
For the past 15 years, the New York Jewish Week has honored remarkable Jewish New Yorkers for their contributions in the arts, religion, culture, business, politics and philanthropy. The goal was clear: to identify the young innovators who are remaking the Jewish community, or contributing to society in ways that draw upon their diverse Jewish identities and sensibilities.
Our annual list of changemakers returns this year — but with a difference: What was once “36 Under 36” is now “36 to Watch,” a recognition that innovation and disruption are not bound by something as arbitrary as age. Our honorees include a 23-year-old star athlete as well as a 98-year-old Holocaust survivor still creating his defiant, life-affirming paintings. They join a group of individuals, including some you may know and others you should, who together paint a portrait of a city, and its Jewish community, reinventing itself after a period of loss and upheaval.
Keep reading to celebrate their achievements.

TAFFY BRODESSER-AKNER
46, novelist and ‘Trouble’ maker

SHOSHANA AKABAS BARZEL
30, connecting neighbors with refugees

SOPHIE BEREN
27, unifying people through conversation

NIKOLAI BORODULIN
61, Yiddish maven and star educator

DANIELLE BRODY
29, remaking Judaism one ‘doodle’ at a time

ZACH BRONSTEIN
32, champion of cryptocurrency philanthropy

LUIS ROBERTO BURGOS
32, ‘Black, queer, neurodiverse’ photographer and writer

KM DICOLANDREA
37, Jewish educator, debate coach and role model

ALEX EDELMAN
33, comedian and writer

DOVID EFUNE
37, publisher of The New York Sun

JOEL EISDORFER
41, senior advisor to Mayor Eric Adams

LAURA ELKESLASSY
37, Sephardi/Mizrahi singer, actor and educator

RENA NASAR FIRST
30, standing up for Israel

ADAM FOX
24, New York Rangers star

JESSICA HALLER
47, advocate for women in local government

MOLLY ROSE HELLER
29, theater artist and educator

ILANA RUSKAY-KIDD
50, educator and advocate for those with learning disabilities

SANNA LEGAN
22, using art to redefine activism

ALISON LEIBY
39, comedian and writer

REBEKAH LOWIN
30, maker of ‘whimsical Jewish holiday ideas’

DAVID EVAN MARKUS
49, rabbi and public servant

AVISHAI YEGANYAHU MEKONEN
48, director and producer

RABBI MIKE MOSKOWITZ
42, scholar and advocate for trans and queer Jews

ABIGAIL RAPOPORT
32, curator of Judaica at the Jewish Museum

JORDAN SALAMA
25, telling stories of people and nature

SOUKSVAT “SOUKS” SOUKHASEUM
39, advocate for a diverse and inclusive community

FREDERICK TERNA
98, Holocaust survivor and painter

RACHEL TIMONER
51, rabbi helping to amplify the voices of liberal Jews

YANA TOLMACHEVA
33, boxer and advocate for Jews from Eastern Europe

RYAN TURELL
23, Yeshiva University basketball star

YAEL AVERBUCH WEST
35, former US soccer player on a mission

RACHEL WEINSTEIN WHITE
47, reimagining the ‘Hebrew school’
This year’s 36 to Watch was written and produced by: Ben Harris, Caleb Guedes-Reed, Andrew Silow-Carroll, Lisa Keys, Philissa Cramer, Julia Gergely, Jackie Hajdenberg, Jacob Henry and Madeline Fixler.