Saperstein, described in the announcement as a "Washington insider and political powerbroker," took the No. 1 ranking away from Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who held that position on last year's list.

The rankings were made by Jay Sanderson, chief executive officer of JTN Productions (the Jewish Television Network), Michael Lynton, chairman and head of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Gary Ginsberg, executive vice president of News Corp.

There are 50 rabbis on the list, which the executive say they drew up to provoke discussion about the role of religious leaders among Jews and non-Jews. Rounding out the top five were Mark Charendoff, president of the Jewish Funders Network, an international grouping of foundations and philanthropies; Yehuda Krinsky, global leader of the Chabad Lubavich movement; and David Ellenson, president of Hebrew Union College.

Anyone know if there's a comparable global "most influential" rabbi list? Who would be your top choice?

(Photo: Undated handout photo of America's oldest continuously used synagogue west of the Mississippi/REUTERS STRINGER)

These meetings will produce comminiques which will be sent to the church's convention in August where a final decision will be made on issues that have nagged the church and other denominations for years.

The ELCA's current policies allow gays to serve in the ministry but not engage in sexual relations outside marriage -- and the church defines marriage as being only between a man and a woman.

But possible changes advanced this week when the Church Council, a top governing body, approved with only minor revisions recommendations made by a task force  after a lengthy study.  Those recommendations will go before a membership convention in August, after input from the synods which are beginning their meetings this month.

The task force report asks whether the church wants to find ways to recognize life-long, monogamous same-sex relationships, and if so whether the church is committed to finding a way for people in such relationships to serve as clergy. There are other recommendations and proposals on how the process would work, but the first two steps have drawn the most attention.

ELCA officials said they foresaw "an extensive church-wide discussion" in the synods which elect delegates to the convention whose 1,000 members will be 60 percent laity and 40 percent clergy, and the debate reflects shifting societal attitudes towards gays in general and their role in the church in particular. 

Lutherans Concerned/North America, which speaks for gays in the church, said it was "pleased but cautious" with where the issue has advanced.

"For the first time in the history of our church, a recommendation for the elimination of the policy of discrimination against ministers in same-gender relationships will come to the floor of the church-wide assembly, brought by the church-wide organization itself," said Emily Eastwood, executive director of Lutherans Concerned/North America.

(Photo: Same-sex issues have been big news in America in recent months. Two men walk hand in hand outside the California Supreme Court during a Proposition 8 demonstration in San Francisco, California March 5, 2009. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES)

 "I only saw the back of his head," Winfrey said of her teary moment caught by TV cameras and flashed repeatedly around the world as she rested her head on the shoulder of a man standing in front of her in a sea of people. 

 At the taping of Friday's show in her Chicago studio, Winfrey brought the man  -- former Reuters reporter Sam Perry -- up from the audience for a face-to-face hug. 

 "We were in the moment," said Perry, who told Winfrey that her runny mascara did not stain his suit coat. 

 Perry, who lives in Northern California and worked as communications director of the Obama Silicon Valley campaign office, said his cellphone started vibrating the minute the picture hit the airwaves, with friends from several places around the world "telling me that I was standing with you." 

 But Winfrey said earlier this week she didn't know who he was but was grateful for "Mr. Man" lending her a shoulder. 

 As to his moment of fame, Perry said, "people were staked out at my house yesterday as well and it just seemed like ... we had a moment where the 'stand up for change' manifest in this election" was "taking over from Joe the Plumber," a reference to the "everyman" from Ohio toasted by John McCain during the campaign. 

 Winfrey said the crowd was packed in so tight Perry's was the only shoulder to lean on anyway -- and she asked him for permission before she did. 

 The Chicago Sun-Times said Perry is a consultant and is active in E2, a group that advocates good environmental practices for the business community.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young. Oprah Winfrey awaits the arrival of Barack Obama at his election night rally in Chicago, Nov. 4, 2008.

She "is the hottest property in media," Michael Levine said.

"My sources confirm producers and agents all over showbiz are trying to figure out what to do with her. One serious possibility could be an Oprah-style talk show," the head of  Levine Communications said in a note circulated to reporters  Friday.

He added that "she's a perfect fit as a TV host, stirring passions on both sides, which is a winning formula for large viewership."

Regardless of any speculation about the future, Palin hopes to be elected vice president on Nov. 4. If Palin and Republican presidential nominee John McCain lose to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his running mate Sen. Joe Biden, she still has two years remaining in her term as Alaska's governor.

Photo credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder (Palin with daughter at rally)

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service -- watchdog for what churches can do and still keep their tax-exempt status -- has alerted at least two organizations that they may have crossed the line by engaging in forbidden "political activities."

The United Church of Christ announced recently that it had received a letter from the IRS that it was  under investigation because of a speech that Senator Barack Obama -- Democratic presidential hopeful and a member of that church -- gave to its General Synod last year.

Obama spoke to about 10,000 people at the gathering, a few months after he had formally announced as a presidential candidate. The Cleveland-based church said he was one of only 60 speakers and the church did nothing improper or illegal.

Meanwhile the Los Angeles Times reports that the IRS has opened a similar inquiry into the Rev. Wiley Drake, a prominent Southern Baptist preacher in Buena Park, California, because he endorsed Mike Huckabee's Republican presidential nomination bid in a written statement on church letterhead and on a church-related Internet radio show.

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, is also a Southern Baptist preacher.

"Pastors and churches have 1st Amendment rights just like everybody else," the newspaper quoted Erik Stanley, an attorney as saying. "Wiley Drake has the same right to make a personal endorsement as anybody."

But the newspaper said the Americans United for Separation of Church and State had blown the whistle on the matter six month ago and asked for an IRS investigation.

Such probes are not new or different. The IRS investigated the liberal All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, for nearly two years because of an anti-war sermon delivered there during the 2004 presidential election campaign.

That probe was finally ended in September with the IRS concluding the church had indeed intervened in the election campaign. But it left its tax-exempt status alone, saying it was convinced the church had policies in place to assure compliance with the law and that the matter was a "one-time occurrence."

The church later demanded the IRS issue an apology for going after it in the first place.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage