Eli Cohen was one of Israel’s most important spies. Born in Egypt in 1924, he later moved to Israel and joined the Mossad. Under the identity “Kamel Amin Thaabet,” he lived in Syria and built close ties with senior military and government leaders.   His reports gave Israel detailed information about Syrian plans and defences on the Golan Heights. This intelligence saved lives and shaped Israel’s strategy before the Six-Day War.   Cohen was exposed and executed in Damascus in

Sarah Aaronsohn was one of the most remarkable figures in early Zionist history. Born in the Land of Israel in 1890, she grew up in a family that believed deeply in the future of the Jewish people. During the First World War she joined NILI, a small Jewish spy network that worked with the British to help secure a homeland for the Jewish nation.   Sarah travelled through the region gathering information and passing messages to British intelligence. She did this at a time when

Albert Sabin was born in 1906 in Białystok, then part of the Russian Empire. His family migrated to the United States in 1921 to escape growing antisemitism. Sabin studied medicine in New York and became known early for his work on infectious diseases.   During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and researched viral illnesses affecting soldiers, including dengue fever and encephalitis. This work strengthened his expertise and influenced his later focus on

Mordechai Anielewicz was the commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, one of the most important acts of Jewish resistance in modern history. Born in Poland in 1919, he grew up in a world that was turning darker by the year. When the Nazis forced more than four hundred thousand Jews into the Warsaw Ghetto, Anielewicz helped organise a youth movement that refused to accept helplessness as their future.   By early 1943 it was clear that the ghetto would be emptied. Instead of wa

Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet, Hungary (now Romania) and was 15 years old when he was deported with his family to Auschwitz in 1944. He survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald, emerging as one of the youngest witnesses to the Holocaust. His book Night remains one of the most powerful testaments to human endurance and moral responsibility.   Wiesel’s message was simple and unwavering: indifference is the enemy. He reminded the world that silence helps the oppressor, never the victi

Janusz Korczak was a Polish-Jewish doctor, writer, and educator who devoted his life to children. In Warsaw, he founded and ran an orphanage that taught responsibility, kindness, and dignity.   His books How to Love a Child  and The Child’s Right to Respect  set out a radical idea for the time: that every child deserves respect and a voice in their own life. These writings still shape how educators around the world think about children’s dignity.   When the Nazis occupied Pol

In June 1976, terrorists hijacked an Air France jet and forced it to Entebbe, Uganda. Once on the ground, the hostages were divided with Jews and Israelis singled out and kept apart. After a week of fear, Israeli commandos launched a daring overnight rescue, flying thousands of kilometres to storm the terminal and free 102 captives.   The mission became legendary for its precision and courage. Commander Yonatan Netanyahu - the only Israeli soldier killed, and the older brothe

With his black eye patch and fierce determination, Moshe Dayan became a symbol of Israel’s fight for survival. Born in 1915 in a kibbutz in the Galilee, he grew up in the Land of Israel and joined the Haganah as a teenager.   Dayan rose to lead the IDF and played central roles in Israel’s most critical battles, including the 1956 Sinai Campaign and the 1967 Six Day War, when Jerusalem was reunited under Jewish sovereignty. His leadership embodied courage in the face of overwh

When America needed words to define its soul, a Jewish poet stepped up. Emma Lazarus wrote “The New Colossus,” the sonnet engraved on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” She wasn’t just a poet—she was a proud Jewish activist who spoke out against antisemitism and advocated for refugees.   Read more: Poetry Foundation

Hannah Szenes did not just dream of a Jewish future, she built it. In 1939 she left Hungary for what was then Mandatory Palestine, became...

Henrietta Szold (1860–1945) was a visionary leader who turned compassion into action. She founded Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist...

Known as the “Jewish Mark Twain,” Sholem Aleichem (1859–1916) was one of the most beloved Yiddish writers of all time. His humorous yet...

Maimonides (1135–1204) was one of Judaism’s greatest scholars — a philosopher, physician, and legal authority. In his Mishneh Torah, he...