Influential Jews of 2013

Editorial

Yair Lapid, Jack Lew and Binyamin Netanyahu (in that order) are the three most influential Jews in the world.

So says the Jerusalem Post in its annual, not exactly scientific survey of the world’s 50 most influential Jews, released last week. Lapid, who was virtually unknown outside Israel until this year’s Knesset elections, is given top spot for being the kingmaker who propped up Netanyahu – the ostensible king who comes out two spots below the kingmaker. (Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, shows up at #30, presumably due to her noted power behind the throne.) Between them is Lew, the U.S. treasury secretary and, until recently, President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff. The rest of the list holds more curious and original choices.

The idea of choosing and enumerating the top 50 Jews is a potentially fraught undertaking, the concept of Jewish influence being one of the stereotypes routinely used against us. However, haters gonna hate, as the young people say, and why should we hide our collective and individual achievements because others might find nefariousness where we should find pride? At its base, the list of influential Jews is ultimately an exercise less for edification than for fun. In that spirit, we can’t help adding some commentary to the choices of the Post’s selection committee.

First: Elie Wiesel at #23? Ask almost anyone – Jewish or not Jewish – to name an influential living Jew and surely Wiesel would be among the top responses. Leaving aside all his other accomplishments, his name is in the crossword clues almost every week, which has to count for something. While some may consider Wiesel the leading voice for ethical humanity, the Post criteria puts him a spot below Scooter Braun, whose name might be vaguely familiar to Jewish Independent readers, as we ran an article on him back in February 2011, though oddly enough that is not the first item that appears in a Google search. (For those who don’t want to go to the effort of heading to their computer, Braun is the manager for Justin Bieber, among other Hollywoodish accomplishments.)

On the subject of Google, the search engine’s co-founder, Sergey Brin, pops up at #6, ahead of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (#16). Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is at #8, suggesting that running the company through its unspectacular public offering was more important, by a factor of two, than inventing the platform.

In terms of bald influence, TV “fake news” host Jon Stewart, at #7, seems rightly placed. He influences millions of young Americans (and others) who would not otherwise engage in the political process. We will see if his decision to take a hiatus from The Daily Show this year to focus on filmmaking will advance or hinder his influence.

Many other expected names show up, if not in expected order.

Israeli politicos other than Lapid and Netanyahu show up at #4 (President Shimon Peres), #9 (Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon), #15 (Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, a kingmaker obviously deemed not as significant as either Lapid or King Bibi) and #43 (Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat). Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman (#5) and Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky (#24) are cited for their efforts to create egalitarian prayer at the Kotel.

British Labor party leader Ed Miliband shows up at #20, while politicians on this side of the Atlantic are represented, if topsy-turvy. It’s curious that Debbie Wasserman Schultz (#10), the Florida congresswoman who heads the Democratic National Committee that failed to win back the House of Representatives in November’s elections, tops Eric Cantor (#11), the Virginian who is somewhat more powerful as the House majority leader.

Canada’s own Irwin Cotler, former justice minister, legalist and a globally renowned voice for human rights and the rule of law? Chopped liver, apparently, to the selection committee. American legal mind Alan Dershowitz is also absent, so there may have been some anti-legalist bias, though they rightly cite U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan (#12). In the fields of science and medicine, the list also was sparse, represented predominantly by Shaare Zedek Hospital geneticist Ephrat Levy-Lahad (#48). And, though Reform movement leader David Saperstein appears at #26 and Orthodox innovator and leader Aharon Lichtenstein at #27, the Conservative movement is unrepresented.

Jewish figures in American media are numerous, and the list rightly acknowledges New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson (#14) and media magnate Sumner Redstone (#21). But Buzzfeed editor (ask your grandchildren) Ben Smith at #28? Well, a few years ago we may have questioned a young Mark Zuckerberg’s placement on this list, we suppose, but Buzzfeed is not yet Facebook.

Business knackers include New York City mayor and mogul Michael Bloomberg (#17); Russian philanthropist Moshe Kantor (#19); businessman, philanthropist and perhaps the closest thing to a Canadian on the list (by ancestry, at least) Matthew Bronfman (#32); Tel Aviv stock exchange CEO Ester Levanon (#33); multiple-hyphenated American-Israeli businesswoman-philanthropist Shari Arison (#34); Bank Leumi president Rakefet Russak-Aminoach (#35); Forbes-list rich guy Ronald S. Lauder (#37); and green-energy pioneer Yosef Abramowitz (#44).

Jewish community organization machers are also here, including AIPAC head Howard Kohr (#24), Jewish Federations of North America chair Michael D. Siegal (#42) and Jewish Agency board chair Efi Stenzler (#49).

Placing artists and tastemakers on a scale of influence must be tough, since such things are decidedly in the eye of the beholder, as evidenced by this eclectic list: moviemaker (and so much more) Steven Spielberg (#13), creator of TV’s Girls Lena Dunham (#18), author Michael Chabon (#29), fashion figure Diane von Fürstenberg (#31), author David Grossman (#36), filmmaker Dror Moreh (#40), sexologist Ruth Westheimer (#41), chef and food maven Yotam Ottolenghi (#45), playwright Eve Ensler (#46) and musician Idan Raichel (#47). And what to do with individuals whose achievements are in the area of modeling and beauty contests? The Post places them at #38 (modeling sensation Bar Refaeli) and #39 (the first Ethiopian-born Miss Israel, Yityish Aynaw).

The commissioners of the NHL, NBA and MLB, three individuals who are not named by the Post but placed collectively at #50, seem to be a sort of holy trinity (chas v’shalom!) representing Jewish ascendancy in American sports – well, in the back offices, at least.

For all the shortcomings and amusements associated with this list of Jewish influencers, there is a single, simple lesson. As a people, we have much to be proud of in a vast range of disciplines.

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