Famous Jews
Interactive!
Note: this site will soon undergo significant upgrades of functionality and style - stay tuned. We are hoping revenues generated from Amazon.com book sales will fund the upgrades, so please buy books from the ads and links!!!

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is 'Famous Jews Interactive'?

Welcome to Famous Jews Interactive - the world's most entertaining and accurate resource of its kind. Why 'interactive'? Because YOU add new names, YOU vote for your favorites, YOU make this site special!

  • Just browsing the site? Be our guest.
  • Looking for a specific person? Look no further.
  • Searching for names of famous Jews with a specific occupation or talent? We have that too.

No, you don't have to vote, and no, you don't have to add a new person to the list. You can just come and browse the categories and look around. Most people find that voting or adding new names is half the fun of the site, so we recommend you try it - at least once.

Who made this site?

Famous Jews Interactive is the result of a collaboration between a small group of volunteers over an 8-year period. We have recently moved to the HEEBZ.COM domain and we hope that money generated from advertising placement and sales of Amazon.com books will allow us to give the site some much needed upgrades. So if you reach the Amazon.com site through HEEBZ.COM, please buy books and anything else that interests you. Also, to make a donation please contact us by clicking here.

Why is this site interesting?

The Jewish People represent just one fifth of one percent (that's 1/500) of the human race. They are but one of many small groups of people with their own culture, language and homeland. One would expect that they should hardly be heard of - except perhaps a brief mention in a small multi-cultural footnote of a high school geography book.

This is obviously far from the case. Jews are at the center of every creative, scientific, cultural, political, ideological movement and endeavor. Jews are over-represented as Nobel Prize recipients, winning at least 20% (that's 1/5) of all awards given to date. Jews founded Hollywood, and are today the dominant cultural influence in television, radio, cinema, journalism and theater in America and elsewhere. Jews are over-represented in all forms of medicine, in all the professions, in every sport, in modeling and fashion, in law-enforcement and the military, in political sex scandals, in new-age religion... In almost everything that represents the free world and all of its trappings, Jews are there.

In fact, should there ever be an antisemite who has the courage and conviction to boycott everything Jewish, he would be immediately knocked back to the dark ages. It must be difficult to be an antisemite these days relying as they must on Jewish technologies, Jewish doctors and accountants, their favorite music, movies, books and clothes created with significant Jewish involvement, and their very lives and health relying on Jewish medical science. Antisemites are condemned from the start to always being hypocrites.

Why did you make this site?

We have created this "Famous Jews Interactive", not to brag or gloat. We have heard a few good explanations for the over-representation of Jewish contributions, but one can be certain that the unique qualities of Jewish tradition and culture have played a large part in Jewish excellence. We created this in order to convince Jews that they have much to be proud of and that when they abandon Jewish culture and tradition they do themselves, their children, and the world a disservice. No arguments from the apologists of intermarriage can alter the statistics that the children of intermarriages are much less likely to be brought up with beauty and richness of Jewish culture and to marry Jews themselves. Today, the Jewish population is declining rapidly, not because of the genocidal acts of our enemies, but because of the genocidal aversion and apathy of Jews themselves. If Jewish culture and tradition have played a part in the sheer quantity of Jewish contributions, then perhaps it is worth exploring, rather than avoiding. Please see our links page to begin exploring Jewish tradition and culture.

Who is a Jew?

The names listed in this resource have been added by people like you by clicking on the words "ADD A NAME" below. In order to add a name, a web page must be found which verifies the Jewishness of the famous Jew you would like to add. As the moderators of this site, we had to decide on the criteria for accepting a person to the list if their Jewishness would be in dispute by one or more Jewish groups. Thus we embarked on an analysis of the various opinions on the question of "who is a Jew":

  • Maternal (Jewishness passes from mother to child). This is the view prevalent among modern-day orthodox religious Jews of most varieties. Most allow for the possibility of conversion, but such instances are relatively rare, and the conversion is not always recognized by other religious sects or by the secular majority. Many historians think that this law started with Ezra in order to reduce the number of Jewish men (returnees from Babylon, the vast majority of whom were men) marrying Samaritan women. Prior to that, Jewish transmission was tribal and paternal. Some feel the practice was continued during the Diaspora in order to ensure that the blood line was not broken, as one could always be certain of a baby's mother, but not its father. In both cases, blood was the central consideration, not faith.
  • Faith (Jewishness belongs only to those who believe in the one G-d as related in the Torah). This view advocates conversion and denies heritability in those who do not believe. This view is rare among identifying Jews, although it is the perception of certain ignorant gentiles and among 'self-hating' Jews.
  • Cultural (Jewishness belongs to those who practice Jewish customs and maintain Jewish traditions). This view allows conversion in principle, allows for heritable transmission from both the mother and father. This view is predominant among American Jewry, even among those who practice no Jewish customs.
  • Personal (Jewishness exists in those who declare themselves Jewish). This view places the identity of the individual above all things, even the majority view of the group. Jewishness is as available an identity as declaring one's favorite brand of cola.
  • Ethnic (Jewishness passes from parent to child) This view holds that the central element of Jewish identity is ancestry. Secondarily, but important nonetheless, is culture (including, but not requiring, religious faith and practice) and homeland.

If Jewish achievement is influenced by Jewish culture, heritage or ancestry, then we want to include those people who were raised by at least one Jewish biological parent or grandparent. Some may feel that this criterion is contrary to one of our stated goals - reducing intermarriage, however we feel that the pride and interest in Jewish culture that this site engenders will more likely result in less, not more intermarriage. Therefore, we have chosen to adopt the Ethnic view for the purposes of this site. This criteria is the easiest to ascertain with certainty, it bypasses the controversial conversion issue, it also does not require knowledge of private views or practices. This definition seems to be the truest synthesis of the two most popular views presented here (maternal and cultural) and the historical intent of our ancestors. It is also the view which nearly every other group or nation of people on the planet hold about themselves.


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This Page Created by Stav * First Published on September 1, 1998
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