Bari Weiss

Bari Weiss (born March 25, 1984) is an American opinion writer and editor. In 2017, Weiss joined The New York Times as a staff editor in the opinion section.

Bari Weiss
Born (1984-03-25) March 25, 1984
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materColumbia University
OccupationJournalist
EmployerThe New York Times
Spouse(s)
Jason Kass
(m. 2013; div. 2016)

Early life and education

Bari Weiss was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Lou and Amy Weiss.[1] She grew up in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, and graduated from Pittsburgh's Community Day School and Shady Side Academy.[1] She attended the Tree of Life Synagogue and had her bat mitzvah ceremony there.[2] After high school Weiss went to Israel on a Nativ gap year program.[3]

A 2007 graduate of Columbia University, Weiss was a Wall Street Journal Bartley Fellow in 2007, and a Dorot Fellow from 2007 to 2008 in Jerusalem.[4]

As a student at Columbia, Weiss founded the Columbia Coalition for Sudan in response to the situation in Darfur. She was also a co-founder of Columbians for Academic Freedom. The group said that professors were intimidating students who expressed pro-Israel sentiments in classroom discussions that the professors disagreed with.[5] Weiss said that she felt intimidated in a class by Joseph Massad.[6][5][7] A committee at Columbia charged with investigating these claims concluded that "no evidence of any statements made by the faculty that could reasonably be construed as anti-Semitic."[8] The New York Civil Liberties Union said it was actually Weiss' group, the Columbians for Academic Freedom, who threatened academic freedom at the university, by leveling baseless accusations against Muslim professors and pushing the University to fire critics of Israel.[9][10]

This episode at Columbia remains important for Weiss in her analysis and her personal reflections. In her 2019 book How to Fight Anti-Semitism, Weiss cites the incident at Columbia with Massad as her first anecdote when talking about how, "[she] had a front row seat to leftist anti-Semitism" at Columbia.[11]:94

Career

Weiss was news and politics editor at Tablet from 2011 to 2013. She was associate book review editor at The Wall Street Journal from 2013 until April 2017, when she moved to The New York Times as an editor in the opinion section.[12][13] In 2018 she criticized the #MeToo Movement.[14] In 2018, Weiss was a guest panelist on Real Time with Bill Maher on three episodes during which she discussed social justice issues.[15] She made a fourth appearance that season, as a solo guest, to discuss the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. Weiss grew up in that synagogue and knew some of the victims.[16]

In 2019, The Jerusalem Post listed Weiss as one of the world's 50 most influential Jews.[17]

Political views

Weiss has been described as conservative by Haaretz, The Times of Israel, The Daily Dot, and Business Insider.[18][19][20][21] She describes herself as a "left-leaning centrist."[22] According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "her writing, which includes criticism of the right and the left, doesn't lend itself easily to labels."[23] According to The Washington Post reporter Avi Selk, Weiss "portrays herself as a liberal uncomfortable with the excesses of left-wing culture."[24] Vanity Fair describes Weiss as "a provocateur" and an "ardent Zionist".[2]

Weiss has expressed support for Israel and Zionism in her columns. When writer Andrew Sullivan described her as an "unhinged Zionist", she responded saying she "happily plead[s] guilty as charged."[25] In 2018, she said she believed the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but that they should not disqualify him from serving on the Supreme Court because he was 17 when he allegedly committed the assault.[20]

Personal life

From 2013 to 2016,[2] Weiss was married to environmental engineer Jason Kass, the founder of Toilets for People,[26] a company designing and manufacturing waterless self-contained composting toilets. While attending Columbia University, she dated future Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon.[2] As of 2019, she is in a relationship with former Vice News correspondent Nellie Bowles.[2]

Books

Awards
  • 2019: National Jewish Book Award in Contemporary Jewish life and practices for How to Fight Anti-semitism[28][29]

References
  1. Tabachnick, Toby (October 27, 2017). "Times opinion editor, 'Burgh native Bari Weiss, talks "news, Jews and views"". Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. 60 (43). p. 1,16. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  2. Peretz, Evgenia (April 24, 2019). "Mad About Bari Weiss: The New York Times Provocateur the Left Loves to Hate". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  3. Steinberg, Jessica (November 5, 2002). "Israel programs see huge decrease". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  4. "Bari Weiss". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  5. Roth, Jordan (May 26, 2005). "An academic freedom fighter". Jerusalem Post. ProQuest 319478492.
  6. Analysis: Columbia University Deals With Recent Charges of Anti-Semitism on Campus. Alex Chadwick and Mike Pesca, NPR, April 1, 2005
  7. Hentoff, Nat (April 5, 2005). "Columbia Whitewashes Itself". The Village Voice. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  8. Arenson, Karen W. (March 31, 2005). "Columbia Panel Clears Professors Of Anti-Semitism". New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  9. "NYCLU Defends Academic Freedom At Columbia University". New York Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  10. Glenn Greenwald (March 8, 2018). "NYT's Bari Weiss Falsely Denies Her Years of Attacks on the Academic Freedom of Arab Scholars Who Criticize Israel". The Intercept.
  11. Weiss, Bari (September 10, 2019). How to Fight Anti-Semitism. Crown/Archetype. ISBN 9780593136058. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  12. "Bari Weiss Joins 'New York Times' Opinion Section". Tablet. April 14, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  13. "Top Journalists Eli Lake and Bari Weiss Honored at Algemeiner Summer Benefit". Algemeiner Journal. July 14, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  14. French, David (March 8, 2018). "The Sliming of Bari Weiss". National Review. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  15. "Real Time with Bill Maher – 4 – Episode 449". HBO. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  16. "Weiss to Maher: U.S. Jews Traded Trump Their Values for Israel – After Pittsburgh We Know It's Not Worth It". Haaretz. November 4, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  17. "50 Influencers 2019". www.jpost.com. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  18. "Conservative, Jewish NY Times columnists slam Israel for BDS 'paranoia'". The Times of Israel. October 10, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  19. Cagle, Tess (May 19, 2018). "Conservative columnist says the NRA has Trump 'grabbed by the p***y'". The Daily Dot. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  20. Relman, Eliza (September 19, 2018). "New York Times opinion writer Bari Weiss slammed for questioning whether sexual assault should disqualify Kavanaugh from Supreme Court". Business Insider. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  21. Landau, Noa (October 10, 2018). "Leading Conservative NYT Columnists Slam Israel Over Detention of U.S. Student". Haaretz. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  22. JRE Clips. "Joe Rogan on the "MAGA" Kids Controversy". Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  23. Dolsten, Josefin (February 2, 2018). "How New York Times editor Bari Weiss found herself at the center of the #MeToo debate". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  24. Selk, Avi (2018). "A New York Times columnist blamed a far-left 'mob' for her woes. But maybe she deserves them". The Washington Post.
  25. Bret Stephens and Bari Weiss. "Opinion | Why Is Israel Scared of This Young American?". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  26. "Bari Weiss on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  27. Spiro, Amy (February 28, 2019). "Jewish 'New York Times' writer to pen book on antisemitism Bari Weiss signed a two-book deal with Crown Publishing". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  28. "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  29. "Jewish Book Council announces 2019 National Jewish Book Awards Winners". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
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