{"id":52539,"date":"2019-12-29T07:53:26","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T13:53:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=52539"},"modified":"2019-12-29T07:53:26","modified_gmt":"2019-12-29T13:53:26","slug":"the-jews-who-defined-the-2010s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/the-jews-who-defined-the-2010s\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jews who defined the 2010s"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By BEN SALES, GABE FRIEDMAN, LAURA ADKINS, JOSEFIN DOLSTEN, SHANNON SARNA and BEN HARRIS<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 The 2010s were nothing if not turbulent.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52565\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-26-19-EOD-header.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52565\" class=\"wp-image-52565 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-26-19-EOD-header-1024x569.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"444\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-26-19-EOD-header-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-26-19-EOD-header-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-26-19-EOD-header-768x427.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 800px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 800\/444;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52565\" class=\"wp-image-52565\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-26-19-EOD-header-1024x569.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"444\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-26-19-EOD-header-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-26-19-EOD-header-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-26-19-EOD-header-768x427.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52565\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dozens of Jewish figures had enormous impacts on the 2010s. (Getty Images\/Photo illustration by Grace Yagel)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The decade brought us unprecedented political polarization, war and increasing conflict in Israel, dozens of horrific mass shootings, and a new age of election hacking and private data collection enabled by the proliferation of social media. It was capped by arguably the most shocking presidential election in American history.<\/p>\n<p>These are the Jewish figures who steered us through it all, and who had the largest impact on life and culture in the last ten years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong><br \/>\nLove him or hate him, no one person has dominated the Jewish 2010s more than the Israeli prime minister. He took office nine months before the decade began and, barring a drastic change, will still be in office when it ends.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past ten years, Netanyahu has governed through two wars in Gaza, two fruitless rounds of negotiation with the Palestinians and two extremely different U.S. presidential administrations. Under his leadership, Israel\u2019s economy has grown and the country has shifted right. Chances of a two-state deal \u2014 or any final agreement \u2014 with the Palestinians have become increasingly remote, but relations with other Arab states have started to thaw.<\/p>\n<p>Bibi\u2019s influence has stretched far beyond the borders of the Jewish state. He has aimed to marshal a global campaign against Iran\u2019s nuclear program and cultivated strong relations with several key world leaders.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52540\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-7-19-EOD-Netanyahu.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52540\" class=\"wp-image-52540 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-7-19-EOD-Netanyahu-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-7-19-EOD-Netanyahu-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-7-19-EOD-Netanyahu-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-7-19-EOD-Netanyahu-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52540\" class=\"wp-image-52540 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-7-19-EOD-Netanyahu-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-7-19-EOD-Netanyahu-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-7-19-EOD-Netanyahu-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-7-19-EOD-Netanyahu-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52540\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem, Dec. 1, 2019. (Marc Israel Sellem\/Pool\/Flash90)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>His iciness toward President Obama and his bearhug of President Trump have put him at odds with most American Jews and have played a part in weakening a once-bipartisan consensus on supporting Israel.&nbsp; But the bromance with Trump has produced diplomatic gains, including the relocation of the U.S embassy to Jerusalem and formal U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.<\/p>\n<p>The decade has seen Netanyahu become Israel\u2019s longest-serving prime minister. But he ends it under criminal indictment for fraud, bribery and breach of trust \u2014 and teetering on the brink of electoral defeat. In that sense, the tail end of the 2010s may be the most critical period for the man who defined the Jewish decade.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bernie Sanders<\/strong><br \/>\nBefore the 2010s, no one could have expected a septuagenarian Jewish socialist from Vermont would have a real shot at becoming president.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52541\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-bernie-sanders.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52541\" class=\"wp-image-52541 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-bernie-sanders-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-bernie-sanders-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-bernie-sanders-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-bernie-sanders-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52541\" class=\"wp-image-52541 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-bernie-sanders-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-bernie-sanders-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-bernie-sanders-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-bernie-sanders-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52541\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bernie Sanders speaks at a MoveOn.org rally in Reading, Penn., Dec. 3, 2017. He is credited with opening the door for other progressives to publicly criticize Israel. (Lisa Lake\/Getty Images for MoveOn.org)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>But Sanders made history in 2016 by becoming the first Jew to win major party state primaries, on his way to coming close to snagging the nomination. Whether or not he wins in his second attempt in 2020, Bernie Sanders\u2019 two presidential runs have transformed political discourse in the Jewish community and the United States as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>Because of Sanders, policies like single-payer health care, free public college and breaking up the big banks are now commonly discussed within the Democratic party. He has mobilized a wing of progressives across the country who want to abandon center-left liberalism in favor of his \u201cpolitical revolution.\u201d<br \/>\nHe has also sparked strong feelings across the Jewish community with the way he frames his Jewishness and his outspoken criticism of Israel \u2014 coupled with support for its existence. His criticism of Israel\u2019s treatment of the Palestinians on a mainstream stage has emboldened other progressives to challenge assumptions about the decades-long U.S.-Israel relationship.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump<\/strong><br \/>\nJews have long served in trusted White House positions, but never have two Jews been so close to the president. As President Trump\u2019s senior advisers, and his daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka and Jared have the president\u2019s ear in a new and unpredictable era of American government.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52542\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-javanka.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52542\" class=\"wp-image-52542 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-javanka-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-javanka-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-javanka-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-javanka-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52542\" class=\"wp-image-52542 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-javanka-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-javanka-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-javanka-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-9-19-javanka-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52542\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at a summit at the East Room of the White House, May 18, 2018. (Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Trump invested both sides of \u201cJavanka\u201d with tremendous responsibility. Ivanka has become a presence at high-level diplomatic events. Jared was given a vast portfolio \u2014 from the opioid crisis to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. He has had a tangible impact in the Jewish state, where he has advocated moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem&nbsp;and withdrawing funding from Palestinian institutions.<\/p>\n<p>Liberal Jews hoped Ivanka and Jared, as two young Jews from New York City, would be a check on some of the president\u2019s hardline policies. Jewish conservatives saw the Orthodox couple \u2014 and Trump\u2019s trust in them \u2014 as a rebuttal of the idea that the president condoned anti-Semitism. And when the administration began, their Jewish practice was scrutinized, something that has subsided as Jews have gotten used to the couple\u2019s unique role in the White House.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Drake<\/strong><br \/>\nThanks to some tabloid-level drama over the past few years, many bristle at statements about Drake\u2019s influence on the music industry. But it\u2019s hard to argue with the numbers.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52544\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-drake.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52544\" class=\"wp-image-52544 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-drake-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-drake-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-drake-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-drake-1024x680.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/199;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52544\" class=\"wp-image-52544 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-drake-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-drake-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-drake-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-drake-1024x680.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52544\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drake at the Los Angeles premiere of the HBO series &#8220;Euphoria,&#8221; June 4, 2019. (Chris Delmas\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The rapper and singer (and former teen actor), born Aubrey Graham to an African-American father and Jewish mother, was the most streamed musician of the decade. He broke multiple Billboard chart and Spotify records. He became the best-selling digital singles artist of all time.<\/p>\n<p>His legacy continues to play out through the countless contemporary artists who mimic his smooth sonic style and his combination of rapping and singing.<\/p>\n<p>Though he rarely gives interviews, Drake has shown some Jewish pride a few times \u2014 perhaps most notably during a 2014 \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d skit about his bar mitzvah, and a second bar mitzvah party of sorts in 2017. He attended a Jewish day school in his native Toronto as a kid.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ruth Bader Ginsburg<\/strong><br \/>\nThis decade saw Ruth Bader Ginsburg go from outspoken liberal Supreme Court justice to the Notorious RBG \u2014 one of the zeitgeist\u2019s foremost political and pop culture icons.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52545\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-ruth-bader-ginsburg.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52545\" class=\"wp-image-52545 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-ruth-bader-ginsburg-300x193.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"193\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-ruth-bader-ginsburg-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-ruth-bader-ginsburg-768x493.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-ruth-bader-ginsburg-1024x658.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/193;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52545\" class=\"wp-image-52545 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-ruth-bader-ginsburg-300x193.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-ruth-bader-ginsburg-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-ruth-bader-ginsburg-768x493.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-ruth-bader-ginsburg-1024x658.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52545\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., Oct. 3, 2019. (Erin Clark for The Boston Globe via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The story starts with the Jewish justice\u2019s resilience in her career and personal life, having fought for gender equality for decades \u2014 through a series of crucial Supreme Court cases and other projects \u2014 and battling multiple bouts of cancer.<\/p>\n<p>In 2013, inspired by this and more specifically by Ginsburg\u2019s dissent in a case involving voting rights, New York University law student Shana Knizhnik started a blog that compared Ginsburg to the late rapper the Notorious B.I.G. Multiple documentaries, books and a feature film starring Felicity Jones later, the nickname has stuck. There are RBG action figures. A U.S. women\u2019s national team soccer player put her name on her jersey once. Even her workout routine became an online phenomenon.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of the 2010s, Ginsburg experienced some more health scares that jeopardized the future of the court \u2014 but she quickly bounced back every time, true to her well-earned identity as a badass.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mark Zuckerberg<\/strong><br \/>\nFew people have had as large an impact on the way we live and communicate over the past decade as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. As the 2010s draw to a close, the company founded in Zuckerberg\u2019s Harvard dorm room in 2004 boasts nearly 2.5 billion users \u2014 or roughly one out every three people on the planet \u2014 and its influence reaches into countless corners of our lives.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52546\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zuckerberg.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52546\" class=\"wp-image-52546 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zuckerberg-300x189.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zuckerberg-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zuckerberg-768x484.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zuckerberg-1024x645.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/189;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52546\" class=\"wp-image-52546 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zuckerberg-300x189.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zuckerberg-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zuckerberg-768x484.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zuckerberg-1024x645.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52546\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Zuckerberg at the Breakthrough Prize awards ceremony at NASA&#8217;s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., Nov. 3, 2019. (Josh Edelson\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The 2010s were a period of meteoric growth for the company, which is now ranked among the ten most valuable public corporations in the world. But perhaps inevitably, the 2010s also saw Facebook coming under increasing scrutiny \u2014 and mounting criticism.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The company stands accused of misusing oceans of personal user data, addicting people to their phones, obliterating the capacity for sustained attention, undermining democracy, fomenting ethnic violence and inciting hatred \u2014 and that list is hardly exhaustive. Much of this came to a head in the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, when American intelligence officials said Russia manipulated Facebook as part of its effort to swing the election to Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Zuckerberg has occasionally tried to contain the damage, as in 2017, when he posted a Yom Kippur message asking forgiveness for any divisiveness he had caused. But after enduring a sustained lashing from members of the House Financial Services Committee in October, Zuckerberg acknowledged that he might not be the best person to present Facebook\u2019s case to the world.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI get that I\u2019m not the ideal messenger for this right now,\u201d he said. \u201cWe certainly have work to do to build trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gal Gadot<\/strong><br \/>\nBefore 2017, Gal Gadot was best known as a supermodel who showed up in multiple movies in the \u201cFast and Furious\u201d franchise. She was also a former Miss Israel, and before that an Israel Defense Forces combat readiness instructor.<\/p>\n<p>These days, she\u2019s Wonder Woman.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52548\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-gal-gadot-wonderwoman.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52548\" class=\"wp-image-52548 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-gal-gadot-wonderwoman-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-gal-gadot-wonderwoman-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-gal-gadot-wonderwoman-768x509.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-gal-gadot-wonderwoman-1024x678.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/199;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52548\" class=\"wp-image-52548 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-gal-gadot-wonderwoman-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-gal-gadot-wonderwoman-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-gal-gadot-wonderwoman-768x509.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-gal-gadot-wonderwoman-1024x678.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52548\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gal Gadot at the &#8220;Wonder Woman&#8221; premiere in Hollywood, Calif., May 25, 2017. (Barry King\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Her role in the 2017 DC Comics film named after the legendary superhero skyrocketed her to international fame and transformed her into an icon of inspiration for women and girls around the world. The character has been hailed as a long overdue feminist addition to the comic book movie canon, and the film\u2019s overwhelming box office success proved that a female-fronted superhero flick could sell just as well, or better, than ones starring men.<\/p>\n<p>Gadot, now 34, has an esteemed Jewish yichus \u2014&nbsp;her maternal grandfather is an Auschwitz survivor and her father is a sixth-generation Israeli. She has two young daughters with her husband, Israeli real-estate developer Yaron Varsano. Gadot and Varsano are in the process of remaking an Israeli crime drama for English-speaking audiences, as well as a novel about an Israeli-Palestinian romance that was banned in Israeli schools.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michael Bloomberg<\/strong><br \/>\nIf Michael Bloomberg has his way, he\u2019ll start the next decade as the first Jewish president of the United States. But it\u2019s easy to forget how influential the billionaire has already been over the past ten years.<br \/>\nAfter his transformational tenure as mayor of New York \u2014 during which he left almost no big issue untouched, from crime to tourism to arts initiatives \u2014 Bloomberg moved on to national and global issues.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52550\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-bloomberg.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52550\" class=\"wp-image-52550 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-bloomberg-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-bloomberg-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-bloomberg-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-bloomberg-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52550\" class=\"wp-image-52550 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-bloomberg-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-bloomberg-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-bloomberg-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-bloomberg-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52550\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Bloomberg poses at a presidential campaign event in Detroit, Dec. 21, 2019. (Jeff Kowalsky\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>He has funneled tens of millions (out of his net worth of around $56 billion) to gun control initiatives, including his own Everytown for Gun Safety group. He has also become a leading voice on combating climate change, putting a portion of his fortune towards research and lobbying on the issue and insisting that American cities can still help the country decrease harmful emissions even while it\u2019s led by a president who does not believe in global warming.<\/p>\n<p>And after flirting with the idea for years, Bloomberg finally went all in on a presidential candidacy at the end of 2019, believing that his centrist, get-things-done reputation would appeal to voters disheartened by Trump and unenthused by the slew of Democratic candidates.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer<\/strong><br \/>\nJewy shtick had long been part of the backbone of American comedy \u2014 but never like this.<\/p>\n<p>Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer\u2019s Comedy Central sitcom \u201cBroad City,\u201d a wacky encapsulation of New York millennial life that aired from 2014 to 2019, fused Jewishness and humor in an original way en route to becoming one of the most beloved shows of the decade.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52551\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-abbijacobson-ilanaglazer.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52551\" class=\"wp-image-52551 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-abbijacobson-ilanaglazer-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-abbijacobson-ilanaglazer-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-abbijacobson-ilanaglazer-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-abbijacobson-ilanaglazer-1024x681.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/199;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52551\" class=\"wp-image-52551 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-abbijacobson-ilanaglazer-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-abbijacobson-ilanaglazer-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-abbijacobson-ilanaglazer-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-abbijacobson-ilanaglazer-1024x681.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52551\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Abbi Jacobson, left, and Ilana Glazer at an event for their series &#8220;Broad City&#8221; at Sony Hall in New York City, March 27, 2019. (Dave Kotinsky\/Getty Images for Comedy Central)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jacobson and Glazer\u2019s characters \u2014 two stoners, loosely based on themselves, who constantly find themselves in ridiculous situations \u2014 owned their Jewishness in a confident way that nebbishy icons of the past, like Woody Allen or Jerry Seinfeld, did not. They also helped redefine the popular image of Jewish women.<\/p>\n<p>As Elana Spivack put it in Alma earlier this year, Jacobson and Glazer took us \u201cfrom shpilkes to chutzpah.\u201d<br \/>\nThey didn\u2019t shy from directly discussing their Jewish identities on the show either. One episode harshly mocked Birthright. Another took aim at some of the racist Jews of Florida. In another, the girls hang out with a Holocaust survivor. That\u2019s on top of countless Jewish-themed jokes and references that helped usher in what some have called the most Jewish era of mainstream television in modern memory.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Edith Windsor<\/strong><br \/>\nEdith Windsor was active in the LGBTQ rights movement since its beginning in the late 1960s. But it was her 2009 case that cemented her stature as one of its most impactful activists.<\/p>\n<p>That year, Windsor was denied a spousal exemption and forced to pay federal taxes on the estate of her late wife, Thea Spyer, even though their Canadian marriage was recognized as legal by the State of New York, where they resided.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52552\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edith-windsor.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52552\" class=\"wp-image-52552 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edith-windsor-300x208.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"208\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edith-windsor-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edith-windsor-768x533.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edith-windsor-1024x711.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/208;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52552\" class=\"wp-image-52552 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edith-windsor-300x208.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edith-windsor-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edith-windsor-768x533.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edith-windsor-1024x711.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52552\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Edith Windsor at the New York City Gay Pride Parade, June 25, 2017. (Dimitrios Kambouris\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Windsor, who worked as a computer programmer, pursued her case all the way to the Supreme Court. Four years after her wife\u2019s death, the court ruled to overturn Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. The 2013 ruling was considered a landmark victory for same-sex couples and meant that the federal government must abide by the laws of individual states in its dealings with couples from those states.<\/p>\n<p>After her win, Windsor attended services at her Manhattan synagogue, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, which was founded to serve the gay community. Her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, delivered a sermon about the win. Windsor later remarried.<\/p>\n<p>Her death in 2017 was mourned by LGBTQ activists around the world and their allies, including President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Andrew Pollack and Fred Guttenberg<\/strong><br \/>\nFred Guttenberg and Andrew Pollack\u2019s lives were both torn apart on Feb. 14, 2018, when a former student entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and opened fire. Guttenberg\u2019s daughter, Jaime, and Pollack\u2019s daughter, Meadow, were among the 17 victims.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52553\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-guttenberg-pollack.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52553\" class=\"wp-image-52553 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-guttenberg-pollack-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-guttenberg-pollack-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-guttenberg-pollack-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-guttenberg-pollack-1024x569.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/167;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52553\" class=\"wp-image-52553 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-guttenberg-pollack-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-guttenberg-pollack-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-guttenberg-pollack-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-guttenberg-pollack-1024x569.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52553\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fred Guttenberg, left, at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., and Andrew Pollack at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Las Vegas. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The men share many similarities: they are both 53 years old, Jewish, and not particularly involved in politics prior to the shooting. But the massacre led both to dedicate their lives to activism to honor their daughters\u2019 memories and prevent similar deaths. Both now have more than 100,00 followers on social media and have met with prominent lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>But the two fall on complete opposite sides of gun control debate: while Guttenberg has become a progressive advocate for gun reform, Pollack is an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, who has said people are too quick to blame guns for mass killings.<\/p>\n<p>The two men\u2019s heart-wrenching stories have inspired many on both sides, and the different paths their shared tragedy led has them down resonate especially deeply at a time of deep political polarization, when national tragedies seem only to further entrench those differences.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Angela Buchdahl<\/strong><br \/>\nAngela Buchdahl\u2019s ordination as the first Asian American rabbi in 2001, and the first woman overall to become both a cantor and a rabbi, was a watershed moment for American Jews. But it was Buchdahl\u2019s selection in 2014 as senior rabbi of New York\u2019s Central Synagogue, among the largest Jewish houses of worship in the country, that really marked her arrival on the global Jewish scene.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52554\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-angela-buchdahl.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52554\" class=\"wp-image-52554 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-angela-buchdahl-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-angela-buchdahl-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-angela-buchdahl-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-angela-buchdahl-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52554\" class=\"wp-image-52554 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-angela-buchdahl-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-angela-buchdahl-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-angela-buchdahl-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-angela-buchdahl-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52554\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rabbi Angela Buchdahl speaking at an interfaith prayer vigil on Oct. 30, 2018, at the Central Synagogue in New York City for victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting. (Michael Brochstein\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The choice of Buchdahl to replace the retiring Rabbi Peter Rubinstein elevated a woman and a Jew of color to a position of virtually unprecedented prominence in the Jewish world and made Buchdahl a potent symbol of the changing face of American Judaism.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Born in Korea and raised in Washington state by a Buddhist mother and Jewish-American father, Buchdahl spoke at the White House Hanukkah party in 2014, noting how incredulous the American founding fathers likely would have been at the sight of an Asian-American rabbi praying alongside the first African-American president. In 2018, she made headlines again when she banned for a year the music of Shlomo Carlebach, the prolific composer who had been accused by multiple women of sexually inappropriate acts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michael Solomonov<\/strong><br \/>\nTen years ago, you may have never heard of ingredients like tahini, harissa, labne, halloumi and preserved lemon. Today, you can easily find these and more Israeli staples at your local supermarket (or Trader Joe\u2019s). You can also stumble upon them on trendy restaurant menus in just about every city, from San Francisco to Boston.<\/p>\n<p>The hunger for ingredients like these and Israeli food more broadly can be credited in large part to the food gospel of chef Michael Solomonov and his business partner Steve Cook.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52555\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-michael-solomonov.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52555\" class=\"wp-image-52555 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-michael-solomonov-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-michael-solomonov-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-michael-solomonov-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-michael-solomonov-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52555\" class=\"wp-image-52555 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-michael-solomonov-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-michael-solomonov-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-michael-solomonov-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-michael-solomonov-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52555\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Solomonov working the oven at his restaurant Zahav in Philadelphia, July 14, 2015. (Melina Mara\/The Washington Post via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Solmonov boasts four James Beard awards, two best-selling cookbooks and more than eight restaurants to his name, including the renowned Zahav and the popular Dizengoff hummus restaurant in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<p>Intentionally or not, he has brought a passion for Israeli cuisine to the masses of North America. He believes that food belongs to everyone, and has sought to bring the Israeli tradition of ripping, tearing, dipping and sharing to more and more willing eaters. He steers clear of politics, but doesn\u2019t shy away from showcasing the diverse food traditions that define Israeli cuisine.<\/p>\n<p>Born in Israel but raised in Pittsburgh, Solomonov has fundamentally changed the way Americans eat, impacted the way we define Israeli food and influenced the way Jews, and non-Jews, view Jewish food today.<\/p>\n<p>He is launching a culinary school in Israel and will open yet another restaurant in 2020.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Volodymyr Zelensky<\/strong><br \/>\nLast December, Volodymyr Zelensky was a television actor in Ukraine most famous for portraying a school teacher who through an unlikely series of events gets elected president.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52556\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zelensky.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52556\" class=\"wp-image-52556 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zelensky-300x209.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"209\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zelensky-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zelensky-768x536.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zelensky-1024x714.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/209;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52556\" class=\"wp-image-52556 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zelensky-300x209.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zelensky-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zelensky-768x536.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-zelensky-1024x714.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52556\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a news conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Dec. 9, 2019. (Alexei Nikolsky\/TASS via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>But on New Year\u2019s Eve, Zelensky\u2019s life began imitating his art: The Jewish comedian announced that night that he was running for president. He won the national election in a landslide less than four months later.<br \/>\nJust months after that, Zelensky found himself at the center of President Donald Trump\u2019s impeachment scandal. Zelensky was the world leader on the phone call with Trump that is at the heart of Democrats\u2019 case against the U.S. president. Trump is accused of pressuring Zelensky on the call to dig up dirt on Joe Biden\u2019s son Hunter in exchange for U.S. foreign aid money.<\/p>\n<p>Back home, Zelensky\u2019s victory was a remarkable outcome in a country whose soil has for centuries been drenched with Jewish blood. Following the confrontational and nationalist politics of Zelensky\u2019s predecessor, his election gave hope to pragmatists seeking to rebuild Ukraine\u2019s ruined economy and normalize relations with its aggressive neighbor, Russia.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s all quite a lot to ask of a political newcomer, and some worry that Zelensky\u2019s failure to deliver could make Ukraine\u2019s Jewish community a scapegoat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aly Raisman<\/strong><br \/>\nAly Raisman spent a little over half the decade becoming and staying an Olympic gold medalist. She spent the latter part of it becoming an influential advocate for sexual abuse victims and an empowered role model for women everywhere.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52557\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-aly-raisman.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52557\" class=\"wp-image-52557 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-aly-raisman-300x215.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-aly-raisman-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-aly-raisman-768x550.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-aly-raisman-1024x733.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/215;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52557\" class=\"wp-image-52557 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-aly-raisman-300x215.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-aly-raisman-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-aly-raisman-768x550.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-aly-raisman-1024x733.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52557\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aly Raisman performs in the artistic gymnastics qualification round at the London Olympics, July 29, 2012. (Ronald Martinez\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>At the 2012 Olympics in London, Raisman was the most decorated American gymnast, winning gold in the floor and team categories while performing a routine to \u201cHava Nagila\u201d on the way. At the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, she won silver in two individual categories and gold again with the team.<\/p>\n<p>Raisman would later be a leading voice in the trial of her abusive former coach, Larry Nassar. Her statement in court about turning the tables put powerful men on notice.<\/p>\n<p>In a 2018 BBYO speech, Raisman told Jewish teens about the importance of family and Jewish values to her work, and that she sees herself as representing the Jewish community when she performs. She started gymnastics at age 2 and vows to return for the 2020 Olympics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>David Friedman<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen President Donald Trump named the team he hoped would bring about peace in the Middle East, David Friedman seemed like a junior member.&nbsp; Unlike Jason Greenblatt and Dina Powell, he wasn\u2019t a full-time peace seeker \u2014 he had a day job as ambassador to Israel. Unlike Jared Kushner, he was not Trump\u2019s son-in-law.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52558\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-david-friedman.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52558\" class=\"wp-image-52558 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-david-friedman-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-david-friedman-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-david-friedman-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-david-friedman-1024x681.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52558\" class=\"wp-image-52558 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-david-friedman-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-david-friedman-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-david-friedman-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-david-friedman-1024x681.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52558\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman seen speaking during the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington, D.C., March 26, 2019. (Michael Brochstein\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>For a time, it looked like Greenblatt was taking the lead: showing up in Jewish settlements and Palestinian towns, walking the border with the Gaza Strip. Friedman was posting goofy videos of himself making last minute Jewish holiday purchases.<\/p>\n<p>But by the end of 2017, it had become clear that David Friedman was in charge, and that he exerted more influence on Trump when it came to Israel issues than any other person in his inner circle.<\/p>\n<p>Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital, an act that drove Palestinians, initially flattered by the attention they received from Kushner and Greenblatt, out of the peace process. Insiders said Friedman, who flew to Washington to meet Trump with unusual frequency, had driven the decision.<\/p>\n<p>In retrospect, it shouldn\u2019t have been a surprise. Of the four, Friedman had always been the bomb-thrower, with ties to more extreme precincts of the Israeli settler movement. He was the one targeting liberal Jewish groups long before Trump ran for president, calling J Street \u201cworse than kapos.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among non-family members, Friedman had one of the closest relationships with Trump, who once traveled through a snowstorm to sit shiva with Friedman after his father died. It was an intimacy that extended into their professional relationship. Trump said recently that he wished Friedman would go back to calling him \u201cDonald.\u201d Friedman insists on \u201cMr. President.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the same speech, to the Israeli American Council, Trump described how the historic U.S. recognition of the Golan Heights as sovereign Israeli territory came about.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said to David, \u2018David, tell me about the Golan Heights in 30 seconds or less.\u2019 He said, \u2018It\u2019s high. It\u2019s important. It\u2019s sovereign. It\u2019s security.\u2019 And I said, \u2018What do you think, David?\u2019 He said, \u2018I think you could do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Luciana Berger<\/strong><br \/>\nAs Britain\u2019s Labour Party spiraled into an anti-Semitism controversy after Jeremy Corbyn took over as party leader in 2015, Luciana Berger became one of British Jewry\u2019s most visible and persistent champions.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52559\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-luciana-berger.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52559\" class=\"wp-image-52559 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-luciana-berger-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-luciana-berger-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-luciana-berger-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-luciana-berger-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52559\" class=\"wp-image-52559 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-luciana-berger-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-luciana-berger-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-luciana-berger-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-luciana-berger-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52559\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luciana Berger speaks to supporters during an election campaign event in Finchley, London, Dec. 1, 2019. (Leon Neal\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Berger, 38, wasn\u2019t afraid to scorn Corbyn or his supporters and talked publicly about how she was attacked with anti-Semitic abuse for speaking out on the issue \u2014 even while she was 8 months pregnant with her second child. Other Jewish politicians and celebrities followed her lead in criticizing Labour, which was once the political home for most of the U.K.\u2019s hundreds of thousands of Jews.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had too many threats \u2014 I\u2019d be stabbed, raped, have acid thrown on me,\u201d Berger told The Times of London.<\/p>\n<p>After a failed attempt to start a new party with other unhappy Labour members, Berger left the party in 2019 and risked her career by running on the centrist Liberal Democrat ticket in a hard-to-win Conservative district. She lost in the 2019 election that saw Prime Minister Boris Johnson consolidate his power, but that didn\u2019t diminish her legacy of defending her nation\u2019s Jewish community.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Debra Katz<\/strong><br \/>\nMany figures have contributed to the success of the #MeToo movement, from reporters like Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor to celebrities who have used their platforms to speak out, like Reese Witherspoon. But few have had as big of an impact behind the scenes as Debra Katz.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52560\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-debra-katz.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52560\" class=\"wp-image-52560 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-debra-katz-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-debra-katz-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-debra-katz-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-debra-katz-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52560\" class=\"wp-image-52560 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-debra-katz-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-debra-katz-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-debra-katz-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-debra-katz-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52560\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Debra Katz watches as Christine Blasey Ford testifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sept. 27, 2018. (Tom Williams\/CQ Roll Call\/Pool\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Katz always knew she wanted to fight for the underdog, but it was a fellowship after her graduation from law school that ended up shaping her career. The fellowship allowed her to work on the landmark Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson case, in which the Supreme Court recognized sexual harassment as a category of workplace discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>Katz, 61, has now become one of the top #MeToo attorneys of the modern era, representing a range of people from a former Harvey Weinstein employee to the accusers of celebrity chef Mike Isabella and Jewish mega-donor Michael Steinhardt.<\/p>\n<p>But her most visible case was the one that involved Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of assaulting her when they were teenagers. Katz sat next to Blasey Ford as she delivered tearful testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2018 that shook the nation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Julian Edelman<\/strong><br \/>\nAt the start of this year, JTA asked this question in a headline: Is Julian Edelman the best Jewish football player ever? We may not be able to answer that one definitively, but the New England Patriots wide receiver is unquestionably the best Jewish pro ballplayer of the decade (in football or any other sport) and the one who is least shy about displaying his Jewish pride.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52561\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edelman.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52561\" class=\"wp-image-52561 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edelman-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edelman-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edelman-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edelman-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52561\" class=\"wp-image-52561 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edelman-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edelman-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edelman-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-edelman-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52561\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Julian Edelman warms up before a game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Dec. 1, 2019. (Wesley Hitt\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>As he ascended from a last round draft pick in 2009 to top target for Tom Brady (arguably the best quarterback ever), the Patriots have dominated the NFL. He has been especially prominent in the postseason, playing on two Super Bowl champion teams (he missed the 2017 title season with an injury) and winning the Most Valuable Player award in the 2019 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.<\/p>\n<p>Edelman, 33, is the son of a Jewish father but was not raised in the religion. However, his Jewish pride has swelled over the years as his game has gained in stature. He has tweeted about Jewish holidays. He went on a Birthright-style trip to Israel. He wrote a children\u2019s book that references modern-day Zionism founder Theodor Herzl.<\/p>\n<p>In his latest display, Edelman debuted custom cleats featuring a Star of David and the logo of the Israel Baseball Association as part of the NFL\u2019s fourth \u201cMy Cause, My Cleats\u2019\u2019 campaign. The previous year, he donned special cleats in Pittsburgh to honor the victims of the synagogue shooting there in a game against the Steelers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Naomi Wadler<\/strong><br \/>\nA fifth-grader\u2019s eloquent and passionate address at the 2018 March for Our Lives event captured the attention not only of the crowd at the gun reform rally but that of millions of people watching from afar. That person, who is now just 12 years old, is Naomi Wadler.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52562\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-naomi-wadler.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52562\" class=\"wp-image-52562 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-naomi-wadler-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-naomi-wadler-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-naomi-wadler-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-naomi-wadler-1024x681.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52562\" class=\"wp-image-52562 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-naomi-wadler-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-naomi-wadler-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-naomi-wadler-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-naomi-wadler-1024x681.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52562\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Wadler speaks at the Teen Vogue summit in New York City, June 1, 2018. (Craig Barritt\/Getty Images for Teen Vogue)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Together with a classmate, Wadler planned an 18-minute walkout at her elementary school in Alexandria, Virginia. While most schools were doing 17-minute walkouts to represent the 17 victims of the 2018 Parkland shooting, Wadler and her classmate added one more to represent Courtlin Arrington, a 17-year-old girl who had been killed in her Alabama high school classroom days earlier. Wadler wanted to make the point that black victims of gun violence like Arrington are often not the subject of the same media attention as white victims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI represent the African-American women who are victims of violence, who are simply statistics instead of vibrant, beautiful girls who are full of potential,\u201d Wadler, who is African-American and Jewish, said in her speech.<\/p>\n<p>Wadler\u2019s speech made her a media darling. She was featured with Gloria Steinem in a spread in Vanity Fair, appeared on \u201cThe Ellen DeGeneres Show\u201d and the Smithsonian even asked to add the scarf she wore during her speech to its collection.<\/p>\n<p>Her rise to fame helped break stereotypes of what Jews look like. In interviews, she spoke about having experienced discrimination and bullying both for her race and religion, including being told she could not be Jewish because she is black.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eric Zemmour<\/strong><br \/>\nFrenchman Eric Zemmour has become one of the most prominent anti-immigration voices in Europe over the past ten years. But on paper, he\u2019s not an obvious fit for a leading role in the debate that has roiled the continent.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52563\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/10-28-19-eric-zemmour.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52563\" class=\"wp-image-52563 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/10-28-19-eric-zemmour-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/10-28-19-eric-zemmour-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/10-28-19-eric-zemmour-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/10-28-19-eric-zemmour-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52563\" class=\"wp-image-52563 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/10-28-19-eric-zemmour-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/10-28-19-eric-zemmour-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/10-28-19-eric-zemmour-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/10-28-19-eric-zemmour-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52563\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">French journalist and writer Eric Zemmour arrives at court on Nov. 6, 2015. (Bertrand Guay\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>For one thing, he\u2019s a journalist who is part of the very left-leaning French intellectual scene. For another, Zemmour\u2019s own Jewish parents immigrated to France from Algeria.<\/p>\n<p>Yet this background, and his ability to leverage it in his arguments, are an integral part of his rising visibility. Zemmour uses it to dismiss allegation of xenophobia. He cites the experience of his family, and French Jewry at large, as a model for other minorities to follow.<\/p>\n<p>His views have placed him under frequent attack in the media, and he has been convicted of hate speech twice. But he has also become a household name with political prospects.<\/p>\n<p>In a 2015 survey, 12 percent of the respondents said they would vote for Zemmour if he ran for president. He has remained noncommittal on the subject.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rabbis Jeffrey Myers and Yisroel Goldstein<\/strong><br \/>\nIn the normal course of affairs, synagogue rabbis toil away in relative obscurity. But two horrific acts of mass violence thrust Rabbis Jeffrey Myers and Yisroel Goldstein into the national spotlight towards the end of the 2010s and, for a time, made them each symbols of resistance to rising anti-Semitic violence.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52564\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-myers-goldstein.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52564\" class=\"wp-image-52564 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-myers-goldstein-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-myers-goldstein-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-myers-goldstein-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-myers-goldstein-1024x569.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/167;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52564\" class=\"wp-image-52564 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-myers-goldstein-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-myers-goldstein-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-myers-goldstein-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-23-19-myers-goldstein-1024x569.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52564\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, left, outside the Tree of Life building in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2019, and Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein in the Rose Garden of the White House, May 2, 2019. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Goldstein came face to face with the gunman who entered his synagogue in southern California on the last day of the Passover holiday in April 2019. He instinctively raised his arms, and the gunman fired, blowing off the rabbi\u2019s index finger. Then he turned and killed Lori Gilbert-Kaye, who became the attack\u2019s only fatality.<\/p>\n<p>In the months following the attack, Goldstein gave speeches at the White House and the United Nations, and in Brazil and Poland. Seven months after the attack, he retired as leader of the congregation he had founded in Poway, near San Diego, in 1996.<\/p>\n<p>Months earlier, it was Myers who confronted a gunman intent on massacring his congregants. When the shooting at Pittsburgh\u2019s Tree of Life synagogue began on the morning of Oct. 27, 2018, Myers was just minutes into leading Shabbat morning services. When the first shots rang out, he assumed someone had knocked over a coat rack. After leading several people to safety, he returned to the synagogue\u2019s choir loft where he heard the gunman kill seven of his congregants.<\/p>\n<p>In total, 11 people were killed that morning in the deadliest act of ant-Semitic violence in American Jewish history.<\/p>\n<p>Myers would become one of the Pittsburgh Jewish community\u2019s chief spokesmen as the national press descended on the city. \u201cI\u2019m a victim, I\u2019m a survivor, I\u2019m a mourner,\u201d he said at a memorial service two days after the shooting. At a service to mark 30 days, Myers chanted a Hebrew memorial prayer. A year later, the pain of that day had scarcely faded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI live with Oct. 27 every minute of every hour of every day, and I will for the rest of my life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"The%20Jews%20who%20defined%20the%202010s\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":52565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10405,384,10407,10409,208,4841,8266,10412,3062,3097,10414,10408,4493,10406,3862,4072,10415,8790,8795,9855,10411,5033,4058,7417,10413,8788,3630,10410,10416],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52539"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52539"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52568,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52539\/revisions\/52568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}