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Jan. 25, 2008
Values in which we take pride
There are numerous possible reasons for why so many Jews have won the Nobel Prize.
EUGENE KAELLIS
The Nobel Prize is unquestionably the most prestigious and sought after global reward for achievement: it is the most highly publicized, it bestows the greatest financial rewards and it involves considerable ceremonial pomp. The disproportionately high number of Jewish Nobel laureates has, for many Jews, become a source of great intellectual pride.
There have been at least 29 Jewish winners in chemistry, 47 in physics, 53 in medicine and physiology, 13 in literature, 22 in economics and nine for promoting peace. In every category, the percentage of Jewish winners has evidently far exceeded the proportion of Jews in the world population. To cite another highly valued award, the U.S. National Medal of Science, 38 per cent of recipients of have been Jews, who constitute less than two per cent of America's population.
Uneven and impermanent as was the 18th-century emancipation of Jews in western Europe, it nonetheless unleashed a flood of talent that entered vigorously into surrounding life in remarkably impressive ways. It was as if suddenly a great pent-up ability and energy had been released and Jews quickly became significantly prominent in entrepreneurial, scholarly and artistic pursuits. But even centuries after emancipation, with all their intervening tragedies and misfortunes – primarily the Holocaust – and with their relative, even absolute, population decline, Jews are still attaining high levels of recognized achievement.
Even more impressive for me was the discovery that winners, with whose work I was familiar because of my background in science – Willstaetter, Calvin, Warburg, Krebs, Loewi, Michelson, Kapitza, Bohr, Baltimore, Lederberg, Hertz and Lipmann – were Jews (at least, halachically), something I hadn't known; though not all accepted that designation. During his lifetime, Karl Landsteiner, awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930 for his discovery of the human blood types, threatened a lawsuit against any publication identifying him as a Jew.
These achievements are understandably a source of pride, but pride that tends to excess can be dangerous, especially when it is not tempered by realistic perspectives. If a rational, historical explanation is not offered for Jewish achievement, a simplistic, default theory could take its place, such as Jews are somehow genetically superior to non-Jews intellectually.
In fact, years ago, a Columbia University professor exploring this issue came up with the following explanation: for centuries, rabbis, who he assumed were the most intelligent and best educated members of the Jewish community, typically had many children, whereas priests, at a similar level of intelligence and education, had no children. Accepting this theory is difficult. It ignores the fact that, in Eastern Rite Christianity, married men who had children were permitted to enter the clergy. It also assumes that traits, once inherited, remain forever in the line, so that this alleged rabbinical advantage would have had to persist in the centuries following the Reformation, in spite of the facts that the newly created Protestant clergy (one must stipulate their schooling and intelligence) fathered legitimate children and, more recently, rabbis fathered fewer. These fallacies in reasoning expose the weaknesses of this theory and one must assume, therefore, that there were other reasons for Jewish achievement.
More likely, the explanations lie in Jewish history. For centuries, living among largely illiterate populations, Jews, as part of their religious obligations had to read Hebrew and, usually, write it, contributing to the ease with which they could conduct international trade with their co-religionists. It wasn't until the Reformation that lay Christians were permitted to read the Bible and it became available in the vernacular languages they understood. Jews had always read Scripture and commentary, to such a degree that, when Talmuds became relatively scarce, four Jews would read a page at one time, two reading right side up, two, seated opposite, upside down.
The talmudic method of examining an issue from many different points of view became part of Jewish culture and scholarship, promoting intellectual inquiry and speculation that spread to secular studies.
Although in Judaism God can manifest in a various ways, He remains completely abstract. Jews, therefore, cannot visualize God as Christians can with Jesus. Forcing Jews to think of God as incorporeal, invisible and infinite was perhaps personally frustrating, but intellectually expansive.
Jews sought alternatives to working for and with gentiles, partly because they wanted to insulate themselves from abuse and were barred from certain occupations and because they could then observe their Sabbath and holidays. Many, therefore, became merchants and professionals, affording them the opportunities and income to enhance their own education and that of their children.
Jews have historically identified themselves with new ideas and cultural movements. They are often disproportionately found among adherents of what are, at least initially, subcultures or marginal factions. The children of Jews prominent in socialist movements and, later, the civil rights struggle, are today leading left-wing activists or neo-conservatives. Part of this is an expression of the "fight or flight" syndrome that has characterized Jewish existence for centuries, which results in Jews always having their antennae up, scanning their surroundings, looking for early signs of danger and, consequently, attempting to create a less threatening environment by getting deeply involved with social issues.
Jews also have a near obsession in defining their identity. This has become especially strong since de-ghettoization and assimilation. Because the identity of secular Jews, though sometimes strongly felt, often defies definition, reconsideration of it causes them to think in more abstract psychological, cultural and sociological terms. Consider Freud and Adler in psychology and Franz Boas, "the father of anthropology."
For many centuries, Jews have been able to retain their identity in different, often hostile, surroundings. Even assimilated and secular Jews usually maintain some residuum of tradition, culture and identification. They have resisted complete cultural assimilation with a contrariness that engenders boldness and creativity. A stiff neck is often surmounted by a good head. This nay-saying can extend to science, economics and other intellectual enterprises, promoting originality of thought.
In their migrations, Jews sought refuge in more progressive societies. They fled Spain and Portugal for the freer environment of the Dutch Republic, which, not coincidentally, was also a growing centre of commerce and trade. Later, the United States and Canada became similar attractants, which, of course, opened commercial and educational opportunities. Just consider how many Jews fled post-Soviet Russia and made their way to Israel and North America, areas characterized by intellectual freedom, vibrancy and economic opportunity.
Curiously, with all their intellectual achievements, nowhere in the sacred literature are Jews urged to be learned. Neither the Torah nor the Talmud makes significant commentary on intelligence or scholarship. The overriding concern is for sanctity, piety and righteousness, adding up to a religious intelligence that enhances a life of holiness, not braininess.
On balance, placing emphasis on intellectual and artistic achievement has inhibited Jews in other areas. There are, it must be admitted, few Jewish sports luminaries. My mother was happy to see me read after school, but if I wanted to play, I was urged to try chess instead of stickball or basketball, decisions I now regret since I am a poor chess player and a totally inept athlete.
Maimonides, as he generally does, provides a balance. In one of his commentaries, he noted: "In all matters, a man ought to adopt a happy mean, but, where pride is concerned, since it is so bad a quality in the eyes of saintly people and they know what havoc it works, they have reacted against it completely and gone to the opposite extreme, toward humbleness of spirit, so that they would leave no room at all in their souls for any pride." I believe that Maimonides' cautions were right, but, unlike the Jews of his day, I think we have not yet, by a long shot, approached the "opposite extreme" of humility.
Eugene Kaellis is a writer and retired academic living in New Westminster.
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