Jewish Contributions to Humanity
#12
#14 in
in a a series
series
Exploring the
Great Beyond:
The Jewish
Space Rangers.
Pediatrician partners
Robert Bloom of Beverly
Hills and Udi Kapen of West
Bloomfield marched locally
because gun violence is a
public healthcare issue.
restrooms. After, they marched and
headed for the main stage where they
listened to speeches from people
impacted by gun violence.
“They were all incredible. The
speeches were very moving and all
shared powerful messages,” said Ellyn
Davidson of Huntington Woods, who
attended with her daughter Lacey, a
Berkley High School senior. “It’s really
hard to put into words all of the emo-
tions. I loved watching my daughter
and her friends experience this event.
It was beautiful, powerful, emotional,
inspirational and more.
“I will never forget this day as long
as I live,” she added. “The speeches,
the songs, the love. These kids are
truly amazing, and our future is strong
with them. I loved spending the day
with Lacey and many of her clos-
est friends. The future is bright, and
change is coming.”
DETROIT MARCH
Locally, thousands of marchers
walked along the Detroit Riverfront
carrying signs condemning the
National Rifle Association and bearing
the names of gunshot victims. Local
members of Moms Demand Action,
a gun-control advocacy group, lined
the march route wearing yellow vests
and handing out voters’ pledge cards
collecting addresses and names for
people to vote in November’s elections
with the well-being of student safety
in mind.
Members of congregations from
Shaarey Zedek to Shir Shalom and
others repeatedly expressed the
importance of making a showing
for this cause and referenced Rabbi
Heschel’s example of praying with
one’s feet.
Marching with a sign that read
“18th Century Laws Cannot Regulate
21st Century Weapons,” Lindsey
Cooper, 15, of Canton and a student
at Plymouth-Canton Educational
Park joined Shir Shalom teens in the
protest.
“These (mass school shootings)
are just too much for teens to handle,
and we need a better, safer future,” she
said. “We have become used to being
scared every day.”
Pediatricians Udi Kapen and Robert
Bloom marched together out of con-
cern for their patients.
“We spend our lives working hard
to keep our young patients healthy,”
said Bloom, 56. “With thousands of
children dying each year from gun-
shot wounds, this (crisis) has become
a public children’s healthcare issue.
There needs to be a ban on assault
weapons and stricter gun control laws
when it comes to accessibility to them
by those who have a mental illness.”
A small contingent of congregants
from the Isaac Agree Downtown
Synagogue held morning services
followed by a discussion on Pikuach
Nefesh, the Jewish value of preserving
the sanctity of life, before walking sev-
eral blocks to join the march.
“I am in awe of the eloquence, fer-
vor and the organizational strengths
of so many high school students who
put this together in such a short time,”
said IADS member Ruby Robinson,
35, of Detroit. “Local politicians such
as State Reps. Stephanie Chang and
Robert Wittenberg also spoke from
their hearts and have been champi-
ons of gun violence prevention.”
Standing next to Robinson
was Detroiter and Stoneman
Douglas High School alumna and
Congregation T’chiyah member Dana
Kornberg, 35, who was horrified on
Feb. 14 to hear that her alma mater
had been the place of the latest mass
shooting.
“The massacre really hit home to
me, and it is surreal for me to hear
the name of my high school uttered
from a speaker’s podium at a rally in
Detroit,” Kornberg said. “It was also
especially traumatic to hear that
some students who were killed at the
time of their murders were sitting in a
Holocaust studies class.
“There is a strong network of
Stoneman alumni who have been in
contact with each other across the
country. We will support the current
students there in their fight for tough-
er gun control legislation. For me, the
ultimate outcome of this march and
movement will be to live in a more
peaceful society.” •
JN Contributing Writer Robin Schwartz contrib-
uted to this report.
THEODORE VON KARMAN (1881-1963).
b. Budapest, Hungary. d. Aachen, Germany.
The 20th Century’s Mr. Aeronautics.
Theodore Von Karman’s receipt in 1963 of Amer-
ica’s first National Medal of Science (given by JFK)
marked a well-deserved honor for perhaps the top
aerodynamic theoretician of the 20th century. But he
wasn’t just a theorist. He was an inventor whose dis-
coveries forever altered the trajectory of human ca-
pability. Von Karman’s first major contribution came
during World War I, during which, while still living in
Hungary, he designed the first ever helicopter that was
able to hover. Before that, his insights into vortices cre-
ated by air streams led to the Karman vortex street, a
phenomenon which explains the Nov. 7, 1940 collapse
of the Tacoma narrows bridge in Washington, where
strong winds twisted and warped the bridge until it fell.
Like so many scientists in the early 1930s, Von Karman,
during the rise of Hitler’s Germany, immigrated to the
United States, settling in Southern California. His lab at
the California Institute of Technology became perhaps
the world’s leading home for aeronautical studies. Von
Karman’s published works helped lay the groundwork
for modern aviation. In the late 1930s, supporting the
work of some of his students, Von Karman’s research
into rocket propulsion helped the U.S. military design missiles (e.g. Sparrow) and jets that
could rapidly take off (also known as “super performance”). Towards the end of World War
II, Von Karman co-founded NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which marked America’s
first foray into space exploration and long-range missile research, two areas that proved
crucial during the Cold War.
ARY STERNFELD (1905-1982). b. Sieradz, Poland. d. Moscow, Russia.
The Space Explorer You’ve Never Heard of.
Like so many European scientists who stayed in East-
ern Europe throughout World War II and the Cold War,
Sternfeld’s magnificent accomplishments are largely
unknown and may never be publicized to the extent
they deserve to be. One of his major discoveries, which
helped advance the Soviets’ space program, was called
the bi-elliptic transfer, which demonstrated a maneuver
that allows spacecraft to move from one orbit to another
orbit. In 1933, 25 years before the Russians launched
Sputnik into space, Sternfeld’s insights into spacecraft
trajectories proved remarkably accurate. He may also
have actually have coined the term “astrobiology” dur-
ing his research into whether the existence of extrater-
restrial life was likely. The scientific understanding of the
possibility of life being “out there” has actually not moved far beyond Sternfeld’s research,
indicating how advanced he was for that time. Although Sternfeld may never receive the
recognition he’s due, fittingly, a crater on the far side of the moon is named after him.
Original Research by Walter L. Field Sponsored by Irwin S. Field Written by Jared Sichel
jn
March 29 • 2018
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