There is something both satisfying and terrifying about making a list. The very act of compiling — a to-do list, a bucket list, a gratitude list — can clarify priorities even to yourself. To accomplish or buy or even just remember these things becomes more important because they’re written down. What is left off may be just as telling.

This is the season of lists— gift lists, best-of lists, resolutions— and we at the Forward approach our annual compilation of 50 American Jews with both ambition and humility. Seth Lipsky, the first English editor of this storied institution, invented the list in 1994. “The criterion was newsworthiness,” he recalled simply when we looked into the project’s history. Why 50? “Probably alliteration,” he admitted, “which I’ve always loved.” (Me, too.)
 

Lipsky and my other predecessors generally framed it as a list of the “most influential” Jews, and some names — the machers and moguls — appeared year after year. The list included, too, some “shandas,” people who influenced the news largely by getting into trouble. “Newsworthiness itself isn’t a virtue,” Lipsky noted. 

For this, the Forward 50’s 25th year and my first overseeing the list as Editor-in-Chief, we decided to approach the list a little differently. We dropped the “most” in our minds. We wanted a list of influential, intriguing and, yes, inspiring American Jews, but we wanted them to be mainly people you don’t know much about. We didn’t want the Forward 50 to be an insider’s game; we wanted the experience of reading the list to be one of discovery and delight. We skipped the shandas; felt like a different list.



We also sought help. More than 200 readers responded to our call for nominations. Some of their suggestions, like Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman —whose assurance to his immigrant father that speaking truth to power was a safe thing to do in the United States as it was not in the former Soviet Union was a singular news moment of 2019  — were already securely on our list. Others, like Kerry Brodie, who created the refugee-run restaurant Emma’s Torch, were people we knew less about. In the end, 14 of our 50 were nominated by you. Neat. 

The list is eclectic: Congressmen and a comedian, four rabbis and five authors of 2019 books, Zionists and non, Latina and black and Greek Jews, a farmer and a superhero, a runner and a couple of really, really creative cooks. The only fixed criteria are that they had to be American, and Jewish (sorry, Vladimir Zelensky). 

There are even numbers of women and men, and their median age is 42. Two are just 18: Jamie Margolin, the Seattle-based climate activist who wants to be president, and Gabe Fleisher of St. Louis, Mo. whose “Wake Up to Politics” newsletter has 50,000 subscribers. The oldest is in her 90s: Chaya Palevsky, partisan, pioneer, preserver of history.

Another change this year: instead of us writing *about* the people on the list, we asked them to answer a few questions. We purposely did not ask about their work. Instead: Who are their heroes? What do they love about being Jewish? What do they eat for breakfast?

Four have been listening to the podcast “Dolly Parton’s America,” three to Lizzo. Jerry Nadler eats gefilte fish in the morning. One of the first steps in Rabbi Abby Stein’s gender transition was taking on the mitzvah of Shabbat candles — she has scarcely missed a week in five years. 



Asked what app they can’t live without, a lot of the Forward 50 said The New York Times (me too!). Chaya Palevsky said “chopped liver.”

“What I like most about being Jewish is the complicatedness of it all,” said Dana Czapnik, whose new novel “The Falconers” had critics gushing. “If I found being Jewish easy, if I found being American easy, what would I have to think about? What would I have to write about?”

Indeed. We’re lucky to have so much to write about at the Forward, and so many more than 50 influential and intriguing characters in our community, but what’s below is a start. Click on each name to see more. 

Thanks to Adam Langer, for leading this project, with the crucial help of Alyssa Fisher and John Kunza. It was truly a team effort, with contributions by Molly Boigon, Helen Chernikoff, Irene Katz Connelly,  Ari Feldman, P.J. Grisar, Virginia Jeffries, Jordan Kutzik, Aiden Pink, Chana Pollack, Rukhl Schaechter, Jay Schreiber, Jenny Singer, Batya Ungar-Sargon and Talya Zax. 

It's been an intense news year, especially for Jews, so we've decided to take a little break from our regular publishing schedule. From now through the weekend, barring something extraordinary happening, we're not going to promote any new articles. Instead, we hope you will revel in this rich list of fascinating leaders. Savor it -- share it with your friends.

And please, let me know what you think: rudoren@forward.com.

Happy Hanukkah, Happy 2020, Happy Forward 50,
Jodi