TWO STEPS FORWARD... The Jewish newspaper the Forward last week unveiled its annual Forward 50, or the 50 most influential American Jews. Topping the list for the second straight year was Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense seen by most as the principal architect of the Iraq war.
Rounding out the top five were Reform movement head rabbi Eric Yoffie, ADL honcho Abraham Foxman, Hannah Rosenthal of the Jewish Council on Public Affairs, and World Trade Center architect Daniel Libeskind.
Also listed, among those frequently mentioned here, were Joseph Lieberman, Barney Frank, Eric Cantor, Alan Dershowitz, Michael Lerner, Daniel Pipes, Douglas Rushkoff, Jon Stewart, and Debra Messing; the 50 had three Brandeisians that I know of: Yoffie, Messing, and Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Among those conspicuous by their absence from the list: Goldberg, Al Franken, Sarah Silverman, Theo Epstein, Heeb editrix Jenn Bleyer, Jay Fiedler, Ron Silver, David Paymer, and Ron Jeremy.