Michele, who in the photo in this post is obviously practicing her full prostration for Aleinu on Yom Kippur, is on a list with some very impressive people, including Google's Jared Cohen, the Jewish Agency's Haviv Rettig Gur, speechwriter Yael Wissner-Levy, and PresenTense's Ariel Beery. Nine deserving candidates and Lea Michele?
Let's take a close look at her credentials: Michele has a Jewish father and has claimed that she has a Jewish nose. Her work in the Jewish sphere? She plays a character who reinforces Jewish female stereotypes on Glee and she has been in Fiddler. Perhaps I am overlooking something?
It is great to expose folks to next generation leaders -- I'm all for it. But I'm not sure why any actors or actresses need to be on a list of Jewish leaders. But if you need to pick a Jewish actress so that perhaps TMZ will run your article or whatever, you might pick someone who actually considers herself Jewish, has some connection to Jewish ritual, plays interesting Jewish characters, and is (in my opinion) an actress who associates herself with good work on stage and on film. That would be Scarlett Johansson.
