famous jews in history

The biblical figure associated the most with Shavuot is undoubtedly Ruth, who lived in ancient Israel during the time of the Judges. The Book of Ruth, which we read on Shavuot, tells the story of a woman who refused to give up. When faced with the loss of her husband, instead of succumbing to grief, Ruth chose loyalty, kindness and faith. After the death of her Jewish husband, Ruth could have remained in her homeland of Moab. Instead, she chose to accompany her mother-in-

Born in Tel Aviv in 1957 to a large Yemeni Jewish family, Ofra Haza rose from modest beginnings in one of the city’s poorer neighbourhoods to become one of Israel’s most iconic singers. Her extraordinary voice first gained attention as a teenager in a local theatre troupe, before she became a national star in the 1970s and 80s. In 1983, she represented Israel at Eurovision with Chai, finishing second in one of the contest’s closest results. Far from a disappointment, the

Agnes Keleti was born on 9 January 1921 in Hungary. She began gymnastics as a child and was already a national champion before the war. Her career was then taken away from her. Anti-Jewish laws banned her from competing, and during the Holocaust she was forced into hiding, surviving under a false identity. Her father and many relatives were murdered. After the war, in her mid-20s, she returned to a sport where most athletes peak much earlier. In her 30s, an age when most gymn

Irvin Kershner wasn’t an obvious choice to direct a Star Wars film. He didn’t come from science fiction or action films. His work was focused on people and relationships. Kershner was born in 1923 in Philadelphia to Jewish immigrant parents. He trained in music and art, and came into filmmaking through visual storytelling. He later taught film at the University of Southern California. One of his students was George Lucas. After the success of the first Star Wars film, L

Louis B. Mayer was born Lazar Meir in 1884, into a poor Jewish family in Eastern Europe. His family faced restrictions and discrimination, like many Jews at the time. As a child, he moved with his family to North America, arriving in the United States in the early 1900s. They were very poor, so Mayer left school young and worked to support them. Despite the opportunities in America, Jews still faced discrimination and were often shut out of industries like banking, law, and l

Baruch Spinoza was born into a Jewish family in Amsterdam. They were part of a community who had rebuilt Jewish life after fleeing persecution in Spain and Portugal. He was one of the first thinkers to argue that truth should be pursued through reason, not simply accepted from authority. In 1656, at age 24, he was excommunicated from the Jewish community after challenging core beliefs about God, scripture and who has the authority to define truth. Spinoza did not reject God,

Eddie Jaku was born in Leipzig, Germany, in 1920. As he came of age, he saw his world collapse under Nazi rule. He was arrested on Kristallnacht in 1938 and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. He was later transferred to Auschwitz, where he endured years of forced labour, starvation and constant danger. In early 1945, as the Nazis evacuated camps, he was forced on a death march back toward Germany. He eventually made his way back to Buchenwald, where he was liberated by Am

Jonas Salk was born in New York to Jewish immigrant parents. Like many other immigrants, his family was poor but fixated on education. He was the first in his family to go to university. He studied medicine, but was more interested in preventing disease than treating it. In the early 1900s, polio was one of the most feared diseases in the world. It mainly affected children and could cause paralysis or death. Outbreaks shut down schools and changed how families lived. Ma

Natan Sharansky was born in the Soviet Union, where Jews were not free to live openly as Jews or to leave the country. He became a leading voice for Soviet Jews who wanted to emigrate to Israel. For that, he was arrested by the KGB in 1977 and accused of treason. Sharansky spent nine years in prison, including long periods in solitary confinement and forced labour. He was repeatedly pressured to confess and to inform on others. To give up his identity. He refused. Dur

Rabbi Hillel was one of the most influential sages in Jewish history. He was born in Babylon and moved to Jerusalem, where he lived in poverty while studying Torah. One well-known story describes him climbing onto a roof in winter to listen to a lesson because he could not afford the entrance fee. Over time, he became a leading teacher and head of the Sanhedrin. Hillel is best known for a simple teaching: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” He presente

Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler was born in Vienna, Austria, to a Jewish family. Her father was a bank director and her mother was a concert pianist. In 1933 she married Friedrich Mandl, a wealthy Austrian arms manufacturer who supplied weapons to fascist regimes in Europe. Through that marriage Lamarr was often present at dinners and meetings where military engineers discussed weapons technology. The marriage was unhappy and controlling. Lamarr later escaped and fled Europe, ev

Sir John Monash was one of Australia’s greatest military leaders and engineers, and one of the first Jews to rise to national prominence. Born in Melbourne to Prussian Jewish parents, he had a brilliant mind and a quiet confidence that shaped everything he did. Before World War One, Monash was already a top civil engineer. When the war came, he brought logic and planning to the battlefield. As commander of the Australian Corps, his smart strategies at Hamel and Amiens in 19

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a US Supreme Court Justice who changed how the world sees equality. Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, she learned early what it meant to face barriers. When she graduated from law school, few firms would hire her because she was a woman, a mother, and a Jew. She spent her career turning quiet determination into action. As a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, she argued and won five major Supreme Court cases that ended laws treating me

Judah the Maccabee was the military leader of the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Greek Empire in the second century BCE. At a time when Jewish practice was banned, the Temple was desecrated, and assimilation was enforced through violence, Judah led a small, poorly equipped force that refused to surrender Jewish identity. His strategic leadership turned a desperate grassroots uprising into a disciplined campaign for survival and self determination. Against overwhelming o

Viktor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor who endured Auschwitz and several other Nazi concentration camps. His parents, his brother and his pregnant wife were murdered. After the war he wrote Man’s Search for Meaning, one of the most widely read books of the twentieth century. Frankl’s central idea was simple but profound: even in the worst circumstances, a person still has one freedom left, the freedom to choose how to respond. He wrote: “Everything

Esther lived in the 5th century BCE in the Persian Empire. Her story is told in the Book of Esther, which we read on Purim.She was raised by her cousin Mordechai and became queen while keeping her Jewish identity hidden. When Haman secured a decree to destroy the Jews of Persia, Mordechai urged her to act. But approaching the king uninvited could have meant death.Esther paused. She asked the Jewish people to fast for three days. She prepared herself. Only then did she make he

Ben-Gurion was born David Grün in Poland and immigrated to Palestine in 1906. He worked the land in his early years and believed deeply in practical state-building. He married Paula Munweis in 1917 and they had three children. David Ben-Gurion was Israel’s founding Prime Minister and the central political architect of the modern Jewish state. On 14 May 1948, he declared the establishment of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv, fully aware that neighbouring Arab armies were pr

Leonard Bernstein was born in 1918 to Ukrainian Jewish immigrants in Massachusetts. His father wanted him to join the family business but Bernstein chose music instead. He studied at Harvard and the Curtis Institute of Music, then worked as an assistant conductor with the New York Philharmonic. In 1943, when the orchestra’s guest conductor suddenly fell ill, the 25-year-old Bernstein was asked to step in with almost no notice. He conducted the entire program without rehea

Golda Meir was Israel’s first and only female prime minister, and one of the most prominent women leaders of the 20th century. She came to the role in 1969 after decades of groundwork, fundraising for a state that did not yet exist, building institutions, and representing Israel on the world stage with her blunt, unmistakable voice. She was not polished and she did not try to be. Golda spoke plainly, led decisively, and carried the weight of leadership in a young country st

Joseph Trumpeldor was a soldier, a pioneer, and one of the earliest figures to insist that Jewish dignity meant Jewish responsibility. Born in 1880 in the Russian Empire, Trumpeldor lost his left arm while serving in the Russo-Japanese War. He refused a discharge and continued to serve, an early sign of the outlook that would define his life. Later, he became a central figure in the early Zionist movement, helping establish Jewish self-defence and agricultural settlements in