The Jewish Contribution to World Civilization

The purpose of this website is to provide an online resource that accurately describes the Jewish contribution to the cultural, scientific, and technological evolution of civilization. Although there are scores of websites currently on the Internet that purport to characterize the Jews and their impact on the world, nearly all of them are sponsored by groups whose ultimate objectives vis-à-vis the Jews range from defamation to outright elimination. Many of the classic works of the anti-Semitic canon, once confined to the fever swamps, have become widely available via these websites, a few of which actually display legal disclaimers concerning their potential for incitement to "unlawful or criminal acts." (The composer Arnold Schoenberg once asked in this connection: "What is anti-Semitism to lead to if not acts of violence? Is it so difficult to imagine that?")

JINFO.ORG has no outside organizational affiliation or sponsorship. The website is an evolving project with new sections being added periodically. Statistical metrics are extensively employed because they are the most efficient technique for objectively summarizing and conveying an overall view of the large quantities of data involved.

Concerning Jewish identity, the vast majority (over 90%) of the individuals listed here as being Jewish are such by virtue of having had two Jewish parents. Also included, however, are individuals with one Jewish parent, as well as a number of Jews-by-choice, with the listings of individuals in the latter two categories qualified as such. In adopting this criterion for inclusion, we have followed the practice employed by the Jewish encyclopedias for more than a century.