Nobel Prize

This week in Jewish history: Nobel prize winners, biochemists, and the Baba Sali

A highly abridged weekly version of Dust & Stars – Today in Jewish History.

Baba Baruch, heir of Baba Sali, speaks to prime minister Yitzhak Shamir during traditional ceremonies in Netivot, 1988.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is pictured arriving for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, shown attending a separate event later in the day, in this combination of images taken at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 15, 2026.

Maria Corina Machado gives Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal

 FILE PHOTO: Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, in Istanbul, Turkey, October 2, 2022.

UN rights experts, influential women condemn Iran’s 'sham' trial of activist Zahra Tabari

 Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures as she addresses supporters at a protest ahead of the Friday inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro for his third term, in Caracas, Venezuela January 9, 2025.

María Corina Machado reveals she fled Venezuela with help from US government - report


J’accuse! What the world owes Jewish people - opinion

Here is my own “j’accuse” to those young and old antisemites who are clearly ignorant about Jews and Judaism and the light we have brought to the world through the ages.

 OPEN LETTER published January 13, 1898, in ‘L’Aurore’ by Emile Zola in response to the Dreyfus Affair, in which Zola addressed French president Félix Faure and accused his government of antisemitism.

Winners of 2024 Wolf Prize announced

Over a third of the Wolf Prize laureates have subsequently received the Nobel Prize in corresponding disciplines.

 The Wolf Foundation logo

Jews may win Nobels, but the Gazan terrorists are the geniuses - opinion

What subterranean think tank created the plan to force it to stand alone against the world after brutalizing it in a manner unthinkable to the civilized mind?

 Pro-Palestinian protesters maintain an encampment on Columbia University campus on April 24, 2024.

Coalition of academics nominate Israel’s Arava Institute for Nobel Peace Prize

The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies mission is to "meet the Middle East’s environmental challenges with innovative peace-building solutions." Will this win them the Nobel Peace Prize?

 ARAVA INSTITUTE students in dialogue with one another.

Israeli Technion prof. wins prestigious, $1 million Turing Award

Prof. Avi Wigderson, leading theoretical computer scientist and Technion alumnus and honorary doctorate recipient, wins ‘Nobel Prize of Computing’ for contribution to theoretical computer science.

 Prof. Avi Wigderson (left) with the President of the Technion, Prof. Uri Sivan.

Women can play a pivotal role as leaders of peace negotiations - opinion

Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun's commitment to peace and dialogue contributes positively to the shared dream of peace.

 Family and friends attend the funeral of peace activist and one of the founders of the "Women Wage Peace" movemenet, Vivian Silver at Kibbutz Gezer, central Israel. November 16, 2023.

How do you say farewell to a scientific giant like Daniel Kahneman? - opinion

Thanks to Kahneman, hospital systems and HMOs now offer generic drugs to physicians as the first choice, knowing how powerful the status quo bias is.

 THEN-US PRESIDENT Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Daniel Kahneman at the White House, in 2013.

Nobel Prize laureate: Israel must reoccupy Gaza Strip

At the Table: Prof. Yisrael (Robert) Aumann, who won the Nobel Prize for work on conflict, cooperation through game-theory, said Israel should establish military presence in Gaza.

 Prof. Yisrael Aumann in his Baka home in Jerusalem.

Israeli-American Nobelist Daniel Kahneman, who reframed economic decision-making, dies at 90

Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in economics for “having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science.”

Former US president Barack Obama awards Daniel Kahneman the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 at the White House

Norway's deplorable choice for Nobel Prize candidate - opinion

Norway is turning a blind eye to war crimes, trampling international humanitarian law, and behaving in a manner that contravenes every international treaty.

 A DEMONSTRATION in support of Gazan Palestinians takes place outside the Norwegian Parliament, in Oslo, in November. UNRWA heads sit quietly by in anticipation of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as if they were not party to aiding a terror group, the writer asserts.