backed by Iran, Gigot argued that US policy towards Tehran is "in crucial need of rethinking ... I wonder if, to put it bluntly, Washington is going to wake up to what is actually happening in the world and start to rethink this retreat from global leadership and indeed re-arm ourselves instead of what we've been doing, which is letting our defenses deteriorate." (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)

VOICES

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