Isidor Isaac Rabi

(July 29, 1898, Rymanow, Galicia, Austria-January 11, 1988, New York, New York). Austrian-American physicist. Nobel Prize in Physics, 1944.

Yitzhak Rabin

(March 1, 1922, Jerusalem, Palestine-November 4, 1995, Tel Aviv, Israel). Israeli general and politician. Chief of Staff and General, Israeli Defense Forces, 1964-1968. Hero of the Six-Day War, 1967. Israeli Ambassador to the United States, 1968-1973. Labour Party Member of the Knesset, 1973-1995. Minister of Labor, 1973. Leader of the Labour Party, 1973-1977, 1992-1995. 5th Prime Minister of Israel, 1974-1977, 1992-1995. Minister of Defense, 1984-1990, 1992-1995. Assassinated by Yigal Amir, a right-wing activist opposed to the Oslo Accords. Received Nobel Peace Prize, 1994.

(1913, Poland-1999, Petach Tikva, Israel). Hassidic Munkaczer Rebbe, 1937-1946. Also known as Boruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinowicz, Admor of Munkacs, and Reb Burechl. Married Frima Chaya Rivka, daughter of Reb Chaim Elazar Spiro of Munkacs, Hungary, and succeeded his father-in-law as Munkaczer Rebbe upon Reb Chaim Elazar Spiro's death in 1937. Deported to Poland at the beginning of WWII, but released and returned to Budapest. Escaped to Palestine and failed in effort to become Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, 1946. Lived in Brazil, 1947-1963. Renounced his position as Mukaczer Rebbe and became a Zionist. Returned to Israel in 1963 and became Chief Rabbi of Holon. Moved to Petach Tikva, where he died in 1999.

Gilda Susan Radner

(June 28, 1946, Detroit, Michigan-May 20, 1989). American comedian and actress. Best known as a cast member on "Saturday Night Live," NBC television, 1975-1980. Died of ovarian cancer.

(April 10, 1950, Jaffa, Israel-Alive). Alignment/Mapai Member of the Israeli Knesset, 1983-2006; Kadima Member of the Israeli Knesset, 2006-Current. Minister of Health, 1992-1994. Minister of Internal Affairs, 1994-1996, 2000-2003. Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, 1999-2003. Minister without Portfolio, 2005. Minister of Justice, 2006.

Ilan Ramon

(June 20, 1954, Tel Aviv, Israel-February 1, 2003, on board the Columbia space shuttle over Texas). Israeli astronaut. Payload specialist on board the space shuttle STS-107, "Columbia." Died when the shuttle disintegrated during reentry, February 1, 2003. Spent 15 days, 22 hours and 20 minutes in space. First Israeli in space and the first astronaut to request kosher food in space.

Ayn Rand

(February 2, 1905, St. Petersburg, Russia-March 6, 1982, New York, New York). Russian-American novelist and philosopher. Born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum. Developed philosophy of Objectivism. Author of We the Living, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged. An ardent defender of laissez-faire capitalism.

Tony Randall

(February 26, 1920, Tulsa, Oklahoma-May 17, 2004, New York, New York). American comic actor. Born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg. Best known for his role as Felix Unger in "The Odd Couple" television series. Received an Emmy, 1975.

Walther Rathenau

(September 29, 1867, Berlin, Germany-June 24, 1922, Berlin, Germany). German industrialist and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany. Chairman, Allgemeine Elektricitats-Gesellschaft engineering firm, 1915-1922. Advocate of assimilation of German Jews. Opposed Zionism. A founder of the German Democratic Party. Minister of Reconstruction of Germany, 1921. Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1922. Assassinated by two extreme right-wing German Army officers, June 24, 1922.