Next week on Monday, November 9th, it will be the 104th anniversary of Einstein winning the Nobel prize in Physics for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect. Interesting enough he did not win it for his famous theory of relativity, because at the time these theories were seen as too controversial or lacking absolute proof.

It is amazing . Imagine someone winning the Nobel prize and basically say, “Here, hold my beer.” This is true genius.

But, what do we make of his being Jewish? Clearly much thought has been given to the fact that 0.2% of the world has won 22% of the Nobel prizes. When it comes to Jewish genius the quantity is impressive, but what about the quality? What is the nature of Jewish genius?

My hypothesis is that our genius is rooted in the heart of the Jewish aesthetic which is articulated in Chayei Sara, this week’s Torah portion. Avraham is mourning his beloved wife Sarah. She was his cofounder of their start-up. Long before it went public, they started this project together as an idea they were working on in their garage. Like many founders this was a definative moment in the business that would later be known as Judaism.

There we read:

And Sarah died in Kiriyat Arba, the same is Hebron, in the land of Canaan; and Avraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. And Avraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke unto the children of Het, saying: ‘I am Ger v’Toshav- an alien and a resident with you: give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.’ (Genesis 23:2-4)

Avraham is far from where they started their journey and now he has to find a burial plot for her. On a deeper level this is the moment when Avraham was able to articulate the essence and mission of the project for our corporation.

What does it mean to be both an alien and a resident? It would seem that these are opposites. This dynamic tension is spelled out by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik in his lesser know essay A Stranger and a Resident. There he writes:

Our approach to the outside world has always been of ambivalent character. We cooperate with members of other faiths in all fields of human endeavor but, simultaneously, we seek to preserve our distinct integrity which inevitably involves aspects of separateness. This is a paradoxical citation. Yet, paraphrasing the words of our first ancestor, Abraham, we are very much residents and outsiders in our persistent endeavor to preserve our historic religious identity.

As an outsider- Ger Avraham saw things with “new” eyes that people who have always been there might have missed. And at the same time he was invested in the outcomes as someone who was a local –Toshav . The Avraham’s perspective was born out of his unique perspective of holding the tension between being an insider and an outsider.

Long throughout our history the Jewish people have been maligned as people with a dual loyalty, when in fact this capacity to hold Avraham’s dynamic tension is the secret to our genius. Literally and figuratively Avraham’s insight is foundation of the Jewish people and the birthplace relativity.