Stephen Lewis
Stephen Henry Lewis (b. 1937) was born in Ottawa on Remembrance Day, and thus named Shalom by his parents. His grandfather was a member of the Jewish Bund in Russia, while his father was a key figure in the CCF – the predecessor to the modern NDP party. Lewis studied at the University of Toronto where he was a member of the debating team and went head-to-head with notable figures such as future president John F. Kennedy. Lewis also studied at the University of British Columbia. After dropping out from both U of T and UBC, he joined Socialist International and was sent to a conference in Ghana. Inspired by what he saw, Lewis stayed in Africa to work and teach across the continent. Returning to Canada, he became head of Ontario’s NDP, and quickly propelled the party to new popularity, doubling their seats in Parliament to become the Official Opposition. He moved on to be Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, also working as the director of UNICEF, and later a UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Lewis has written a popular book, Race Against Time, based on his experiences in Africa, and chairs the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which works to combat Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic. He is also a co-founder of AIDS-Free World. Lewis has received the Order of Canada, the World Citizenship Award, and has been described as one of the world’s “most powerful feminists”. Recently, he has had two schools named after him in the Greater Toronto Area, both called Stephen Lewis Secondary School.
Words of the Week
…any man of all the inhabitants of the earth, whose spirit has moved him and whose mind has given him to understand to set himself aside to stand before God to serve Him, to worship Him, to know God and walk justly as God has created him, and he cast from his neck the yoke of the many calculations that men seek – this man has become sanctified, a holy of holies, and God shall be his portion and his lot forever, and shall grant him his needs in this world…
– Maimonides (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Sabbaticals and Jubilees 13:13)
Jacob Joseph Lew (b. 1955) grew up in Queens and graduated from Forest Hills High School. He is the son of a lawyer originally from Poland. Lew began his career in politics working as an aide to a democratic representative, while also studying at Harvard, and later rose through the ranks in Congress. Eventually he became director of several institutions, including the Center for Middle East Research. In 1993 he was appointed Special Assistant to President Clinton. His amazing work in the budgeting department led to him becoming the director of the Office of Management and Budget for the Clinton Administration, meanwhile serving on the National Security Council. After Clinton’s term ended, Lew was Vice President of New York University, where he also served as Clinical Professor. Lew returned to government with the Obama administration, first as Deputy Secretary of State, then Budget Director, and most recently White House Chief of Staff (the highest ranking White House employee – sometimes nicknamed the “Co-President”). He has since taken up the position of Treasury Secretary, making him the highest ranking Orthodox Jew in U.S. history. It also means his signature will appear on all newly printed currency in the U.S. This sparked a bit of controversy due to Lew’s funny signature, causing President Obama to joke that he wanted to rescind the nomination when he saw it. Lew is a practicing Orthodox Jew, devoted to his family and his community. In the past he assisted Natan Sharansky in freeing Jews from the former Soviet Union, together with his rabbi, who has described Lew as “one of the most unassuming, giving, and caring congregants I’ve ever been blessed to have… rare for a person in such a powerful position to be the quintessential mensch.”