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