View source for The Forward

{{Short description|American news media organization}}
{{Other uses|Forward (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name                   = The Forward
| logo                   = [[File:The Forward logo 2022.svg|frameless]]
| image                  = The Forward home page April 7 2025.png
| caption                = Home page of ''The Forward'' on April 7, 2025
| type                   =
| format                 = 
| owners                 = Forward Association
| founder                = 
| publisher              = Rachel Fishman Feddersen
| editor                 = 
| chief_editor           = Julie Moos (interim)
| associate_editor       = [[Adam Langer]]
| managing_editor        = 
| news_editor            = 
| managing_editor_design = 
| campus_editor          = 
| campus_chief           = 
| opinion_editor         = Talya Zax
| life editor            = 
| photo_editor           = 
| staff_writers          = [[Benyamin Cohen]], Hannah Feuer, Mira Fox, PJ Grisar, Beth Harpaz, Louis Keene, [[Jacob Kornbluh]], Arno Rosenfeld
| founded                = {{Start date and age|1897|04|22}}
| political_position     = [[Progressivism|Progressive]]
| language               = English and Yiddish
| ceased_publication     = 
| headquarters           = New York City
| circulation            = English: 28,221
| circulation_date       = March 2013
| circulation_ref        = <ref>{{cite web|url= http://abcas3.auditedmedia.com/ecirc/newstitlesearchus.asp|title= Total Circ for US Newspapers|date= March 31, 2013|publisher= [[Alliance for Audited Media]]|access-date= June 16, 2013|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130306175039/http://abcas3.auditedmedia.com/ecirc/newstitlesearchus.asp|archive-date= March 6, 2013|df= mdy-all}}</ref>
| sister_newspapers      = 
| ISSN                   = 1051-340X
| oclc                   = 34407272
| website                = {{URL|forward.com}} 
}}
'''''The Forward''''' ({{langx|yi|פֿאָרווערטס|Forṿerṭs}}), formerly known as '''''The Jewish Daily Forward''''',<ref name="assimilating">{{cite news |url=http://observer.com/2015/04/the-jewish-daily-forward-is-assimilating |title=The Jewish Daily Forward Is Assimilating |date=May 17, 2015 |work=Observer |author=Matthew Kassel}}</ref> is an American news media organization for a [[American Jews|Jewish American]] audience. Founded in 1897 as a [[Yiddish]]-language daily [[socialist]] newspaper, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that [[Seth Lipsky]] "started an English-language offshoot of the Yiddish-language newspaper"<ref name=LipskySunDownForward.NYT>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/nyregion/30sun.html|title=Losing Money, New York Sun Is to Shut Down|author=James Barron|date=September 30, 2008|url-access=subscription}}</ref> as a weekly newspaper in 1990.

In the 21st century ''The Forward'' is a digital only publication. In 2016, the publication of the Yiddish version changed its print format from a biweekly newspaper to a monthly magazine;<ref>Sore-Rokhl Schaechter: [http://yiddish.forward.com/articles/196439/big-changes-ahead-at-the-forverts/?p=all ''Groyse enderungen baym "Forverts"'']. Online April 28, 2016, printed May 13, 2016.</ref> the English weekly paper followed suit in 2017. Those magazines were published until 2019.<ref name=cease/>

The Yiddish ''Forward'' (''Forverts'') is a clearinghouse for the latest developments in the Yiddish world with almost daily news reports related to Yiddish language and culture as well as videos of cooking demonstrations, Yiddish humor and new songs. A Yiddish rendition of the [[Leonard Cohen]] song "[[Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen song)|Hallelujah]]", translated and performed by klezmer musician [[Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird#Daniel Kahn|Daniel Kahn]], garnered over a million views.

On January 17, 2019, the publication announced it would discontinue its print edition and only publish its English and Yiddish editions online. Layoffs of its editor-in-chief and 20% of its editorial staff were also announced.<ref name=cease>{{cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/the-forward-122-year-old-u-s-jewish-publication-ends-its-print-edition-1.6849712 |title=The Forward, 122-year-old U.S. Jewish publication, ends its print edition - U.S. News |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=2019-01-17 |access-date=2019-02-20}}</ref>

[[Jodi Rudoren]] was named editor in July 2019, and took charge in September 2019 and resigned in April 2025.<ref name="GrynbaumForward">{{cite news |last1=Grymbaum |first1=Michael |title=Jodi Rudoren, Veteran Times Journalist, Will Lead The Forward |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/23/business/media/jodi-rudoren-forward.html |access-date=24 July 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=23 July 2019|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Citation
| last = Rudoren
| first = Jodi
| title = This is my last column as editor of the Forward
| pages = 
| newspaper = The Forward
| location = 
| date = 5 April 2025
| url = https://forward.com/opinion/710314/jodi-rudoren-last-column-as-editor-of-the-forward/}}</ref>

==History==
{{Yiddish Journalism}}

===Founding===
[[File:Cahan-Abraham-bust.jpg|thumb|left|[[Abraham Cahan]], patriarch of ''The Forward'' until 1946]]
The first issue of ''Forverts'' appeared on April 22, 1897, in New York City.<ref name="Manor3">Ehud Manor, ''Forward: The Jewish Daily Forward (Forverts) Newspaper: Immigrants, Socialism and Jewish Politics in New York, 1890–1917.'' Eastbourne, England: Sussex Academic Press, 2009; pg. 3.</ref> The paper was founded by a group of about 50 [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]]-speaking [[socialist]]s who had organized three months earlier as the Forward Publishing Association.<ref name="Manor3" /> The paper's name, as well as its political orientation, was borrowed from the [[German Social Democratic Party]] and its organ {{lang|de|[[Vorwärts]]}}.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

''Forverts'' was a successor to New York's first Yiddish-language socialist newspaper, ''Di Arbeter Tsaytung'' (''The Workman's Paper''), a weekly established in 1890 by the fledgling Jewish trade union movement centered in the [[United Hebrew Trades]], as a vehicle for bringing socialist and trade unionist ideas to Yiddish-speaking immigrants, primarily from eastern Europe.<ref name="Manor4">Manor, ''Forward,'' pg. 4.</ref><ref>''Dos Abend Blatt'' was established October 15, 1894, and terminated April 23, 1902. For further bibliographic information, see: Dirk Hoerder with Christiane Harzig (eds.), ''The Immigrant Labor Press in North America, 1840s–1970s: An Annotated Bibliography: Volume 2: Migrants from Eastern and Southeastern Europe.'' Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1987; pg. 555.</ref> This paper had been merged into a new Yiddish daily called ''[[Dos Abend Blatt]]'' (The Evening Paper) as its weekend supplement when that publication was launched in 1894 under the auspices of the [[Socialist Labor Party of America|Socialist Labor Party]] (SLP).<ref name="Manor4" /> As this publication established itself, it came under increased political pressure from the de facto head of the SLP, [[Daniel De Leon]], who attempted to maintain a rigid ideological line with respect to its content.<ref>Manor, ''Forward,'' pp. 4–5.</ref> It was this centralizing political pressure which had been the motivating factor for a new publication.

Chief among the dissident socialists of the Forward Publishing Association were [[Louis Miller]] and [[Abraham Cahan]]. These two founding fathers of ''The Forward'' were quick to enlist in the ranks of a new rival socialist political party founded in 1897, the [[Social Democratic Party of America]], founded by the nationally famous leader of the 1894 [[American Railway Union]] strike, [[Eugene V. Debs]], and [[Victor L. Berger]], a German-speaking teacher and newspaper publisher from [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin|Milwaukee]]. Both joined the SDP in July 1897.<ref>Manor, ''Forward,'' pg. 7.</ref>

===Early years===
Despite this political similarity, Miller and Cahan differed as to the political orientation of the paper and Cahan left after just four months to join the staff of ''The Commercial Advertiser,'' a well-established [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] newspaper also based in New York City.<ref>Manor, ''Forward,'' pp. 8–9.</ref>

[[File:waiting for the forwards.jpg|thumb|right|Newsboys for the ''Forward'' wait for their copies in the early morning hours in March 1913]]
For the next four years, until 1901, Cahan remained outside of ''The Forward'' office, learning the newspaper trade in a financially successful setting. He only returned, he later recalled in his memoir, upon the promise of "absolute full power" over the editorial desk.<ref>Abraham Cahan, ''Bleter fun main Leben.'' New York: Forward Association, 1927; vol. 4, pg. 342. Quoted in Manor, ''Forward,'' pg. 9.</ref>

The circulation of the paper, which was described as "one of the first national newspapers,"<ref name="Observer">{{cite journal  
   |journal=[[The New York Observer|The Observer]]
   |url=https://observer.com/2013/10/seth-lipsky-looks-forward
   |title=Seth Lipsky Looks Forward: New bio takes on Abraham Cahan, 'the first neoconservative'
   |author=Matthew Kassel |date=October 15, 2013}}</ref> grew quickly, paralleling the rapid growth of the Yiddish speaking population of the United States. By 1912 its circulation was 120,000,<ref name=NYTimes>Christopher Gray, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904E7DA1131F93AA25754C0A96E958260  "Streetscapes/The Jewish Daily Forward Building, 175 East Broadway; A Capitalist Venture With a Socialist Base"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 2, 2007.</ref> and by the late 1920s/early 1930s, ''The Forward'' was a leading U.S. metropolitan daily with considerable influence and a nationwide circulation of more than 275,000<ref name=NYTimes/><ref name=History>[http://www.forward.com/about/history/ "Our history"], ''Forward'' website. Accessed April 2, 2007.</ref> though this had dropped to 170,000 by 1939 as a result of changes in U.S. immigration policy that restricted the immigration of Jews to a trickle.<ref name=NYTimes/>

[[File:forward roosevelt.jpg|thumb|left|This November 1, 1936, magazine section of ''The Forward'' illustrates its evolution from a [[Democratic Socialism|Democratic Socialist]] publication to a [[Social Democracy|Social Democratic]] supporter of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s "[[New Deal]]"]]

Early on, ''The Forward'' defended trade unionism and moderate, democratic socialism. The paper was a significant participant in the activities of the [[International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union]]; [[Benjamin Schlesinger]], a former president of the ILGWU, became the general manager of the paper in 1923, then returned to the presidency of the union in 1928. The paper was also an early supporter of [[David Dubinsky]], Schlesinger's eventual successor.

[[File:Forward Art Section August 3 1924.jpg|thumb|right|This August 3, 1924 art section of ''The Forward'' displays prominent figures of the era, including Presidential candidate [[Robert M. La Follette]] and his running mate [[Burton K. Wheeler]], soon-to-be convicted murderers [[Leopold and Loeb|Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb]], Soviet functionaries [[Alexei Rykov]] and [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]], actress [[Gloria Swanson]], composer [[Pietro Mascagni]], and ''Forward'' manager [[Baruch Charney Vladeck]]]]

In 1933–34, ''The Forward'' was the first to publish [[Fred Beal]]'s eyewitness reports of bureaucratic privilege and of famine in the Soviet Union,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Beal|first=Fred Erwin|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000956442|title=Proletarian journey: New England, Gastonia, Moscow.|date=1937|publisher=Hillman-Curl|location=New York|pages=350}}</ref> accounts of the kind that much of the liberal and left-wing press disparaged and resisted.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mace|first=James E.|date=1988|title=The Politics of Famine: American Government and Press Response to the Ukrainian Famine, 1932-33|url=https://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/James_Mace/The_Politics_of_Famine_American_Government_and_Press_Response_to_the_Ukrainian_Famine_1932_1933_anhl.pdf|journal=Holocaust and Genocide Studies|volume=3|issue=1 |pages=75–94|doi=10.1093/hgs/3.1.75 |pmid=20684118 }}</ref> His story corroborated that of the paper's labor editor, Harry Lang, who had visited Soviet Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Eyewitness Accounts and Memoirs|url=https://holodomor.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/4.-Eyewitnesses-and-memoirs-MY.pdf|website=Holodomor Research and Education Consortium Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies University of Alberta}}</ref>

In response to the first reports of atrocities against the Jewish population of [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|German-occupied Poland]], special correspondent A. Brodie complained of exaggerated dispatches and lack of facts. But as accounts accumulated in the winter of 1939–40 of mass arrests, forced labor, massacres, executions and expulsions, the paper discerned the outline of the unfolding [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Grobman|first=Alex|date=1979|title=What Did They Know? The American Jewish Press and the Holocaust, 1 September 1939 – 17 December 1942|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23882020|journal=American Jewish History|volume=68|issue=3|pages=(327–352) 331 n25, 337, n 56 & 57|jstor=23882020 |issn=0164-0178}}</ref>

===After World War II===
In 1953, ''The Forward'' took the position that [[Julius and Ethel Rosenberg]] were guilty but held that the death sentence was too harsh a punishment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/julius-and-ethel-rosenberg/ |title=Julius and Ethel Rosenberg |publisher=My Jewish Learning |accessdate=2023-03-31}}</ref>{{undue weight inline|Reason=Mentioned in a single sentence as an example|date=May 2023}}

[[File:Tehuis in Duitsland voor Joodse mensen, die ontslagen zijn uit concentratiekampe, Bestanddeelnr 901-5575.jpg|thumb|left|Survivor of a Nazi concentration camp reading ''The Forward'' in Germany on 11 March 1946]]
By 1962, circulation was down to 56,126 daily and 59,636 Sunday,<ref name=Time>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071001015738/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827975,00.html "The Victim of Success"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', December 28, 1962.</ref> and by 1983 the newspaper was published only once a week, with an English supplement.<ref name=History/> In 1990, the English supplement became an independent weekly<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[Advertising Age]]
   |title=Jewish weekly goes nat'l  |date=June 11, 1990 |page=50
   |quote=going national with an English-language weekly}}</ref> which by 2000 had a circulation of 26,183, while the Yiddish weekly had a circulation of 7,000 and falling.<ref name=Nation>Alterman, Eric (May 22, 2000). "[https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/back-forward/ Back to the ''Forward'']. ''[[The Nation]]''. Retrieved August 5, 2024.</ref>

As the influence of the Socialist Party in both American politics and in the Jewish community waned, the paper joined the American liberal mainstream though it maintained a [[social democracy|social democratic]] orientation. The English version has some standing in the Jewish community as an outlet of liberal policy analysis. For a period in the 1990s, conservatives came to the fore of the English edition of the paper, but the break from tradition did not last. (A number of conservatives dismissed from ''The Forward'' later helped to found the modern ''[[The New York Sun|New York Sun]]''.){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

===21st century===
The Yiddish edition has recently enjoyed a modest increase in circulation as courses in the language have become more popular among university students; circulation has leveled out at about 5,500. [[Boris Sandler]], one of the most significant contemporary secular writers in Yiddish, was the editor of the Yiddish ''Forward'' for 18 years, until March 2016; the new editor who succeeded him is [[Rukhl Schaechter]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://forward.com/news/335537/boris-sandler-retires-as-editor-of-yiddish-forward/|title=Boris Sandler Retires as Editor of Yiddish Forward|date=March 9–11, 2016|website=The Forward|access-date=June 5, 2016}}</ref><ref>Kaplan, Rose (May 17, 2016). "[http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/202375/rukhl-schaechter-leads-forverts-into-the-digital-age Rukhl Schaechter Leads 'Forverts' into the Digital Age]". ''[[Tablet (magazine)|Tablet]]''. Retrieved April 1, 2017.</ref>

Between 2013 and 2017, ''The Forward'' published an online edition and English weekly and Yiddish biweekly editions, each effectively operating independently. Jane Eisner became the first female editor in chief of the English ''Forward'' in June 2008, following [[J. J. Goldberg]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/business/media/13forward.html|title=A New Editor at the Forward|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 13, 2008 |access-date=September 4, 2015|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="womensenews.org">Besa Luci, [http://womensenews.org/story/journalist-the-month/080701/eisner-breaks-glass-stelya-at-jewish-forward "Eisner Breaks Glass Stelya at Jewish Forward"], WeNews, July 1, 2008.</ref>

In August 2015, ''The Forward'' received wide attention for reporting from Iran<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cohler-Esses|first1=Larry|title=A Jewish Journalist's Exclusive Look Inside Iran|url=http://forward.com/news/318930/a-jewish-journalists-exclusive-look-inside-iran/|access-date=August 19, 2015|publisher=The Forward|date=August 12, 2015}}</ref> at a charged moment in American politics, as the U.S. Congress was ramping up to a vote on an accord reached the month before to limit Tehran's nuclear ability in return for lifting international oil and financial sanctions. Assistant Managing Editor [[Larry Cohler-Esses]] was, in the words of ''[[The New York Times]]'', "The first journalist from an American Jewish pro-Israel publication to be given an Iranian visa since 1979."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gladstone|first1=Rick|title=Reporting from Iran, Jewish Paper Sees No Plot to Destroy Israel|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/world/middleeast/reporting-from-iran-jewish-paper-sees-no-plot-to-destroy-israel.html|access-date=August 19, 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 12, 2015}}</ref>

In the fall of 1995, ''The Forward'' launched a [[Russian language in the United States|Russian-language edition]] under the editorship of Vladimir Yedidowich in response to demand for "a strongly Jewish, yet with a secular, social-democratic orientation and an appreciation for the cultural dimension of Jewish life" from the [[Russian Americans in New York City|fast-growing émigré community]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-07-30 |title=Velvl Yedidowich, 83, Editor of Russian Paper |url=https://forward.com/news/111023/velvl-yedidowich-83-editor-of-russian-paper/ |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref> The Russian edition was sold to Russian American Jews for Israel in 2004.<ref name="Voice">Murphy, Jarrett (January 11, 2005). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160316205723/http://www.villagevoice.com/news/forward-backlash-6405283 ''Forward'' Backlash]". ''[[The Village Voice]]''. Retrieved April 1, 2017.</ref> In contrast to its English counterpart, the Russian edition and its readership were more sympathetic to right-wing voices. In March 2007, it was renamed the ''Forum''.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Around the same time in 2004, the Forward Association also sold off its interest in [[WEVD]] to [[The Walt Disney Company]]'s sports division, [[ESPN Inc.|ESPN]].

[[File:Entrance to the Forward's Maiden Lane office.jpg|thumb|right|Entrance to the Maiden Lane office of ''The Forward'']]

The name of the publication was shortened to ''The Forward'' in April 2015.<ref name="assimilating" />

As of July 2016, ''The Forward'' began publishing a monthly magazine.  The last newspaper published was the June 30, 2016, issue.<ref>Sore-Rokhl Schaechter: [http://yiddish.forward.com/articles/196439/big-changes-ahead-at-the-forverts/?p=all "Groyse enderungen baym ''Forverts''."] Online April 28, 2016, in print May 13, 2016.</ref>

On January 17, 2019, the publication announced it would discontinue its print edition and only publish its English and Yiddish editions online. Layoffs of its editor-in-chief and 20% of its editorial staff were also announced.<ref name=cease/>

[[Jodi Rudoren]] was named editor in July 2019, and took charge in September 2019.<ref name="GrynbaumForward"/> She left the newspaper and returned to ''[[The New York Times]]'', where she had previously worked, in April 2025.<ref>{{cite news |title=Our New Editorial Director of Newsletters |url=https://www.nytco.com/press/our-new-editorial-director-of-newsletters/ |access-date=11 June 2025 |agency=The New York Times |date=11 March 2025}}</ref>

''The Forward'' began publishing in English in the 1980s, and a 2019 review observed that both Yiddish and English were being produced for its online edition.<ref>{{cite news  
   |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/23/business/media/jodi-rudoren-forward.html
   |title=Jodi Rudoren, Veteran Times Journalist, Will Lead The Forward
   |author=Michael M. Grynbaum  |date=July 23, 2019}}</ref>

Funding for the English edition became available when ''The Forward'' sold its FM radio station.<ref name=SethLipsky.JP2011/>

While the idea was said to have germinated in 1983, when the Yiddish-only paper "announced that it was going to retreat to weekly publication,"<ref name=SethLipsky.JP2011>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Jewish Press]]
   |title=Veteran Newspaperman Seth Lipsky Reminisces On His Career
   |author=Ellilot Resnick  |date=February 11, 2011  |page=10}}</ref> and the actualization of an English edition as an ongoing paper in 1990,<ref name=LipskySunDownForward.NYT/> by 2010 [[Seth Lipsky]] was described as "formerly editor of the English-language edition."<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Tablet (magazine)|Tablet]]
   |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/a-haitian-tale
   |title=A Haitian Tale
   |date=January 20, 2010}}</ref>

==Content==
===Political alignment===
The paper maintains a [[left-wing politics|left]] of center<ref name="womensenews.org"/> and [[Progressivism|progressive]]<ref name="Dolsten2020" /> editorial stance.

===Notable columns and features===
For 24 years, ''The Forward'' was the home of the column "[[Philologos]]". It now runs in ''[[Mosaic (magazine)|Mosaic]]''.<ref name="Eisner">{{cite news |last1=Eisher |first1=Jane |title=Farewell Philologos |url=http://forward.com/opinion/210464/farewell-philologos |access-date=February 13, 2017 |work=The Forward |date=December 6, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Joins">{{cite news |title=Philologos Joins Mosaic |url=https://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/2015/01/philologos-joins-mosaic |access-date=February 13, 2017 |work=[[Mosaic (magazine)|Mosaic]] |date=January 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112072952/http://mosaicmagazine.com:80/observation/2015/01/philologos-joins-mosaic/|archive-date=January 12, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The best-known writer in the ''Yiddish Forward'' was [[Isaac Bashevis Singer]], who received the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]]. Other well known contributors included [[Leon Trotsky]], [[S.L. Shneiderman]], and [[Morris Winchevsky]].{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

''The Forward''{{'}}s contributors include Debra Nussbaum Cohen,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cohen |first=Debra Nussbaum |date=2019-02-07 |title=Remembering Yechiel |url=https://jewishjournal.com/judaism/obituaries/293476/remembering-yechiel/ |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> Sam Kestenbaum, and [[Ilene Prusher|Ilene Prushner]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ilene Prusher |url=https://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/scms/faculty/prusher/index.php |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=Florida Atlantic University |language=en}}</ref> opinion columnist [[Deborah Lipstadt]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=Professor Deborah Lipstadt Articles |url=https://jewishmiami.org/news/extra/deborah_lipstadt_articles/ |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=Greater Miami Jewish Federation |language=en}}</ref> art critics [[Anya Ulinich]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-17 |title=David Shneer performs 'Art Is My Weapon,' conducts research in Paris |url=https://www.colorado.edu/jewishstudies/2017/01/17/david-shneer-performs-art-my-weapon-conducts-research-paris |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=Program in Jewish Studies |language=en}}</ref> and cartoonist [[Liana Finck]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Dolsten |first=Josefin |title=New Yorker cartoonist draws on the light and shadows of her Jewish upbringing |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-yorker-cartoonist-draws-on-the-light-and-shadows-of-her-jewish-upbringing/ |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |language=en-US |issn=0040-7909}}</ref> Liberal writer [[Peter Beinart]] was a columnist for the ''Forward'' until 2020, when he left for the left-wing publication ''[[Jewish Currents]]''.<ref name="Dolsten2020">{{cite news |last1=Dolsten |first1=Josefin |title=Prominent liberal writer Peter Beinart leaves Forward for progressive Jewish Currents |url=https://www.jta.org/2020/01/29/culture/prominent-liberal-writer-peter-beinart-leaves-forward-for-left-wing-publication-jewish-currents |access-date=24 March 2025 |work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |date=2020-01-29}}</ref>

Alana Newhouse, who authored what ''The New York Times'' called "a coffee-table book" (''A Living Lens: Photographs of Jewish Life From the Pages of The Forward''), was the paper's arts and culture editor.<ref name=FwdCoffeeBook.NYT>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/nyregion/thecity/27read.html
   |title=The City, Framed: Jewish Life, Soaring Bridges, Fulton Market
   |author=Sam Roberts  |date=May 27, 2007}}</ref>

''The Forward'' was home to an early and long running advice column for Jewish immigrants, [[A Bintel Brief]]. ''The New York Times'' described it as "homespun advice ... which predated [[Dear Abby]]."<ref name=FwdCoffeeBook.NYT/>

The "Forward 50" is a list of 50 Jewish Americans "who have made a significant impact on the Jewish story in the past year", published annually as an editorial opinion of ''The Forward'' since 1994. The list was the initiative of [[Seth Lipsky]], founding editor of the English ''Forward''.<ref name=home>{{cite web|url=http://www.forward.com/forward-50/ |title=Official Website |work=The Forward |access-date=June 29, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722063348/http://www.forward.com/forward-50-2009/|archive-date=July 22, 2011}}</ref>

According to the magazine's website, this is not a scientific study, but rather the opinion of staff members, assisted by nominations from readers. ''The Forward'' does not endorse or support any of the people in the listing. The rankings are divided into different categories (which may vary from year to year): Top Picks, Politics, Activism, Religion, Community, Culture, Philanthropy, Scandals, Sports and, as of 2010, Food.<ref name=home/>

The list also includes those Jews whose impact in the past year has been dramatic and damaging.<ref name=home/>

In 2021, ''The Forward'' published the "Forward Shortlist" instead, which named seven people.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-24 |title=Forward Shortlist: 7 American Jews who fascinated us in 2021 |url=https://forward.com/news/480062/forward-shortlist-2021/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref> In celebration of the magazine's 125th anniversary in 2022, the "Forward 125" was introduced, a list of the 125 most influential American Jews from 1897 to 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ehrlich |first=Jay |date=2022-12-23 |title=Introducing the Forward 125: The American Jews who shaped our world |url=https://forward.com/culture/529218/forward-125-american-jews-history-headlines-ab-cahan-1897/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref>

=== Notable interviews ===

* [[Barack Obama]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-31 |title=President Barack Obama Speaks to Jews in Historic Interview With the Forward |url=https://forward.com/news/320094/in-historic-interview-with-the-forward-barack-obama-speaks-to-american-jews/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Peiser |first=Jaclyn |date=2019-01-18 |title=In Print Since 1897, The Forward Goes Digital Only |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/business/media/forward-jewish-newspaper-print-digital.html |access-date=2023-04-15 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-19 |title=Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her own words: highlights from the Forward's 2018 interview |url=https://forward.com/news/454773/ruth-bader-ginsburg-in-her-own-words-highlights-from-the-forwards-2018/ |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-02-06 |title=Jane Eisner Interviews Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Transcript |url=https://forward.com/opinion/393687/jane-eisner-interviews-ruth-bader-ginsburg-transcript/ |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-19 |title=News Of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Death Interrupts Rosh Hashanah Services Nationwide |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rosh-hashanah-ruth-bader-ginsburg_n_5f655de3c5b6b9795b10a64b |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Gal Gadot]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-05-02 |title=Gal Gadot Talks Growing Up In Israel & Her Controversial Maxim Photo Shoot |url=https://forward.com/schmooze/137439/chatting-with-fast-five-star-gal-gadot/ |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Berrin |first=Danielle |date=2017-05-31 |title=Gal Gadot and the Jewish essence of Wonder Woman |url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/film/219779/gal-gadot-jewish-essence-wonder-woman/ |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Joe Biden]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-03-22 |title=Presidential Hopeful Slams Bush for Stance on Syria |url=https://forward.com/news/10396/presidential-hopeful-slams-bush-for-stance-on-syri/ |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-08-25 |title=Biden and the Jews: Strong Ties and Friendly Disagreements |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/biden-and-the-jews-strong-ties-and-friendly-disagreements |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Natan Sharansky]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-05 |title=The impossible is happening: Talking to Natan Sharansky about the crisis in Ukraine. |url=https://forward.com/opinion/483453/natan-sharansky-about-the-crisis-in-ukraine/ |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref>

== Recognition==
''The Forward'' was considered one of the first national newspapers in the United States.<ref name="Observer" />

In 2020, ''The Forward'' was nominated for a [[James Beard Foundation Award]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 2020 James Beard Award Nominees {{!}} James Beard Foundation |url=https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/the-2020-james-beard-award-nominees |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=www.jamesbeard.org |language=en}}</ref> and won nine [[Simon Rockower Award|Rockower Awards]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=AJPA - 2020 Competition |url=https://www.ajpa.org/2020-Competition |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=www.ajpa.org}}</ref> ''The Forward'' won two [[Religion Newswriters Association|Religion News Association]] Awards<ref>{{Cite web |title=2021 RNA Contest Winners |url=https://rna.org/2021winners |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=Religion News Association |language=en-US}}</ref> and 34 Rockower Awards in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AJPA - 2021 Competition |url=https://www.ajpa.org/2021-Competition-Winners |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=www.ajpa.org}}</ref> In 2022, the Forward won two [[Religion Newswriters Association|Religion News Association]] Awards<ref>{{Cite web |title=2022 RNA Contest Winners |url=https://rna.org/2022winners |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=Religion News Association |language=en-US}}</ref> and a record of 43 Rockower Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AJPA - 2022 Competition |url=https://www.ajpa.org/page-18159 |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=www.ajpa.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Debonis |first=Jaclyn |date=2022-06-28 |title=Forward wins 12 first-place prizes at 41st Annual AJPA Simon Rockower Awards |url=https://forward.com/communications/507910/forward-wins-12-first-place-at-41st-annual-ajpa-simon-rockower-awards/ |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref> In 2023, the [[American Jewish Press Association]] awarded ''The Forward'' 33 Rockower Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 11, 2023 |title=2023 Awards (for work done in 2022) |url=https://www.ajpa.org/resources/2023%20Conference/2023%20Winners%20List%20-%20Final.pdf |access-date=August 16, 2023 |website=American Jewish Press Association}}</ref>

==''Jewish Daily Forward'' Building==
<gallery>
File:Jewish Daily Forward bldg jeh.JPG|''Forward'' Building facade
File:Forward Building Top.JPG|Top of ''Forward'' Building
File:Forward Building Full View.JPG|Front view of ''Forward'' Building
</gallery>

At the peak of its circulation, ''The Forward'' erected a ten-story office building at 175 [[East Broadway (Manhattan)|East Broadway]] on the [[Lower East Side]], designed by architect George Boehm and completed in 1912. It was a prime location, across the street from [[Seward Park (Manhattan)|Seward Park]]. The building was embellished with marble columns and panels and stained glass windows. The facade features carved [[Relief|bas relief]] portraits of [[Karl Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g128/davidbellel/david2/forwardfaces1.jpg |title=Forward faces |via=photobucket.com |access-date=June 29, 2011}}{{better source needed|date=April 2017 |reason=Links to photograph without metadata or reliable explanation}}</ref> (who co-authored, with Marx, ''[[The Communist Manifesto]]''), and [[Ferdinand Lassalle]], founder of the first mass German labor party. A fourth relief portrays a person whose identity has not been clearly established, and has been identified as [[Wilhelm Liebknecht]],<ref>Decter, Avi Y.; Martens, Melissa. ''The Other Promised Land: Vacationing, Identity, and the Jewish American Dream'', Jewish Museum of Maryland, 2005, p. 104.</ref> [[Karl Liebknecht]],<ref>Rosen, Jonathan. [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/02/arts/my-manhattan-on-eldridge-street-yesteryear-s-schul.html "My Manhattan; On Eldridge Street, Yesteryear's Schul"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 2, 1998.</ref> or [[August Bebel]].<ref>[http://www.eldridgestreet.org/area-guide.html Area Guide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119051349/http://www.eldridgestreet.org/area-guide.html |date=November 19, 2010 }}, Museum at Eldridge Street website. Accessed May 10, 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://yiddishkayt.org/2012/02/bebel |title=Today in Yiddishkayt... February 22, Birthday of August Bebel, Political Leader |publisher=Yiddishkayt.org |access-date=December 8, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416074335/http://yiddishkayt.org/2012/02/bebel |archive-date=April 16, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The paper moved out in 1974, and in the real-estate boom of the 1990s the building was converted to condominiums.<ref name=NYTimes /><ref>{{cite web |first=Ariel |last=Pollock |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/current/articles/spring2008/boroughing-das.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430235704/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/current/articles/spring2008/boroughing-das.html 
|archive-date=April 30, 2015 |title=Boroughing: Das Forvert Building |work=Current |date=Winter 2007 |access-date=April 1, 2017}}</ref> ''The Forward'', which in 2007 was headquartered at East 33rd Street,<ref name=FwdCoffeeBook.NYT/> is in the [[Financial District (Manhattan)|Financial District]] {{as of|2020|lc=y}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://forward.com/contact 
|title=Contact |website=The Forward}}</ref>

==Leadership==
{{Incomplete list|date=February 2025}}

===Editors-in-chief===
{| class="wikitable"
| 1903–1951 || [[Abraham Cahan]] || [[File:Portrait of Abraham Cahan.jpg|120px]]
|-
| 1951–1962 || [[Harry Rogoff]] || [[File:Harry Rogoff Forward Portrait circa 1930s Trim.jpg|120px]]
|-
| 1962–1968 || [[Lazar Fogelman]]|| [[File:3x4.svg|120px]]
|-
| 1968–1970 || Morris Crystal || [[File:3x4.svg|120px]]
|-
| 1970–1987 || Simon Weber || [[File:3x4.svg|120px]]
|-
| 1988–1998 || [[Mordechai Strigler]] || [[File:3x4.svg|120px]]
|-
|}

===General managers===
{| class="wikitable"
| 1909–1912 || [[Benjamin Schlesinger]] || [[File:Benjamin Schlesinger, ILGWU President from 1914 to 1923 and 1928 to 1932.jpg|120px]]
|-
| 1912–1917 || [[Adolph Held]] || [[File:Adolph Held 1922 Crop.jpg|120px]]
|-
| 1918–1938 || [[Baruch Charney Vladeck]] || [[File:Baruch Charney Vladeck Portrait 1924.jpg|120px]]
|-
| 1939–1962 || [[Alexander Kahn]] || [[File:Alexander Kahn 1939 Edit.jpg|120px]]
|-
| 1962–1967 || [[Adolph Held]] || [[File:Adolph Held Rubenstein Portrait circa 1940s Trim.jpg|120px]]
|-
| 1967–1969 || Daniel Ifshin || [[File:3x4.svg|120px]]
|-
| 1970– || Paul Rubinstein || [[File:3x4.svg|120px]]
|-
|}

==See also==
* ''[[Algemeiner Journal]]''
* [[Institute for Nonprofit News]] (member)

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite journal |first= Matthew |last= Hoffman |title= The Red Divide: The Conflict Between Communists and Their Opponents in the American Yiddish Press |journal= American Jewish History |volume= 96 |issue= 1 |date= March 2010 |pages= 1–31 |jstor= 23887781 |doi= 10.1353/ajh.2010.0008 |s2cid= 162360938 }} 
* {{Cite news |last1=Peiser |first1=Jaclyn |title=Anti-Semitism's Rise Gives The Forward New Resolve |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 8, 2017 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/08/business/media/the-forward-antisemitism.html |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Jewish Daily Forward}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Official website|http://www.forward.com/}} {{in lang|en}}
* {{Official website|http://yiddish.forward.com/}} (Yiddish)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060211192827/http://www.inforeklama.com/Partners/Newspapers/Forward/info.htm The transition from the ''Russian Forward'' to ''Forum'']
* [https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/frw Online, searchable ''The Forward'' editions] from the [[Historical Jewish Press]]

{{Organized Jewish Life in the United States|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forward, The}}
[[Category:1897 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:Jewish newspapers published in the United States]]
[[Category:Jewish-American history]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in New York City]]
[[Category:Newspapers established in 1897]]
[[Category:Newspapers published in New York City]]
[[Category:Non-English-language newspapers published in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Online newspapers with defunct print editions]]
[[Category:Socialist newspapers published in the United States]]
[[Category:Weekly newspapers published in the United States]]
[[Category:Yiddish socialist newspapers]]
[[Category:Yiddish-language newspapers published in the United States]]