Issue: April 1998
Designers: Hovav Rashelbach, Ad Vanoojen, Ruth Beckman, Daniel Goldberg, Masha Yozefpolsky, Mario Sermoneta
Size: 20mm x 25.7mm
Plate #: 348
Sheet of 6 stamps
Tabs: 6
Printers: Government Printers
Method: Offset

Traditional Jewish culture has always demonstrated a special respect for and encouragement of education and learning, and as a result, a growing number of Jews now began to play a significant role in the sciences, the arts, and in social and political life. Jews were prominent not only in the theoretical sciences, philosophy, the social sciences, music and literature; they also assumed prominent positions in various arts that were not traditionally nurtured in the framework of Jewish culture, such as theater and the material arts.

In social and political life, Jews began to fill prominent leadership positions in the liberal-democratic and central political parties, as well as in the socialist and communist left, parties that had raised the banner and had struggled -- in a declarative manner at least -- for equality and against discrimination.

The series of figures depicted on this stamp certainly does not exhaust the issue. Rather, the selection emphasizes the multi-faceted nature of the Jewish contribution to general culture.

Leon Blum
Alsace, 1872 - Paris, 1950

Poet, writer and critic of literature and theater who became a prominent leader of the French socialist party and headed two French governments from 1936-1938, Blum was the driving spirit behind the establishment of "The Popular Front," into which all the left-wing factions in France united in order to counter fascism.

Blum's term as Prime Minister saw the implementation of numerous social reforms that provided a solid base for workers' rights in the fields of insurance, holiday leave and further training; and the workweek was reduced, by law, to 40 hours.

With the occupation of France, Blum was arrested by the Vichy government, and he spent the years of World War II in a German concentration camp. His return to France, following the liberation of the camp by the American forces, was celebrated by all those who opposed the Nazis.

Blum gave expression to his Jewish identity by accepting Chaim Weizmann's offer to serve as a member of the board of the Jewish Agency. Blum played a significant role in the establishment of the State of Israel, working to bring the remaining survivors to Israel.

Franz Kafka
Prague, 1883-1924

One of the most influential of the great writers of the 20th Century, Kafka wrote primarily in German. Because he rarely published, he remained an almost anonymous writer until the late 1930's and 40's. His three long works, America, The Trial and The Castle, like many of his short stories, were published only after his death, and contrary to his wishes, by his friend, the writer Max Brod.

Kafka's realistic yet mysterious stories have been the focus of intense philosophical, theological, social and psychological interpretations, as well as the subjects of theater and cinema adaptations and sources of inspiration for influences and imitations. All of Kafka's works, together with a portion of his diary and his letters, have been translated into Hebrew.

George Gershwin
New York, 1898-1937

The first American composer to use Jazz as a respectable source of inspiration, Gershwin's works won both the appreciation of professional music lovers and the love of the general public, both in the United States and abroad. In his largest and longest work, the opera Porgy and Bess, Gershwin used many musical adaptations of traditional Black songs from the United States' South. In some of his concert hall pieces one can discern the influence of cantor-singing styles. His renowned works also include Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris.

Elizabeth Rachael (Rachel) Felix
Switzerland, 1821 - Paris, 1858

Born to a Jewish peddler who emigrated from Switzerland to Paris, Felix was adopted by a singing teacher -- a talent scout who heard her singing on the street with her sister -- and she became France's greatest actress of the 19th century. She was particularly renowned for her parts in the dramas of Racino and Cornoille. She toured the world, and her lovers, including the poet Alfred De Misse, brought her fame. Without ever marrying, she raised two children, each from different fathers. Following her untimely death from tuberculosis, the Chief Rabbi of Paris delivered her eulogy in Hebrew.

Einstein was a physicist, philosopher, mathematician and one of the greatest scientists of all times. He is famous for the development of the Special and the General Theories of Relativity, which revolutionized views accepted since Newton regarding laws of gravity and questions of space and time.

In 1905, Einstein published a particularly original series of articles. In one of these he detailed a molecular explanation of the Brownian motion that served as the foundation for the theory of gases. In four consecutive articles he presented what later became his theory of relativity, which gained him his doctorate. In another article he explained the photoelectric effect, based on the assumption of the existence of tiny particles of light cold photons. His thinking shattered the exclusive theory of waves, which until then had been the only explanation of the theory of light, cold photons. This work earned him the Nobel Prize in 1921 (at this stage, the theory of relativity was still controversial).

In 1907 Einstein published his well-known equation, E=MC², binding energy and mass and contributing to the understanding of the amazing phenomena of radioactivity.

When Hitler rose to power, Einstein left Europe and settled in the USA. From the United States he worked together with Chaim Weizmann to realize the Zionist idea. In 1933 Einstein became a professor of mathematics at Princeton University in New Jersey.

Einstein was very consistent in supporting the establishment of the first academic institutions in Israel, the Hebrew University and the Technion. The palm tree that he planted in 1923 in the Technion courtyard still grows there today.

In 1952, following the death of President Chaim Weizmann, Einstein turned down an offer to assume the second presidency of Israel.

Lev Davidovich Landau
Azerbaijan, 1908 - Moscow, 1968

One of the most important physicists of the 20th century, Landau made an important contribution to the quantum theory while he was still a student. His work covered many fields in theoretical physics, including physics of low temperatures and solid states, cosmic radiation, and plasma.

In the 1930's, Landau was a pioneer of the mathematical theory of magnetic zones. The theory named after him explains the magnetic characteristics of metal in low temperatures. His theoretical experiments with liquid helium earned him the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1962.

Landau was also well known for his teaching talents. His series of books on theoretical physics, published together with his student Lipschitz, was translated into several languages and was used in the curricula of universities around the world and in Israel for many years.