Top 50 Influential Rabbis in America (Newsweek)

Here is the second annual version of the list—generated by Michael Lynton, (chairman & CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment), Gary Ginsberg, (executive VP, global marketing and corporate affairs, News Corp.) and Jay Sanderson, (CEO and executive producer, JTN/JTN Productions)—of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. In the fall of 2006, the friends, interested in the future of American Jewry and the evolving role of the rabbi, started a conversation that eventually became "the list." The machers ranked the rabbis based on the following unscientific criteria:

• Are they known nationally/internationally? (20 points)
• Do they have political/social influence? (20 points)
• Do they have a media presence? (10 points)
• Are they leaders within their communities? (10 points)
• Are they considered leaders in Judaism or their movements? (10 points)
• Size of their constituency (10 points)
• Have they made an impact on Judaism in their career? (10 points)
• Have they made a greater impact beyond the Jewish community and their Rabbinical training? (10 points)

The Rabbis

1. Marvin Hier (Orthodox)
(2007 Ranking #1)
Founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
2. Eric Yoffie (Reform)
(2007 Ranking #12)
President of the Union for Reform Judaism.
3. Robert Wexler (Conservative)
(2007 Ranking #7)
President of the American Jewish University.
4. Yehuda Krinsky (Lubavitch)
(2007 Ranking #2)
Global leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, a branch of Hasidism.
5. David Saperstein (Reform)
(2007 Ranking #16)
Director of the Religious Action Center and the co-chair of the Coalition to Preserve Religious Liberty.
6. Uri D. Herscher (Reform)
(2007 Ranking #3)
Founder and CEO of the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
7. Irwin Kula (Conservative)
(2007 Ranking #8)
Co-president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and bestselling author.
8. David Ellenson (Reform)
(2007 Ranking #6)
President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the nation’s oldest institution of higher Jewish education.
9. Shmuley Boteach (Orthodox)
(2007 Ranking #9)
Author of the recently published "The Broken Male and How to Fix Him".
10. Mark Charendoff (Orthodox)
NEW!
President of the Jewish Funders Network, an international organization of family foundations, public philanthropies and individual funders.
11. Yehuda Berg (Orthodox)
(2007 Ranking #4)
One of the world’s most popular authorities on the Kabbalah.
12. David Wolpe (Conservative)
(2007 Ranking #18)
Tops the list of pulpit rabbis in America.
13. J. Rolando (Roly)Matalon (Conservative)
(2007 Ranking #17)
The spiritual leader of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New York City.
14. Harold Kushner (Conservative)
(2007 Ranking #5)
Best-selling author, pulpit rabbi and speaker.
15. Peter J. Rubinstein (Reform)
(2007 Ranking #11)
Spiritual leader of New York’s Central Synagogue.
16. Zalman Teitelbaum (Hasidim)
(2007 Ranking #15)
Leader of the Satmar Hasidic community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
17. Sharon Kleinbaum (Reform)
(2007 Ranking #19)
Senior Rabbi of the world’s largest synagogue for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews.
18. Jeffrey Wohlberg (Conservative)
NEW!
Rabbi at Washington, D.C.’s Adas Israel Congregation.
19. Harold M. Schulweis (Conservative)
(2007 Ranking #13)
Rabbi of Congregation Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, CA.
20. Dan Ehrenkrantz (Reconstructionist)
(2007 Ranking #20)
President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.
21. Joseph Telushkin (Conservative/Orthodox)
(2007 Ranking #21)
Best-selling author and speaker.
22. Haskel Lookstein (Orthodox)
NEW!
Head of New York’s Ramaz School and Rabbi at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun.
23. Art Green (Renewal)
NEW!
Dean of Hebrew College’s Rabbinical School.
24. M. Bruce Lustig (Reform)
(2007 Ranking #10)
Leader of Washington Hebrew Congregation, the largest congregation in Washington, D.C.
25. Abraham Cooper (Orthodox)
(2007 Ranking #29)
Associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

go to the site for the rest!