The Jewish Heart Beats Heavy in New York

New York City is … intense.

It’s organized chaos.

It’s 9 million souls (and 960,000 Jews) criss-crossing in the middle of the night.

It’s a living, breathing superorganism, electric, alluring, impulsive and … after a while, it becomes sensory overload.

I recently spent several days in Queens and Manhattan for the annual American Jewish Press Association (AJPA) conference. AJT Publisher Michael Morris joined me and we had a blast; we won an award (more on that later) and connected with new and old friends.

It’s always refreshing for perspective to find yourself in a room surrounded by your peers — our fellow Jewish journalists from around the country, doing what we do, understanding the same challenges we face, sharing ideas, innovation, and inspiration … while spreading cream cheese on a bagel in the Federation lobby.

The first day of programming was held at the historic Jewish Federation of New York. Our breakout sessions covered several hot topics, including the ethics and practicality of utilizing AI in the newsroom, how to attract younger readers, and how to build community in an ever-more polarizing world.

We bounced ideas off each other … I mentioned the AJT’s efforts to create a pipeline with local high school students interested in journalism, highlighting The Weber School’s Rampage newspaper staff who have already published several stories in our paper. This seemed like a new idea to the room, and I hope we can serve as an inspiration to create more pipelines and lay the groundwork for the future of Jewish journalism in America.

The next day, our sessions were hosted by the Center for Jewish History. This is truly an inspiring museum, and I encourage our readers to experience it for themselves.

Located within the Center is the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research. It features the largest collection of Eastern European Jewry documents and posters in the world, particularly from the years surrounding the Holocaust, including materials from Poland, Germany, Ukraine, and more. The following link will take you to the Yivo website for more information: https://www.yivo.org/

As for the Rockowers, it is with great disappointment that I can announce that the AJT only won one Simon Rockower Award this year.

However, it is with great nachas that I can announce that Robert Garber won First Place for Writing About Health Care with his article, “Neurodiversity and Judaism.” The story includes commentary from local rabbis and researchers and analyzes how Jewish culture has historically incorporated community members on the autistic spectrum. The following link will take you to the feature: https://www.atlantajewishtimes.com/neurodiversity-judaism/

Robert started as an intern and rejoined the staff full-time a little over a year ago as the Online Content Coordinator. He has helped me with uploading content, managing the website, and writing stories. And he is now an award-winning journalist in his first year in the industry. I could not be prouder of his work.

There were whispers this year that next year’s conference may once again be held in New York but in a different location, so we’ll see if that plays out.

In the meantime, the AJT is going to publish some damn good stories this year and will come home with several more Rockower Awards next year … or, at the very least, we’ll come home with more good memories and the feeling that we are all connected. New York … Cleveland … Detroit … Philly … DC … St. Louis … Denver … Cali … and ATL … and all of the Jewish quarterly magazines … we are Jewish journalism and we are strongest together.