American Jewish Leaders Trivia Quiz

Answer: Albert Einstein

Einstein's name has become a synonym for genius. Even folks who have no idea what it means can quote E = MC2. But to think of Einstein only as a scientist would belie his humanism. Although an intellectual pacifist, he encouraged Franklin Roosevelt to stimulate research into atomic energy and indirectly shortened World War II. He loved music and was an accomplished amateur violinist. His membership in NAACP was a stimulus for the civil rights movement. In 1952 he turned down the Presidency of Israel. In doing so he said:

"All my life I have dealt with objective matters, hence I lack both the natural aptitude and the experience to deal properly with people and to exercise official function. I am the more distressed over these circumstances because my relationship with the Jewish people became my strongest human tie once I achieved complete clarity about our precarious position among the nations of the world"

Tidbit: Einstein was portrayed by Walter Matthau in the 1994 romantic comedy "I.Q."

Answer: Cigar Makers' Union

From his father he learned the craft of cigar making and his first union affiliation was with Cigarmakers' Local Union No. 15 in New York City at age 14. In 1875 he was elected president of Cigarmakers' International Union. That union was short lived as financial crises forced the decline of many such craft unions but also focused the need a more comprehensive fellowship. So it was that in 1881 Gompers created an umbrella union which came to be called the American Federation of Labor (AFL) which brought power and numbers to its members. The AFL fought for higher wages and fewer hours and brought clout by unions to the political area.

Tidbit: Gompers is buried in the same cemetery as industrialist Andrew Carnegie.

Answer: Leonard Bernstein

People of a certain age will remember Leonard Bernstein on his occasional television programs where he would explain and demonstrate the intricacies of classical music. Although his lectures did not make me a connoisseur of classical music, they did give me a deeper appreciation of what I was hearing in all genres of music.

In addition to his long tenure as director of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein was a hard-working composer. He wrote three operas, three ballets, sixteen orchestral pieces, three chorals, seven Broadway musicals, four chamber music pieces, and nine concert piano pieces.

Tidbit: Among his other works was the film score for "On The Waterfront"(1954) atarring Marlon Brando and directed by Elia Kazan.

Answer: Golda Meir

Meir's parents ran a grocery store in north Milwaukee where she attended North Division High School and what is now the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She was greatly affected in her thinking by her older sister Sheyna Korngold who introduced her to the plight of Jews and need to establish a homeland for people of Jewish heritage.

After World War I she and her husband, Morris Meyerson, emigrated to Israel where they settled in a kibbutz. There she picked almonds, planted trees, cleaned chicken coops and ran the kitchen. But at the same time she was developing leadership skills and served on numerous committees. As she rose in government she was to serve as an emissary to both the United and the Soviet Union. In 1956 she was accorded the Prime Minister office where she served for ten years but remained active in politics afterwards. She was the 'Iron Lady' long before Margaret Thacher. The press called her "strong-willed, straight-talking, grey-bunned grandmother of the Jewish people".

Tidbit: Because of her responsibilities, Morris and Golda grew apart, but never divorced. Morris died in 1951.

Answer: Alan Greenspan

Alan Greenspan had to choose between a career in music or in business. He played in a band with Stan Getz and studied clarinet at the Juilliard 1943-1944. However, he eventually earned a B.S. degree in economics summa cum laude in 1948 at New York University. After gaining Wall Street experience, he helped to establish Townsend-Greenspan, one of the most powerful consulting firms. In 1987 Ronald Reagan appointed him Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He was to continue his service under George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

Alan Greenspan's economic philosophy was greatly influenced by Ayn Rand, who espoused capitalism, a free market, and individual initiative. How much this affected his decisions at the Federal Reserve is not clear. The collapse in real estate, for instance, is blamed by those with 20/20 hindsight, on his policies.

Tidbit: Greenspan dated TV icon Barbara Walters in the 1970s.

Answer: The 1919 World Series

Arnold Rothstein took a different path than his brother who became a Rabbi. He became the head of the 'Jewish Mafia'. He transformed what was thought to be a bunch of bullying toughs into a business syndicate of crime. According biographer Rich Cohen "Rothstein was the person who first saw in Prohibition a business opportunity, a means to enormous wealth, and who understood the truths of early century capitalism and came to dominate them." At his peak Meyer Lansky, Jack "Legs" Diamond, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, and Dutch Schultz worked for him. Rothstein was called Mr. Big, The Fixer, and The Brain.

He was never found guilty of any crime. His testimony at the hearings on 1919 Black Sox scandal led to his acquittal of involvement although the evidence is that he was centrally involved. No, he did not 'fix' the Kentucky Derby but he did fix the 1921 Travers Stakes, pocketing a half million dollars.

Rothstein's luck ran out when he was murdered in 1928 over a gambling dispute.

Tidbit: Lucky Luciano once said that Rothstein "taught me how to dress".

Answer: Emma Goldman

Born to a life of poverty and antisemitism in Russia, she came to the United States in 1885 and became deeply involved with unpopular and revolutionary ideas. A brilliant speaker, she crowded lecture halls to hear her causes that were diverse but also cohesive in a modern context. Over time her targets included the prison system, the draft, militarism, capitalism, and marriage.

Her advocacy for unpopular causes ran against the grain of mainstream Americans. She was regarded as an exceedingly dangerous anarchist. She was harassed or arrested while lecturing, and sometimes banned from speaking.

How much is fact and how much is fiction about her activities is conjecture but she has been mentioned as a shadowy figure in many anarchist activities. The Homestead Strike of 1882, inciting riots during the Panic of 1893, the William McKinley assassination of 1901, protesting World War I, and the Spanish Civil War. For some of these she served jail sentences. In 1922 J. Edgar Hoover had her deported even through she had American citizenship. Back in Russia she had disdain for Communists. Finally, through an arranged marriage, she was able to travel more extensively and continue her lectures and activism.

Tidbit: Goldman earned money as a nurse and midwife.

Answer: Sandy Koufax

Koufax won the 1963, 1965, and 1966 Cy Young Awards by unanimous votes. He left baseball after 12 years due to arthritis in his left elbow. In 1972 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 87% of the votes. At that time he was the youngest player inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was also accorded the MVP in 1963. After retirement he worked as a baseball analyst and pitching coach.

Yogi Berra once said "I understand how he won 25 games but I don't understand how he lost 5."

Tidbit: True to his faith he refused to pitch on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, which included the first game of the 1965 World Series.

Answer: Carl Bernstein

Since he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1973, Bernstein has had a lot of ups and downs. His ups include being the Washington correspondent for ABC News, a contributor to magazines including "Time" and "Vanity Fair", contributing on a biography of Pope John Paul II, and a biography of Hillary Clinton.

Among his downs are being arrested for drunken driving, hitting the gossip columns by dating such celebrities as Bianca Jagger, Martha Stewart, and Elizabeth Taylor and exposing his parents as Communists in 1989. Today he remains a "Vanity Fair" editor and has a blog. Dustin Hoffman portrayed him in the film version of "All the President's Men" (1976) that had eight Oscar nominations, winning three for Art Decoration, Sound, and Best Supporting Actor Jason Robarbs.

Tidbit: In 1976 he began a stormy four year marriage to Nora Ephron. Her screenplay "Heartburn"(1986) is a bitter retelling of that marriage with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson as a thinly disguised Carl Bernstein.

Answer: Woodrow Wilson

Wilson's appointment of Brandeis in 1916 to the court was not one without controversy. William Douglas, who succeeded Brandeis on the court, said this: "Brandeis was a militant crusader for social justice whoever his opponent might be. He was dangerous not only because of his brilliance, his arithmetic, his courage. He was dangerous because he was incorruptible [and] the fears of the Establishment were greater because Brandeis was the first Jew to be named to the Court".

During much of his time on the court, the majority tended to be conservative on issues, so often Brandeis found himself writing minority opinions. Brandeis felt strongly on many issues including corporate greed, misleading advertising, and particularly the right to privacy and free speech. Even though he had left the bench 24 years before, his influence and opinions were powerful in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Tidbit: He graduated from Harvard Law School at the age of twenty with the highest grade average in the college's history up to that time.