Weighing in on the Forward 50

In the better late than never department… here’s my take on this year’s Forward 50 list.

Let’s start with the Top 5. Assuming things haven’t changed since my days at the Forward, the editors and writers over there were committed to producing a diverse list — especially at the top. That usually means one organizational type, two at the most. A celebrity. At least one woman. Someone under 50 (under 40 would be better). And a person who lives somewhere outside of the New York metropolitan area.

Some years you get luck, and cover a bunch of the bases with one pick (see Sarah Silverman in 2008). Sometimes it takes more thought.

This year’s entertainment pick — Joel and Ethan Coen — was right on the money, with "A Serious Man" out in theaters and "The Yiddish Policemen’s Union" coming down the pike. Hey, if Steven Spielberg making a Shoah film with a gentile hero justified all that Jewey buzz, then the Coen brothers should be hailed as the Moseses of filmmaking.

Jerry Silverman, the new CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, makes sense also. He’s a fresh face, and has an important job, as he looks to give a boost to North America’s largest Jewish chraitable network — at a time of escalating needs. The only question is why hasn’t he ever been on the list before, as he helped transform the Foundation for Jewish Camp into a $20 million per year juggernaught.

Michael Oren is a provacative pick, on several fronts. I’m wondering: Does this mean the list is no longer limited to Americans? Or does being born and raised here make you permanently eligible, even if you move to another country? Or is working in the United States for a limited stint enough to qualify (even if in the process you give up your U.S. citizenship)? Don’t get me wrong, the pick feels right (even for a Top 5er). I’m only asking because it relates to my questions about what could prove to be the worst Forward 50 decision of all time…

Dmitriy Salita? And not Yuri Foreman? If Lenore Skenazy and Ayelet Waldman can share an entry, why not two Orthodox Jewish boxers set to fight for championships? And if you’re going to choose, try making sure that you go with the one with better odds on taking home the belt. As it stands now, Foreman is the champ — and Salita is facing a tough fight later this month. Even if Salita also wins, what you have is a Jewish boxing champ studying to be a rabbi — who did not make the Forward 50!?! What does this have to do with Michael Oren? The only thing I’m wondering is if Foreman was excluded because the Forward folks don’t consider him American (even though he now lives in Brooklyn). But then why would would Oren qualify? Or, for that matter, Salita?

On the topic of lumping together and possible Top 5 candidates… Last year Rahm Emanuel was in the Top 5, and David Axelrod didn’t even make the list. This year the Forward splits the difference, lumping the two Obama adviser together and placing them in the regular ranks. My two cents: They work as a pair, but Emanuel probably could have been a Top 5er again on his own, with Axelrod getting his own spot farther down the list. By most accounts, Emanuel seems to be the bigger player/enforcer on the Jewish-Israel stuff, and he’s the guy the White House sent to pinch hit for Obama at the GA. But who would you bump from the top? Maybe Oren. Or maybe package those guys together — Bibi’s and Obama’s top Jews in D.C.

Rounding out the Top 5 discussion… Sara Hurwitz. Does she deserve to be at the top? Had she been able to claim the title of rabbi, it would have been a reasonable choice. But in the end she accepted the title of Maharat instead, so I’m not sure this was the right pick. The Forward says that, under the guidance of Orthodox maverick Rabbi Avi Weiss, she has "dramatically broadened the boundaries of acceptable public roles for women in an Orthodox setting"; and then it plays up the fact that she and Weiss are "establishing a training program for other women who wish to become a Maharat." But Yeshiva University is already running an advanced Talmud program for women that has already placed women in full-time clergy roles in Modern Orthodox congregations. So why not Elana Stein Hain of Lincoln Square Synagogue or Lynn Kaye of the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue? And why mention Weiss, and not Rabbi Shmuel Hain, who runs the Y.U. Talmud program (or, if Y.U.’s Center for the Jewish Future takes up the cause of placing these women, Rabbi Kenny Brander)? This isn’t a matter of diminishing the accomplishments of Hurwitz and Weiss; it’s just that in this case — since the two of them passed on the rabbi title — things are arguably moving faster (if not as loudly) within the establishment.

Oh, wait, one more Top 5 thought: Bernie Madoff? He’s on the list, but not in the top tier. Interesting.

Perhaps no selection widens the scope of the Forward 50 more than Marsha Levick, a legal crusader — with very little in the way of a distinctly Jewish resume. I’m not objecting — after all, you can make a strong case that us Jewish media types should spend less time worrying about what Jewish organizations are up to, and more time reporting on what real life Jews are actually doing. Just thought it was worth noting.

I could go on, so I’ll leave it at… Yes, Jay Michaelson is, among other things, a Forward columnist. But stop being so cynical. He’s a smart choice for his role in the Jewish spirituality movement. And, who knows, maybe it means Eli Valley has a chance next year!

Be sure to read through the list and judge for yourselves. Is anyone missing? Who would you bump to put him or her on?