Tag Archives: Belorussian Jews

Jew of the Week: Dr. Chaim Weizmann

Chemist, Zionist, President

Dr. President Weizmann

Chaim Azriel Weizmann (1874-1952) The first president of Israel, Weizmann was a chemist by training and lectured in universities across Europe. He developed the ABE process – a way of producing acetone from bacteria – which was relied upon heavily by the Allies in World Wars I & II to make explosives. Before the formation of Israel, he was president of the World Zionist Congress, working tirelessly for the establishment of a Jewish state. He was one of the founders of Hebrew University and the Weizmann Institute (recently ranked the best research facility in the world). When asked what reward he wanted in exchange for his invaluable contributions to the Great War, he answered “There is only one thing I want – a national home for my people.” The famous Balfour Declaration was issued just weeks later.

Words of the Week

If we use our fuel to get our power, we are living on our capital and exhausting it rapidly. This method is barbarous and wantonly wasteful, and will have to be stopped in the interest of coming generations.

– Nikola Tesla

Jew of the Week: Isaac Asimov

Master of Science Fiction

Isaac Asimov: “I am Jewish.”

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) Born in Belorussia as Itzhak Yudovich Ozimov, his family immigrated to New York when he was only three, starting a chain of candy stores where he worked. After serving in the US Army, Asimov became a biochemistry professor at Boston University. He wrote his first book in 1950, and would go on to write and edit over 500 titles. His short story Nightfall is considered the greatest science-fiction piece of all time. Fluent in Yiddish, he would continue to speak the language throughout his adult life. Interestingly, he writes critically of his father for not having taught him the Orthodox Jewish way. In the opening of Wandering Stars, he writes: “I attend no services and follow no ritual and have never undergone that curious puberty rite, the bar mitzvah. It doesn’t matter. I am Jewish.”


Words of the Week

The wicked in their lifetimes are called “dead”; the righteous in death are called “living”.
– Talmud, Berachot 18