Nobel Prize Winners!

Article: Every year, Nobel Prizes are given to the most influential people in the world in various fields. This year, the Nobel Prize was given to at least four Jews, which is remarkable considering that out of the world's population, Jews make up less than 0.2%. The winners were physicist Francois Englert of Belguim, 80, a professor from Tel Aviv University and a Holocaust survivor; Chemistry Professor Arieh Warshel, an Israeli born on a kibbutz who now lives in the U.S.; Chemistry Professor Michael Levitt, a Jew from South Africa who made aliyah and now lives in the U.S. and Israel; and Chemistry Professor Martin Karplus, an Austrian Jew who fled to the U.S. before the Holocaust. They are all sharing the $1.25 million prize.

Discussion: 

• Some ask why Jews win so many Nobel Prizes, much more than statistically they should. Why do you think? What Jewish values do you think push Jews to excel in their chosen fields?
• How did the Nobel Prize begin? The history is fascinating. Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist and inventor in the 1800s, was famous for inventing dynamite and other things used to to create weapons of destruction. He became very rich. One day, his brother died and by accident the newspaper printed Alfred's obituary with the title, "Merchant of Death Dies." Nobel was so disturbed that this was how he would be remembered, he changed his will and created the Nobel Prize, which annually awards a financial prize for intellectual and peace-seeking feats of excellence.