Did you know that there is a Star of David on the back of the U.S. one-dollar bill? Take a look. It’s in the Great Seal, above the eagle: thirteen five-pointed stars arranged in the Star of David. The Great Seal of the United States was commissioned at the end of the Revolutionary War, and many people believe that this part of the seal’s design is in recognition of the essential financial contribution that Jewish financier Haym Solomon made towards colonial America’s war effort.
Jewish Americans have made important contributions to the United States since the country’s founding, but it wasn’t until 2006 that May was proclaimed as Jewish American Heritage Month. How many of these famous American Jews do you know about?
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg - the second woman to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court
- Jon Stewart - a political satirist and host of The Daily Show
- Gertrude Stein - an American poet and writer
- Levi Strauss - the founder of the first company to manufacture blue jeans
- Judy Blume - a best selling American author
- Albert Einstein - the physicist who developed the theory of relativity
- Elena Kagan - the first female solicitor general of the U.S.
- Jonas Salk - a medical researcher and developer of the first effective polio vaccine
- Natalie Portman - American actress
- Hank Greenberg - an All-Star baseball player and the first Jewish superstar in American professional sports
How many of these famous American Jews do you recognize?
