Revered composer and pianist George Gershwin (Sept. 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) made enormous contributions to both American popular and classical music. Some of his best-known works are Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928); the songs “Swanee” (1919) and “Fascinating Rhythm” (1924); the jazz standard “I Got Rhythm” (1930); and…
In early September, The Atlantic published an article by Jeffrey Goldberg (54), the magazine’s editor-in-chief, that reported President Donald Trump made disparaging comments about America’s fallen soldiers. At the time of the alleged remarks, Trump was in France to attend memorial ceremonies for those who died in World War I. According to the article, Trump…
Harvey Korman (Feb. 15, 1927 — May 29, 2008) was a television and movie actor and comedian. He is perhaps best known…
PayPal — headed by 62-year-old Daniel H. Schulman — is a worldwide online payments company serving as an electronic alternative to checks and money orders. The company ranked 204th on the 2019 Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue. Previously, Schulman was group president of enterprise growth at American Express, and president…
We featured Ady Barkan, 36, in this space in October 2019. At the time, it appeared that the healthcare activist suffering from the debilitating and deadly disease ALS had only a very short time to live. The good news is that he’s still alive and carrying on his fight on behalf of healthcare for all…
Lise Meitner (November 1878 — October 1968) was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who contributed to the discoveries of an element protactinium and nuclear fission. While working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute on radioactivity, she discovered protactinium (specifically protactinium-231) as a radioactive isotope in 1917. Soon after fleeing from Nazi Germany to Sweden in 1938, she and…
Sadly, Anna Levine (z”l) passed away from coronavirus on April 22 at the age of 91. Happily, she had led an amazing life before her death. Anna became an attorney at 62; she marched for civil rights with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was present for his “I Have Dream Speech”; she demonstrated at…
Previously, we featured Ron Chernow, 71, in the Spotlight section of this website after he was the main speaker at the 2018 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Now we feature him again in recognition of his writing Alexander Hamilton, the 2004 biography of one of America’s most notable Founding Fathers. Chernow’s book later became the inspiration…
Tamir Goodman, 38, is an American-born basketball player once called the “Jewish [Michael] Jordan” by Sports Illustrated. A Yeshiva-educated, practicing Orthodox Jew, Goodman always held fast to his beliefs by not playing on Shabbat. He made Aliyah to Israel and played for several Israeli teams, starting with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Goodman lives in Jerusalem and…
Harvey Levin, 69, is an American television producer, legal analyst, celebrity reporter, and former practicing lawyer. He is the founder of the highly popular celebrity news website and TV show TMZ, and the host of OBJECTified, which airs on the Fox News Channel. Levin, who is openly gay, has been named to Out magazine’s “Power…
WOW! FACTS
Inventor of the mobile phone, “Father of the Internet,” inventor of the video game cosole, inventor fo the laser, inventor of the gramophone, creator of the Barbie Doll, creator of the cruise ship, “Father of Immunology,” inventor fo the modern condom (!), a prime minister of the U.K., a three-time prime minister of France, a president of Switzerland and the primary financier of the American Revolution?
We knew you could guess… all of them are (or were) Jews!
To learn about these and many more AmazingJews, watch a compilation put together by JewOfTheWeek.net in 2015 and posted on YouTube. >>
Nobel Prizes
Although Jews are less than two-tenths of one percent of the world’s population, more than 20% of Nobel Prize winners have been Jewish. Source: Google
Polio Vaccine
Millions and millions of people worldwide have been spared the ravages of poliomyelitis — including paralysis and even death — thanks to research conducted by Jewish scientist Dr. Jonas Salk and his team. The Salk vaccine entered widespread use in the U.S. in 1955. Source: Wikipedia
Miss Liberty
The words “…give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…” on the Statue of Liberty were written by Emma Lazarus, a Jew. Source: BuzzFeed
Blue Jeans
Levi Strauss, an immigrant from Germany, invented his blue jeans in 1873. Source: BuzzFeed
Start-Up Nation
Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship in the world. It has the highest rate of entrepreneurship among women and people over 55 in the world. Source: BuzzFeed