Chabad.org Honored at 44th Annual Simon Rockower Awards
Chabad.org captured three awards and recognition at the 44th Annual Simon Rockower Awards Banquet, this year held in Pittsburgh, Pa., capturing multiple honors recognizing excellence in Jewish journalism.
For more than four decades, the American Jewish Press Association’s Simon Rockower Awards—dubbed the “Jewish Pulitzers”—have represented the pinnacle of recognition in Jewish journalism. The awards ceremony, held in Pittsburgh on June 23, 2025, was conducted in conjunction with the AJPA’s 2025 annual conference. The awards highlighted Chabad.org’s ability to uncover and share remarkable stories with the world from a unique perspective.
In the Award for Excellence in News Obituaries category, Chabad.org earned both second place and honorable mention recognition.
The first award went to the Chabad.org’s obituary for Sen. Joseph Lieberman, written by Eli Rubin and Dovid Margolin. This piece honored the life of the groundbreaking politician who became the first Jewish American to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket as Al Gore’s running mate in 2000.
Lieberman, who served as a U.S. Senator from Connecticut for 24 years, was famous for his unwavering commitment to his Jewish faith. The obituary skillfully captured the story of his life from his childhood in the lone-Shabbat observing family in the state, to his first encounter with the Rebbe as a Yale student in 1965 and the many that came after, and how he devoted himself public service while remaining true to his religious observance.
In the same category, Chabad.org received an honorable mention in the same category, recognizing Menachem Posner’s tribute to Rabbi Shmuel Butman, who passed away in July 2024.
Butman served as the director of the Lubavitch Youth Organization and worked energetically devoted himself to spreading Judaism throughout the tri-state area. One of his highest-profile projects was one of the most recognizable Jewish events in the world: lighting the “World’s Largest Menorah,” situated outside the iconic Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in Manhattan since 1986. Every mayor of New York City since Mayor Abe Beame has attended the menorah-lighting since, among other dignitaries, often joining Butman for the cherry-picker ride to the menorah’s pinnacle. The gleaming 32-feet-high sculpted bronze structure that Butman faithfully lit every year—36 feet, including the shamash, or helper candle—was designed by Yaacov Agam, Israel’s most collected artist, and is seen by hundreds of thousands every year.
Hochman’s article traced the remarkable path of a sacred Torah scroll from Afghanistan to Israel and finally Hong Kong over the course of a century. The judges praised the work with particular enthusiasm, noting that it tells a “fascinating story that shines a light on aspects of Jewish history few know much about.” Their comment emphasized how the article successfully takes readers along for “every step of the way” in what they described as “quite a journey.”
