Jewish American Heritage Month; May 2024

In an effort to acknowledge the diversity of our community, the Office of Equity and Inclusion launched a celebratory initiative to promote sharing, awareness, and learning. Here, we recognize and celebrate our faculty and staff by hearing their stories and experiences.

 

Submit a nominee for future Affinity Month Celebrations

Zoom Backgrounds

Each Affinity Month, we will unveil new Zoom backgrounds for use by affinity group members and allies during their respective affinity month. Zoom backgrounds for Jewish American Heritage Month are available to download from Sharepoint with the link below. 

Affinity Month Backgrounds

I am one of the 7 million Jews that comprise just 2% of the US population. Jews in the US & worldwide are not a monolithic group. Rather, our ranks are diverse in our religious observance, ethnic, immigration history, and racial backgrounds and political beliefs. Even with our diversity, we are bound by our traditions and our love for this country.

 

Throughout history, Jewish Americans have contributed to the fabric of America.

 

There are many examples of notable Jewish Americans. To name a few from science and Medicine:

• Albert Einstein - Nobel prize in physics and developed the theory of general relativity
• Jonas Salk - developer of one of the successful polio vaccines
• Getrude Elion - Nobel prize in physiology for the develop of rational drug design that led to the creation of the anti-retroviral AZT

Beyond the sciences, Jewish Americans have contributed to fields such as fashion, judiciary, advocacy, and music.

 

While I will never be recognized as notable, I have my own Jewish American Heritage story which began with my paternal Great Grandparents and my maternal Grandparents. My Great Grandparents came to the US around 1915 from an area of Europe known as Galicia which over history has been part of Poland, Austria, and Ukraine. While the exact reason they emigrated has been lost to time, it was likely to escape religious persecution and find opportunity. My Great Grandfather worked as a machine operator and raised a lawyer (my grandfather) and an accountant (my father). In 1947, my mother and my grandparents arrived in the US after escaping the Nazis and surviving the Holocaust. Knowing little English my mother started school and my grandfather worked as a tailor for his Brooklyn community. He quickly mastered English; the 5th language learned in his lifetime. My mother worked as a schoolteacher and raised myself and my sister who works as a teacher in the NY public school system. I’ve brought my Jewish values of inquiry and Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) to my work as a physician. After medical school I trained in emergency medicine/internal medicine in downtown Detroit at Henry Ford Hospital. I continued my academic mission serving the Grady hospital community. With the help of my OB/GYN wife we have raised two adult daughter that will be carrying on our traditions and contributing to our communities through work in sustainability and clinical psychology.

 

Each past and future generation of Jews in the US has benefited from the liberal freedoms and contributed to our society. Jewish American Heritage Month is an annual recognition and celebration of American Jews' achievements and contributions to the United States of America. It is a time to reflect on our personal journey and those of all the Jews that have contributed to this great nation.