Contumacious
11-07-2008, 09:05 PM
Rahm Israel Emanuel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahm_Emanuel)(Hebrew: רם עמנואל) was born in Chicago, Illinois.[30] His first name, Rahm, means "high" or "lofty" in Hebrew,[31] while his last name, Emanuel, means "God is with us." According to his father, his son is the namesake of Rahamim, a Lehi combatant who was killed.[32] Rahm’s surname was adopted by his family in 1933, after Rahm’s paternal uncle, Emanuel Auerbach, was killed in a skirmish with Arabs in Jerusalem.[33]
His father, the Jerusalem-born Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a pediatrician and former member of the paramilitary Irgun,[32] which operated from 1931 to 1948 during the British Mandate of Palestine, before the founding of Israel. The Anglo–American Committee of Inquiry and the New York Times labeled Irgun a terrorist group for its bombings of Arab and British civilian and government targets.[34][35][36][37] According to the New York Times he passed passed secret codes for Irgun leader Menachem Begin.[38]
Emanuel's mother, Martha Smulevitz, worked as an X-ray technician and was the daughter of a local union organizer.[6] She became a civil rights activist; she was also once the owner of a Chicago-area rock and roll club.[33] The two met in Chicago in the 1950s.[39] Emanuel's older brother, Ezekiel, is an oncologist and bioethicist, and his brother Ari is a talent agent in Los Angeles who inspired Jeremy Piven's character Ari Gold on the HBO series Entourage.[6] Emanuel himself is the inspiration for the character Josh Lyman on The West Wing[40]. Emanuel is a first cousin of Howard Stern show writer Benjy Bronk. [6] Emanuel also has a younger adopted sister named Shoshanna, 14 years his junior.[6][33]
When his family lived in Chicago, he attended Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, a Jewish day school. After his family moved to Wilmette, he attended public school: Romona School, Wilmette Junior High School, and New Trier West High School.[39][19] At some point during his high school years, while working at an Arby's restaurant, Emanuel severely injured his right middle finger. Rather than seek medical treatment, he went swimming in Lake Michigan. He sought medical attention only after suffering severe infection as a result of the wound, resulting in the amputation of the finger. [41]
He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981, and went on to receive a master's degree in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985. While still an undergraduate, he joined the congressional campaign of David Robinson of Chicago.[42]
Emanuel was a civilian volunteer in the Israel Defense Forces during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, serving in one of Israel's northern bases.[13][14]
Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, converted to Modern Orthodox Judaism shortly before her wedding.[13] They are members of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel, a Modern Orthodox congregation in Chicago.[7] They have three children, son Zachariah and daughters Ilana and Leah. Rahm is 5'11".[citation needed]
Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation is quoted as saying: "It's a very involved Jewish family"; "Amy was one of the teachers for a class for children during the High Holidays two years ago."[7] Emanuel has said of his Judaism: "I am proud of my heritage and treasure the values it has taught me."[7] Emanuel's family lives on the North Side of Chicago, in the North Center neighborhood.[31]
Emanuel trains for and participates in triathlons.[19]
His father, the Jerusalem-born Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a pediatrician and former member of the paramilitary Irgun,[32] which operated from 1931 to 1948 during the British Mandate of Palestine, before the founding of Israel. The Anglo–American Committee of Inquiry and the New York Times labeled Irgun a terrorist group for its bombings of Arab and British civilian and government targets.[34][35][36][37] According to the New York Times he passed passed secret codes for Irgun leader Menachem Begin.[38]
Emanuel's mother, Martha Smulevitz, worked as an X-ray technician and was the daughter of a local union organizer.[6] She became a civil rights activist; she was also once the owner of a Chicago-area rock and roll club.[33] The two met in Chicago in the 1950s.[39] Emanuel's older brother, Ezekiel, is an oncologist and bioethicist, and his brother Ari is a talent agent in Los Angeles who inspired Jeremy Piven's character Ari Gold on the HBO series Entourage.[6] Emanuel himself is the inspiration for the character Josh Lyman on The West Wing[40]. Emanuel is a first cousin of Howard Stern show writer Benjy Bronk. [6] Emanuel also has a younger adopted sister named Shoshanna, 14 years his junior.[6][33]
When his family lived in Chicago, he attended Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, a Jewish day school. After his family moved to Wilmette, he attended public school: Romona School, Wilmette Junior High School, and New Trier West High School.[39][19] At some point during his high school years, while working at an Arby's restaurant, Emanuel severely injured his right middle finger. Rather than seek medical treatment, he went swimming in Lake Michigan. He sought medical attention only after suffering severe infection as a result of the wound, resulting in the amputation of the finger. [41]
He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981, and went on to receive a master's degree in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985. While still an undergraduate, he joined the congressional campaign of David Robinson of Chicago.[42]
Emanuel was a civilian volunteer in the Israel Defense Forces during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, serving in one of Israel's northern bases.[13][14]
Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, converted to Modern Orthodox Judaism shortly before her wedding.[13] They are members of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel, a Modern Orthodox congregation in Chicago.[7] They have three children, son Zachariah and daughters Ilana and Leah. Rahm is 5'11".[citation needed]
Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation is quoted as saying: "It's a very involved Jewish family"; "Amy was one of the teachers for a class for children during the High Holidays two years ago."[7] Emanuel has said of his Judaism: "I am proud of my heritage and treasure the values it has taught me."[7] Emanuel's family lives on the North Side of Chicago, in the North Center neighborhood.[31]
Emanuel trains for and participates in triathlons.[19]