Frequently asked questions

Jews Impact is a free, independent website that celebrates how Jewish people, past and present, have made the world better for everyone: in science and medicine, invention, the arts, justice, education and humanitarian work. It brings together in-depth profiles, researched facts, daily news, uplifting stories and quotes.

To show, through true and carefully checked stories, how much good one life can do, and to inspire readers of every background to make an impact of their own. The idea at its heart is tikkun olam, the repair of the world.

It is an independent, non-commercial project run by its editor. It is not affiliated with any government, political party, religious movement or company. You can read more on the About page.

Yes, everything is free to read, and there is no advertising and nothing for sale. You can read more about how the project works on the About page.

No. Jews Impact focuses on contributions to the world: discoveries, art, justice, kindness and rescue. It does not take sides in politics or current conflicts, and it avoids partisan and contested topics. Its guiding idea is tikkun olam, the repair of the world.

What did this person contribute that made the world a better place for everyone, not just for themselves or for other Jews, and is it significant? Being Jewish, famous, successful or admired is never enough on its own. Everyone on Jews Impact is here because of what they gave the world. The full criteria are also on the About page.

All four must be true. 1. Jewish by birth, heritage or conversion, confirmed by a reliable source. Secular Jews, people with one Jewish parent and people who converted in either direction are included, described accurately. 2. Good for everyone: the contribution reaches people of every background, not mainly one community, family or business. 3. Significant and lasting: it changed many lives or a whole field, and the good still reaches people today. 4. Clear, documented and clean: it can be said in one plain sentence, it is confirmed in published sources, and the person has no disqualifying record.

Discovery and science; invention and technology; healing and medicine; rescue and humanitarian aid; justice, rights and law; education and knowledge; culture that reached and enriched the world; and philanthropy for the greater good. A wealthy person qualifies through what their giving achieved for everyone, such as a hospital, a public-health program or schools open to all, not through their wealth, and not through giving mainly to themselves or to Jewish causes. Every profile opens with a short line saying how that person helped the world.

On their own, none of these qualify anyone: fame or celebrity, sports records or titles, wealth or business success, power or influence rankings, prizes and honors, entertainment alone, or work that served mainly one community.

Yes. Every Jewish Nobel laureate belongs on Jews Impact, because a Nobel Prize recognizes a contribution of lasting significance to humanity. They still need a confirmed Jewish connection and a clean record. A Nobel Peace Prize goes further: it overrides every other concern, so Jewish Peace laureates such as Henry Kissinger, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres are included even though they were political or wartime leaders. The Nobel is the only prize treated this way. A person can have any of these and still be included, but only for a separate contribution that passes the test.

We ask how many people it reached and whether it lasts. Major: it changed many lives or a whole field, such as a vaccine, a basic discovery, a new right or an invention used everywhere. Moderate: real, lasting good for large numbers of people beyond one field or one country. Minor (not enough): limited reach, a niche in one country, or influence only within a profession.

Yes. Saving people from persecution, including Jews during the Holocaust, is humanitarian work for everyone. See Remembering the Shoah.

Being mainly known for crime, abuse, harassment or scandal; any record of hatred or antisemitism; being a current politician or political operative; or being on our list of people the editor has removed. Political donations alone do not disqualify anyone: donors are judged by whether their giving helps the world.

When in doubt, we leave someone out. A smaller collection of clearly world-changing lives is better than a larger one. Borderline people are reviewed by the editor one by one.

Yes. Facts must describe a concrete contribution or good deed that helped people broadly, not prizes, records or trivia. Quotes must carry wisdom that speaks to anyone. News must show a contribution that helps people broadly, not awards, business deals or community-only events.

Yes. We review the whole site against these criteria regularly and remove people, facts, quotes and stories that no longer meet them.

Use the nomination form. Anyone can nominate, including family members and descendants. We read every nomination.

The stronger your nomination, the faster we can research it. Please include: (1) the person's full name, dates and field; (2) their contribution in one plain sentence; (3) who benefits today and how (name the treatment, technology, right, institution, rescue or body of work); (4) evidence of scale, such as how many people it reached or which countries use it; (5) a reliable source confirming their Jewish birth, heritage or conversion; (6) at least two reliable published sources for the contribution; and (7) anything we should know about their public record.

Encyclopedias, university, museum and archive pages, prize committees' official biographies, peer-reviewed articles, reputable newspapers, obituaries and the person's own organisations. Family records and oral histories help us research, but we also need a published source we can cite.

The most common reasons: the contribution mainly helped one community, one family or one business; it is about fame, wealth, records or prizes rather than what the person gave the world; its reach was small or limited to one profession; we could not confirm the contribution or the person's Jewish background in reliable sources; or there is a disqualifying record.

The editor checks the nomination against our criteria. If it passes, we research the person from published sources and write a full profile, with every claim checked and every source listed. We may contact you if we need more sources.

Yes, as long as their contribution already passes the test. We don't include current politicians or political operatives.

The editor decides, guided by reader nominations and one question: what did this person contribute that made the world a better place for everyone, not just for themselves or for other Jews, and is it significant? The full criteria are on the About page. Anyone can nominate someone.

Because fame is not the test. Sports records, wealth, business success, power, prizes and entertainment alone do not qualify someone, and neither does work that served mainly one community. We ask what a person gave the world. Every profile opens with a line saying how they helped the world. See our criteria.

Yes. We review every profile, fact, quote and news story against our criteria and remove what no longer meets them, such as facts that are only about prizes or records, or news that is only about awards or business deals.

Inclusively. Jews Impact features people of Jewish heritage across denominations, secular Jews, converts and patrilineal Jews, as long as reliable sources confirm their Jewish birth, heritage or conversion. Each profile on the People page says plainly how the person related to Jewish life.

No. Household names appear alongside lesser-known researchers, doctors, rescuers and teachers whose contributions to the world deserve wider recognition. Explore them by field or on the People page.

Yes. Many of the people on Jews Impact are living and still shaping our world. That is why our tagline is “Lives shaping our world.” Browse everyone on the People page.

Please do. Use the nomination form and include links to reliable sources about the person’s contribution and Jewish background.

Usually because their contribution, however real, did not clearly make the world better for everyone, or was not significant enough, or because we could not confirm it or their Jewish background in reliable sources. We also leave out people whose public record is mainly about crime, scandal or harm, and current politicians. If you have sources we missed, please nominate them.

From published sources such as encyclopedias, university and museum pages, prize committees, reputable newspapers and the people’s own organisations. Every statement is checked against those sources, and anything that cannot be confirmed is left out. Our standards are explained on the About page.

At the bottom of every profile, fact, news story and long-form story. Each one links to the pages we used.

We say so, use the best-supported figure, give a range, or leave the detail out rather than guess. Our editorial standards are on the About page.

Not yet. Jews Impact has no outside reviewers. If you are an expert in a field, we would love your help: see Become an editor.

Thank you. Please use the contact form and choose “Correction”, with a link to the page and, if you can, a source. We fix confirmed errors quickly.

New “Jews in the News” stories are added daily, and profiles, facts and stories are added and improved regularly.

A daily collection of positive news about Jewish people and Israeli institutions making the world better for everyone: medical and scientific breakthroughs, inventions, rescues, gifts open to all and acts of service. Stories only about awards, business deals, entertainment or one community are not included. Each story is confirmed by at least two reputable sources and summarised in our own words. Sports stories are not included.

Long-form, uplifting stories about lives saved, people fed, children welcomed and strangers brought together, each one researched from published sources.

Short, sourced facts about specific contributions and good deeds that helped people broadly (not prizes, records or trivia), each with its own page telling the full story and why it matters.

It is the English for the Hebrew זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה (zikhrono livrakha), said after the name of someone who has died. It expresses the hope that remembering them brings blessing into the world. Read more on our In Loving Memory page.

They honour people who have passed. Their profiles carry a gold frame, an “In loving memory” ribbon and the blessing in English and Hebrew. Profiles of living people are shown without it. Read what the blessing means.

Yes. Our Remembering the Shoah page, with six candles for the six million, honors those we lost, the resisters and rescuers, and the survivors who rebuilt the world.

A Jewish idea meaning “the repair of the world”: the belief that the world is unfinished and that each of us can help mend it. It speaks to people of every faith and none. See our tikkun olam page.

Not at all. Jews Impact is for everyone. Its stories are about people who helped the whole world, and its central idea, tikkun olam, leaving the world better than you found it, belongs to everyone.

Use the Share button near the top of any profile, fact, news story or story. It lets you share to social networks, copy the link, or download a ready-made image card.

Yes. Our own writing is published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). Credit Jews Impact, link to the page you used and to the license, and say if you changed anything. Photos come from Wikimedia Commons under their own licenses, and quotations belong to the people quoted. Full details are on the About page.

Yes, and educational use is especially welcome. Profiles, facts and stories can be printed, shared and translated for classes under the same CC BY 4.0 terms, explained on the About page.

Only to count visits. Our host records anonymous page views (which page, the referring site, rough location and device type), and we keep the words typed into our search boxes without your name. We also use Google Analytics, with IP anonymization, for overall statistics; it sets its own measurement cookies. There is no advertising and no data is sold. See our privacy policy for details.

Messages sent through our contact and nomination forms are stored with our host so we can read and reply to them. We do not share them.

Nominate someone, report a correction, share a story you love, or become an editor in a field you know well.

Use the contact form. For press enquiries choose “Press & media”, or see our press page.

Start small: help one person, give regularly to a cause you trust, teach what you know, volunteer, welcome a newcomer, and share a story that inspired you. Our tikkun olam page has more ideas.