In honor of The Algemeiner’s seventh annual gala, this time held virtually, we are delighted to unveil our seventh ‘J100’ list of the top one hundred individuals who have positively influenced Jewish life this past year. Before you work your way through this exciting list, we wanted to first share some of the thoughts that we discussed as we developed it. If we could group these ideas together, the first would be about creating lists, in general; then, what’s unique about lists and Judaism; some finer points differentiating our honorees from the organizations they lead; and important reflections on all those every day and anonymous-to-us heroes we…
Dovid Katz
One of the world’s leading scholars of the Yiddish language, Brooklyn-born professor Dovid Katz has been based in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius – formerly Vilna – for over 20 years. The editor of Defending History – a…
ACADEMIA
Eugene Kontorovich
A professor at George Mason’s Antonin Scalia School of Law, specializing in constitutional and international law, Eugene Kontorovich is known throughout the academic world and in the media for his defense of the moral and…
ACADEMIA
Samuel Lebens
A highly-regarded Jewish philosopher and educator, Rabbi Dr. Samuel Lebens’ ground-breaking scholarly work The Principles of Judaism was published by Oxford University Press in August 2020. Presenting the basic axioms of the…
ACADEMIA
Omar Mohammed
University professor Omar Mohammed became a hero when ISIS terrorists seized his home-town, the Iraqi city of Mosul, in 2014. Using the pseudonym “Mosul Eye,” Mohammed courageously documented the ISIS reign of terror on…
ACADEMIA
Shuly Rubin Schwartz
In June 2020, Shuly Rubin Schwartz became the eighth chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York City – and the first woman to hold the post in the 134-year history of that institution. Her appointment…
ACADEMIA
Masih Alinejad
Iranian-born Masih Alinejad has established herself as one of the most prominent critics of the Islamist regime in Tehran in her work as a journalist for Voice of America’s Persian-language service. Politically active…
ACTIVISM
Ashager Araro
Ashager Araro is widely tipped as a candidate for the first Black Prime Minister of Israel – perhaps because it seems there are no heights the 29-year-old “social media queen of Israel” cannot scale. Born in 1991 on the…
ACTIVISM
Lindsey Danzinger
Rabbi Lindsey Danziger is the National Director of Organizing for Zioness – a coalition of Jewish activists and allies who are unabashedly progressive and unapologetically Zionist. The two experiences that have most shaped…
ACTIVISM
David Deutchman
2020 was the year that the world lost David Deutchman – the beloved “ICU grandpa” who spent the last 14 years cuddling babies in the NICU at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Deutchman passed away in November from pancreatic…
ACTIVISM
Rikhard Holomazov
Ukrainian security guard Rikhard Holomazov became an instant hero in July 2020 when he fought off an ax-wielding man who tried to force his way into a synagogue in the city of Mariupol. Holomazov attempted to beat back the…
ACTIVISM
Garry Kasparov
Legendary chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov continued his advocacy for human rights throughout 2020, speaking out on behalf of dissidents in autocratic regimes in Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and Turkey, as well as his…
ACTIVISM
Patrick Klugman
As antisemitism rises to alarming levels in France year-on-year, lawyer Patrick Klugman continues to be an important advocate for the Jewish community’s wellbeing in both his country’s courts and in its media. A former…
ACTIVISM
Conrad Myrland
As CEO of Norway-based “Med Israel for fred” (MIFF), Conrad Myrland heads up one of Europe’s largest pro-Israel groups and is at the forefront of supporting the Jewish state and fighting antisemitism across Scandinavia…
ACTIVISM
Andrés Roemer
In 2016, Mexican diplomat Andrés Roemer was fired from his position as Ambassador to UNESCO – the UN’s global cultural agency – because of his refusal to vote in favor of a resolution that denied the historic connection…
ACTIVISM
Liliana Segre
A 90-year-old survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp who in 2018 was appointed as a senator for life in her native Italy, Liliana Segre didn’t imagine that she would need round-the-clock police protection at this stage…
ACTIVISM
Marcus Sheff
Marcus Sheff is CEO of the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), a Jerusalem-based, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. A pioneer in the field of textbook analysis, IMPACT…
ACTIVISM
Zarie Sibony
In September 2020, Zarie Sibony relived the terrifying hours she spent as the hostage of an Islamist terrorist in a Paris kosher supermarket more than five years earlier. In harrowing testimony at the trial in France of the…
ACTIVISM
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Regarded as one of the 50 greatest players to have competed in the NBA, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has also been a powerful voice off the court against racism and for inclusivity at a time when American sports…
ARTS AND CULTURE
Omer Adam
Israeli pop star Omer Adam spent the Simchat Torah holiday in Dubai, in a colorful sign of the warming ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The American-Israeli superstar, whose music fuses elements of eastern…
ARTS AND CULTURE
Deni Avdija
Tipped as one of the stars of the forthcoming NBA season, Israeli basketball player Deni Avdija was the ninth overall pick in the league’s 2020 draft. The 6’9”, 225-pound forward was selected by the Washington Wizards…
ARTS AND CULTURE
Mira Awad
Israeli-Arab pop singer and former Eurovision song contest winner Mira Awad has always believed that music brings people of different backgrounds closer together – which is why she took aim at British rocker Roger Waters in…
ARTS AND CULTURE
Zach Banner
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Zach Banner rushed to the defense of the Jewish community following an antisemitic social media post by his fellow NFL player, DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles, in July 2020…
ARTS AND CULTURE
Charles Barkley
In a year when the rest of the world saw the USA as riven by racial divides, NBA superstar Charles Barkley established himself as a voice of unity and reconciliation. After a number of African-American celebrities flirted…
ARTS AND CULTURE
Sacha Baron Cohen
From his masterly portrayal of the late Israeli Mossad agent Eli Cohen to his sidesplitting reprise of his famous character Borat, actor Sacha Baron Cohen has continued to entertain and enthrall his audience. 2020 was a year…
ARTS AND CULTURE
Jesse Eisenberg
Actor and writer Jesse Eisenberg discovered a haunting personal connection with the legendary French Jewish mime artist Marcel Marceau when he played the role of Marceau in the movie “Resistance.” Marceau – who was born…
ARTS AND CULTURE
Josh Gad
2020 was a busy year for Jewish actor and producer Josh Gad. As the coronavirus pandemic closed the world down, Gad launched an online movie club on YouTube, entertaining audiences with classic films and encouraging…
ARTS AND CULTURE
Jonathan Jakubowicz
Jonathan Jakubowicz is a Venezuelan filmmaker and writer, winner of the German Film Peace Prize 2020 for his film “Resistance,” which stars Jesse Eisenberg as Marcel Marceau – the famous French Jewish mime artist who rescued…
ARTS AND CULTURE
Helen Mirren
Legendary British actor Helen Mirren rushed to the aid of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic shut down theaters and concert halls around the world. Featuring much loved Israeli musicians…
ARTS AND CULTURE
Maty Siman
In March 2020, the Israeli application security company Checkmarx secured a $1.2 billion acquisition from private-equity firm Hellman and Friedman – a key milestone in the evolution of an enterprise that began 14 years ago…
BUSINESS
André Azoulay
When King Mohammed VI of Morocco traveled to the coastal city of Essaouira to dedicate the historic Jewish Bayt Dakira (House of Memory) in January 2020, among the dignitaries greeting the king was the veteran royal adviser…
COMMUNITY
Eli Beer
Eli Beer is the President of United Hatzalah – Israel’s largest all-volunteer emergency medical response organization. The father of five children and long-time social entrepreneur was diagnosed with coronavirus in 2020…
COMMUNITY
William Daroff
Now entering his second year as CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, William Daroff spoke on behalf of the Jewish community on key events both domestic and international in 2020 – from…
COMMUNITY
Rachel E. Freier
Famously dubbed as the “Hasidic Super Woman of Night Court” by the New York Times after she became one of the first Hasidic female lawyers in Brooklyn in 2005, Rachel E. Freier has spent much of 2020 assisting women in the…
COMMUNITY
Hatzalah
The hundreds of volunteers around the world who serve with the Hatzalah Emergency Medical Service (EMS) collectively personify this humanitarian organization’s treasured status in the Jewish world. 2020’s coronavirus…
COMMUNITY
Malcolm Hoenlein
Now the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations – a body he has served since 1986 – Malcolm Hoenlein remains one of the most trusted and well-connected Jewish leaders in…
COMMUNITY
Yehudah Kaszirer
Rabbi Yehudah Kaszirer went above and beyond the call of duty in his mission to collect blood samples from survivors of the coronavirus pandemic. Kaszirer – director of Bikur Cholim of Lakewood in New Jersey – was asked by…
COMMUNITY
Jorge Knoblovits
Jorge Knoblovits is the president of DAIA, the umbrella organization representing the Jewish community in Argentina. Addressing a commemoration in Buenos Aires in November marking the 82nd anniversary of Reichspogromnacht –…
COMMUNITY
Yitshak Kreiss
Professor Yitshak Kreiss M.D. has been Director General of the Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer in Israsel since 2016. For the last three decades, Prof. Kreiss served in the Israel Defense Forces where he ascended from…
COMMUNITY
Gidi Kroch
2020 was a sharply challenging year for Gidi Kroch, CEO of Israel’s national food bank Leket Israel. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, Leket Israel has distributed 60 percent more fruit and vegetables and 50…
COMMUNITY
Marie van der Zyl
London-born Marie van der Zyl is the 48th president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which represents the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. Assuming the role in 2018, Van der Zyl was quickly thrown into the…
COMMUNITY
Nechirvan Barzani
The President of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, 2020 marked the first anniversary in office for Nechirvan Barzani, a veteran fighter for Kurdish national rights who previously served as the region’s Prime Minister. Barzani’s…
GOVERNMENT
Joe Biden
Joe Biden will take office in January 2021 following the most bitterly fought election in living memory. The former Senator and Vice President in the Obama administration has made it clear that his main priority is to bring…
GOVERNMENT
Elan Carr
Elan Carr serves as the US State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. As Special Envoy, he advises the Secretary of State and is responsible for directing US policies and projects aimed at…
GOVERNMENT
Lazarus Chakwera
In Sept. 2020, the African nation of Malawi joined the list of countries that have relocated their embassies in Israel from Tel Aviv to the capital Jerusalem. That decision was undertaken by the country’s new President…
GOVERNMENT
Yossi Cohen
The director of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, for the last five years, Yossi Cohen was asked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July 2020 to extend his tenure in the role due to the present “security…
GOVERNMENT
Yuli Edelstein
The former speaker of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, Yuli Edelstein was appointed as Israel’s Minister of Health as the coronavirus pandemic was reaching its initial peak in 2020. Explaining his approach to the pandemic…
GOVERNMENT
Benny Gantz
Former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz became the Alternate Prime Minister of Israel and Minister of Defense in 2020 after the country held three general elections in the space of a year. Under the deal he reached with…
GOVERNMENT
Yonatan Gonen
Israeli communications expert Yonatan Gonen serves as the head of the Arabic language new media section at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In that role, Gonen is uniquely positioned to judge the mood of the Arab and…
GOVERNMENT
Abdalla Hamdok
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok made history in October 2020 when he signed a peace agreement with Israel, making him the leader of the third Arab country to announce diplomatic relations with Israel in the space of…
GOVERNMENT
Fleur Hassan-Nahoum
The Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum is responsible for foreign relations, international economic development, and tourism in the administration of Israel’s capital. Hassan-Nahoum – who was born in the UK and…
GOVERNMENT
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has been the King of Bahrain since 1999, steering the Gulf Arab nation into a new phase of economic and social development at a time when neighboring Iran has sowed instability throughout the Middle…
GOVERNMENT
Aviv Kochavi
Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi is the Chief of Staff of the IDF, a post he has held since January 2019. Prior to that appointment, Kochavi served as the IDF’s Director of Military Intelligence following periods of commanding the IDF…
GOVERNMENT
Jared Kushner
The outgoing Trump administration leaves a Middle East dramatically transformed for the better as a result of its efforts. Much of the credit for that achievement goes to Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser and husband to…
GOVERNMENT
Georgette Mosbacher
Appointed as US Ambassador to Poland by President Donald Trump in 2018, Georgette Mosbacher has been a consistent and brave voice against rising extremism in that country, as well as a firm backer of restitution payments to…
GOVERNMENT
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu emerged from a torrid year in Israeli politics secure in his position as Prime Minister of the Jewish state. While Israelis remain divided over the legacy of their country’s longest-serving premier…
GOVERNMENT
Yousef Al Otaiba
Yousef Al Otaiba is one of the best-known and respected diplomats in Washington, DC. The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the US, Al Otaiba played a key role in the peace accord reached with Israel in August 2020, a…
GOVERNMENT
Reuven Rivlin
Reuven Rivlin is the 10th President of the State of Israel, a position he has held since June 2014. During 2020, Rivlin has been increasingly concerned with the coronavirus pandemic. In September, he sparked the ire of some…
GOVERNMENT
Katharina von Schnurbein
German diplomat Katharina von Schnurbein was appointed as the first European Commission Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism in December 2015. Prior to this, she worked for five years as an advisor to EU Commission…
GOVERNMENT
Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer inherited a disaster when he became leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party in April. Having been resoundingly defeated in the 2019 general election, Labour remained mired in the antisemitism scandals…
GOVERNMENT
Pnina Tamano-Shata
Israeli Knesset Member Pnina Tamano-Shata became the first Ethiopian-Israeli woman to win appointment to the Israeli cabinet in 2020. Born in the Ethiopian village of Wuzaba in 1981, Tamano-Shata arrived in Israel in 1984 as…
GOVERNMENT
Ritchie Torres
Ritchie Torres is the Democratic US Representative-elect for New York’s 15th congressional district, which encompasses a large part of The Bronx. A native of The Bronx himself, Torres is a gay Afro-Latino and unabashed…
GOVERNMENT
Donald Trump
Amid the frantic political conflict that followed the November 2020 presidential election, several Israeli and Jewish leaders paused to thank outgoing President Donald Trump for his fulsome contributions to the well-being of…
GOVERNMENT
Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan – Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces – was another critical player in the historic peace deal reached with Israel in 2020. The crown prince…
GOVERNMENT
Albert Bourla
The coronavirus breakthrough that everyone had been waiting for during 2020 was finally announced at the beginning of November by Dr. Albert Bourla. The CEO of international pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, it was Bourla who…
INNOVATION
Brett Lockspeiser
Tech pioneer Brett Lockspeiser is the creator of the “Sefaria” app, a free digital library of Jewish texts in English and Hebrew. A secular Jew with no formal Jewish education, Lockspeiser, 37, was the project’s chief…
INNOVATION
Jessica Meir
As the coronavirus pandemic raged in April 2020, Jewish NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and her colleagues returned to earth from the International Space Station (ISS). Prior to her departure from the station, Meir joked, “I…
INNOVATION
Paul Milgrom
American Jewish academic Paul Milgrom and his Stanford University colleague Robert Wilson won the 2020 Nobel Economics Prize for work on auctions that has been hailed for benefiting buyers and sellers around the world on…
INNOVATION
Eytan Stibbe
Former Israeli fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe will soon become the second astronaut in the country’s history, a November 2020 announcement from the Israel Space Agency confirmed. Stibbe is slated to take off for the…
INNOVATION
Adeena Sussman
Cookbook author and Israeli foodie Adeena Sussman has been energetically promoting her newest release, Sababa, which was named a Best Fall 2019 cookbook by the New York Times, Bon Appétit, and Food & Wine. The book is…
INNOVATION
Tal Zaks
Among the companies announcing a vaccine for the coronavirus pandemic at the end of 2020 was US biotechnology pioneer Moderna, after the conducted trials discovered a success rate of more than 94 percent. Moderna’s chief…
INNOVATION
Sylvan Adams
Canadian philanthropist and former real estate developer Sylvan Adams is a recent immigrant to Israel, where he has been busy helping to improve the public relations image of the world’s only Jewish state. Billionaire Adams…
PHILANTHROPY
Peter Baldwin
Peter Baldwin is the chairman of the Center for Jewish History (CJH) in New York City. He is also the co-founder with Lisbet Rausing of Arcadia, a charitable fund. Arcadia recently donated a grant of $2.5 million to CJH…
PHILANTHROPY
Shloime Greenwald
Shloime Greenwald was the organizer of an 18-hour global telethon in May 2020 that united 47 Hatzalah chapters worldwide in a jam-packed concert with some of the best Jewish musicians in the world. Hatzalah chapters from the…
PHILANTHROPY
Mike Leven and Amy Holtz
Mike Leven is a legendary business executive and visionary philanthropist. Inspired by Warren Buffet’s and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge, Leven co-founded the Jewish Future Pledge to carry on his family’s commitment to Judaism…
PHILANTHROPY
Irina Nevzlin
Moscow-born philanthropist and author Irina Nevzlin was awarded the silver medal in the 2020 Nautilus Book Prize for her latest book, The Impact of Identity: The Power of Knowing Who You Are. Her past work has seen her serve…
PHILANTHROPY
Yehuda Krinsky
The chairman of the educational arm of the Chabad movement, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky began his career as an emissary of the legendary Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. “Today, in my estimation, Chabad-Lubavitch is…
RELIGION
Moshe Kotlarsky
Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky is the director of the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries and vice chairman of Merkos L’lnyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Rabbi Kotlarsky…
RELIGION
Shais Rishon
Shais Rishon is a Brooklyn-based, African-American, Orthodox Jewish author, blogger, graphic artist, and public speaker. A social activist more by chance than choice, Rishon entered the blogosphere in 2009 with the pseudonym…
RELIGION
Jonathan Sacks
The Jewish world lost both an intellectual giant and one of its most beloved figures with the tragic passing of Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, in November 2020 at the age of 72. An…
RELIGION
Yehuda Sarna
Yehuda Sarna was appointed as the first chief rabbi of the United Arab Emirates in August 2020, as the Gulf Arab nation embarked on its historic peace deal with Israel. “With the Abraham Accords, we are not commemorating the…
RELIGION
Adin Steinsaltz
The Jewish world was in mourning in August 2020 following the death of Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz at the age of 83, the scholar who revolutionized the study of Jewish texts with his rich and accessible commentaries on…
RELIGION
Aaron Teitelbaum
Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum is the leader of part of the Satmar Hasidic community based in Kiryas Joel, an Orthodox enclave in New York’s Orange County. In Oct. 2020, Teitelbaum was in the headlines after he forcefully condemned…
RELIGION
Isaac de Castro
Cornell University student Isaac de Castro came up with a novel idea during 2020, as Jewish students on university campuses around the US faced an upsurge of antisemitic harassment – including swastikas scrawled in dorm…
TOMORROW
Gaby Farber
One young South African Jewish woman broke the mold of anti-Israel activism on that country’s university campuses in 2020. In October, 22-year-old Gaby Farber was elected to the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the…
TOMORROW
Blake Flayton
The author of a much-quoted New York Times op-ed written during his sophomore year at George Washington University, Blake Flayton articulated some basic truths about life at American universities for students who support…
TOMORROW
Noémie Madar
The president of the French Union of Jewish Students (UEJF), Noémie Madar is one of the most determined campaigners against racism and antisemitism in France. In June 2020, Madar chalked up a major victory when pressure from…
TOMORROW
Rose Ritch
A Jewish student leader at the University of Southern California (USC), Rose Ritch resigned as vice president of the Undergraduate Student Government at the Los Angeles school in August 2020 after she faced a campaign of…
TOMORROW
Maryam Al-Zaabi
“For too long, anti-Zionism was pursued as an essential element of the correct Arab and Muslim identity,” wrote the Muslim commentator and interfaith advocate Maryam Al-Zaabi in an opinion piece jointly authored with a…
TOMORROW
Eve Barlow
“I am really proud to be Jewish today and all days” is a heartening example of what columnist Eve Barlow – who is proudly Scottish and Jewish, as well as a Zionist – shares on her Twitter feed. In an article for Medium in…
VOICES
Marra Gad
Marra Gad’s 2020 memoir, The Color of Love: A Story of a Mixed-Race Jewish Girl, is the multilayered story of her life as a biracial Jew. Although Gad experienced a life with loving parents, there were also hostile relatives…
VOICES
Annika Hernroth-Rothstein
In 2020, Annika Hernroth-Rothstein published her first book, Exile: Portraits of the Jewish Diaspora, in which she uncovered the hidden beauty of the largely forgotten Jewish enclaves in countries ranging from Finland to…
VOICES
Jemele Hill
In July 2020, The Atlantic contributing writer Jemele Hill wrote a highly personal piece in response to Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson’s use of a fake Hitler quote on Twitter. As an ESPN columnist covering…
VOICES
Aviva Klompas
Aviva Klompas is a speechwriter, communications strategist, public speaker, and policy advisor. Her latest book, Speaking for Israel: A Speechwriter Battles Anti-Israel Opinions at the United Nations, revisits her experience…
VOICES
James Lindsay
An American-born author, mathematician, and political commentator, James Lindsay has written six books spanning a range of subjects including religion, the philosophy of science, and postmodern theory. He is the founder of…
VOICES
Pamela S. Nadell
Pamela S. Nadell holds the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s and Gender History and is Director of the Jewish Studies Program at the American University in Washington, DC. Nadell’s latest book America’s Jewish Women: A…
VOICES
Maajid Nawaz
Maajid Nawaz is a counter-extremist, author, columnist, broadcaster and Founding Chairman of Quilliam, a London-based organization focusing on matters of integration, citizenship & identity, religious freedom, immigration…
VOICES
Piers Morgan
Veteran British journalist Piers Morgan entered the battle against antisemitism in 2020 with a furious response to British rapper Wiley who had unleashed a grotesquely antisemitic rant on Twitter under the guise of an…
VOICES
Anshul Saxena
Indian activist Anshul Saxena describes himself as “a programmer and an ethical hacker.” He is active on YouTube and other social media channels where he shares news and personal opinions. Saxena regularly tweets about…
VOICES
Vijeta Uniyal
Vijeta Uniyal is an Indian writer based in Europe. He graduated from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and worked for more than 10 years in international organizations including the German Foreign Office…
VOICES
Eric Weinstein
Eric Weinstein is an American managing director of Thiel Capital, Peter Thiel’s investment firm, a position he has held since 2015. An active commentator on Twitter, Weinstein shared a moving story about his family’s…
VOICES
Bari Weiss
Having established herself as one of America’s leading Jewish intellectuals of recent years, editor and writer Bari Weiss caused a storm when she resigned from her post with the New York Times in August, citing “bullying” at…