52 | MAY 9 • 2024
J
N
TIME MAGAZINE’S 100
MOST INFLUENTIAL:
12% ARE JEWISH
On April 17, Time magazine
released its annual list of the
100 Most Influential People
in the World. On April 25,
Time hosted its annual Gala
party to celebrate the list
and, on Sunday, May 12, at
10 p.m., ABC will broadcast a
one-hour special titled Inside
the Gala: Time 100.
In an hour, ABC really can’t
say that much about all the
honorees at the Gala. Still, it
will be interesting to get at
least a quick look at most of
these talented and varied
people.
I missed the 2024 list
when it first appeared. But
I caught a reference to
the Gala broadcast, and I
immediately thought about
writing about the 2024
Jewish honorees. I made up
my list and then I discovered
an April 18 JTA article that
provided an “OK” list of the
Jewish honorees.
I decided to go ahead with
my list because I suspect
most of you missed the JTA
article — and the JTA list
left off three “quite Jewish”
honorees and it included a
person I wouldn’t call Jewish.
(*, below, means not on JTA
list).
Here’s my list. Do check
for online sources for much
more info. (1) Jack Antonoff,
40, a top music producer
(Taylor Swift is now his
biggest client) and a popular
rock musician. He’s won a
slew of Grammys, went to
a Hebrew day school and
went to his high school prom
with Scarlett Johansson.
(2) Yoshua Bengio, 60, a
Canadian computer scientist
who is at the absolute top
of his field — that being
artificial intelligence. He’s
very concerned about
the ethnical use of AI. His
brother, Samy Bengio, is
head of AI for Apple. Their
parents were Moroccan
Sephardi Jews who settled
in France and the brothers
were born in France. The
teenage Bengio brothers
and their “artsy/hippie”
parents moved to Canada in
1978.
(3) Tory Burch, 57, is a very
successful women’s fashion
designer. Her mother is
Jewish.
(4) Mark Cuban*, 65, has
made fortunes in internet-
related services and, later,
in sports businesses. Most
know him as an investor in
startups on the Shark Tank
TV program.
(5) Daniel Drucker*, 67, a
Canadian medical professor
best known for his research
into intestinal hormones and
their use in the treatment
of diabetes, obesity and
other metabolic diseases.
In 2023, he won the (Israeli)
Wolf Prize in Medicine. His
parents were Holocaust
survivors who met in Israel.
They moved to Canada in
1953.
(6) Alex Edelman, 35,
as noted recently in this
column, is a stand-up
comedian whose one-man,
anti-Nazi play, Just for Us, is
now streaming on HBO.
(7) Larry Ellison, 70, a
multi-billionaire and the
co-founder of the Oracle
software company. He’s
not religious at all but has
heavily invested in Israeli
high-tech.
(8) Ynon Kreiz, 58, a
businessman who was
born and raised in Israel.
He became the CEO of the
Mattel Company in 2018 and
profits have substantially
grown.
(9) Rachel Goldberg-
Polin, 54. Her son, Hersh,
was kidnapped and taken
to the Gaza Strip during the
Hamas attacks on Israel. She
quit her job to focus full-time
on working toward freeing
the hostages.
(10) Maya Rudolph, 51,
is best known as an SNL
comedy star. Her mother,
African American singer
Minnie Riperton, died when
she was 7. Rudolph’s Jewish
father didn’t talk about
religion or his family roots.
Maya learned all about her
Jewish and Black ancestors
when she guested on
Finding Your Roots.
(11) Stuart Orkin*, 78, is
a Harvard medical doctor
and a stem cell biologist
in pediatric hematology-
oncology. His work has
focused on the genetic
basis of blood disorders.
Orkin has led many research
breakthroughs and some
treatments. I found a 1970
Boston Jewish paper item
about his Jewish wedding
to his “only” and “present”
Jewish wife.
12) Norah Weinstein,
50ish, is the co-president of
Baby2Baby, a large nonprofit
that provides low-income
families with diapers, clothes,
cribs and other essential
items.
James McBride, 66, a
bestselling writer, is on the
JTA list. His mother was
born Jewish, but converted
to Christianity, and his
father was a Black pastor.
McBride is a great friend of
the Jewish people, but he
identifies as a Christian.
Dark Matters is an
Apple TV + sci-fi series
that premiered on May 8.
Here’s the “official” premise:
A physicist in Chicago is
warped into an alternate
version of his life, leaving
him to fight to return to his
life to prevent the alternate
version of himself from
harming his family.
Australian actor Joel
Edgerton stars as Jason
Dessen, the physicist. His
wife, Daniela Dessen, is
played by Jennifer Connelly,
53. The actress is the secular
daughter of a Jewish mother
and a non-Jewish father.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
BY KATIE FRICKER
Jack Antonoff
BY HAIM ZACH/GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE OF ISRAEL
Rachel Goldberg-Polin
LINKEDIN
Norah Weinstein