J Street Congratulates Ira Stup and Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen–“millennials who are remaking the Jewish community”

J Street is proud to congratulate two of its own–Ira Stup, former director of J Street U; and Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, former J Street U board member and founder of J Street U Princeton–on being named among The Jewish Week’s “36 under 36, The Millennials Who Are Remaking The Jewish Community.”

“Ira and Aryeh’s inclusion on this list should come as no surprise to anyone who has worked with them,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami. “They’re not just the future leaders of the community. They’re helping to lead it right now in exciting new directions.” 

Stup, a Philadelphia native, ran J Street U from 2013-2014, having worked previously as the group’s deputy director and campus organizer for the East Coast. He now advises J Street as a senior consultant while preparing for law school. He told The Jewish Week that encountering “diverse opinions about the Middle East [in college]… forced tough new thinking about the impact of a decades-long occupation on Israeli society and the American Jewish community.”

"Ira is a brilliant and dedicated colleague who has been instrumental in developing J Street U into the powerhouse that it is today,” said Ben-Ami. “All of us at J Street cannot wait to see what he will accomplish next."

As the founder of J Street U’s chapter at Princeton University, and current Mid-Atlantic regional representative to J Street U’s national student board, Cohen helped to design and build a student movement in support of a two-state solution. He wrote in the Daily Princetonian in 2013, “People often think that they cannot effect change, but history has shown that when college students stand together to fight for causes we hold dear, we can make a difference.” Cohen graduated from Princeton last month and says he plans to pursue a career in music.

J Street U Director Sarah Turbow called Cohen “one of the brightest and most creative young Jewish leaders in our community.” “Whether in the world of opera or politics, Aryeh leaves a huge impression,” she said.

In honoring Stup and Cohen, The Jewish Week said, “What sets them apart is that, unlike so many of us, they put their shoulders to the wheel, and they put their values into action.”

We couldn’t agree more. Congratulations Ira and Aryeh!